July 28

Gather Law Headquarters

12:15 PM

Pieter Fury

"And that's... That's what happened."

For a long time, all me and Lily could do was just stare at Sky in vague horror to try and fill the silence. It wasn't going to be enough, and we knew it, but we at least wanted to offer Sky some sort of assurance that he wasn't alone. If only I knew how to do something like that when I felt like my insides had been turned inside out and then turned to a knot. All of this was making me want to be sick, but I did nothing to pull away from either one of my coworkers, instead just staring ahead blankly.

Sky hesitated for a moment before sighing. "I don't want Felicity to know about this," he admitted. "I know I keep saying that, but... She repressed her memories of what happened, and I'm not going to be the one who ruins that for her. She's been having a difficult time lately, and this... I feel like it would only serve to make her feel worse. I can't do that to her after everything that's already happened. I know that the truth is bound to come out sooner or later, but..."

"You don't want to tell her until you think the time is right," Lily finished, and Sky nodded his agreement. "If you don't mind my asking, when exactly do you think the right time is going to end up being? I mean, you've been worried about this for ages, so..."

"I have no idea," Sky admitted. He let out a self-deprecating laugh before shaking his head and looking down at the ground below. "Ever since the murder case at the Council of Six Headquarters, she's been getting closer to finding the truth. She doesn't know that's what's happening, but I do. She forgot it for a reason though. She didn't need to remember this. It was too awful for a person to know about consciously, so she sealed it away. I can't let her remember as long as it would be my fault. She hid that because she knew she would only be able to function if the truth was out of her reach. I know what happened. I wish that was enough."

"I wish I could say that this was a good idea," Lily admitted. "I mean, I understand why you don't want her to find out. It already hurt her enough in the past, and you're scared of that happening again. Still... If she's as close to figuring it out as we all know she is, then maybe it would be for the best if we just went on and told her about it. I mean, wouldn't you rather she hear it from a source of people who can help her through it? She shouldn't be dumped off to deal with this alone."

"We have a psychology specialist at the office too," I pointed out. Victoria had spoken highly of Deirdre many times over her years at the agency, and even if I hadn't been able to spend much time with her, I was sure that her work was something to be trusted. Victoria had said that Deirdre had helped her with anxiety when she got worked up before any trial, and it always seemed to help her to relax again in a matter of minutes. I was sure that Deirdre would be able to help Sky out too, though that involved Sky actually wanting the help that she could offer him.

"I... I know," Sky sighed. He looked off to the side before shaking his head. "I'm going to think about it more after this case. For the time being, I don't know what I want to do. I just... I know that this isn't the time for me to get too deep into all of this. We have a case to investigate right now, and it wouldn't be right for me to get distracted when there's so much at stake."

I nodded slowly, though I knew there was much more to it than that. Sky was afraid of us having to talk about the main thing that had haunted him all these years. Even after sharing the truth of his anxieties, he was still embarrassed about bringing it up. He had nothing to be ashamed of, but given the fact that he had been hiding this for years, I couldn't say I was particularly surprised. Of course he would be nervous about something like this. I just wished I knew what to do to help him.

"I guess we should get back to that case then," Lily remarked with a loose shrug and a shake of her head. "I really wish that we could keep talking about this until Sky felt comfortable enough to tell Felicity about it, but I know that's just going to eat into valuable time that we really don't have. We should get back to the scene of the crime to see what we can find."

"Yeah. Lily's right," Sky said, jumping on the chance to escape this conversation as soon as he saw it. "I think we should head back. For all we know, the rest of the group is already back here, and that means we can talk to them about everything else they've managed to find while we've been distracted. I'm sure they would be happy to tell us everything they've been working toward."

"Then let's do it," I murmured. I looked at Sky anxiously for a brief moment, but he didn't return my gaze. I couldn't tell if he was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice me staring at him or if he just didn't want to admit that he knew I was watching. Either way, he didn't look at me at all, and I averted my gaze after a few heavy seconds before turning my attention to the door. It was time to get going, and I didn't want to hold it off any longer than we already had.

The walk back to the crime scene was a simple one, and I found that the endless hallways and tall ceilings of Gather Law were starting to make sense to me. It was a slower process than I would have liked, but this place was starting to feel a bit more... Familiar. I could only hope that perhaps I would be able to show off that knowledge another time when I wasn't as worried about investigating a murder.

