March 27

Blackgate Park

1:00 PM

Chrysalis Starr

Ever since we had left behind the pair of prosecutors, Nevada had been following us around. She kept on looking down to the katana strapped to Pieter's waist, and I knew this was her way of trying to get at the blade. If there was one thing I had learned about Nevada from what Sora had told me, it was that she had a strange fascination with sharp objects. It was odd to think that she was so willing to abandon her work in the name of following around the defense for a chance to touch Ikari, Pieter's katana, but I supposed she hadn't ever asked for this job to begin with. The choice had already been made for her by the time that she made herself known.

I kept on glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, unsure about what I was supposed to say on the matter. I hadn't spoken to her much since the... Incident. Well, that was the easiest way of putting it. She had saved my life from someone who was trying to kill me, and I still had no idea how I was supposed to respond to all of that. Should I have just... Thanked her? I had already done that, but it still felt awkward to stand at her side and not know how I was supposed to respond to what she had done to keep me alive.

Pieter kept on looking at me too, and I could tell that he wasn't exactly happy with how our previous conversation on the subject of Nevada had gone. He was clearly out of the loop and then some if he hadn't known about the incident where Nevada saved me from being abducted, though I supposed that was the price he had paid when he went missing. Now, he was catching up with everything months after it had happened, and that included my awkward stunted behavior around Nevada. I couldn't quite say for sure what he was trying to get me to do, but I didn't want to hear it, at least not right now. We had an investigation to take care of, and that meant that now was hardly the time to get distracted.

By the time we arrived back in the area where Deirdre was standing with her sister and Hiroko, Detective Umber had left with Detective Healy. In other words, we were going to have all the time we could ask for to speak with the witnesses, not that I thought it would do much to help us. They had already told us just about all that they could think of, and we had a lot of gaps in the story. It wasn't anybody's fault in particular, but it was still frustrating, to say the least.

"What were you able to find out?" Deirdre questioned. She took a small step over Diablo's leash when the small dog continued to run circles around her. Once again, I wondered just what could have motivated Prosecutor Cruz to name a white dog something so strange.

"The victim was shot, and it seems as if he came out here for a bit of solitude... Meaning it would have taken somebody who knew what they were doing to find him," I told her before I sighed. "Also, it means that Prosecutor Cruz has an impressively bad sense of direction if he found himself with the body by pure accident. The victim was nowhere near anything else of note within the park."

"I feel like we already knew that," Moira sighed. "He came to pick Deirdre up for a date once, and he went to the wrong apartment on the other side of town. He called her asking where she was, and she couldn't help but sigh in confusion and resignation at just how much he had messed it up."

"That wasn't a date," Deirdre corrected her. "Prosecutor Cruz and I are just friends, and I would appreciate it if you didn't misconstrue our relationship." Her gaze found Nevada a moment later, and she seemed shocked for a brief flicker of a moment before correcting herself. "Nevada... I didn't expect to see you here."

"I'm working on this case," Nevada grinned with a wave. She paused to think about it for a moment before shrugging. "Well, that's what everybody else is saying. Niamh was supposed to handle this, but she wound up getting really tired since she's been doing so much lately, and... Well... You can see how it all turned out."

"She knows about you, doesn't she?" Victoria questioned. "I know she was unaware of who you were at first, but... I'm sure that she knows the truth now, right?"

Nevada nodded. "It took a lot of explaining for her to not completely flip out when Mama first told her, but she's getting used to it... Though she only seems to let me come out and do things when she gets too tired to stay upright. If she didn't work so much, maybe she wouldn't be so drained all the time..."

"Mama?" Pieter echoed, tilting his head to the side. He paused to think for a moment before snapping his fingers in recognition. "Ah, you must mean Sora. That makes sense... Though I didn't realize you referred to her that way."

"Of course I do," Nevada told him with a shrug. "What else would I call her? I mean, she's the one who looks after me alongside Papa, and I don't know what I'd do without them. They do a lot for me, and I don't think I could ever thank them enough."

"I'll be sure to tell her that when I next see her," Pieter smiled. Nevada tilted her head in confusion before Pieter explained. "Sora's my younger sister, and I'm sure she would be delighted to know that you speak so highly of her."

