May 31

Morix Law Offices

9:45 PM

Chrysalis Starr

A few hours had passed since the rest of the lawyers had left the agency, and I was finishing up the paperwork for this case. Victoria probably should have been doing it, but I needed something to do in order to keep myself occupied after all that had happened.

Now that the case was over and done with, it couldn't be used to distract me from the issue of Cormous. I couldn't help but think about how he had been invited into our agency and caused so many problems. None of us could have been aware of such, but it was still my job to be aware of big issues like that. I was the damn Oracle of the Law, for crying out loud! I had to be aware of the darkest, deepest secrets in the city to make sure that things didn't get much worse.

Cotoli was working on something else, though I wasn't sure what it was exactly. We were both being quiet, and I didn't want to disturb his focus. I stared down at the papers before me, my vision slowly blurring as I lost focus. I began to drift off into space, not out of exhaustion but rather disappointment in myself.

Looking back, it seemed so obvious that Cormous was going to betray us. I had to figure out things like this before they went too horribly wrong, but I failed this time. Cormous got away with everything, and I couldn't save anybody from trouble.

In the end, it was somebody unexpected to save all of us. I didn't even know Nevada existed in the back of Prosecutor's Wood, but I was glad she did, because if she hadn't been there, the Prosecutor's Office would have gone down in flames because of Cormous. I was going to have to give her a sincere thank you as soon as I got the chance to. The conversation would probably be rather awkward, but I didn't care. She needed to know that she did something great.

"Chrysalis? Hello? Earth to Chrysalis?"

I let out a small yelp of surprise as I jumped, looking over to Cotoli. The book that had my papers on it fell to the floor with a resounding thump, and I sighed before reaching down to pick it up. I realized my pencil had slipped in between the cushions of the couch as well, so I stuck my arm down there and pulled it out, shaking it to get rid of the stray pieces of fuzz that had attached themselves to the sides.

"Sorry," I told him, trying to focus on getting the paperwork done again. I didn't know how I had let my thoughts to get so out of control that I lost it upon being spoken to. If it had been anyone but Cotoli, I probably would have been embarrassed as hell, but he was used to me having problems like this, so I doubted he really cared to see me like that.

"Are you alright? I haven't seen you this spaced-out in a really long time," Cotoli remarked. "Not since Venus... Yeah. You know what I'm going to say, so I'm just not going to finish that sentence."

"Yeah. I'm fine. I've just been... I don't know. I've been thinking about what would have happened if Cormous wasn't stopped when he was, I guess. I mean, we were the ones who went over the applications to figure out who was going to be joining the agency. I feel like I should have noticed it sooner that Cormous wasn't who he said he was," I replied. "I just... I don't know. I can't get it out of my head. We don't have nonstop action to keep me from thinking about it, so now, all the demons are crawling out of the woodwork."

"I'm sorry about that, Chrysalis. I... Would it comfort you at all if I said that I felt bad about it too?" Cotoli asked. "I do, to be honest. I was the one who interviewed him, and I didn't think that there was anything off about him, but if I had just looked a little bit closer... Maybe all of this could have been prevented."

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Cotoli. You had no way of knowing this was going to happen. After all, this didn't start until after he started working at the agency. You couldn't have been aware that he was going to start pulling twisted stuff like that," I assured him, speaking progressively faster to get the point across.

"Well, if that's the case, then why are you blaming yourself for this?" Cotoli questioned. "You can't say that I'm not at fault here while simultaneously blaming yourself. It doesn't make any sense, and it's not good for your mental health."

I sighed. "I hate it when you're right about things like this," I grumbled. "But I must say that you do have a point, even if I don't want to admit it. I shouldn't say that this is all my fault when we both played a part in bringing him around. Besides, we didn't know he was going to turn out to be such a rotten apple. He was lying to our faces the whole time, but we weren't aware of such until later."

"I'm just glad that we figured it out eventually. Nevada did a lot to help us out when the Prosecutor's Office was in danger, huh?" Cotoli commented, letting out a small, dry laugh. "I don't know if she's been out since the last case where she killed Cormous in the first place, but I get the feeling a lot of people have to thank her for all that she did. She saved a lot of lives that day."