That was the other thing that had me worked up at this point. If Neptune was right about all of this-and I knew better than to believe that she wasn't right about it-then that meant that an assassin was waiting for us somewhere around the bend. I couldn't seem to calm my nerves about it either, and I could certainly sympathize with Sky's worry about everything that had happened. We deserved better than this, but instead, all we could do was shuffle our feet as we pushed on through the investigation of a case we barely understood at all.

When we arrived back at the file room, I pushed the door open slowly. I noticed Sora approaching somebody who appeared to be wearing the same formal clothing as everybody else who worked at the company. She was looking through the files quietly, though her eyes were filled with something like desperation and hunger. I immediately had an awful feeling about her presence here, and my mind was sent back to the notes we had gathered from Prosecutor Cruz back when he had been on trial. The main Emsthorpe assassins were the daughters of the leader of the ring. I knew I couldn't just immediately assume that every woman I didn't know had something to do with him, but I was still nervous given the context and what had happened in the trial.

"Excuse me," Sora began as she walked carefully toward the woman. "Would you mind telling me what it is you're doing here? This area is off limits for the time being. I believe you've already heard about this, but a murder took place in this room, and throughout the rest of the investigation, we need to have all unrelated parties wait outside."

"I'm here to work," the woman said, her eyes slowly sweeping across Sora's body from head to toe. When Sora tilted her head in confusion and poorly hidden rage, the woman instead shifted her attention past Sora to where Prosecutor Wood was standing. Prosecutor Wood looked down at the ground a moment later, her eyes wide like she had been trapped on the spot. She didn't move an inch from where she stood by the door, blinking a few times from her place between Prosecutor Kalles, Neptune, and Clarith.

"Would you mind telling us your name then?" Detective Erikson asked, and I realized that he and Detective Umber had been standing nearby and examining cabinets of files for themselves. They still had a long way to go before they would be able to say that they had looked through all the shelves, but at least they were making progress. Given what had happened during the trial, I was willing to consider that a positive at the end of the day.

"My name? It's Mattie Grange," the woman replied. She narrowed her eyes at Detective Erikson before shaking her head. "I would have thought that you would have heard about this by now. We have to help you with figuring out what files are missing. I'm here to pitch in on that effort."

"I somehow doubt it's as easy as that," Detective Umber frowned. "Most of the others who were supposed to help us are only supposed to come by later after we've fully cordoned off the crime scene. This is going to be a massive team effort, but there's only so much we can do right now as long as everybody could walk into the murder scene."

Ms. Grange shook her head. "I suppose I didn't get the memo and arrived early then," she commented. "Either way, it doesn't matter much. I'm here to help you with figuring out what files are gone, and if you want me to help you, then I would ask that you tell me what you think we should be looking for."

"Hold on a moment," Sora cut in. "I would like to hear what you know about the crime before we get into anything like that. Were you here at the building when the murder took place yesterday? Any information you could provide us would be helpful."

Ms. Grange shrugged. "I don't have anything that could help you," she said simply. "I was here, but I was doing my regular work. There's nothing that could change your case in my testimony."

Neptune narrowed her eyes at Ms. Grange, but she said nothing, instead just grabbing Prosecutor Kalles' arm to get her attention. For a moment, Prosecutor Kalles' regular calm demeanor shattered, and she looked over to Neptune for a split second to ask what was wrong. Before she could get the words out though, Neptune leaned down and started to whisper in her ear, and I realized just how stark the height difference between the two of them was. Prosecutor Kalles didn't seem to mind it though, instead just nodding along to what she was hearing. When she decided that she was satisfied, she approached Sora and said something under her breath to the other prosecutor. Sora hummed at that and immediately backed off, taking a step away from Ms. Grange. I had no idea what they had talked about, but I could say with certainty that we were going to hear about it soon enough.

"What are you whispering about?" Ms. Grange questioned, her eyes narrowing at the prosecutors and other witnesses. "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but you're not going to be able to pull it off. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get back to my work. Unless you would rather that you not know what the culprit took before the trial tomorrow, you shouldn't bother with disturbing me."

