March 28

Blackgate Park

1:45 PM

Pieter Fury

Once we were finished with our conversation with Deirdre, Moira, and Hiroko, we began to make our way over in the direction of this new witness. Victoria was remaining focused as could be, though I could tell that she was much more anxious about this than she was letting on. How could she not be? This witness was going to be the one that completely changed the tide of this case, and we had to be ready to hear whatever it was that she had to say.

It didn't take long for the woman of the hour to come into view, and she was certainly easy to set apart from the rest of the group. Her hair was a black color and fell down her back in a perfectly straight curtain. Her eyes were a striking pale blue color, almost as if they were trying to pierce to the very core of my soul. Her expression was solemn and gloomy, but her clothing offered a completely opposite image. Her shirt was a pastel yellow color, and she paired it with a pink jacket wrapped around her waist. She wore a pair of light blue jeans and white flat shoes as well. The clash between her stoic expression and the brightness of her clothing was certainly something to behold, and I couldn't help staring at it with shock written all over my face. I had to correct my gaze a moment later to ensure that she couldn't tell I was watching her, praying that she hadn't seen my potentially irritating and obnoxious burst of staring.

"I guess that's her," Victoria began, nudging me in the side with her elbow. "I think the others said before that her name was Raelynn Clayton... She's certainly an odd one, huh?"

"I think your first mistake was expecting a witness on one of the cases we take on to be normal," Chrysalis snorted, though I could tell what she was actually trying to get at. She though that this Raelynn Clayton character was the culprit already, and she wasn't going to look at the woman with an unbiased eye as a result. She was bothered by the convenience of all of this, and I could barely even blame her. It sat strangely with me as well, but the least that I could do was hear her out and see what she had to say. After all, if we were going to be hearing her testimony in court the following day, the best we could do for ourselves was try to see what we could learn from her.

Victoria closed the distance between our small group and the witness soon afterwards, plastering a bright smile across her face along the way. "You must be the new witness for this case," she began kindly. "Ms. Clayton, yes?"

The woman looked up at Victoria with a small frown on her face, and I realized that she was holding a pinwheel in one hand. She flicked it with her finger before letting it spin absentmindedly between her fingers, and I couldn't help staring at the small toy with shock written all over my face. I didn't know what I had expected her to do, but that hadn't been it.

"That would be me," Ms. Clayton finally said, her voice even and level as could be. In fact, her words almost seemed to be monotone. I blinked at her, unsure as to how I was meant to respond to all of this. Then again, we were at least hearing something from her, and I was willing to take it.

"Would you be willing to share what happened on the day of the crime with us?" I questioned next, keeping my smile as careful and generous as possible. Everything about the strange contradiction in her demeanor was bothering me, and it took just about every ounce of energy I possessed to ensure that I didn't run away in a confused panic over it all.

"Why would I do that?" Ms. Clayton asked after a silence that was much too long to be natural. She raised her other hand and flicked on the pinwheel again, and I stared as the toy spun around and around in the silence.

"I suppose we should have introduced ourselves sooner," Victoria realized with an awkward smile and matching laugh. "My apologies. My name is Victoria von Graye, and these two are Pieter Fury and Chrysalis Starr. We're the defense team for the current case, and we're looking to gather as much information about the crime as possible for the trial's resuming session tomorrow."

Ms. Clayton watched us for what felt like an eternity, and she continued to let the pinwheel spin around in her fingers. "I see," she eventually said, her voice soft yet firm. "In that case, I believe that we have nothing to say to one another."

"What?" I gasped, unable to hold back my shock at those words. I wanted to say something else, but I just couldn't force myself to make the syllables form as I continued to stare at her in wide-eyed surprise.

"You're the defense team. I've heard that you're not supposed to talk to the lawyers working for a defense. After all, they could get you in trouble later on," Ms. Clayton told us, speaking the words so plainly as if they were describing the most obvious thing on earth. "I would prefer to stay out of trouble, so I'm afraid that this is where we will have to part ways. You never know when someone like you is going to betray you, after all."

Victoria and I shared a look before I shook my head. "It's not like that," I tried to assure her. "We only want to discover the truth about what happened on the day of the crime, and I believe that speaking with you is the best way for us to accomplish that."

"If you want to hear about what I saw, then you can come and hear it during the trial tomorrow," Ms. Clayton said. "You're the defense attorneys, so you're going to have to listen to me when court goes back in session. I've already been asked to testify."