"Given the timeline where she first appeared in Prosecutor Wood's mind, she was probably only about the age of a toddler when the murder happened, so she's still young now..." I snorted and shook my head, laughing even though I really shouldn't have. "Cotoli, we let our messes get cleaned up by someone with the mental age of a toddler. I think we really need to step up if we want to keep from having our jobs stolen by the next child prodigy lawyer."

Cotoli laughed at that, shaking his head. "You're hilarious," he said sarcastically, though I could tell he wasn't really all that upset. "Are you feeling better now that we've talked about it?"

I nodded. "I am. Thanks for telling me all that, Cotoli. I dons't know what I would do if I didn't have you to talk me down when I started to get panicky," I told him. "You know how I can get when I'm left unchecked, so it's best to nip issues like that before they can spiral out of control."

"You got that one right. I swear, your pacing sessions per month count would probably double if I wasn't around here to keep you sane," Cotoli joked. "What's the number up to now? It's the end of the month, so it's time for the final count."

"I think it was eighteen," I replied, placing my pointer finger on my chin as I thought. "Then again, I was pretty stressed out this month, so I don't know for sure if that's an accurate count. If I had taken a step back to try and relax, it probably wouldn't have been so many, but who can say for sure? I'll have to take an accurate count next month when I'm not quite as freaked out."

"One pace for every month you've been on this Earth? That really is a lot, even for you," Cotoli chuckled. He got to his feet and stretched his arms above his head before flopping back down into his chair. "We should probably be getting back home soon. I don't think we should stick around here for too much longer given how late it is. We're going to have to come right back here tomorrow morning, and if we don't get any sleep, we're going to be in trouble. Yuri is never going to let us live it down. You know how she can get sometimes."

I laughed, nonverbally admitting that he had a point. I felt bad leaving my work halfway done, but if we stuck around, it would be a while before we got to bed. I slid the book, papers, and pen onto the nearby table and got to my feet. I didn't realize how tense my muscles were until I was standing, and I nearly stumbled back onto the couch. Cotoli saw me trip over my own feet, and he tilted his head to one side in silent concern and confusion. I brushed it off before plopping back down for a moment to give my legs time to recuperate before I headed for the door. Maybe I was more stressed out than I thought. I needed to do something to relax and forget about all this.

Suddenly, a small buzzing sound echoed throughout the room, and I was glad I was already sitting. If I hadn't been, I was sure that I would have been startled enough to nearly fall on the floor. Cotoli certainly seemed surprised by it, and he looked over to me with a raised eyebrow. "Did you happen to invite anybody to come by here tonight?" he asked. He had recognized the buzzing sound just as well as I did. It meant that somebody had entered the building. However, if I recalled correctly, we had locked down for the night a few hours ago.

I shook my head. "Why would I? If I wanted to hang out with somebody, I would either be going to their house or inviting them back to our apartment. We haven't needed to invite anybody over here since we lived here, but we moved out months ago," I reminded him with a frown. "I wonder who it could be."

Cotoli and I both headed for the elevator slowly. However, it opened before either one of us could press the button, and I jumped back in shock upon seeing a person. However, my nerves calmed significantly when I realized who it was.

"Neptune!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Neptune walked out of the elevator with a small smile. "Hey there, Chrysalis. I was looking for you. I went by your apartment, but nobody was there, and somebody walking in the hallway said that you guys hadn't come back from work yet, so... I figured I would come by and surprise you here," she replied.

"How did you know for sure that we would still be here? What if we had left?" I asked.

"I know you, Chrysalis. When you get focused on something, you tend to abandon all sense of awareness for the rest of the world. It wouldn't surprise me if your brother was the same way," Neptune answered with a shrug. "Anyways, I wanted to say congratulations on the results from the recent trial. I wish I had been able to come and watch, but I was a bit busy with an extra case of my own. It was nothing serious, but it popped up at the perfect time to keep me from viewing the trial from the gallery."

"That's alright. It's been a while since we were able to talk like this, so it's nice to see you again," I smiled. "Did you hear about what happened at the trial at all? I don't know how fast the information has traveled, and I haven't exactly felt up to looking it up online."