"Of course," Prosecutor Kalles agreed with a nod. She bowed carefully, a smooth and sweeping motion that immediately had Ms. Grange smiling to herself. When Ms. Grange turned back to the file cabinets, Prosecutor Kalles shifted her focus back to the rest of us. "I'm glad to see that you're all here. We've found something that we believe you could find helpful for the trial tomorrow."

I glanced to Lily and Sky, my eyes going wide. I was certainly glad there was something here that would be able to change this case for us, especially since we had seen more than enough agony over the course of the last day or so. "Is it...?" I began, knowing I wouldn't need to bother with finishing my statement.

"Proof? Yes," Prosecutor Kalles replied. She gestured for us to follow her past Ms. Grange and over to the door to the room. Ms. Grange easily moved locations, finding another bookshelf and starting to sift through it. Her method of searching was starkly different from what Detective Erikson and Detective Umber were doing, but I didn't call her out on it. That would have taken too much effort, and if Ms. Grange was what I was starting to think she was... Then I didn't want to chance it to begin with.

Neptune gestured to the wall beside her before pressing her hands on her hips. "And there you have it," she declared. "We have proof of somebody having been here at the time of the crime."

It took me a moment to figure out what she was pointing to, but once I noticed it, my eye went wide as could be. There was a small splattering of dried blood against the wall behind the door. Whoever the criminal was, they had done an admirable job of keeping the blood out of the world's general line of sight. There was so little blood left behind that I knew for a fact I wouldn't have noticed it without getting this close. No wonder nobody had figured out that it was there before now.

"I suppose that's it then," Sky murmured. He sighed and shook his head. "Do we have any idea how it could have gotten here? I mean, it's pretty obvious that the criminal hid behind here, but... Who was behind that?"

"We're still unsure of that, but we're going to figure it out one way or another," Sora replied. She shrugged and looked past my shoulder at Ms. Grange, but she said nothing openly antagonistic about the woman in question. "For the time being, we're on the right path to figuring everything out."

"I think we should leave her alone," Neptune hissed to me and the rest of the defense team. "If we're going to confront her, we need it to be in the courtroom when she won't be able to get away... And we also need it to be when we know that we're going to be safe."

"We're not going to be safe," Sky whispered before he could hold himself back. His face flushed when he realized that he had said that out loud, but he didn't acknowledge it before continuing to speak. "No matter what we try, the Emsthorpe assassins are going to try and push back against us. It's not going to be easy for us to potentially arrest one of their own when they've always got a failsafe in place. You've seen how it ends every time we try to confront them in court."

I winced, wishing with everything I had that I didn't need to admit that he had a point. It seemed to happen each time we had a run-in with the Emsthorpe family. They were going to be ready to face us when we took this to the courtroom. It didn't matter what we did. Still, we had to save Buddy... We were lucky they hadn't turned to violence and tried to kill people in their attempts to escape. It was a small mercy given everything else they had already put us through, but at the same time, it was a mercy that shouldn't have been a concern to begin with. The more I thought about all of this, the worse it made me feel.

"We'll figure something out," Neptune assured us with a shake of her head. "I'll do what I can to talk to KJ about getting increased security for this trial. It's not like that's done much for the last few trials where this has happened, but..."

"We can take every advantage we can get," Lily finished, and Neptune nodded her agreement. Lily faltered at the mention of KJ though. "I am a bit worried about you talking to KJ, I must confess... You seemed awfully nervous around him earlier today when you talked."

Neptune's face went pink and hot at the realization that somebody had actually seen her encounter with him. "Ah... That," she said bluntly, and I could tell that she wanted nothing to do with this entire conversation even though it had just started. "Well, I'm going to have to talk to him about it eventually. I mean, unless I want to pass this off to Clarith or something..." She shot the white-haired girl a look of desperation, but Clarith just shook her head, refusing to rise to the bait. Neptune groaned and shook her head, having seen this coming but still not liking it.

"I guess we're just going to have to wait and see what potential benefits that brings us then," I murmured before turning my attention back to Neptune. "I hope this isn't too invasive, but... what exactly is your situation with him? Have you two ever met before? He seemed awfully nervous around you when you talked before..."

"It's nothing," Neptune said quickly, and I could already tell that this was much greater than she wanted me to know. "It doesn't matter. I should go off and try to talk to him anyway. We can talk about this later on. I'll see you later."