Nevada's face immediately lit up. "You're her brother?!" she cried out, and Pieter nodded. "Oh, so you must be Pieter! I guess nobody ever told me that you were back from... Wherever it is you went!" She paused for a moment before grinning up at him. "I'll just have to call you Uncle Piet from now on! That way, you match with Uncle Coat!"

I sighed at that. I had heard her call Cotoli 'Uncle Coat' a few times, but it never seemed to fully register in my mind that she was actually trying to communicate that. "You don't need to do that," I pointed out.

Nevada shrugged. "But it's more fun this way, isn't it?" she pointed out, not even waiting for a response before she looked back to Pieter. "Anyways, Uncle Piet, now that we know who we are, I think you should let me take a look at your sword! I bet Mama would approve of-"

"No," Pieter told her sternly but gently. "Ikari stays on my person at all times, and I'm afraid it wouldn't be a good idea for me to give it to you. I understand your excitement, but... I have to decline your request. I'm sorry."

Nevada deflated, crossing her arms along the way. I could tell based on the look on her face that she had no intentions of giving up so easily, but at least for the time being, she was being given no other choice but to retreat. I smiled slightly to myself, but I looked away before she had the chance to process what I was doing.

"Nevada... If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is your last name?" Hiroko questioned carefully. Nevada looked at her quizzically, but Hiroko refused to elaborate. Her eyes looked so tired that it didn't even seem real, and I was left wondering just what could have left her feeling so drained all of a sudden.

"Wood," Nevada replied. "Though I guess more people know me as Niamh, but I'm not. Niamh is asleep right now, but she's in this body too. It's kind of a confusing situation."

"Niamh Wood..." Hiroko whispered, looking down at the ground with a heavy frown on her features. "I... Pardon me for intruding, but I believe that was the name of one of my son's classmates many years ago. He... He suffered from a tragic incident and is no longer living with me, but... I think that name appeared in his yearbook for a few years."

Nevada stared up at Hiroko for a moment, almost as if she was trying to study the older woman's face for anything resembling an answer. The air seemed to hang heavy and silent, and I felt my heart skip a few beats in my chest. I felt for a brief moment as if I couldn't hear anything, and my heartbeat was all that thundered in my mind. I knew deep down that I was fine, but some voice in the back of my mind vaguely wondered if perhaps I was dying.

Before Nevada could fully process what was happening, tears began to stream down her face, though she didn't seem to understand why. She sniffled before letting one hand rise to rub at her tears, shaking her head along the way. "That's... Weird," she muttered. "I don't know what you're talking about, but... I feel like I should."

I glanced around nervously before reaching into my bag and pulling out a small container of tissues. "I... Nevada, how about we take a step away for a moment?" I suggested, not entirely sure what I was doing but feeling that it would be for the best if we got away for a moment. All of a sudden, the awkwardness that hung in the air between us didn't seem to matter as much, and my desperation to escape the sudden oppression of the situation felt like a much more pressing matter.

"Okay," Nevada muttered, though I could tell that she wasn't entirely sure what was happening. She shuffled away as I handed her a tissue, and I gave a brief glance over my shoulder to the other members of the group. Hiroko met my gaze for a long moment, and I looked away before she had the chance to push anything from the silence.

March 27

Blackgate Park

1:10 PM

Pieter Fury

The air was silent for a few moments after Chrysalis and Nevada walked away, and I frowned to myself before glancing to the rest of the group. "That was... Strange," I murmured. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to make Nevada respond that way?"

Hiroko hesitated before shaking her head. "I don't know," she said, though I could tell that the situation was much more complicated than she was willing to say right now. I wasn't going to push her on it though; if she wanted to keep the subject quiet, then that was her choice, and the last thing I wanted to do was put more pressure on her than I had to.

"Maybe we should give them a bit of space," Victoria suggested, though I could tell that she was somewhat shaky on the matter as well. "I don't want to upset anybody, and we have to focus on the investigation for right now anyways."

I nodded my agreement before I glanced back to Deirdre, Moira, and Hiroko. "So... You were here at the park that day with Prosecutor Cruz, and he left only to find the body. You found him with the victim soon afterwards, and he was arrested as a result," I concluded. It was all old information, but repeating it felt more productive than going around in circles regarding my concern for Nevada's sudden outburst.

Hiroko nodded. "Yes, that's correct," she confirmed. "And... I'm confident that he didn't do it. Vito is a kind young man, and I have no doubt that he wouldn't ever hurt a fly. He couldn't have killed anybody, and... I wish that more people would understand that."

