October 23

Council of Six Headquarters

10:45 AM

Yuri Rinko

Judge Diaphan was in her office as one might expect. She was staring out the window over the concrete parking lot below, her arms crossed defensively in front of her body. She seemed like she was the one being suspected of the crime with how hidden she was from the rest of the world and isolated she was. I could only imagine that the police had presented a wide arrange of questions for her to answer when they first spoke to her after finding the crime scene, and dealing with that was her duty now.

I knocked on the side of the doorframe, and Judge Diaphan snapped out of her trance to look over at me, Lily, and Deirdre. The prosecutors had gone off to investigate elsewhere, and that meant we were alone to speak with Judge Diaphan. It was around this time that I realized that we had never really had the chance to talk to her outside of the courtroom. sure, she had been in charge of a wide variety of our trials in the past, but we hadn't been able to speak to her on a casual basis. She was a judge to all of us, distant and impossible to reach. Seeing her here, up close and on the same level as her, felt wrong somehow.

Judge Diaphan looked us over slowly. "I should have known you would come here," she murmured to herself. "I take it your agency has taken up the defense of the suspect in this case?"

"We have," Lily confirmed. "And we were told to come here and speak with you about the crime. We were under the impression that you would know something that could help us to put the greater picture of this crime together."

"Something along those lines," Judge Diaphan hummed to herself. "I can only imagine you're thinking about the letters that were sent before the crime took place. I can assure you that I had nothing to do with that, and I wouldn't even know where to start in telling you where they came from."

I shared another look with Deirdre and Lily before Deirdre continued to speak. "It's alright. We want to know anything you might be able to share with us regardless of how connected it is to the case," she assured Judge Diaphan. "Where would you like to begin?"

Judge Diaphan turned to face us in full. "First and foremost, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I had nothing to do with this case. I don't know who sent those letters, but the handwriting doesn't match mine in the slightest," she said. "I had an alibi for the time of the crime too. I was out at another important meeting at the time, and no less than half a dozen other people can corroborate. I couldn't have been here, and I didn't have anything to do with the crime either."

"We believe you on that," Lily told her firmly. "We just want to know what you've been made aware of with this case. We're still new to the investigation, and if you have any information that could help, we need to hear it."

Judge Diaphan thought about it for a long moment before humming. "I take it you've already heard the mystery of the victim, yes?" she asked, and we all nodded. "Nobody seems to know who was behind this case... As far as I can tell, the victim had something to do with it. She didn't have a letter on her person, and she doesn't seem to fit in with the others who were summoned here."

"So you think the victim was another culprit rather than just being the one who was killed," I concluded with a small nod. It made at least some degree of sense, not that I quite knew what we were supposed to do with all of this information. "I guess that's a good point to make, but... I'm still curious about where all of this is supposed to fit together."

"You would hardly be the only one wondering that," Judge Diaphan sighed. "I don't know much about the case, but I was summoned here as soon as the letters were uncovered. Even now that the police know for a fact that I had nothing to do with them, they still want to keep me here as long as they can."

"What exactly do you know about the letters?" Lily questioned slowly. "I mean, you must have heard at least something in all the time you've been here."

"Three people received letters that were supposedly from me asking to meet here last night for an important discussion about everything that has been happening recently," Judge Diaphan explained. "I don't know the people who were summoned here, at least not in a casual sense. I've seen them all in the courtroom a wide variety of times, but I haven't spoken to them outside of business hours."

"I'm willing to bet I know what they were being tempted in by," I sighed heavily. "They thought they were going to hear information about the recent outbreak of cases with the Emsthorpe family. I bet they were all sure that they would be filled in on everything that's been going on with the assassins. As a member of the Council of Six, you've had your fair share of experiences with them, so you would be able to fill in a few gaps."

"That's what the culprit was trying to make them think as far as I can tell," Judge Diaphan confirmed with a nod. "Unfortunately, that's not the truth at all. I don't know anything they wouldn't already be aware of. The assassins have been causing problems for me for quite some time, but that doesn't mean I know things the rest of the world is not yet aware of. They framed me for murder this year, but that doesn't equate to me understanding more about them than other people."