Neptune was gone before anybody could ask any questions about it, and Lily pinched at the bridge of her nose. "Is she always... This excitable?" she asked of Clarith even though she already knew the answer. She had seen quite a bit of experience working with Neptune over the years, and she should have known this was out of character. Still, there was no harm in turning to the person who would know her best at the end of the day.

Clarith hesitated before shrugging. "She doesn't really want people to know about it," she said simply. "I wish I could say something else that would make it seem a bit more rational, but... I really don't think there's anything that can be said. She's just kind of... Having a bad day, I suppose." She shot us a lopsided smile, and that was all I needed to see to know that this was a lot more than just Neptune having an offbeat day. I didn't know what it really was or what we were going to do about it, but at least I was certain something was wrong. Maybe I would be able to get Chrysalis to talk to her when the time came...

Before I could even think of pulling out my phone to text something to Chrysalis about speaking with Neptune, I was cut off by a gentle knock at the door. Well, to be more accurate, it had come from the frame beside the door, and when I looked up, I realized Mr. Wood was standing in the entryway to the file room. Sky immediately looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and he looked away in desperation to make sure he wasn't caught. We all went quiet for a long time, and I wished I had something to say that would make this even a little bit less awkward.

"My apologies for interrupting," Mr. Wood said. "I was hoping I would be able to talk to our littlest prosecutor for a short while. The rest of the family would love to speak with her before the trial begins."

Prosecutor Wood's eyes went wide as soon as she was mentioned, and she shook her head before rubbing her hands at the air desperately. "I-I think we should wait until after the trial ends!" she exclaimed. "There's a lot going on right now, and I don't want to get distracted when there's still so much to do!"

Mr. Wood watched her for a moment, and I knew that he had figured out the same thing the rest of us knew. It was impressive just how fiercely Prosecutor Wood's evasion of the Emsthorpe family was competing with her avoidance of her own family. She couldn't seem to decide which one she wanted to avoid talking about more, instead just giving the world a smile so fake it was like a stab to the chest. She was right about it being for the best if she waited to talk to her family until after all of this was over though. That much I would always agree with.

"I see," Mr. Wood said simply. He turned on his heel a moment later, glancing over his shoulder along the way. "I look forward to hearing something more from you after the trial then. Until then, good luck."

He was gone as soon as he had appeared, and I stared at the place where he had been a few moments prior. Prosecutor Wood pressed her face into her hands, groaning and shaking her head before she pulled herself back together by force. "Whatever. Let's just keep investigating," she declared. "We have more important things to do."

I glanced back to where Ms. Grange was positioned elsewhere in the room, and I narrowed my eye at her. I didn't know what she was getting at, but I had an awful feeling about it. Talking to her now or in the courtroom... It didn't really matter that much, did it? She was going to put everybody in danger either way. That was how the Emsthorpe family operated. This was just another piece of their grand and terrifying operations.

We couldn't let that hold us down though. We still had a case to solve no matter how much I wanted to turn tail and run. I let out a sigh and shook my head at the thought. After the trial tomorrow, I never wanted to think about the Emsthorpe family ever again. I had seen more than enough of them, and I was hoping we never had to hear that name once all of this was over. It was wishful thinking, yes, but it was the best I could get my hands on at this point.

When did life get to be this messed up? How could I fix it? I was getting desperate.

July 29

Defendant Lobby No. 5

9:35 AM

Lily Sky

As it turned out, the atmosphere the following morning was somehow even more stiff and tense than it had been over the course of the last few days. Sky was pacing the length of the defendant lobby quickly, turning around each time he almost hit a wall. He wasn't thinking about the case though, and all of us knew it. He was much more concentrated on the fact that we were being pinned down by the Emsthorpe assassins. He was afraid that Pieter and I were going to share his secret even though he knew realistically that we would never do something like that. I couldn't say I blamed him. Anxieties were running high, so it only made sense that he would be exhausted and jumping to conclusions like this.

Aside from Sky, it seemed like our other secret keeper was doing at least a little bit better, at the very least. Neptune had talked to KJ about increased security, or at the very least, that was how it seemed when we got to the courthouse the following day. There were many more guards stationed around the area than I was used to, and I watched all of them carefully. I understood why they were here, though I couldn't tell if that made me feel better or worse about all of this. They were there to keep everybody safe, yes, but at the same time... I didn't like that they needed to be here at all. This was an awful situation all around, and I knew it.