"We're just trying to figure out what took place when the victim was killed," Victoria interjected next, her desperation starting to sink into her voice more readily now. "If there's anything you can tell us regardless of how minor it is-"

"I already told you that I'm in no position to share information of that capacity," Ms. Clayton cut in, her words remaining just as monotone as ever. "I know the truth of the case, and you are only going to obscure it. There are very few lawyers that you can trust, and I am choosing now to not place any faith in either one of you. Thank you for understanding my decision."

Ms. Clayton didn't give us a chance to object to that before she walked away, and I was left to stare at her retreating back with a small frown on my face. I sighed before glancing over to the other two members of our defense team. "Well... That certainly didn't go how I was hoping it would," I murmured.

"I can barely say I'm surprised," Chrysalis sighed. "I had a feeling that she was going to be trouble from the start. Still, if she doesn't want to talk to us, then we're just going to have to wait until tomorrow. There's nothing that we're going to be able to do to open her lips, and I doubt that we would be able to find a way to work around all of this. She's made up her mind, and we're just going to have to live with it until the trial tomorrow, as much as I hate to admit it."

"In that case, I suppose our investigation ends here," Victoria murmured. "I really hate having to say that, but it's not as if we've got anything else that we can do at this point. We need to be ready for the trial tomorrow, but I don't know how we're going to do that if we can't listen to any witness testimony."

"We can get to the courthouse early tomorrow to make sure that we can talk to Prosecutor Cruz before the trial starts," Chrysalis suggested. "It's not exactly much when compared to how unprepared we're going to be, but at least it'll count for something. We might as well put in the effort to try it, right?"

I nodded my agreement. "Yeah... I guess so," I said softly. Deep down, I wanted nothing more than to try and talk to her about everything that was weighing so heavily on her mind right now, but I knew that it wasn't going to be that simple. As far as I could tell, Chrysalis wasn't going to want to be emotionally vulnerable twice in one day, especially given how poorly our investigation had just ended. I wanted to talk to her and figure out what was really bothering her about our relationship, but it was probably going to have to wait until after the case was over, much to my distaste.

"Until tomorrow then," Chrysalis declared with a nod. I watched her start to walk away before sighing at her retreating back. All I wanted was for us to work things out. Even if she didn't want anything to do with me, I just needed to have this weight off my shoulders as soon as possible.

Victoria's hand came down on my shoulder, and I glanced over to see her watching me with kind eyes and a gentle smile. "You're going to be alright soon," she assured me. "I know that things are kind of scary right now, but I believe that you'll be able to handle this. You and Chrysalis can talk again after the case is over, and I'm sure everything will come together then."

I stared down at my hand, clenching my fingers into a fist a moment later. "Yeah... I sure do hope so."

March 29

Defendant's Lobby No. 2

9:15 AM

Victoria von Graye

When we arrived at the courthouse the next day, Prosecutor Cruz was already there. He was speaking with two women, though one of them seemed to be a mere teenage girl upon closer examination. The teenager looked a striking amount like him with her white hair and tanned skin, though the woman wore a bit less resemblance to the two. Still, her eyes were piercing, and after a moment of thought, I realized exactly who they were.

"Prosecutor Cruz's mother and sister, Isabella and Nikki Cruz," Chrysalis said before I had the chance to comment on it out loud. "I suppose it's shocking that this is our first time seeing them during this investigation. I hadn't given it much thought, but looking back, it would have made sense if we saw them before now."

I nodded my agreement. "Still, there's nothing we can do to change the flow of time now, so we might as well go and talk to them," I pointed out. With that, I started to approach the trio, pushing a smile across my features in case I had to comfort either one of them.

Nikki was talking to her brother with a frown on her face when we approached, and I could see the worry shining bright and clear in her eyes. "Has everything been okay in the detention center?" she asked. "I wish that we could stay with you longer, but..."

"It's fine, Nikki," Prosecutor Cruz assured her. "I'm going to be out soon enough anyways. Give it until the end of the day. Something tell me that they're going to be able to prove that I didn't do it within the next few hours."

"You seem pretty certain of that," Mrs. Cruz frowned. "I know that they're good people, but... I can only hope that you're right in believing that everything is going to be alright sooner rather than later."

