June 21
Winding Way
The Winding Way was always the best place in Fey Manor for various reasons. For some, it was the beautiful scenery. For others, it was a large space that children can use to play games in or to have picnics. But for Iris...it was the best place for her to cry. She sat down on the porch in a fetal position, tears streaming down her eyes.
She cried her heart out as Maggey's words still rang in her head.
The weakest sister...
The one so pathetic she couldn't stand up to people...
She recounted all those times Morgan pushed them to their limits. Iris always obeyed, mainly out of fear, but Dahlia always tried to stand up to Morgan. It usually ended with Morgan punishing Dahlia in ways that would be described as physical abuse.
Furious slaps, hair pulling, even strangling her various times! And yet, despite the times she stepped in to lessen or tend to the pain, Iris never really did try to put an end to it or convince Morgan to stop hurting Dahlia. All she did was nothing but tending to the wounds...
Wounds that never really healed.
And there was still the matter of Feenie-
Iris paused, the image of her old flame in her mind. "Feenie..."
The man she loved. The very reason why she became a defense attorney. To say she never really got over his death was an understatement. She was still devastated by it.
Not one day goes without her thinking about how much she missed him. The spiky hair, that goofy grin, that naive yet kind heart...
She missed everything about him, and she hoped that by becoming a lawyer and fulfilling his promise, that she could finally pay respect to him.
But now? With Maggey's words in her mind, she felt as if she was responsible for his death! Yes, she could've gotten that necklace sooner! She could've warned him about Dahlia! She could've done something, anything to have kept him alive!
And yet she did nothing. Despite how much she loved him, Iris didn't even try to prevent his death...
He was gone. Gone because of her.
And Iris hated herself for it...
Maggey was right...she really was the-
"Mystic Iris?" a voice said to Iris, causing the rookie attorney to perk up and turned in its direction.
"Pearl..." she said, her voice hoarse from all the crying. "What are you doing here?"
"I...I heard crying and wanted to see what it was," Pearl explained, looking down and twiddling her fingers. "I didn't think it would be you. Why were you crying?"
Iris paused for a moment to think of what to say. "Just someone telling me something bad, Pearl," she answered, not wanting to go into detail about what really happened to her little sister. Someone of her age wouldn't take it well. "It's nothing, Pearl. It really isn't."
"But it made you sad," Pearl said. "It can't be nothing, can it?"
Iris looked down, pausing in thought once more. "Well...it's something that I'll have to deal with, Pearl..." she said, wiping her tears off.
"But Mystic Iris..."
"It'll be alright, Pearl," Iris tried to assure her little sister once more, masking her despair with a small smile.
Pearl went silent for a moment, not fully buying her older sister's words. But looking at her sister's face, she gave an understanding nod. "Okay, Mystic Iris."
Iris smiled. "Just call me Iris, Pearl."
The two sisters didn't say anything after that, awkwardly staring at one another before glancing around at other places. After a quick moment, Iris scooched over and offered Pearl a seat on the porch.
Pearl looked hesitant, clutching her shoulders as the memory of Morgan flashed into her mind.
"Foolish child, I disowned that woman because she was DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY! AND IF YOU KEEP TALKING TO HER, YOU'LL BE A DISGRACE TOO!"
Pearl froze, her hands shaking as she reheard those very words. Her older sister...a disgrace? She didn't seem like that.
"IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT, PEARL?! TO DISAPPOINT THE FAMILY!? TO DISAPPOINT ME!?"
She didn't want to disappoint anyone! All she just wanted was to know her sister and help Mystic Maya! Was that really so bad?
"BECAUSE IF YOU DO, SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ALONE WITHOUT-!"
"Pearl?" Iris asked, catching the little girl's attention. "Don't you want to sit?"
After a quick moment in thought, Pearl nodded and sat down beside her older sister Iris.
"Soo..." Iris said, trying to stir up a conversation. "How have you been doing?"
"...Fine," Pearl answered, glancing away from Iris, which led the two sisters into awkward silence once again. Iris frowned at that as she finally had a chance to communicate with her long-lost sister and all of it was being spent in silence!
From the look on Pearl's face, she could tell something was bothering I do something wrong to her? Iris wondered to herself, saddened by the idea of possibly driving her little sister away.
