Morix: Chains of Justice Past Chapter 3: Turnabout Repetition, Part 3, a phoenix wright: ace attorney fanfic

February 10

Defendant Lobby No. 1

11:15 AM

Felicity Amaya

Arriving out in the defendant lobby was like taking a breath of fresh air after the stress that had been shoved down on all of us from the moment this case started. I couldn't help sighing with relief, and I turned to face Mr. Morix and Deirdre along the way. "Prosecutor Daegana really isn't going easy on us this time around, huh?" I asked simply.

"I don't think he ever would go easy even if we asked," Mr. Morix commented with a shake of his head. "He pursues the truth above all else, but he can be fiercely competitive. Ever since he moved in with me, Polly, and Anton, he's been hoping to prove himself against me in court. Given how much of a fight he's putting up, I would say that he's well on his way to that already."

"I'm inclined to agree," Deirdre murmured. She glanced up to the door leading to the courtroom a moment later, a frown on her face. "However, I believe there are much more pressing matters for us to discuss at the moment."

Judge Diaphan walked out of the courtroom a few seconds later, and she approached us carefully. She seemed to be able to tell that we were going to be asking her about a heavier subject, and she was preparing herself accordingly. "You've been doing a fine job in the trial thus far. I see that I was right to place my defense in your hands," she started.

"We're just doing our jobs," Mr. Morix told her, though I could tell that there were just as many questions on his mind as with Deirdre. She was simply going to be the one to say something about it openly.

"Now that we've been given a break from the courtroom though... I have a few questions for you," Deirdre said, quickly changing the subject to accommodate for our lack of time to prepare for the next segment of the trial.

Judge Diaphan didn't seem particularly surprised by this, and she simply nodded in response. "What is it you wish to know?" she questioned.

"There was another case much like this one that took place in the Council of Six headquarters a few years ago," Deirdre began. "You're a member of the Council of Six, so that means that if anybody is going to be able to answer our questions, it would be you. Would you be willing to share everything you know with us? Given the similar circumstances, I have no doubt that the past case will be incredibly important to our current courtroom endeavors."

Judge Diaphan hesitated for a long moment, though I knew that she had been expecting this the second she walked out into the defendant's lobby. "If you wish to know, I would be happy to share," she replied carefully. "However, I must ask that you keep this as quiet as possible. After all, this is one subject that would be best kept far away from the eyes of the public and the media."

"Of course," Mr. Morix assured her with a nod. "We'll keep it between ourselves and tell it to nobody unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Perfect," Judge Diaphan whispered. She took in a careful breath before continuing. "It was a few years ago now... Four years or so, I believe. At the time, the leader of the Council of Six was its original founder, Robin Wood. He was a powerful judge who looked over some of the most important of cases, and most people within the legal world knew his name to some degree or another. He founded the Council of Six because he had noticed how corrupt the legal system could be, and he wanted to do something to change that. The best way he thought he could help involved creating an elite group of judges who could be trusted to handle all matters as delicately as possible. He was the leader of the company... But in the end, that was his greatest weakness."

"That was why he was killed, wasn't it?" I asked softly. It seemed obvious given the way that she was talking, but I still found myself shifting anxiously on the spot at the mere concept.

Judge Diaphan nodded. "As a matter of fact, it was," she answered simply. "He was murdered in his office, and a simple stab to the chest claimed his life four years ago. The killer was never caught, but... That's not all there was to the situation. It was much more complicated than one might have expected because... There was a witness."

"A witness?" Mr. Morix echoed. "I heard a few vague facts about this case, but I didn't uncover anything about there being another witness to the crime."

"That would be because it was kept as quiet as possible for the sake of her protection," Judge Diaphan replied. "Robin Wood was in his office one day, and he was planning on meeting with someone who he had not seen in a great many years... His daughter, Niamh Wood."

"Wood..." Deirdre muttered, something about her voice growing dark. "As soon as I heard that name, I knew that there had to be some kind of connection between the two. I'm sad to say that I was right."

"Back when Niamh was still a child, a grave series of incidents took place. It was roughly fourteen years ago now, give or take. A group of assassins claimed the lives of many important legal figures, and one of them was Robin's wife, Alianna. It was their way of trying to defeat the Council of Six, but Robin would not be stopped. Instead, he sent his daughter away to ensure that no harm befell her. The day that Robin was murdered, he was set to his child for the first time in over a decade. She was set to come here to meet with him in the safest place he knew... But it was far from being the haven he expected," Judge Diaphan went on, her expression seeming to fall into something mournful.