"I trust them. I've worked with them before, and the last thing they're going to do is let the truth get away from them on a case like this. I don't know who's behind this, but it sounds to me like they're going to be able to take care of it," Prosecutor Cruz said. He perked up when he realized that I was nearby, and he waved me over. "Here they are now, as a matter of fact. You're going to be able to prove I'm innocent today, right?"

"If all goes according to plan, yes," I replied, pretending that I wasn't lying through my teeth. Okay, that wasn't entirely true. We did have a bit of a plan, but it all came down to thinking that the witness was shady. If her testimony turned out to be solid, then we might have been in a little bit of trouble, but that was a question for later on when court had actually gone into session. For the time being, I wasn't worried.

Or, at the very least, I was trying to not be.

"See?" Prosecutor Cruz told his sister and mother. "Everything is under control, and you're going to see that as soon as the trial starts up again. They know what they're doing, and they're going to prove it soon enough too. You don't need to worry at all."

"I suppose not," Mrs. Cruz murmured. She still didn't seem entirely convinced, but I knew that there wasn't going to be anything that we could say that would convince her. She was worried in a way that only a mother could be, especially when it came to something as serious as a murder accusation. I had seen these concerns on my own mother's mind before when I was arrested two years prior, so I knew all too well that only time would be able to prove that everything was alright.

"Thanks again for all that you're doing for me," Prosecutor Cruz said, shifting his attention to me, Pieter, and Chrysalis effortlessly. "I appreciate it. If anybody is going to be able to show the world that I didn't do it, I know that it would be your bunch. That's why I asked for you to take care of this to begin with."

Mrs. Cruz's shoulders started to lose their tension at that, and she nodded. "You're right," she murmured. It was a small comfort, but she was taking it because it was all that she had. My stomach twisted with anxiety, and all of a sudden, I felt like the pressure to find the truth behind this case had been multiplied tenfold.

Nikki pressed a grin on her face a moment later, though I could tell that she was trying to seem much more confident about all of this than she really felt. "After all of this is over and Vito is back home, we're going to have to go out for ice cream," she announced. "I think that he's going to deserve that for all of his troubles."

Prosecutor Cruz let out a snort at that. "You have no idea," he muttered. "But that sounds great. Of course, I think it would be better for all of us if we could go out for dinner before that. I think we've all earned it by this point."

"You've got yourself a deal," Nikki grinned as she clapped her hands together in excitement. She looked over to me, and I pretended to not see the tension rising in her eyes. "Do everything you can in the courtroom, alright? I'm not going to let my brother be sent to jail without that ice cream and dinner date first."

"Of course," I said easily, hoping my anxiety over the sudden pressure wasn't leaking out through my eyes. I could tell that Pieter was just as nervous from his place at my side, but he was doing a much better job of hiding it. I had never been the best actor, and I cursed myself for not taking up the skill when I was younger.

That was more than enough to satisfy Nikki, at least at a first glance, though I could tell there was still more on her mind than she was willing to admit. She didn't get the chance to confess it though, as Prosecutor Cruz interjected before she could continue to talk. "You look awful, Mom. You should go and take a seat somewhere before you fall over from dizziness." Mrs. Cruz hesitated at that, on the verge of speaking, when her son held up a hand to stop her. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me. Go and sit down. We can talk a bit more after the trial."

"Alright... Take care of yourself, Vito," Mrs. Cruz instructed him firmly. He nodded back, and with that, Mrs. Cruz retreated from the area, Nikki hot on her heels. The young girl shot us a wave over her shoulder before she focused on walking into the courtroom alongside her mother.

It wasn't until after the pair had vanished from view that Prosecutor Cruz allowed himself the chance to sigh. "Sometimes, you have to do what you can to make the people you care about feel better... Even if it isn't necessarily the truth," he muttered with a shake of his head. He glanced over to the rest of us at that, a small frown on her face. "Though I do still hope that you know what you're doing when it comes to this trial."

"Of course," Chrysalis assured him. "We already have an idea of who the culprit could be, and we intend to pursue the matter in full during the trial today." I could tell that she was lying given the way that the investigation had gone the day before, but she still did a fine enough job of convincing him. Besides, it wasn't entirely untrue; we did think that Ms. Clayton was suspicious, and even if that wasn't anything concrete or conclusive yet, that was still something. It was a start, and we could build off it later.