"At the very least, we're going to make sure that everybody knows it in the trial tomorrow," Victoria promised her. "I'm not going to let anybody innocent be taken off to prison. We'll show who really did it as soon as we can get an inkling of who else could have been responsible."

"That's another issue, I'm afraid... I don't know who else could have done it," Deirdre admitted. "Though I suppose his history with the Emsthorpes presents an interesting turn of events. For all we know, one of them could have been involved with the murder. I'm sure they would have wanted to get rid of one of their former associates who could have easily betrayed them. In fact, I would argue that to be an even stronger motive than what the police believe to be Prosecutor Cruz's reasoning for killing him."

"I agree. I mean, the man who killed his father has been dead for ages now," Victoria remarked, though I could tell she was holding back the second half of that comment. She cast a brief glance off in the direction where Nevada and Chrysalis had gone, but she did not elaborate as to why. "If the Emsthorpes were behind all of this, then that would certainly explain why he was found dead so suddenly... I mean, they wouldn't be willing to let somebody roam freely forever."

I nodded my agreement, wanting to say something about just how ruthless assassins could be but unwilling to form the words. No, that wasn't it; my lips simply wouldn't cooperate with me to speak to begin with. I swallowed back my fears and focused on grasping Ikari with one hand. The last thing I wanted was for anything to happen that would show how many cracks still existed in my armor all these years later, and that meant staying focused on the matter at hand. There was still someone who needed my help, and I couldn't let him down now.

"I suppose there's not all that much else for us to look around at right now, huh?" Victoria said, quickly changing the subject when she realized just how uncomfortable I was. "I mean, there's not much for us to go off to begin with, and we kind of tackled every potential avenue of exploration already. That means that we may want to wrap things up early before heading back to the agency to see what we can hear from the others."

I nodded, wondering if perhaps speaking with others would make it easier for Chrysalis and I to bridge the gap that had appeared between us. As far as I could tell, there was a lot on her mind, not that I could really blame her. She wasn't going to be approaching me on her own, and if it meant getting others involved to smooth things over... So be it. I just wanted to leave all of this in the past. I had no right to say such a thing when I was the reason for the rift to begin with, but my desperation existed regardless of what I found to be justice or not.

"They'll be back soon, I'm sure," Deirdre assured me. "I have no doubt that they'll return and be ready to wrap up the investigation in no time. I suspect that Nevada simply needs a bit of time to decompress after all of that."

Hiroko nodded, though I could tell that there was a lot she simply didn't want to talk about right now. I got the feeling the incident that had caused issues for her son was much more prominent in this situation than any of us could have realized, but I didn't want to push her on it. She would open up when she was ready.

I could only hope Chrysalis would be willing to do the same.

March 27

Blackgate Park

1:10 PM

Nevada Wood

Chrysalis stopped walking around two minutes after we left behind the rest of the group, but I hadn't stopped shaking yet as I stared down at my hands. I didn't understand any of this. Why had I just started crying out of the blue like that? I was supposed to be better than this. I didn't just start crying because something random happened, so what could have made me react like that? It didn't make any sense.

"Here," Chrysalis said, passing me a tissue a moment after we had stopped walking. I was quick to accept it before blowing my nose loudly. She didn't wince the way I expected her to, instead simply watching the space between our feet with a frown on her face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but I cut myself off when I realized that I really didn't know what I was supposed to say to begin with. "I don't know," I admitted when I was finally able to find the words I needed so desperately. "I feel like... I'm supposed to know who that's supposed to be. Her son, I mean. I'm not entirely sure, but... Something tells me that I should be aware of who he is."

"You think that even though she didn't say his name?" Chrysalis questioned, though I knew that there was more to this than she was willing to say. She didn't take a step closer to me even though I could tell there was some part of her hoping to do that. Why was she staying away? I thought we had already settled my complicated relationships with other people. I mean, they hated me after I killed that one guy in the Prosecutor's Office, but all of that hatred started to melt away when they realized just why I had done it. I thought we were over all of this, but I guess I was wrong. Chrysalis was still shutting me out, and she had only started opening up when I started crying. Ugh. Why did emotions have to be so complicated?

I thought about her words for a long moment once I was able to snap myself out of my musing about her actions. I stared at the ground again before sighing. "Susumu," I muttered. "I don't know where I know that name from, but... I'm sure that's what his name is. I think that's the name of her son."

