March 15

Courtroom No. 2

12:00 PM

Deirdre Brigit

As soon as that voice rang out over the courthouse's intercom, I felt my shoulders go tense. We had already determined that Mr. Kyllar was the killer, but that wasn't the end of it. There was still more to come when it came to this case. Something about what was about to unfold left a knot of fear in my stomach...

"Just as all others in this room are aware, you are here today. You came to hear about your name being found in blood, aren't you? It's rather humorous how it works out. You came running to hear the truth behind this situation, but in the end, you only found trouble. My voice here is an indication of that.

"This is no coincidence at all. For two years now, we have wondered and wondered who you might be... But now, we are closer than ever. You are in this very room, simply waiting to be discovered and killed for theft of private information simply trying to show the truth to the world... Unfortunate. Most people who are supposedly good are met with tragedy before their graceful downfall... You're hoping for that now, aren't you? To end it all and eliminate the constant dread?

"Regardless of what you want, we are closer than ever before to achieving our goal of bringing you down. Your identity is soon to come to light whether you like it or not. No person can help you escape your fate now. Maybe you should just accept it... Then again, that would make things less fun for the five of us.

"Oh, but where are my manners? Allow me to introduce us. We are Occisor. Two years ago, we did something to you, did we not? A case known as GC-9, if I recall correctly. You had some connection to what happened and wanted revenge on the ones who made your life hell back then. And thus, Oracle was born... All it took was a little digging to find out that much. It's rather obvious given the time of your first appearance, slipped to the public by that lawyer. Jackson Blocker, his name was. Everybody figured it out once they put a bit of thought to it. We in Occisor were among the first to determine this logic and motive.

"Occisor was responsible for the murder of that factory woman two years ago, Natasha Morix. I'm sure you remember that. It was all over the news as a brutal incident of murders and attempted murders in the Sparx Factory near here. Occisor had just formed then. We needed to plot something to make our grand appearance with... Of course, that woman just had to appear and ruin everything. It didn't take long until the deed was done and witnesses were eliminated.

"Of course, all this ranting of mine means nothing, does it? What matters is that your blood is boiling at the mere thought of the ones who did this. Let it. Let your rage consume you until your execution comes... Give it a few months, Oracle. Everything in your little game will come to an end. You will take your final bow. The curtain will close at last on your bloodied corpse... Just thinking of it gets me excited, but that isn't important at the moment, is it?

"Ulysses Kyllar here is one of the ones in Occisor. We are dedicated to taking down the one who wants to eliminate us. This attempt may have failed, but you can never forget what has happened here today. Occisor will defeat you, Oracle. Just you wait. The last threat to our power is about to fall. Oracle is in this room now, but we can't eliminate them quite yet, can we? The killing will come soon enough though. The game will continue for now, if only for our enjoyment."

The courtroom, which had previously gone silent in terror, burst out into chatter as the intercom went off. I looked down at my hand and realized I was shaking.

Chrysalis looked up at Mr. Kyllar. The man pulled something from his pocket. I noticed that it was a smoke bomb. He pulled a small lighter out not long after and laughed. "Sweet dreams, everyone. As much as I have enjoyed this little gambit, I don't have much time to stick around. Occisor needs me, you see?" he asked before throwing the smoke ball down onto the floor. A cloud of fog billowed out from it, covering the entire courtroom. I tried to hold my breath, but I wasn't able to. I saw Mr. Kyllar run from the courtroom as I coughed, my lungs desperate to breathe in some air instead of the terrible smoke around me.

I felt my eyes getting droopy not long after. It wasn't from the coughing though. I wouldn't be this exhausted if it was just because of my breathing difficulties. No, I was sure that it was something inside of the smoke bomb that had just been set off. My knees went weak not long after, buckling beneath me. I let out a small cry of pain as I twisted my ankle on the way down, but I didn't get the chance to tend to my injury before the darkness came closing in. From beside me, I heard Chrysalis fall to the ground as well. My consciousness dissipated completely immediately after...

March 15

Courtroom No. 2

12:45 PM

Deirdre Brigit

When I finally awoke, my head was pounding. I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious, but I didn't have time to dwell on that. I immediately detected blood in the air. I pushed myself up, immediately alert. Prosecutor Burke was coming to now as well, Anton clinging to her arm in fear. I could see him shaking even from where I was across the courtroom. I glanced around in a panic before realizing where the scent was coming from.