"I heard about it from a friend of mine. He's really good at getting his hands on information like that, and he told me all about it when he heard I was curious. He's an Interpol agent, X. Perhaps you heard of him while your agency was investigating the kidnapping case at Interpol last year," Neptune told us.

"Yeah. Sure," I said simply, knowing that she was already fully aware of the truth. She had figured everything out on her own, and she didn't seem like she was going to let me live it down anytime soon. Maybe that was her role as my quirky best friend. I had no idea what her motive was, but I wasn't going to ask about it either. Trying to wrestle an answer like that out of Neptune would take far more effort than it was worth.

"You seem tense," Neptune commented, walking around to stand behind me. She pulled me into a loose hug from behind, and I sunk into it. Since it had been so long since we were last able to have a relaxing chat like this, it had been ages since I experienced one of her famous Neptune hugs. They were just as comforting and lovely as I remembered.

"Well, if we're talking about the Interpol kidnapping case already, then there's something I should be telling you," I began simply. "Let's just say that there's been a development since we last spoke."

"A development? Sounds fancy," Neptune snorted, releasing me from the embrace. "What sort of development are we talking about here?"

"It's one that you'll probably be very familiar with. After all, you were able to figure out a lot about this given subject on your own," Cotoli replied. After he heard I was comfortable with telling Neptune about what we had told Victoria, he hopped right on board. He really is the most supportive brother in the world, and nothing anybody says could ever convince me otherwise.

"Oh? Do explain then," Neptune said simply.

"We told our newest employee here at the agency all that we know," I answered simply. She was smart enough to put the pieces together, so there was no reason to go into detail. If Neptune was sharp enough to figure out that I was the leader of the Oracle project on her own, she would be able to figure this out too. After all, she was loosely aware of the subject we were discussing, and that was all she needed to be in order for my point to fully go across. Why dig deeper when there really wasn't a need to do so?

"I see," Neptune nodded. "Well, you must trust her a lot if you gave her all that information so soon after what happened in the trial today... I heard about all the gruesome details. Cormous Arme was really Marcus Moore. I must tell you, X was not happy to hear about that. He's never been fond of people who fall in with assassins like that, and hearing about this really boiled his blood."

"I hope that he gets to feeling better about it soon. The man is dead now, so there's nothing we can do about him. Besides, we can't change the past in the first place. It would be best to just let it go and move on," I advised her.

"Good to know that you feel the same way about this that I do," Neptune remarked. "I'm going to talk to him after I get back home. For now, I have to wonder... What are you going to be doing from here? A lot has happened as of late, and I imagine that you're feeling rather strange about all of this."

"Feeling strange about all of this? That's probably putting it lightly, but I definitely understand what you're saying," Cotoli commented, letting out a nervous laugh. "To be honest, we hadn't really thought much about it. I guess we're just going to take it one day at a time. After what happened with Cormous being an assassin, I think we'll be taking a break from hiring new lawyers to work here at the agency. We don't want this incident to repeat itself."

"I understand that fully. Anyone would want to take a step back after something this rough," Neptune agreed. "Well, whatever you decide to do, I'll be looking forward to hearing about it. You know how to make good decisions for the agency, and I'm excited to see what you choose to do from here."

"Thanks for dropping by to check on us, Neptune. I think I really needed some casual conversation after all that's been happening recently. It feels like I haven't relaxed in months," I laughed. "I'm glad that Cormous has been taken care of. I don't think I could stand to see his face right now."

"No problem. I can't blame you for not wanting to see somebody like that... X told me after everything else that he wasn't sure if there was even a concrete list of the crimes the killer from the case committed," Neptune remarked with a small frown. "That's crazy to hear about, huh? I mean, he must have gotten up to a lot of awful things, and the number is so high that there isn't even an official list outside of assassin records."

"Who even knows if they have official records? They could be keeping all information in their heads to make sure that none of it gets out, and if that's the case, we may never find out all that he has done," Cotoli sighed. "However, I doubt this is going to be our last encounter with the Emsthorpe crime ring, as much as I hate to say it. Part of me believes that Cormous appearing... It was just a sign of something bigger to come."