"He was killed, and Niamh Wood was a witness to the incident," Mr. Morix concluded.

"It was a bloody crime, to put it simply. Robin was stabbed in the chest, and Niamh suffered a severe cut over half her face, permanently blinding her in one eye and leaving her incredibly weak. She doesn't know who the assailant was even all this time later, and so, the case was left unsolved," Judge Diaphan explained. "Nobody knows who killed Robin Wood or attacked his daughter, but now... A mirror of that crime has occurred. Another member of the Council of Six was killed in his office by a stab to the chest, the same way that Robin was killed."

"What can you tell us about this case and the events that led up to it?" I asked. "I know that you're trying to move fast, but... I think that we need to know everything that you'll be able to tell us if we want to find the truth."

Judge Diaphan hesitated before sighing. "Fourteen years ago, there was a sudden eruption of crime against people within legal professions. Each day for about two weeks, another servant of the law was murdered. The final victim was Alianna Wood, the wife to the leader and founder of the Council of Six. The assassins were confirmed then to be part of a group run by the Emsthorpe family. As long as anyone can remember, they've held a grudge against the legal system, and they took it out on anybody they could get their hands on. Alianna was one victim of many, and Robin refused to let anything happen to his daughter. Niamh was just a toddler at the time, so he sent her away to live with other relatives and retreated into the shadows to ensure that nobody would pursue either one of them into an early grave.

"He stayed hidden for a long time after that to try and keep himself and his family safe. He operated quietly from a distance, and he worked to lead the Council of Six in a way that wouldn't paint a target on anybody else's back. Unfortunately, the Emsthorpe assassins found him, and it didn't take long for them to murder him in cold blood and attack his daughter as well. Niamh never figured out what happened in full, though I'm glad that she's doing well now," Judge Diaphan continued with a shake of her head. "It was a tragedy through and through."

"I think I'm starting to understand a bit more now," Mr. Morix murmured. "I believe that Prosecutor Wood found herself in the hospital not long before Sora and Ghastly decided to take her in. That was probably why they chose to look after her in the first place. She had just been through something terrible, and they were hoping to help her. I don't know how much they know about the situation, but as far as I can tell, Polly is the one on this case with Elec and Anton because Ghastly was trying to keep Prosecutor Wood as far from the incident as possible in case it stirred up any unpleasant memories for her."

"I can't believe that it's all coming back together now," Deirdre remarked. "The Emsthorpe group... I suppose I never thought I would be hearing that name again, but it's not impossible to believe that times would change so significantly compared to how they were two years ago."

I tilted my head to the side in confusion at that. "Wait... Do you know anything about this?" I asked even though the answer was already clear as could be.

"About two years ago, we hired somebody else alongside Victoria... Someone who later turned out to be a spy sent by the Emsthorpe group to try and watch our actions. If I had to guess, they were curious about the cases that we had been taking on as of late and were hoping to make sure that we didn't get involved with anything that could have interfered with their plans. Unfortunately for them, their spy was killed before he could report back too much, and... Well, we hired you and Sky soon afterwards to fill the hole he left behind," Mr. Morix explained.

I thought about it for a long moment before nodding. "I see... In other words, this isn't your first time having a run-in with people like this," I muttered, though I couldn't tell if that was relieving or terrifying.

"Not much is known about the Emsthorpe group, I'm afraid. They have a grudge against the legal system and have been operating in shadows to try and bring everything to the ground for years, but that's the extent of what most people know, I'm afraid," Judge Diaphan told us with a shake of her head. She paused for a long moment before reaching up to her mask. "I even had an encounter with one of them a few years ago, not long after I joined the Council of Six, and... That would be why I wear this mask today."

My eyes went wide at that, and it took me at least ten seconds to get a grip on myself again after I heard that. "Wait... What?" I eventually squeaked out even though I knew those words were ultimately insufficient given the circumstances.

"Even with Robin out of the public eye, the Emsthorpe assassins still struck," Judge Diaphan remarked simply. "My father was a member of the Council of Six before I was, and he was killed by the assassins as far as I can tell. I stepped up to take his place as soon as I was old enough, and... I paid dearly for it." She reached up and removed the turquoise mask that had been sitting carefully on her face each time she went into public for years, and I felt like I was bearing witness to something almost forbidden.