Just beside me, Chrysalis was still unconscious. I hadn't seen it before, but there was a bloodstain on the ground near her hand. I could see a few splinters of wood on the back of her glove, so I assumed that she had accidentally dragged her hand along the wood of the bench in front of us as she fell unconscious.

I reached out to help her, but I wasn't given the chance. Chrysalis woke up, pushing herself to her feet. When she realized that she was bleeding, her eyes widened. She plucked the splinters from her glove and cradled her injured hand close to her chest, biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain.

"Do you need help?" I asked in concern, my hand dancing to her injured arm. "It looks like that cut is pretty bad."

"I'll fix it when I get home," Chrysalis said quickly, stepping away from me quickly. She looked somewhat afraid. I was sure it was because of the announcement that we had heard just before passing out. Occisor, whoever they were, seemed to have some beef with Oracle, and in the end, it got the rest of us hurt.

Judge Frost, who was now conscious, glanced around the courtroom before speaking. "Well... I see no reason to prolong this trial further," he said in a hurry. He seemed just as anxious to get out as the rest of us. "This court now finds the defendant, Yuri Rinko, not guilty. Court is adjourned!" Judge Frost slammed his gavel down onto the bench in front of him before dashing for the courtroom doors. I didn't at all disagree with this sentiment, so I did the same.

March 15

Defendant Lobby No. 2

12:50 PM

Deirdre Brigit

When I got out to the defendant lobby, the reporters were going wild, talking about theories as to who Oracle could be. I wasn't in the mood to join in, so I made for the hallway just outside the room. Chrysalis and Yuri weren't far behind me, the former holding her injured hand still. I wished she would let me help, but I got the feeling that she was stubborn enough to refuse it no matter how many times I asked her what I could do to be of assistance.

One thing was still on my mind. I hadn't been given the time to think of it before, but now that we were free of the courtroom, I could muse on it all I wanted. Occisor had mentioned over the intercom that a murder had taken place at Sparx Factory. I had heard of the place before, but never had I gone there. It was a factory that produced prototypes of wonderful pieces of technology soon to be released to a variety of audiences. The place was known for treating its workers well unlike most other factories, so many people were fond of Sparx. Tours were given each week going around the factory to look at what was in development.

The murder victim in the case that had been brought up was named Natasha Morix. I couldn't help but wonder if she was somehow related to Mr. Morix. They shared a surname for one, and plus, that last name was in no way common. It would make sense if they had some sort of relationship.

Despite my curiosity, I wasn't sure if prying was the best idea. Mr. Morix would likely be uncomfortable if I brought up the subject. He was probably already on edge enough as it was, so I didn't want to bother him if I could at all avoid it. Maybe Chrysalis would be a bit more open to the idea of talking about it though...

I tapped Chrysalis on the shoulder, making her look up. "What is it?" she asked, her eyes dark. I assumed it was because of the cut on her hand.

"Do you know anything about this Natasha Morix character that Occisor mentioned?" I asked her, a frown on my face.

Chrysalis hesitated before letting out a sigh. "Natasha Morix was my brother's mother," she told me quietly. "The two of us share a father but have different mothers. His mother was the victim in the case from two years ago, GC-9. She was murdered by unknown figures who attacked the factory. Not only did she die, but many other people fell victim to their despicable attacks. A few people nearly died. Yuri covers up her eye because of that case. Countless others were traumatized in other ways because of the group of killers. There were roughly five of them. I don't remember. The only words we have of the murderer and their assistants, who attacked witnesses who appeared at the scene, are from the witnesses. None of them could remember the incident in detail. I've wanted to open it back up, but without anyone from this Occisor group, we have nothing to go off. None of us can remember a damn thing about the ones who did it."

"Us?" I echoed. While she had been trying to hide it as far as I could tell, Chrysalis wasn't able to disguise that she was involved in the case. "Did you have something to do with the assault victims in this murder?"

"Even if I did, it doesn't matter. The killers are gone, he's gone, and there's nothing that we can do about it now. Without those people here, Cotoli's mother won't have any justice. It's tragic, but unfortunately, there's nothing that we can do about it," Chrysalis told me. "Now, drop the subject before my brother comes back. It's a touchy topic of conversation for him. I'm sure you know why. For his sake, leave him be and don't pester him about it, okay?"