Wanting to cheer Pearl up, as well as to get to the bottom of what was bothering her, Iris said, "You know, I managed to give Mystic Maya more time."
Pearl perked up a bit, turning to Iris. "What do you mean?"
Iris nodded. "She's still under suspicion of killing Sir-I mean, Mr. Armando, but I managed to convince the Judge to give me another day to prove her innocence. I just need to get more evidence to do so."
"Ebidense..." Pearl mumbled in thought. "Did you already find more ebidense, Myst-Iris?"
Iris thought for a moment, looking back at all she had acquired today. The newspaper clippings regarding Maggey Byrde's romance with Dahlia, her "meeting" with Dr. Turner/Blu, and the box of special effects makeup. She'd like to believe those were all the evidence she needed, but she still needed to find a way to line it all up.
"I have some evidence all ready to help, Pearl," Iris said, "but I think I need more than that."
"Is there something I can do?" Pearl asked, but Iris patted her in the head affectionately.
"You've already done more than enough," Iris said with a smile. "That key you gave me managed to give Mystic Maya more time for the trial."
"Really?"
Iris nodded. "In fact, I have to thank you for giving me that Black Key earlier. I would've lost the case without it."
Iris then paused, a thought coming into her mind. "In fact, why do you have the key in the first place?"
"I got it when I was at the Winding Way at the time of the murder," Pearl answered absentmindedly, only to clasp her mouth shut.
"If you were here at that time...?" Iris rubbed her chin in thought before turning to her little sister. "What were you doing at the time of the murder, Pearl?"
Pearl gulped, twiddling her thumbs as she tried to come up with an answer. However, by the time she finally thought of one, she looked up and saw a look of shock on Iris' face.
Pearl sighed. That only meant one thing...
"Psyche Locks?" Iris asked, her jaw-dropping as she stared at the chains and locks separating her from Pearl. "Why do you...?"
"I'm sorry, Iris," Pearl apologized once more. "I...I couldn't help it..."
"Can't you just tell me what you were doing at the time of the murder?" Iris requested gently. "I just need to know for Mystic Maya's sake, Pearl."
Pearl slowly nodded in understanding but kept silent.
"I suppose I'll have to find out the old fashioned way," Iris sighed, rubbing her chin in thought. "From what I gathered, you were playing around at the Winding Way."
Pearl gasped. "Wow! Y-you got it!" she exclaimed. "How did you know!?"
"I didn't," Iris shrugged with a giggle. "I figured you'd be playing here during the time of the murder. Channeling Sessions can be boring sometimes, especially when you're practicing it."
Pearl perked up at that. "You think so too!?"
"Are you kidding? Having to sit inside a room and sitting still for hours, not even moving a muscle…you ever fell asleep doing it?"
"Twice!" Pearl laughed in agreement. "You should see Mystic Maya, though! She falls asleep every time she does that!"
The two sisters then laughed together as they recounted those memories.
"So...?" Iris paused, glancing away hesitantly. "Do you think you can tell me now?"
Pearl looked down in shame. "I'm sorry...not yet..."
Iris sighed. "Alright, what next...?" her eyes darted around her surroundings once again. "Okay, what you were doing here..."
Iris' head perked up and her eyes widened in intrigue as she noticed something peculiar.
Pearl raised a brow at this. "Iris...?" she glanced at where Iris was looking, and her eyes widened in horror at the revelation of what her older sister was staring at.
"No!" Pearl cried out, hoping to catch her sister's attention, but she didn't respond. Instead, Iris walked in the direction of where she was looking at.
"Iris!" Pearl shouted, grabbing her older sister by the bottom part of her attire.
"Pearl?" Iris asked, slightly raising her arms as her little sister was now tugging at the dress of her purple business suit, desperately struggling to pull her back. "What are you doing?"
"P-please don't look!" Pearl pleaded. "I-It's not what it looks like!"
Iris' head turned back to where she was originally looking, observing the intriguing object immensely. "But the urn looks different than I remembered it…"
. . .
Winding Way, 15 Years Ago...
"C'mon, Rissy!" Dahlia shouted at Iris. "Throw the ball already!"
"Alright, Dolly!" Iris shouted back. "Take this!"
Leaping high, Iris hit the ball to her twin sister, who quickly spiked it back to her. The two girls grinned and laughed in excitement as they played their game of catch.