The reason for the mask was clear as could be. A prominent scar could be seen across the top half of Judge Diaphan's face, finding a home just below her right eye and just above her right eye while bridging her nose along the way. The mask was her way of making sure that too many people didn't stare, though I couldn't help watching her now. I never expected that she would take off her mask in a situation like this, much less that she would be so heavily involved with assassins that seemed to be fueling the case at hand too.

"It was an attempt on my life, but the assassin was sloppy. I don't know who it was, but she seemed to be on the younger side... Newer to the business, less experienced than her forebears," Judge Diaphan explained as she pushed her mask back up the bridge of her nose. "They haven't targeted me since, and the security around the Council of Six began to increase. It's only grown stronger with the death of Robin a few years ago, and I doubt that we'll ever find true peace again until the Council of Six is completely disbanded."

"What are you planning on doing to fill the vacant slots?" I couldn't help asking. "I mean, you mentioned that the leader passed away years ago, and now, somebody else has died too. What are you going to do with the two holes that have been left behind by their deaths?"

"I don't know," Judge Diaphan admitted with a shake of her head. "It's been years since Robin died, but we still haven't found a new leader. We've been a group of five rather than six for quite some time, though we are now down to four. I don't know what we'll be doing about the other holes in the council, though I suppose that will have to become a discussion soon enough. We can't ignore the issue any longer given the fact that things are bad enough as it is. If the Emsthorpe assassins truly have returned, then we're all going to be in a world of trouble."

"Do you think that one of their members could have been responsible for this crime then?" Deirdre questioned carefully. "After all, if there's no notable motive for why someone would want to kill the victim, I can't help but wonder if perhaps it was a planned hit from someone who wants to bring the legal system to its knees."

"I think that it was one of them, but I have no proof yet. If all goes well, the truth will come out in the courtroom when the trial resumes," Judge Diaphan told us. She glanced over at the clock before sighing. "And it seems that the moment has arrived now. I thank you for listening to me... Though I would advise that you handle everything from here on out as carefully as possible. The last thing anyone wants is for you to stumble into danger unwittingly. The Emsthorpe assassins are some of the most dangerous people alive right now, and I would advise that you stay as far away from them as you can. You already had an encounter with them once and managed to survive, though I doubt that you'll be quite so lucky this time around."

Judge Diaphan turned and walked away wordlessly at that, and all I could do was stare at her as she left. I glanced over to Deirdre and Mr. Morix, hoping that at least one of them would have an idea of what to say or do next. As for me, I just felt glued to the spot with no way of escaping the strange sense of panic that had started to rise in my core.

"I need to talk to Ghastly after this case is over," Mr. Morix said before me or Deirdre could speak up about everything that we had just learned. "I would have expected the chief prosecutor to take on a high profile case like this, but... He had a feeling that the truth about that past case was going to come out. I'm sure of it. That's why he gave it to the one person who he could trust that wouldn't share it with Prosecutor Wood: Polly. As long as she was on the case with Elec and Anton, the secret would stay hidden since she doesn't talk with Prosecutor Wood all that much."

"And yet, it seems like the truth of the past isn't going to be hidden forever no matter how hard we try to bury it," Deirdre hummed before glancing back over to the door to the courtroom. "We can't wait around here any longer though. The rest of the trial is waiting for us, and so is our client. Let's go and see what else we can find out from that security guard."

I watched as the two of them walked away, and I hesitated for a long moment before following them. Something about the story that Judge Diaphan had told didn't feel right. I didn't know how to describe it, but... It hit a nerve in my mind that felt just... Wrong. I did my best to shake it off even though I couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly was bothering me so much to begin with.

Maybe I could talk to Sky about it later. For the time being though, I could tell that there was a lot more at play here than any of us could have ever imagined, and I had no idea what to think about any of it.

February 10

Defendant Lobby No. 1

11:35 AM

Deirdre Brigit

The gallery was still chattering by the time that Mr. Morix, Felicity, and I arrived back in the courtroom. Felicity seemed even more anxious than before, and she practically couldn't bring herself to stand still no matter how hard she tried. She swallowed back her anxiety to the best of her ability, but I could tell that none of this was working out the way she would have liked. I sighed silently at the sight, wishing there was something I could do to help her. She had been acting somewhat off ever since this trial started, and it was starting to bother me. What could have caused her to be so antsy all of a sudden? This was far from being the same Felicity that we knew and loved. Maybe I would be able to push it out of her after the trial was over...

"Court is back in session for the trial of Ophani Diaphan," came the voice of Judge Frost a moment later, and I was pulled away from my thoughts forcefully and back to the matter at hand. He set his gavel down off to the side a moment later. "I take it that the prosecution is prepared to call its next witness to the stand, yes?"