I nodded. She was likely right about it being best to just leave the subject be when it came to Mr. Morix. He was likely going to be stressed enough over what had just happened in the courtroom. While he had seemed relaxed when we first met, I got the feeling he was easily unnerved in serious situations.

Speaking of Mr. Morix, he and Lily appeared not long after. They had managed to push through the crowd of reporters to reach us. It had taken them quite a while, but I couldn't blame them with all the people in the defendant lobby. Chrysalis and I had gotten out earlier since we were already on the ground, but he didn't quite have that sort of advantage. Lily was tightly holding onto his hand to keep from being separated from him, but he didn't seem to mind it.

"That was... That was interesting," I said, a false smile appearing on my face. "Occisor... It sounds as if they have some grudge against Oracle."

"Yeah," Lily nodded. She let go of Mr. Morix's hand and let out a sigh. "Whoever did this was deliberately trying to threaten the Oracle for some reason."

"The victim was nothing but a pawn in the grand scheme of things, it seemed. Mr. Kyllar killed him only to finger Yuri as the killer and get her in jail, thinking she had something to do with Oracle," I frowned. "Yuri, do you know anything about Oracle? Mr. Kyllar was convinced you had something to do with them."

Yuri shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I mean, I remember the case where the Oracle thing started up. They said it was GC-9. I was a witness in that case. I don't remember anything about the killers though. They got away with it," she told me. "I don't know who it could be. A bunch of people were involved with that case. A lot of people in the factory might have had a motive to become Oracle. Ms. Morix was well-liked among her coworkers. None of them would wish anything bad upon her. She was a role model in Sparx back when she was still around. Anybody she knew well enough might want to avenge her murder."

"I don't know either. My memories of those days are all blurry... I just remember around five people in the room where we found her," Chrysalis told us next.

Mr. Morix had been surprisingly quiet during this conversation. He was looking down at the ground with a faraway gaze. I guessed that he was still thinking about what had happened in the trial. It wasn't everyday that you heard an announcement from a group of killers talking about a spy. I was sure that this sort of thing hadn't happened at all, but you could never be positive with how strange history can be with all its ups and downs.

"Cotoli, we should go home," Chrysalis whispered to her brother. She tugged on his sleeve with her free hand. "I should get my hand patched up."

Mr. Morix snapped out of his daze and looked at her hand. "What happened...?!" he asked in a panic, seemingly having just noticed it. He really was out of it if he had taken so long to realize it. I had taken Mr. Morix for the protective type, which meant what had happened was engraved in his mind for the time being.

"I cut it when I was falling due to the smoke," Chrysalis explained with a wince. "I think we should patch it up after we get back to the agency. I doubt that the first aid kids here would have anything to help this out. Plus, we have a few wraps back at home. What do you say?"

Mr. Morix nodded in a hurry. "Alright. Let's get going," he said before turning to Lily, Yuri, and me. "We're going to head back. I'll see you all at work tomorrow."

"Bye," Lily said simply with a small wave. As Mr. Morix and Chrysalis disappeared from sight, she let out a sigh. "He didn't seem to be in the best of moods."

"I'm sure you figured this, but the victim from GC-9 was related to him. It was his mother," Yuri told us. "She was found with a rope around her neck, her body hanging from the ceiling, two years ago. Ever since he's been even more protective of Chrysalis, as if that was even possible. He gets really panicky when he thinks that she might be at risk of getting hurt, which is probably why he went running off as soon as he realized she was injured."

"Speaking of the two of them, do you know anything about them looking into Oracle? Chrysalis mentioned it briefly during our investigation, but I didn't get the chance to ask on it in full," I said. "She said that they look into Oracle when they can to figure out who they really are behind the mask."

"They've been doing that for a while. Ever since Oracle first showed up, they've been trying to figure out who it is. Venus used to help them out, back before she died, but... I bet they didn't know that she was helping out Oracle from the very start. She was more involved than we ever knew," Yuri frowned.

"I hope that we can figure out who it is soon... I'm a bit curious as to why Oracle booted it all up. Was it really for revenge like Occisor mentioned? I doubt that they have it right since they don't know who Oracle is. It's probably just a blind guess," Lily shrugged to herself. "But I guess we won't know until we figure out who Oracle is. Well, if we ever do. A secret that's been kept for two years now isn't going to crack very easily."