"If that is the case, I feel like we'll be able to figure out more about him in the future. Either way, I think it's the perfect time to forget about all that's happened as of late. We can deal with it later when the time comes," I suggested. A yawn forced its way from my lips, and I stretched one arm high above my head. "Besides, it's getting late. I think I want to go back home and sleep after all that's happening. Who knew that dealing with elaborate murder cases and rogue assassins could be so exhausting?"

Neptune laughed. "I suppose it comes with the territory even though I never expected you to need to deal with that issue," she told me before pausing to think for a moment. "Okay, I really should have seen it coming. I mean, we all know how the Interpol case turned out. The culprits were assassins who didn't seem to care in the slightest that there were people trying to track them down. Honestly, we should be more surprised that this didn't happen sooner."

"I guess all we can do now is be extra careful about who we hire. If you ask me, we should only bring people in here if we've known them for a long time and trust them with everything we are," Cotoli suggested. "I think that would be a solid decision should we ever choose to bring more people on board."

"I don't know if we ever will, to be honest. Maybe I've been put off it forever because of how this turned out," I huffed. "If we do though, only bringing in people that we've known for a long time sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone who fits the bill. I guess that we'll have to keep our agency to its current size. How tragic. I guess we'll have to wait a while before we bring anybody else into our messy little family. Isn't that unfortunate?"

Neptune snorted. "You sure can be transparent, you know that?" she commented.

"Transparent? Me? I am not. If I was, would we really be standing here right now?" I asked.

"You're transparent enough that I was able to figure you out," Neptune reminded me. "I'm really good at seeing through you."

"Do you feel the need to point this out every single time we meet?" I groaned, shaking my head. "I know that you can see through me like I'm made of glass, but you don't need to remind me each time. Besides, you're the only one that trend applies to. Nobody else has ever been able to figure this out on their own."

"That's not true at all," Neptune said. "You surely remember Jackson Blocker. Oh, and there was the woman who works at your agency too. Deirdre, right?"

"I don't think we're talking about Jackson Blocker or Deirdre right now," I told her with a playful pout.

"You're ridiculous," Neptune sighed, letting out a laugh. "Well, we should be heading out now. You were right when you said that it was late, and I don't want to keep either one of you from sleeping. I'm glad I was able to see you. Until we meet again, Morix crew."

I waved to Neptune as she headed for the elevator once again. "I'll see you later, Neptune!" I exclaimed. She waved in response as the elevator doors slid shut, and I heard the gentle hum to indicate that she was heading down for the lobby a few seconds later.

"It was nice to see her again after all this time," Cotoli remarked. "It's been a while since we were last able to see her in such a casual environment."

"I agree... Now that we're finished talking to her, I think it's time to go back home. I'm exhausted, and I think I'm going to sleep for about fifteen hours now that all of this is over. I'll need to make up for lost time that I missed since I was too busy stressing out over a million different things involving Cormous," I said. Another yawn forced itself from my lips, and I shuffled over to the elevator before poking at the button. The elevator let out a dinging sound before the doors opened.

Cotoli wrapped one arm around my shoulders once we were inside, and I leaned against his lanky torso. "I'm proud of you for all that you've done lately. You know that?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah... I guess I do," I murmured. "We've had to deal with so much lately... Secrets beneath secrets... All of that stuff, but... We came out on top, and I think that's what matters most at the end of the day."

"I feel the same," Cotoli replied. "Now, let's get you to bed. You're falling asleep on me now."

"Am not," I said, my voice muffled slightly by his suit jacket.

Cotoli laughed, and the elevator doors opened once again. "Sure you're not." We stepped outside into the crisp night air before walking to the car.

Everything was finally over, and I was so damn relieved it was.

May 31

Unknown Location

Unknown Time

Unknown Perspective

It was late at night and quiet, almost too much so. The other two people in the apartment were sound asleep and had been for a while, but I remained awake and staring up at the ceiling. I couldn't find slumber no matter how hard or long I searched for it. I was starting to get a bit frustrated, seeing now that I wasn't going to be resting much that night. A sigh just above a whisper left my lips, and I slowly removed the blankets from my body as I got to my feet.

I was careful not to wake my girlfriend as I snuck out into the living room of our apartment. I made sure the door to our room was closed, thanking the universe for not making the hinges squeak. The other room had a closed door as well, and I sighed in relief before sitting down on the couch and picking up the remote.