"Speaking of the assassins, do you think they have something to do with this case?" Deirdre inquired even though the answer was clear as could be.

"They have to. This has the Emsthorpe assassins written all over it," Judge Diaphan snorted to herself. "This would mark the fifth time the Emsthorpe assassins tried to cause problems here in this building. Again and again, they return here, and I feel like they're the only ones who would be able to cause problems on that scale."

"The fifth time?" I echoed, my eyes going wide. "I had no idea it was anywhere near that high... What exactly has happened here that we haven't heard about?"

"The Emsthorpe assassins made their first grand entrance to the legal world years ago," Judge Diaphan started. "That was a series of murders they committed against high-ranking figures of the legal world. They were desperate to silence anyone who they felt could be a threat to their plans, and one of the people they killed was here. In fact, it was in the top floor office that she died."

"That's the same place as where the murder earlier this year took place, right?" I asked as I looked over to the others in the group. "I guess the assassins are creatures of habit more than anything else..."

"The victim in that case specifically was Alianna Wood, the wife of Robin Wood, the leader of the Council of Six. He made this group because he wanted to combat corruption in the legal world, and in the years since that, I would say that we've made at least a bit of progress... Though our enemies always seem to find ways of pushing back whenever we get close to another breakthrough," Judge Diaphan sighed with a shake of her head. "My father held this position at one point as well, and I inherited it from him. He died at the hands of the Emsthorpe assassins years ago, and now, we fight against them again and again."

"I'm so sorry..." Lily murmured as she looked down to the ground. "I had no idea they had been up to so much over the years."

"They've been responsible for much more than anyone could ever hope to realize," Judge Diaphan frowned. "The assassins are ruthless, and they're not afraid to make people miserable as long as it'll serve their own needs. I wish there was a way to push back against them, but that's much easier said than done with how much they have at their disposal."

"So it seems," Deirdre hummed. "What about the other cases that took place here?"

"I'm sure you've heard about the case that took place here a few years ago," Judge Diaphan started. "It was the murder of Robin Wood, the founder of the Council of Six. His daughter was caught up in the crossfire too. The Emsthorpe assassins have hated the Wood family for ages now, blaming them in some way or another for as long as they've stood."

"And we know why too," Lily said. "That information came out when Albert Devine came out of hiding and was attacked. The Wood family was involved with the case that caused the head of the Emsthorpe family to want to kill people in the first place. The Wood family tried to make things right, and in the end, that just painted a massive target on all of their backs."

"Exactly. They've held a grudge for longer than you've been alive, and I doubt they're going to stop any time soon," Judge Diaphan sighed. "If you ask me, that's the reason Robin's daughter is missing now. They probably decided to strike while they saw the chance, and they took her along the way. I don't know where she is, but... As much as I hate to admit it, my hopes aren't high for her coming back in one piece. They already cut out one of her eyes. They won't miss a second time."

"N-No... They can't just do that," I murmured, my eyes going wide. Niamh was the same age as me. How could they be so heartless as to kill someone so young?

Then again, Cassidy had been younger than we were now when other assassins killed her. The Emsthorpe family hadn't hesitated when it came to striking at Prosecutor Cruz's father. If anything, this was in character for them, and I absolutely hated having to admit it.

"They might," Judge Diaphan sighed with a shake of her head. "Robin never wanted it to come to this. He specifically sent her away because he was hoping to keep her safe from all of this. In the end, I guess it wasn't enough. They killed him right here in this building-the same place they killed his wife-and left his daughter for dead."

"Did you ever meet him?" Deirdre asked. "Robin Wood, I mean."

"I knew him quite well," Judge Diaphan confirmed. "He was around to some degree as I was growing up. He worked with my father, and after my father's death at the hands of the Emsthorpe assassins, I decided to take up his old position. After that, I worked with him even more, and we grew to know each other well. I never met Niamh until she appeared in court, but I knew of her long before then. Robin spoke of his daughter often. Even if he couldn't allow himself to see her for the sake of her safety, he cared for her with everything he had."

"He put himself in a lot of danger for the sake of his daughter and making a difference..." I murmured. "I don't know if I would have had the strength to do something like that had I been in his position."