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right," I sighed. "Do you have any ideas as to who Oracle might be? You know more about the trial from a year ago than I do. You likely heard at least a little bit about it from your sister. She was present that day, correct? It would make sense if she was an accomplice."

"I know about as much as the public does. Oracle was exposed and got their hands cut open. The killer got away thanks to a smoke bomb like the one that we saw today. Venus would have been able to tell you a lot more, but she's not here to say it," Yuri frowned, looking down at her feet. "But, even if we can't ask Venus, there is one other person that we can ask. Mr. Morix was the lead attorney on thats case. When we go into work tomorrow, I'm sure that he'd be glad to tell us all about what happened a year ago in the trial. Because he's been looking into Oracle for a while on top of that, he'll have even more juicy details."

"Chrysalis suggested that while we were investigating this case. She said that Mr. Morix would tell us about it after the case finished. It seems that we don't need to return to the agency after what happened here today. From what Mr. Morix said as he was leaving, I get the feeling that he wants to be alone. He told us to come in tomorrow, which means we should give him some peace with his sister for the time being," I said. "But tomorrow, we should ask him about it. The case is once again relevant because of what happened here today. That case can give us a hint as to Oracle's identity. If we're lucky, we can find out a bit more about them and maybe even determine who they really are. If we do figure it out, we can use that information as we think it should be."

"I don't know if it's going to be as easy to find out as you're making it sound," Lily frowned. "I don't know much about Oracle. All I know is that they were involved in Venus Rinko's murder last month... I mean, they were right there in the courtroom the entire time that the trial was going on."

"What?!" Yuri cried out in shock. "Explain, please! I never heard anything about this! I was there watching the trial, but I didn't hear anything about Oracle actually being there for it!"

"It's only an idea, so don't get too excited," Lily cautioned. "After the trial, I spoke with my older brother. He was the prosecutor on the case. He said that he thought the main witness, Shayla Willows, was suspicious. After doing some digging, he came to the conclusion that she was Oracle. Her first recorded appearance was from two months ago. Barely anything is known about her from before that point. He said that we crossed paths with her without even knowing it. The judge was taken in by her spell too. Nobody had a clue that we were being deceived by none other than the Oracle of the Law during that trial."

"I had no idea... Venus had been hanging out with Shayla for quite some time too. They were really close friends. Shayla was at our house a lot of the time, talking about painting and stuff. She even slept over from time to time," Yuri told us in shock. "I had no clue that she was hiding anything at all like that."

"Whoever Oracle really is, they're good at keeping up the facade," I remarked. "Finding out who they really are is going to be harder than I expected."

"If Shayla comes to my house at any point in the near future, I'll be sure to talk to her about this. Oracle hasn't ever done anything violent in the past when it comes to their exposures. Sure, they have made notes of secret information, but only to expose corrupt legal dealings. Nobody's been hurt by them before, so I should be pretty safe to talk to her without suffering any injuries," Yuri said. "I'll try and have one of you two over just be on the safe side though."

"That sounds good," Lily smiled. "Wow, I feel like we're already a lot closer to figuring this out than we were before. This chat has been nice, even if we're talking about a spy and their endeavors." She let out a small laugh. There was nothing akin to discord behind her voice, so I knew for sure she was genuine. Even if we had all just met, I knew that we were going to be getting along well in no time, as if this wasn't an indication already.

"I should probably get going now," Yuri told us after a brief silence. "My mom's going to be wondering where I ran off to. She's already pretty eager to take me home. I know her well enough to have figured that out easily. I should head out to hopefully ease her worries. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She turned around and waved to us before disappearing into the crowd. Lily and I waved back.

We talked for a little longer before going our separate ways. Even as I got into my car, I was thinking about the trial. This Oracle situation was intriguing me more as the seconds crawled on. I was almost excited to see where it would take me in the near future. Even if much of what was to come was uncertain, I was still anticipating it eagerly. I had a feeling I was going to see many more adventures involving Oracle in my time at Morix Law Offices...

March 15

Unknown Location

7:00 PM

Unknown Perspective

"Today was risky for you, wasn't it?"

Upon hearing the man's voice in front of me, I let out a sigh. "It was," I said simply, unsure of how else I could respond. "Occisor seems incredibly interested in me. I can already tell that it's a bad sign. Whoever is behind it, they're smarter than I expected them to be."