Iris and Dahlia didn't remember how long it was since they ever had this much fun. For many weeks, their mother had put them through an intense amount of training. Meditating with ice-cold water constantly falling over them, having to be trapped in a dark room alone for long periods of time, and god knows how many hours listening to Morgan's lectures on spirit channeling, where she'd beat either of them with a stick if they didn't listen.
If they ever screwed up, Morgan would punish them for it. Lessen their breaks or even not permit them to have lunches in between them. And whenever one twin got sick (from the constant training), Morgan would shift whatever hours that twin should've done to the other with little to no rest.
To say the past months of training were harrowing would be an understatement.
As such, this made their simple game of catch incredibly entertaining. There were no lessons on channeling, no insane teaching methods that were being used on them, and no Morgan excusing it as "for the good of their family"...it was just two sisters playing a fun game together. And they wouldn't have it any other way.
"C'mon, Rissy!" Dahlia shouted once she caught the ball. "Is that the best you can do?! Try hitting the ball harder!"
Dahlia passed the ball to Iris again, who hit it harder this time in response to her words. Dahlia giggled. "Is that it!? You can do better, Iris!"
Iris huffed and as Dahlia tossed the ball back to her, she put more force in her strike, causing Dahlia to nearly stumble as she caught it.
Dahlia giggled. "There it is...but it's still not hard enough. C'mon, Iris! Are you a pushover or what!?" she shouted as she hit the ball back to Iris.
Iris tightened her fist, a spark of fury and determination growing inside her. Leaping up high and channeling all the energy she had, she struck the ball with such intensity that it looked like a cannonball as it speedily went back to Dahlia's direction.
With a yelp, Dahlia dodged the speeding ball before it could hit her...only for a loud, crashing sound to be heard.
Iris and Dahlia turned in the direction the ball went to and gasped in seeing what they had done.
"Oh god..." Dahlia gulped, some sweat dripping down her forehead.
"We...we broke it...!" Iris cried out, tearing up as they look at the shattered remains of the Sacred Urn, the family treasure of the entire Fey Clan, and the thing containing the ashes of the Clan's founder, Ami Fey.
"D-Dolly!" Iris cried out. "W-We broke it! We broke the Sacred Urn!"
"I-It'll be fine, Rissy!" Dahlia tried to assure her, barely containing her own fear.
"It won't be fine!" Iris bawled out. "I-If mother finds out we b-broke t-the urn, she...she'll...!" the poor girl proceeded to let out a scared cry that prompted Dahlia to silence her with a slap to the face.
"Will you get a grip!"Dahlia shouted, gripping Iris' shoulders. "We just need to pick up the pieces, fix it, and no one will notice! Now help me get the shards."
With doubtful and fearful looks on their faces, the two twins quickly scooped up all the broken pieces of the urn. Iris then rushed away and came back to Dahlia with a bottle of glue in hand.
Once they took all of the pieces to the Side Room, they began to work on repairing the urn, and so far, the results weren't pretty. The pieces barely stuck to their proper places even with the glue's help, and even when some pieces did stick, there was an obvious crack that had glue oozing out of it.
"W-we can't fix this..." Iris stuttered out, her crying making it barely coherent. "M-mother's going to be m-mad when she finds..."
"Shut up!" Dahlia shouted, making Iris yelp in fright. "Just shut up and help me fix this! If we finish this soon, then Morgan won't notice-"
"Notice what, child?" an all too familiar voice asked from behind, sending a twinge of fear to the two children as they turned to see a very upset Morgan Fey glaring down on them.
"M-M-Mother!" Iris said frantically. "W-we can-!"
"What did you two girls do!?" Morgan shouted at them with absolute fury as she took a quick look at the broken urn. "Do you have any idea what you've done!? And to the Sacred Urn no less!?"
"It's just an urn!" Dahlia shouted back. "What's the big deal if it-!"
"YOU IDIOTIC BRAT!" Morgan roared out as she grabbed Dahlia by her long red hair and pulled it tightly. Dahlia cried out in agony, reaching her arms out and pleading her mother to stop, but it only prompted Morgan to pull even harder. "THAT URN CONTAINED THE ASHES OF OUR FOUNDER, AND NOW ALL THAT HISTORY IS GONE BECAUSE OF YOUR INCOMPETENCE!"