"He wanted to change the world for the sake of everyone who had suffered under the system. He had seen the corruption from when he was young thanks to his father being a judge as well. The system was broken even before he was born, and he was determined to fix it... To make sure that nobody ever followed in the footsteps of Augustus Emsthorpe ever again," Judge Diaphan said solemnly.

"He only became the leader of the assassin family because he wanted to get revenge after a wrongful conviction. All of this happened in part because of the system failing him," Lily whispered. "I guess Prosecutor Wood's father thought that he would be able to fix everything that had happened if he made sure it didn't happen again."

"The problem was that the Emsthorpe assassins didn't want to work with him. They wanted change, but they wanted it to happen by burning the system to the ground and starting over with something fresh," Judge Diaphan explained. "They didn't care who they had to hurt along the way. It didn't matter what happened along the way as long as they were able to get what they wanted. Even if it meant bloodshed, they were willing to take that as a price to pay if it would end the way they liked."

"Even if I appreciate why they wanted to change everything, I can't condone the way they're doing it," I frowned. "I mean, killing people isn't going to be the answer no matter how much they've been hurt. Besides, they've let that power spiral way out of control."

"They've realized that times are changing too. I suspect that's why they turned their attention to some of the most prominent figures in the legal world in our modern day," Judge Diaphan went on. She looked out the window, the sunlight from outside reflecting off her mask. "The daughter of the family they despise so much... The current chief prosecutor who stands against them... And the one person with the chance to expose them for what they are, the Oracle of the Law."

My shoulders went tense at her words. "W-What does Oracle have to do with this?" I squeaked out. Judge Diaphan shouldn't have known the truth about Oracle. None of the people involved with the project had shared the truth with her. I didn't think there was a plan to tell her at all since she was so far away from our inner circle at the agency.

Judge Diaphan let out a small chuckle as she shook her head. "You think I wasn't going to figure it out?" she asked softly. "I've presided over enough cases from your agency to put the pieces together. On top of that, I have access to many files thanks to my position as a member of the Council of Six. With a bit of work, I was able to learn the truth. I can assure you that the secret is safe with me though, and I never breathed a word of it to anyone. I have no intentions of breaking that oath in the future either. After all, we have the same goal at the end of the day, don't we?"

Deirdre, Lily, and I remained silent and still as she turned around to face us. "Speaking of Oracle, I believe you should go and speak with her when you have the chance. I've shared all I know with you. I was not the one who sent the letters, but the criminal behind this case used my name to lure people into a trap. Why not ask one of the prey what happened?"

Deirdre took a small step forward. "First, I have one last question for you," she said, though I could tell there was much more on her mind than she wanted to admit freely. "You spoke of there being five incidents in this building. The death of Alianna Wood, the murder of Robin Wood, the incident earlier this year where you were arrested, and now this case... That only makes for four. What is the fifth?"

Judge Diaphan turned to face her slowly, something like intrigue playing across her features. Nearby, Lily squirmed on the spot, and I frowned up at her. Judge Diaphan just let out a low, self-deprecating laugh. "I suppose it's just a matter of time before you find out... I would have thought you would already be aware of it though. After all, it heavily involves a few people you have come to know rather well."

"What?" I asked, my eyes going wide. "What are you talking about?"

Judge Diaphan nodded to herself before continuing. "There was a hostage case in this very building years ago, and the ones who were taken were none other than..."

October 23

Detention Center

11:00 AM

Sky Amaya

Victoria and Felicity were watching me as we walked out, and my stomach twisted with anxiety. I just wanted to run away from all of this and wait until it was over and I wouldn't have to talk about it anymore. I knew that wasn't going to be an option though. I had no other choice. I had to finally tell them about everything I had been trying so hard to keep inside.

To say that I was terrified felt like the understatement of the century. I felt like I was going to lose my breakfast, and I was even more afraid of what was going to happen when Felicity heard the extent of this. She had been keeping this from herself for years. How could I just break all of that and tell her the truth? How was she going to respond? I knew it wasn't going to be good, but I didn't have much of a choice anymore, did I? I had taken too long, and I had to deal with it now.