"They said you wanted revenge because of the death of one Natasha Morix. Is that true?" the man asked, sitting down next to me. His presence was a comfort. In all this wild business that I was wrapped up in, he was my main source of happiness. He was always there for me, no matter how hard times got. We had mourned the loss of Venus together after her murder. He had held me as I cried over it. Hell, one might even say that he was my reason for living at this point.

"You could say that," I muttered with a small shake of my head. "It's a little bit of her and a little bit of something else. I'm sure you know what I mean. I still have to look for the man who appeared and then went missing. As brief as our time together was, he changed our lives for the better. I don't want him to be out there alone in the world when he could be here with us. During GC-9, he was there when I recovered and you were looking into everything that had happened. He was the first one to know about the Oracle project, even before you or Venus. I need to know where he is."

"Are you at all worried that he's told someone?" the man questioned of me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I leaned my head up against him, closing my eyes and shaking my head. "He wouldn't do that. We're all that he has left now. He mentioned that the people he cared for died at the hands of a group of killers. If you ask me, it has something to do with Occisor. Maybe he's out searching for them. He knew a lot more about them than we ever did, even if he kept it to himself to protect us. I just hope that he hasn't gone out and gotten himself killed for our sake..."

"Speaking of Occisor... Are you afraid of them at all?" the man asked next.

"A little... I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't, and I know well now that lying to you is pointless. You'll just see through it anyways. You know me far too well. You've been my legal guardian for eight years now. I can't keep anything from you," I said. I avoided his gaze and let out a sigh. "I hate all of this. I just want to stop Occisor and find him and end it all. Even if I'm helping people, all it does is hurt me... But at the same time... I know that I can't just up and quit."

"You're far too worried about the innocent people behind bars," the man finished for me.

As always, he was correct. "You got it. I don't want to see people suffering in prison over crimes they didn't commit. I know that I can do something to fix it. Everything that I've done so far has proven that. I can't just sit by and watch all those people get sent to death when they're innocent. I've never been the type to sit by when it comes to injustice," I told him assertively.

"Unless it's injustice done against you, it seems... Then again, the world has a way of making you suffer, doesn't it?" the man asked. I could hear the hint of sadness behind his voice.

"Yeah... Yeah, you're right," I said with a small laugh, though my voice was humorless. I found myself pulling the gloves I wore off my hands to stare at the twin scars on the back. There was a jagged line on both of them from a year ago. They had mostly healed since then, but I knew that they'd never fade. The right hand was still a bit sensitive from Venus' murder and what that Buff Guiy man did to me, but it would heal soon enough. The scars always did.

I decided to go on and change the subject as I pulled my gloves back on. "We should get something to eat. I know that we've both been on edge all day because of the trial, but we need to eat something. We can't have you getting sick, as prone to illness as you are," I told the man before getting to my feet.

"You can't really talk in that respect," the man smiled to himself. "If I recall correctly, back when you were younger, back when we barely knew each other, you'd get colds at school every other day and come home sneezing. I'd have to get you cough drops on my way home so that you'd be able to speak without wheezing. You've gotten much better since then, but still..."

I laughed quietly. "Okay, maybe you're right. But the point still stands that we need to get some food. Does grilled cheese sound alright? I can make it," I suggested.

"I still don't want you using that hand of yours. It's been scraped up pretty badly," the man frowned. "I'll handle it."

I nodded to myself, my thoughts going back to the trial briefly.

The man seemed to detect this. He leaned over and planted a small kiss on my forehead. "It'll be alright, my little Oracle."

I nodded in response. "You're right... It always is."

TURNABOUT BREAKDOWN

END

I present to you: a Cotoli Morix angst chapter. Nice.

I love my son, but seeing him suffer is kinda fun too. Sorry.

Also, we have a mysterious ending! Ooooooo! Maybe we'll soon learn more about these two people who were talking!

Anyways, next week, we start a new case. It'll be another double QATH week. I'm trying to finish up the first third of the book before I go back to hell/school on August 15. If I do double QATH updates until that week, I'm good on it.

Next case is called 'The Disastrous Turnabout'. Why you ask? Because everything goes horribly, horribly wrong!

Also it's a flashback case to a year before so yeet-

-Digital