"I'm glad to hear it," Prosecutor Cruz said with a nod. "You already heard what my sister had to say about all of this. She's not going to be happy if you somehow get me sent off to the prison with your defense. She wants that meal with me and Mom."

"And you're going to get it," I told him. "You'll be back home soon enough, and everything will be fine. All you have to do is leave this to us, and we'll be okay. You don't have a thing to worry about."

Prosecutor Cruz nodded again at that, though I could tell that he was still a bit uncertain about the way that all of this was progressing. He hesitated before continuing, forcing himself to push through his nerves. "Did you manage to find the notes in my office?" he questioned carefully.

"We did... And we learned that most of the members of the Emsthorpe family just so happen to be young women," Pieter told him, and I bit down on my bottom lip. Ms. Clayton seemed to fall into that category. For all we knew, that would be all that we needed in order for the truth to come together... Not that I was going to say that openly, of course.

"Yeah... Though I'd prefer it if you could keep that between us," Prosecutor Cruz said, wincing lightly. "I don't want my mom and sister to hear that I've held onto my dad's old research. You have no idea how upset they were over what happened to him, and... The last thing I want is for them to make me drop it because of what happened back then. I can't blame them for being nervous and afraid, but... It's just..."

"You want to keep that research, and you want us to make sure that you can keep holding onto it," Chrysalis concluded without missing a beat.

Prosecutor Cruz nodded. "Yeah. It may sound ridiculous, but that's a piece of my past now. My old man did so much to make sure that the truth of the Emsthorpe family-at least, the truth that he had up to that point-was gathered all in one place should we ever need it again. He did a lot for all of us in that regard, and it's certainly proving to be helpful right about now. I want to keep it for as long as I can."

"We'll do what we can to keep this as your secret... Though we may have to talk about it eventually," I frowned. "I hope that you'll be alright with it if we have to reveal your secret to the court. Then again, it would be better if your mother was a bit upset with you and you were freed from the detention center than spending the rest of your life in custody for a crime that you didn't commit."

"If it's a debate between my life and revealing the truth, then you know what to do... Though that's a given," Prosecutor Cruz said with a shrug. He paused once again before sighing. "I just hope that you're able to pull this off. I know that you're all capable people, but..."

"Having your neck on the line is dangerous. You certainly feel the sting of it after a while," Chrysalis finished for him, once again not missing even a moment in explaining his thoughts.

Once more, Prosecutor Cruz nodded. "You're a sharp one... Deirdre's mentioned that a few times, and I shouldn't be too surprised," he remarked. He paused for a moment before tilting his head to the side ever so slightly, almost like he was surveying Chrysalis' face for something that he couldn't quite identify. "Though... Something about you seems a bit familiar to me."

"We've known each other for years, Prosecutor Cruz," Chrysalis pointed out with a shake of her head. "I'm certain that's all that you're thinking about. You don't need to worry about it in the slightest when the answer is so obvious."

He didn't seem convinced, but Prosecutor Cruz still nodded along with it. "Yeah... I guess you're right. I shouldn't jump to conclusions like that when it feels so obvious looking back," he muttered. I gave Chrysalis a sideways glance of my own, a sign that I was going to ask her about this later on if I got the chance. Of course, there was no way of saying if that would actually happen, especially since Pieter still had to talk to her about everything they had been through in the past. I didn't want to hog any attention from that important discussion, and if that meant waiting to hear about all of this, then so be it.

If there was one thing I could guess about the situation easily enough though, it was that it had something to do with Oracle. Chrysalis was an expert at deflecting the topic when it came to her secret identity, and she had more than done that here. Prosecutor Cruz didn't know the truth, it seemed, and the only one from the prosecution who did know was no longer involved with the case. A lot had happened since this investigation kicked off, to say the least, and I couldn't help wondering if I was perhaps overdue for a briefing about everything that happened with Oracle when the rest of us were focused on matters of our own.

"We should probably head into the courtroom now," Pieter suddenly interjected, and I realized that this was his own way of getting Prosecutor Cruz off Chrysalis' back. "I mean, we don't want to linger out here for too long when the trial is about to start. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we have to be ready for it."

Prosecutor Cruz sighed at that. "Well, I guess this is it," he muttered. He glanced up to us, his eyes intense as could be. I'm counting on all of you to do what you can to make sure that I'm proven not guilty. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wasting away because of something that I didn't do."