"Sky, what's going on?" Felicity asked. Her eyes were so dark and serious as she looked at me, and I could already tell this was the end. "What's going on? You've been acting so strange ever since that case at the Gather Law headquarters. What are you dealing with? Why won't you tell the rest of us about it?"

"I'm scared," I admitted before I could hold the words back. It felt embarrassing to admit along with a whole other slew of emotions, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I had to talk about it sooner or later, and apparently, this was the time. "You're not supposed to... It's supposed to be a secret. I don't know what to do about all of this."

Felicity and Victoria shared a long look, and I could tell Victoria wanted to tell me that I could keep it hidden for a while longer if I wanted to, but that wasn't an option. I knew that much. I had been hiding this for long enough, and it was as good as over for me. Felicity was going to know the truth by the time this conversation was over, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"It was as case that took place in the Council of Six's main building years ago," I started slowly, wanting to draw this out for as long as I could while also wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible. "I... It was a kidnapping case. Two children were taken hostage to be used as leverage over their parents who were high-ranking officials in the legal system. In the end, it wound up turning into a murder case for three people. The children got away, and their parents were killed."

When I looked over to Felicity out of the corner of my eye, I could see the gears in her head starting to turn. There was no going back on this now. I let out a slow, hefty sigh before looking down at my hands. "The children in that case were me and Felicity."

Victoria's eyes went wide, and Felicity stared up at me with a look of pure betrayal in her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked softly. "Don't you think I have a right to know about something like that? When did this even happen? I don't... I don't..."

"Remember?" I finished for her, and she nodded slowly. "That's exactly why I didn't want to tell you. Your mind had hidden the truth from you, and it didn't feel right for me to just break through all of that by revealing what actually happened. I was scared it was going to cause something inside of you to break. You had been through enough with the kidnapping, and if you didn't remember anything about it, then... I thought that was a cue that it was what was for the best of you."

Felicity continued to stare at me for another long moment, and I sighed before continuing. "It was a long time ago. We were children, and they were trying to use us as leverage against our parents. Our parents were important figures in the legal world, and... They weren't good people. The Emsthorpe assassins decided they wanted to get revenge on them, and that started with using us. They were hoping to use us as bait to try and get our parents to come and see what was happening. In making the bait, we were going to lure them to their deaths."

I clenched and unclenched my hands carefully. "Our parents died during the case. Y-You didn't seem to remember how it happened, and it didn't seem right to tell you. I mean, if you had forgotten, then there was a reason for it. How could I just break through everything your mind had done to protect you? You had suffered enough, and if it meant I had to bear this burden alone to keep you safe, then I was willing to do it," I told Felicity. "I know you're not going to want to hear it, but I did what I thought would be best for you. That's the reason for all of this."

Felicity stared down at the ground, and the room was tense and silent for what felt like an eternity. "I... I think I started to remember it after that case in the Council of Six headquarters earlier this year," she admitted softly. "I just felt like there was something I was supposed to know that I hadn't yet figured out. It was just barely out of reach, and I had no idea what to do about all of it."

"I figured that was what was happening," I confessed. "I thought you might be remembering the truth, but I still couldn't be the one to break that open for you. I wanted you to forget about it forever. But... I guess that didn't wind up working out, huh? You kept feeling like there was something wrong, and now, I'm here telling you."

"What changed?" Victoria asked carefully. "You said that you didn't want to be the person who had to tell her, but here you are, doing just that."

"I guess I had a bit of an epiphany," I replied with a loose, jerky shrug. "I realized that it would be for the best if she heard from someone who cared about her and would know how to help her through it. I had no idea what was going to happen if she found out the truth on her own, and it felt safer if I was there for her. I didn't want to do it, so I held it off for as long as I possibly could, but... When I realized this case was in the same building, I knew it was just a matter of time."

"That was why you wanted to get us out of there as soon as possible," Felicity realized. "You thought I was going to remember if I spent too much time in there, so you said we should come here and visit Pieter while the others stayed in the headquarters."

"Yeah," I confirmed. When I looked down at my hands, I realized they were shaking. "I'm sorry about all of this. I didn't... I didn't want to hurt you. I thought I was doing what was best for you, but I guess I failed on that, huh?"