"M-mother, stop!" Iris pleaded. "S-she didn't break the urn, I did! I hit the ball too hard and it broke the urn! P-please, stop hurting Dahlia!"
Morgan only glanced at Iris for a second before letting go of Dahlia's hair and shoving the poor girl onto the floor, her body landing where the broken pieces of the urn were. Dahlia cried out in pain as she felt the pieces embedding into her own skin.
"Dahlia!" Iris cried out, crawling to Dahlia's side.
"This mess better clean up by the time I'm back!" Morgan barked out."You two brats will face serious punishment for this!"
. . .
She remembered that she and Dahlia had shattered it to pieces, how Morgan went LIVID at them for it. She recounted that when Morgan discovered the shattered remains, she forced her to sweep up all the shards she could find. Once all of the shards were gathered, Morgan hired a potter from the city to fix the urn in secret.
That potter remade the urn and made it look as if it was never broken, but the urn now had cracks all over its base and it looked like it could shatter with the slightest touch. Finally, there was the word etched on the base: I AM.
"Ami," Iris whispered to herself, her tone serious and low. "It should be Ami, the name of the Fey Clan's founder…"
She turned to Pearl and saw that her little sister was trembling. "Pearl…don't tell me…"
The entire garden was silent, the echoes of the wind being the only thing audible. Iris only starred as tears slowly poured down Pearl's cheeks. Pearl grabbed herself by her shoulder arms, trembling as her head dropped down to keep Iris from seeing her crying, but she already did.
The look in her eyes. It wasn't feelings of shame, guilt, or even sadness.
It was fear.
"Pearl…" Iris said as she slowly and carefully extended her hand to Pearl's shoulder. "You broke the urn didn't you?"
"I...I didn't mean to!?" Pearl suddenly wailed out, catching Iris off guard. "A-around the day Maya started channeling, I was at the Winding Way playing with my ball..."
"And that's when you broke it?"
Pearl nodded, looking up to Iris with her crying eyes. "Y-yes...I...accidentally let M-Mystic Ami's spirit fly away!"
Oh, that old idea, Iris thought to herself, frowning uncomfortably as she remembered panicking over that too during her own experience with the urn.
Pearl continued, taking a sad look at the urn. "Breaking a village treasure was unforgivable and...so I found some glue and brought it to this hallway…"
"You mean the Winding Way?" Iris asked.
Pearl nodded. "The Channeling with Mr. Armando and Mystic Maya had started, so I didn't think anyone would walk by."
Iris glanced at the urn again and winced at its barely kept state. "The repairs must've taken a while."
"Yes," Pearl sniffed, a few tears still in her cheek. "I might be strong at spiritual things, but when it comes to arts and crafts, I am not nearly as skilled. When I had finished fixing up the urn and looked up, I saw you coming into the manor."
Iris rubbed her chin in thought, processing Pearl's ...so that would be around when Ini and I were coming back inside after reporting the murder.
"Iris…?" Pearl asked in a hoarse voice, her tears finally run out.
Iris stopped pondering and turned to her little sister. "Yes, Pearl?"
She gave the lawyer a heartbroken expression. "I'm...I'm going to be banished aren't I?"
Iris' eyes widened. "What...no! I mean…" thoughts of Morgan's abuse suddenly flashed in her mind. Hesitantly, she knelt to Pearl's height and asked, "Mother said she'd punish you, didn't she?"
Pearl went silent and only stared back at Iris, but the fearful look in her eyes was enough of an answer for Iris. "I'm a bad child. S-she said if I didn't behave...if I didn't act like a proper lady for the branch family, s-she...she'd punish me…"
"She...she already punished me just for being with you, Iris, and…and...PLEASE DON'T LET MOTHER KNOW!"
It was then Pearl burst into tears, crying her heart out as Iris could only watch her poor little sister break down. As Iris stared down at the sobbing Pearl, in an odd way, she saw herself during her childhood years.
Young.
Scared.
ABUSED.
Any thoughts she had about freeing Maya, about the case, and about what Maggey had told her…all of it went out of her mind.
All she could think of now was one thing.
Without warning, Iris grabbed Pearl and gave her an almost bone-crushing hug, trying to show as much affection to the girl as possible.
"Pearl, whatever Mother said to you, she's wrong. She's ALWAYS been wrong!" she tried to assure her. "You are anything but a bad child! And don't let someone like Mother-no, MORGAN-tell you otherwise!"