Prosecutor Burke nodded. "Of course," she said simply. She pointed to the stand, and Prosecutor Daegana's head turned to a bench where a single witness was sitting.

She approached the stand carefully, and I couldn't help frowning at the sight of her. Her hair was black and fell around her shoulders and upper back in gentle curls. Her eyes were piercing and yellow in a way that I never would have imagined was possible, though I expected this was because she was wearing colored contacts. She wore a uniform that I could only imagine matched what the guards of the Council of Six headquarters had to wear, and a pair of gloves covered her hands from view.

When I looked a bit closer, I realized that her gloves were a deep purple color, and my eyes went wide. I did my best to correct my shock though, and I cleared my throat before focusing once again on the matter at hand. We would be able to ask her about the color of her gloves soon enough, I was sure, but for now, we had to hear her testimony.

"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court," Prosecutor Daegana instructed firmly.

The woman smiled before saluting to us with all the energy in the world. "VarinBalanite! I'm a security guard currently working at the Council of Six headquarters," she explained. She let her arm fall back to her side a moment later, and I couldn't help feeling somewhat odd that she could be so chipper in a murder trial. Everything about her demeanor felt just barely wrong, like a picture frame that was tilted ever so slightly to the side. I did my best to figure out where the sensation of wrongness was coming from, but I couldn't seem to grasp onto any conclusive details no matter how hard I searched.

"You were the one who arrested the defendant, were you not?" Judge Frost questioned of Ms. Balanite.

"I was!" Ms. Balanite proclaimed proudly. "I was guarding the building that day, and I was approached by a small blonde boy who wanted me to help him look around the area. I led him inside, and we did what we could to figure out the information he was looking for. Though... We didn't wind up finding it. Instead, we uncovered the body, and... Well, you can see how things unfolded from there."

"You arrested the defendant when you saw her standing over the victim, and you had Mr. Devine call the police," Mr. Morix finished for her. He pulled his shoulders back before nodding. "Would you mind telling us about what happened when you first found the body and arrested the defendant?"

"Of course!" Ms. Balanite announced, and I found myself wincing at just how loud her voice was. "If that's what you want to hear, I would be more than happy to provide!"

Judge Frost nodded. "Then go right ahead, witness."

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ Discovering the Crime ~

-"That day, I was on guard duty outside the building, and everything seemed fairly normal."

-"Well, that was the case until I was approached by a young boy... Devine, you said his name was."

-"He wanted to go inside the building, and who was I to refuse him? I decided to escort him through the area as he did his research."

-"He wanted to talk to whoever from the Council of Six was in at the time, and we decided to start with the victim."

-"We couldn't find Judge Diaphan anywhere, so we made our target Judge Brooks instead since he would probably be easier to locate."

-"We were on the same floor as his office when the young boy smelled blood, and he ran up ahead to figure out what was happening."

-"When I got there, I saw the defendant standing over the body. I promptly arrested her and called for the boy to go and call the police."

-"And... That's about it. We just waited until the police got there after that, and nothing else of note happened."

I nodded slowly at her words and rolled the sentences over in my head a few times. "If you don't mind my asking... Why exactly did you decide to let Mr. Devine enter the scene of the crime?" I questioned. "I don't think it would have fit with your profession if you truly just let him enter the building without any protest. After all, he lacked the proper authorization to look around."

"He asked me really nicely," Ms. Balanite told me with a shrug. "I figured that it would be okay as long as I just looked after him. I mean, he didn't wind up getting into any trouble... Aside from finding the body, but I don't think that's really his fault. We would have found the body even if he wasn't around."

"I suppose she has a point there... But something about this still smells fishy to me," Felicity hissed to me. "Do you think that there could be some other explanation for what was going on at the time?"

I thought about it for a moment before I shook my head. "If there was some ulterior reason for her to let Mr. Devine into the building, I don't know how we would find it. She doesn't seem to want to talk about it, and... Well, the best we can do for the time being is try to examine her testimony to see if there are any holes in it."

"You're right there," Mr. Morix said as he glanced back up to Ms. Balanite. "Would you mind repeating your testimony for the court, witness?"

Ms. Balanite smiled and nodded, and I couldn't help but applaud her enthusiasm. I didn't think I had seen a witness this perky in a long time, and it was a breath of fresh air even if everything about her was somewhat suspicious. "Of course! I'll get right to it!"

~ Cross-Examination ~