"So... Are we close to having everything solved?"

Buddy's voice pulled me out of my silence, and I glanced up to see him watching me with nervous eyes. "I-I didn't exactly know for sure since only Clarith came by the detention center last night, and... Well..." He trailed off again a moment later, shaking his head. "Do you think everything is going to be fine today?"

"I'm sure it will be," I assured him even though I wasn't entirely sure how much I believed it. He needed to see somebody smiling if he was going to calm his nerves though, and I wasn't going to let Pieter and Sky be the ones to cheer him up. Neither one of them had felt particularly chipper about all of this since the case had begun, so the job fell to me.

"Alright... Good," Buddy murmured to himself. He nodded a few times before sitting down on the couch in the lobby, tense as could be and refusing to meet anybody's gaze. "Clarith said that Neptune was the one who gave us all this increased security."

"Yeah. She had to talk to one of the bailiffs about it," I explained. As if on cue, KJ came walking into the room, and I pointed to him with a lazy finger. "Speaking of a certain bailiff..."

"Hello, everyone," KJ greeted as he stepped closer, though I could tell he was hardly in the mood for any chipper explanations of the investigation. He was distracted, always watching something he couldn't quite identify. He couldn't focus on us no matter how hard he tried, and I could only wonder if it had something to do with Neptune. Given the circumstances, I was sure that I already knew the answer to that question. "Um... If you don't mind my asking, where's Neptune? I was under the impression she was going to be here today."

"She... I'm not sure, actually," Buddy replied with a shrug. "She should be here. Clarith told me they would both be here with the rest of the Wood family to watch the trial. I don't know where she could be though."

KJ deflated ever so slightly at that, but he did a good job of trying to hide it. "Yeah... I don't know either," he murmured. "Thanks for that though. I'm sure she'll turn up soon enough. She has to come." He gave us a weary smile that told me he didn't believe it in the slightest. He knew Neptune was avoiding him, and if I had to guess, he had at least some idea of the reason behind it too. I had no idea what was going through his head, but I could only assume he was beyond conflicted about it.

That was bound to be a question for another time though. KJ cleared his throat and pressed his arms together behind his back in a desperate attempt to distract himself. "I think we might want to head into the courtroom soon," he suggested. "I think everybody is just as anxious and eager as you are to get this trial finished. There's a lot on the line today... Or so Neptune made it sound. She didn't explain much of it to me though... Just asked that I secure extra security." He clenched his hands together into fists, and I hoped with everything I had that Neptune started to open up to him soon. If it wasn't for her sake, then it would be for his. He deserved better than to constantly work himself up over this.

"We'll figure it out," I told him with a smile. I shot an anxious glance over to Pieter and Sky, but neither one of them echoed my encouragement, both too caught up in their own thoughts to notice what was happening. I was a normally optimistic person, but I didn't like the fact that I had to carry the rest of my team so forcefully. Pieter was worried about the Emsthorpe assassins appearing during the trial, and Sky was still afraid of everything he had told us the day before. He was no doubt thinking about what he was going to do when he inevitably had to explain all of this to Felicity too. I wished there was something I could do to help them, but as things currently stood, all I could do was try to help them until this trial was over.

"Yeah... Thanks," KJ murmured with a loose nod, though I wasn't entirely sure how much he believed me. He stared off to the entrance of the courtroom before nodding and starting to walk toward the door. "I'll be looking forward to seeing what happens when the trial kicks off. I'll see you soon."

Once KJ was gone, I glanced over to the other people in the lobby. They all deserved better than this, but if they were too anxious to see it, then I would be the one to pull everything together. I didn't like that I was being put in this position, but it was the best I could give them. "Alright," I declared. "Let's get down to business."

When we walked into the courtroom at last, it felt as if I was being dragged to my doom. Nobody wanted to be there, and that only made me more nervous. I couldn't blame them for being afraid, but at the same time, I just wanted all of this to end already. This was exhausting, and we all needed a break from the chaos.

Please let this trial go well... I'm begging you.

i am very tired

-Digital