I already knew that I had watched everything there was to see about the case that had just taken place, and yet, I still found myself searching for it online before watching the video play back again and again in the quiet darkness of the house. I had heard all of this at least five times already that day, but I listened to it over and over as if it would provide me with some new information it hadn't given me in the past.

That day, the truth behind an assassin from the Emsthorpe group had been revealed. He had died a while ago when an unnamed person figured out the truth behind his dark intentions and stabbed him before he could try to blow up the Prosecutor's Office. I was glad that meant one less horrible person was out prowling the streets looking for their next victim, to put it simply.

I didn't know all that much about the Emsthorpe crime ring when compared to another assassin group. I was aware that the Emsthorpe ring existed, but I really couldn't say all that much more on the matter. After all, I hadn't ever bothered to get too deep into investigating their affairs since I didn't think there was much of a point. It hadn't ever impacted my life that heavily, and I didn't want to put myself or the people I cared about at risk because of my curiosity. It simply wasn't worth it in the long run.

After the TV report ended once again, I dropped the remote again onto the cushion beside me and looked down at the floor. I wanted to know more about these lawyers who had accomplished so much in such a short span of time. There were so many mysteries hiding behind the scenes, and I wanted to find answers to all my questions.

However, I knew that there was no way for me to go out and find the answers that I so desperately wanted without going straight into danger. There was a reason I had taken a backseat for so long. I couldn't risk getting too close without something bad happening, and I refused to drag all of them into something that wouldn't end well for them. It was a lonely existence, but it was still one I would be satisfied with if it kept others from harm. Besides, I was no longer as alone as I once had been. Now, I had two other people to call family, and they treated me with all the respect in the world.

Well, they were my third family technically.

My first family had died years before because of my damn curiosity. Maybe that was one reason that I wanted to keep my distance so desperately. I didn't want to drag anybody else into the hell that my birth parents had experienced during their last days. I didn't want any potential siblings of mine to be tortured until their bodies could no longer take the stress.

My second family was one that I left behind willingly. My mere existence was a threat to them. Even if the people who had once stood as terrifying and evil had fallen, I was going to be careful above all else, and that meant keeping my distance. I wanted to go back to them more than anything else in the world, but they knew too much.

They were still alive for the most part, and I loved them more than I could ever hope to describe. It was because I loved them so much that I kept my distance to such a degree. I didn't want them to get hurt along the way because I was around. From a technical standpoint, the threat that once kept me from seeing them had been eliminated a while ago, but why take chances? It was because of my own caution that I was still hidden from them, and while it pained me to keep myself masked in the shadows, I refused to put them at risk for my own selfish desires of family and companionship.

The only reason I hadn't been forced to run away from my girlfriend and her mother was because I hadn't told them the full truth. I kept as much to myself as I possibly could to ensure that they weren't drowned into hell the way I had been so many years ago. It was for their own good, and I wasn't going to put them in danger either. It was because of me that so many people had suffered and died, and I wasn't going to let them be next. I would die before I let something that cruel and twisted happen.

I picked up the remote and pointed it at the TV, ready to watch the video summarizing the case one more time. I knew nothing new would come of it, but I found myself wanting to do it all over again. I would do anything to grasp onto even the slightest hint of new information that would lead me somewhere towards them. I couldn't get too close, but I was still satisfied to watch from a distance.

Instead of letting my finger hit the play button once again, I set the remote down and leaned back, my head against the backrest of the couch. I stared up at the ceiling before letting my eyes flutter shut. This sure was a miserable life I lived, and I didn't know if it would ever get better. I prayed that it did, but at the same time, I was starting to have doubts. All I wanted was to go back to my family again, selfish as it was to dream of, even though I couldn't do such a thing.

I felt tears forming in my eyes, and before I knew what I was doing, I was standing up, my hands clenching into fists at either side of me. I stared ahead blankly at the space just ahead of the TV, and a few words left my lips, just barely loud enough for me to hear them in the deafening darkness.

"I'm going to find my way back to you," I whispered. "I won't let the past keep me away forever... I will return one day... Soon."

TURNABOUT BELOW

END


And there's the end of the main story! The epilogue and character profiles will be coming soon. We're getting closer to the next book at last!

-Digital