Chrysalis went still for a moment before she nodded. "I see," she whispered. "What do you know about him?"

"I think Niamh knows him, not me," I explained. "We share general knowledge like common sense and stuff, but specific memories are a bit harder for us to grasp at. I mean, she still doesn't know what happened when I... You know..." I threw my hands out dramatically only to bring the tissue back to my face a moment later. "Yeah. I don't know everything that happened when she was in control for years either. Whatever happened with that Susumu person, I don't have any way of remembering it, but... I don't know if I should know it to begin with. I don't know. All of this is just complicated."

"You don't know if you should try and dig at something that could easily end poorly for you," Chrysalis said for me, and I nodded. "I understand... You don't want to do anything that could get yourself hurt. It makes a lot of sense."

I looked up to her once I was able to clear up my tears once again, and I found myself looking into her eyes. Well, she wasn't returning the gaze, but she seemed almost... Guilty. I couldn't say for sure why she would feel like that, but as far as I could tell, she felt bad about something and was taking it out on the current situation. I had no idea why she would do something like that when she didn't have anything to do with our relationship with this Susumu person. Niamh and I's relationship with him, that is. I mean, as far as I was aware, we hadn't met Chrysalis until after we moved in with Mama and Papa. After all, Chrysalis is Mama's little sister, and we wouldn't have had any way to know her before then, so she couldn't have known anything about him.

But why did she seem so guilty all of a sudden? It didn't make any sense.

Chrysalis shook it off before reaching into her pocket and pulling out yet another tissue. I accepted it happily, and I rubbed away the last of my snot before tossing the tissues into a nearby trashcan. I sighed carefully, finding that my breathing was still shakier than I would have liked. "Okay... I think I feel better now," I told her though I wasn't entirely sure of that yet. I swallowed dryly again before glancing up to her. "I don't know what all of that was about. Maybe it would be a good idea to go back to the others now. I don't want to worry them."

"Of course," Chrysalis said. She turned on her heel before starting to walk away, and I stared at her back for a moment before sighing, not wanting to follow her while she was acting like this. What had made her get all clammy on me? I thought that we were over this. I thought I was over this with everybody.

"Why are you avoiding me?" I asked, and Chrysalis immediately stopped walking. "You feel bad about something, don't you? I don't know why, but... You don't need to hide right now. I think we've gone past everything that you're afraid of. I mean, we're fine now... Aren't we?"

Chrysalis didn't answer for a long time, instead simply shrugging to herself. "I don't know," she said softly. "We should go and tell the others that everything is alright though. I'm sure that they're going to be worried about us, and we have to wrap up our investigation for the day too."

"That's not an answer," I pointed out. "Come on. Why do you keep on avoiding me? You're being weird around everybody right now, and I don't like it. There's no reason to be this way."

"We can talk about it another time," Chrysalis told me almost a bit too quickly. "We have a lot of other business to take care of right now with the current case, and we can think about everything else after we're finished with this. How does that sound?"

"Alright," I eventually muttered, though I could already tell that it wasn't going to be that easy. She didn't want to talk about it, and there wasn't much that I was going to be able to do to get it out of her, at least not right now. I couldn't help feeling like I was missing something... But what could it have been? We were fine, right?

We arrived back with the rest of the group soon afterwards, and as far as I could tell, they were getting ready to wrap up everything with the investigation. The one with the bun was the first one to realize that we were back. Her name was... Brigit? That sounded about right. I wasn't sure. "I think that wraps up our investigation," she announced. "You should head back to the agency as soon as you can... And perhaps Nevada should return home to rest after all of that."

"I'm fine," I muttered, though when I thought about it a bit more, I realized that I did kind of want to go back home. Maybe Mama would be able to make me a few cookies until I felt better... She always made the best food, and I could use the cheering up right now.

"I'm sorry about what happened before," Susumu's mother said. Hiroko... That was her name. Susumu had told us that at one point, I thought. I wasn't sure when, but I was sure that was the case. "I didn't mean to upset you that way."

"It's fine," I assured her. "It's none of my business right now anyways. I can ask Niamh about it later, but right now, I want to go home and see Mama. I bet she's going to want to hear all about the investigation." My eyes dropped to the sword Uncle Piet was wearing. "And your fancy sword..."