"But Mother..." Pearl whispered tearfully.
"She isn't going to banish you just for breaking an urn," Iris said. "In fact, Mystic Ami would be thank you for freeing her spirit from that thing. And if Morgan or anyone else in this village is going to banish you for that, then they're going to have to go through me!"
Pearl gasped, her eyes widened in surprise. "I-Iris…" she whispered.
"Oh, how sweet…" a voice said slyly from behind Iris.
Iris and Pearl turned and saw the cruel sneer of Maggey Byrde, who was standing above her, looking down at her with her arms crossed.
"It's really sweet that you're gonna look out for her, really it is," she said sarcastically. "But do you really think you have what it takes to do it? After all, you were too weak when it came with Dahlia."
Iris froze, her mind going back to the things Maggey had planted in her head. Maggey grinned at that.
"Because c'mon," she continued, crossing her arms. "What makes you think that you-the weakest sister-can do anything?"
Iris remained silent, her hands shaking as Maggey's words struck her very core. Feelings of guilt and anxiety flooded inside her as she looked down in shame.
Yes, she was the weakest sister...
She couldn't do anything to stop Dahlia or help her change...
She couldn't even save the man she loved...
What makes her think she could even-
"Iris?" Pearl asked innocently, showing concern in her eyes. Iris broke away from her despair and looked straight at Pearl. Her sweet little sister...
She flashed a small yet warm smile at Pearl before turning to give a quickly determined glare at Maggey, who took a step back in shock from it.
I might be the weakest sister, Ms. Byrde, Iris thought to herself, feeling fired up, but it's not too late to change...
"Hey, Pearl," Iris said to her sister gently. "How about we go see Mystic Maya?"
Pearl perked up, her eyes gleaming. "Really!?" she shouted in excitement before frowning in realization. "But what about Mother?"
"Morgan isn't here right now," she told her, giving her an assuring wink. "She won't be back here until the end of tomorrow's trial. Besides, you told me you never left Kurain Village before right?"
Pearl nodded.
"Why don't we fix that. I'll give you a grand tour of the city! Or...the best places in it, at least," Iris giggled. "C'mon, it'll be fun."
"But Mother-" Pearl began but the assuring smile on Iris' face said it all to her.
It'll be alright, Pearl...
Iris didn't say it but Pearl knew through her older sister's kind smile that it was the case. The gentle assurance that Iris presented, the affectionate and empathetic yet worried and fearful emotions that Pearl could see in Iris' eyes.
It was only though that look and Pearl felt more love and genuine concern from Iris than from Morgan, her own mother!
After a small moment of thought, Pearl gave Iris her own small grin. "Alright," she said. "Let's go see Mystic Maya, Iris."
Standing up and holding Pearl by her hand, Iris began to lead Pearl out of the Manor and to the bus stop. Maggey snarled, unhappy at the current circumstances.
"Well, good luck dealing with the little brat, Rissy!" she shouted out. "I'm sure it'll work out for you just like those other times!"
Iris didn't respond and carried on with taking Pearl to Maya.
"Hey, aren't you listening, Rissy!" Maggey shouted again, stomping the ground. "Don't ignore me while I'm talking, Iris! IRIS!"
Iris still didn't respond and soon afterward, she and Pearl were already gone, leaving Maggey alone in the Winding Way. With an annoyed growl, she took out her phone.
"You brought this on yourself, Rissy..." she grumbled to herself as she dialed a number she was all too familiar with. "Hey, Morgan, we got a problem."
Court Record:
Evidence:
1. Iris' Attorney Badge
2. Magatama
3. Diego Armando's Research (formerly Newspaper about Dahlia)
4. Black Key
5. Folding Screen
6. Diego Armando's Autopsy Report
7. Floor Plans
8. Knife
9. Chloroform Cloth
10. Robe
11. Headpiece
12. Broken Clothing Box
13. Special Effects Makeup
14. Sacred Urn
Profiles:
1. Diego Armando
2. Maya Fey
3. Pearl Fey
4. Ini Miney
5. Dahlia Hawthorne
6. Morgan Fey
7. Detective Gumshoe
8. "Maggey Byrde"
9. Franziska von Karma
10. Dr. Grey Turner/Dr. Black N. Blu
11. Ami Fey