"You don't need to worry about that at all," I told him with a smile. "If there's anybody who can figure this out, it would be us. All you have to do is sit back, try not to stress yourself out too much, and watch as we take care of business."

"Alright... I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do from here," Prosecutor Cruz remarked. With that, he started off towards the courtroom, his hands shoved limply into his pockets.

I waited until after he had walked into the room before I turned to look at Chrysalis and Pieter. "Well... I guess it's time for us to get down to business too," I concluded. I started towards the doors, trying to hide the frown that was spreading across my lips. All of that anxiety was starting to come back again, and it was taking much more effort than it should have for me to keep it at bay. Everything was going to be fine. We were going to work it all out soon enough, but... Well, the pressure was still on, and I could only hope that we were able to handle it.

No, that wasn't true. I was hoping that I would be able to handle it. Something told me that the other two would be fine regardless of what we saw happen next.

They trailed after me into the courtroom regardless of their own thoughts on the matter, all of us focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. We had a lot to resolve during this trial, and I could only hope that we were able to find the truth wherever it was hiding within Ms. Clayton's testimony. It was the only lead we had, and we were going to have to follow it through to the bitter end.

March 29

Courtroom No. 2

10:00 AM

Victoria von Graye

As was expected, the courtroom was set up in much the same way as it had been the day before. The only notable difference was the fact that Nevada wasn't stationed behind the prosecution's bench. I couldn't help but wonder where she could have been, but I knew that it had to be far from the courthouse. If her mother was truly so intent on keeping her out of all of this, then she was going to make sure that Nevada didn't find a way to slip away to come and see the trial. That much was easy to conclude.

Judge Frost was sitting in the same spot as before, everything about her posture composed and imposing as could be. "Court is back in session for the trial of Vito Cruz," she declared. "I take it that both the defense and prosecution have taken care of the investigation as was instructed yesterday, yes?"

Prosecutor Shield nodded. "Of course. We swept through the area to see if we could find any new evidence, and in the end, we were met with the testimony of a new witness who claims to be crucial to this case... And as soon as you hear what she has to say about the crime, I'm sure that you'll come to much the same conclusion," he explained.

"You certainly seem confident... Though I have no doubt that this is for a good reason," Judge Frost hummed. "What about the defense? Were you able to obtain any new information that could be of use to our investigation into this case?"

I hesitated before shaking my head. "We did not find anything that the detectives and prosecution had not already come across," I told her. My mind was casting itself back to the files that Prosecutor Cruz had given us, but I didn't want to bring them out yet. We had to hear what Ms. Clayton had to say first before we showed that we had a card like that up our sleeve. We were going to have to tread carefully, especially if one of the assassins was involved.

"I see... In that case, I believe we have an obvious starting point for this trial," Judge Frost announced as she shifted her gaze over to the prosecution. "The court would like to hear the testimony of your witness. Please call them to the stand at this time."

fProsecutor Umber snapped his fingers easily before pointing up to the stand. "You know what to do."

Sure enough, Ms. Clayton did know what to do, and she filed up to the stand without missing a beat. She carried herself carefully the same way she had previously, her pinwheel still pressed between her fingers like it was her saving grace. I had no idea what was going through her head, but I could see loud and clear that she was avoiding looking at me and the rest of the defense team. Given our encounter with her the day before, this wasn't entirely surprising, but I found myself resisting the urge to cringe at the revelation regardless.

"Please state your name and occupation, witness," Prosecutor Umber instructed her, voice firm and even.

Ms. Clayton pressed a finger to the side of her pinwheel before letting it spin once again. "Raelynn Clayton," she replied simply. Just like the day before, her voice was entirely monotone, and she didn't say a word beyond what she was absolutely required to explain.

"You were an important witness to the crime, and the court would like to hear your testimony at this time," Prosecutor Shield told her next. "Please tell everyone what you saw when the murder took place."

Ms. Clayton was silent for a long time before she nodded, though the motion was small and subtle enough that I almost wasn't sure if it was even happening to begin with. "If it's a testimony you want, then that's what you're going to get... I can only hope that you're ready for what you're about to hear."

Why did I have such an awful feeling about this?

This is super important buuuuuuut happy birthday update to my friend Ace/Nom who made a bunch of characters for this universe (Niamh, Nevada, Deirdre, Vito, Victoria, Toby, Mukuro, etc.) you're the best and happy birthday

-Digital