Felicity placed a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked up to face her, I realized tears were welling up in my eyes. "I'm not mad at you," she admitted. "I don't hold anything against you. I know that you wanted to do the best by me, and I appreciate that."

I stared at her in shock for what felt like an eternity before she sighed. "I'm not... I'm not entirely sure of what to think of it. I know it was just a matter of time before the truth came out, and... Now that it is out there, I know I have a lot to sort through. I didn't even realize all of that happened, and sifting through my memories is going to be awful now that I know about it," Felicity murmured.

"You don't need to do it alone though," I assured her. "I still remember everything that happened that day, and I can do something to ease you through it. If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Felicity nodded quietly, and we all lapsed into heavy, prolonged silence. "I can't believe you were dealing with this alone for so long," Felicity eventually whispered. "I don't know how you could sit there and know all of that on your own for all those years. I feel awful after just remembering it for a short while, and you've been holding onto it while I just... Forgot."

"It got easier as time went by," I admitted. "It wasn't easy, and I'm not going to say that it was, but I know how to handle it better now. It took me a long time to catch up with it, but... Well, that's what happens with these things. You need to process it on your own terms, and time starts to heal the wounds."

"But you never talked about it with anyone," Felicity insisted, taking a step toward me. "How could you just keep it all bottled up inside? I feel like I'm going to explode. It's like... Everyone needs to know about it, and I have no idea what to do about that. How am I supposed to survive just going on like this when the rest of the world doesn't understand any of it?"

"You're not alone with it though. It's okay," I reminded her with a small smile, placing my hand on her shoulder. "If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Felicity nodded to herself, and she looked down at the ground carefully. Once again, everything fell quiet, and she stared up at me with a sobering exhaustion in her eyes. "I... I'm starting to think that maybe we shouldn't do anything major for the investigation of this case," she murmured.

My eyes went wide with shock for a moment. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't think I can do the rest of the investigation with all of this in mind," Felicity elaborated. "I'm still trying to figure out what happened and sort through my thoughts. I would be too distracted to help out with the investigation, and I... I want you to help me push through all of this too."

I smiled gently before nodding. "Yeah... You're right," I agreed. "I think it might be for the best if we back away from the case. There are four other people in the agency who can take care of the case." I looked over to Victoria, remembering a little bit too late that we still had an audience. "Um... Are you okay with that?"

"Of course," Victoria assured me with a small smile. "You couldn't keep me away from this case even if you tried. I'm going to do everything I can to help Pieter, and I'll pick up the slack from you two. Lily, Deirdre, and Yuri can help me out too. You don't need to worry about anything."

"Thank you," I told her with a hefty sigh of relief. I felt like all the tension was melting out of my body with that one breath, and I let my grip tighten on Felicity's shoulder for just a moment before I moved to take her hands between my own. "I think the two of us should probably head back to the agency. You might want to go back to the Council of Six's main building so you can speak with the other three about what happened here."

"We'll try our best to be there at the trial," Felicity chimed in. "I don't think we can make any promises about being there, but we'll try to come and see what happens if we can't do anything else with the investigation."

"Don't feel pressured to come if you don't think it's a good idea," Victoria insisted with a small frown. "I don't want you to push yourselves after all of this. I mean, if the building of the crime scene is a trigger for you to remember all of this..."

"We'll be fine," I told her. "We're counting on you to take care of everything with the investigation. Bring Pieter home safe, okay?"

"I will," Victoria promised. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to him... And I'm going to try and help everyone who was hurt over the course of the crime yesterday. If this does have something to do with the Emsthorpe family-which I'm sure it does-then I'm going to do what I can to reveal the truth."

"Just be careful. We know that they're dangerous, and we don't want anything bad to happen to you," Felicity said softly. "If we figure anything else out, we'll be sure to tell you."

Victoria nodded. "Alright. We'll be okay," she assured us. "Stay safe, okay?"

Felicity and I nodded, and we watched Victoria walk for the door and leave. Once we were alone, we looked to one another. I felt like a massive weight had been taken off my shoulders after all this time. There was still a lot for me and Felicity to unpack together about what had happened, but this was the most important step taken. We were going to be okay.

And for the first time since this started, I actually believed it.

I'm sleepy

-Digital