"You're not touching Ikari," Uncle Piet reiterated. "I don't want you to get hurt handling it, and you're in a fragile emotional state right now. Head on back home and tell Sora that I say hello, alright?"

"Okay," I said, though I still found myself wanting to touch the sword. I shook it off after I realized that I was too tired to push it any more. For some reason, that sudden cry session had taken a lot more energy out of me than I could have ever imagined, though I guess that just came with the territory. "I'll see you all later."

I turned on my heel at that, giving a wave to everybody before glancing to Chrysalis. She waved but refused to meet my eyes, and once again, I couldn't help seeing that she felt guilty about something, though I wasn't sure what it could have been yet. I shook it off as I started walking back to the front of the park, reaching for my phone where it was resting in my pocket. Mama would be able to come and pick me up, and when she did, maybe I could tell her all about what had happened today.

Maybe she would have some answers for me... Though I didn't know if I even wanted to find out at this point.

March 27

Blackgate Park

1:20 PM

Victoria von Graye

After Nevada walked away, I looked over to Chrysalis. "Are you okay?" I questioned. It looked to me as if she had been caught off guard in more ways than one, and she didn't seem to know what to do about it. I had no idea what she had talked about with Nevada, but it must have been enough to rattle her to the core.

"I will be," Chrysalis replied simply, and just like that, any traces of vulnerability that had appeared in her eyes were gone just as quickly as they had surfaced. I didn't know what I expected, but I was still somehow disappointed by it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Deirdre frowning, and I could tell that she was already planning an impromptu psychoanalysis session with Chrysalis as soon as this case was over.

"Let's head back to the agency then," Pieter said, turning his attention to Moira and Hiroko. "Thank you again for speaking to us. We'll do all we can tomorrow to make sure that the truth comes to light and that Prosecutor Cruz is found not guilty of this crime. I promise you."

"I have faith that you'll do just fine. If you're working with Deirdre, you're bound to be good people," Moira smiled. She waved, only stopping when she had to pull Diablo and Kiki back in. The dogs had been sitting patiently throughout our previous conversation, though they were getting all hyper again now that the heaviness in the air had started to dissipate.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Hiroko told us, though I could tell that she was still feeling guilty over everything that had happened with Nevada. I had no idea just what could have gotten Nevada so upset, but I had no doubt that Hiroko's son and the connection with him was at the root of it all. That was one other thing we were going to have to figure out when it came to this case. At this point, we were piling up problems like trading cards, and we weren't even getting any benefits out of it.

"Until then," I smiled, waving to Hiroko, Deirdre, and Moira before turning away with Pieter and Chrysalis hot on my heels. I didn't say a word to them, knowing that there wasn't much that really could be said. Everything that was hanging over our heads came down to a lack of understanding with... Well... All of what was happening. It was complicated, and I didn't know if pushing it would be a good idea.

Don't get me wrong; I wanted to know what was happening so that I could find a way to help them out of it, but I didn't know where I was supposed to start. Whatever had happened with Nevada was already bad, and Chrysalis was acting even weirder after going away with her for a moment. I couldn't help wondering just what was at the heart of this murder, though I got the feeling it had a lot less to do with the Emsthorpe family than any of us could have ever expected. Sure, they were no doubt involved, but there were a million other factors pulling at the seams that I didn't even know where to start with unraveling.

"Are you okay?" Pieter questioned of Chrysalis, his gaze fogged over with concern. He no doubt wanted to say something more than that, but he held himself back, not wanting to cross any lines and upset his sister further along the way.

"I'll be fine," Chrysalis said, her voice harsher than it was usually. She was monotone on the best of days, but this was something else entirely. "Just... Let's get back to the agency. We have too much to focus on right now to get caught up in everything that happened a few minutes ago. Prosecutor Cruz is counting on us, and Deirdre is too. I'm not going to let them down now. Come on."

I could tell that Chrysalis was finishing off the conversation there, and I resisted the urge to sigh. Somehow, it felt like Mr. Morix's attempts at getting Chrysalis and Pieter to get along again had just ended in an even greater disaster that I didn't understand. I looked up to the sky and hoped with everything I had that we were able to unravel all of this soon, though something told me that it was going to be much easier said than done.

Then again, I shouldn't have been surprised. When it came to Chrysalis, everything always seemed to be much more complicated than it had any right to be.

This case is a lot of character moments can you tell

-Digital