May 31

Defendant Lobby No. 1

1:15 PM

Lily Shield

After we had gotten out of the courtroom, Chrysalis and I went our separate ways. She went over to talk to Neptune. I hung out by the wall, using it to support myself. I was still feeling weak after that whole commotion. My heart hadn't stopped pounding since the trial ended. I couldn't help the fear that was creeping into my mind more with every passing second. I wished that this whole case hadn't happened to begin with. After all, if the case didn't happen, then this whole thing wouldn't have happened either. I wished for nothing more than to travel back in time and reverse this whole mess before it could start, but that was impossible, so I was left staring down as I leaned up against the wall near the door.

"Lily!"

I looked up when I heard Yuri's voice. She dashed over and took my hand. Deirdre was a few feet behind her. "You sure look stressed after all that. Are you feeling okay? Do you want to go home?" asked Yuri. Even if she was trying to cheer me up, she probably should have focused on helping herself. I could see her shaking, even if she was trying to hide it the best she could. I felt a pang of pity for her, seeing her so afraid. She shouldn't have ended up in this mess to begin with.

"I'm fine," I smiled, you know, like a liar. "Are you guys feeling alright? I'm sure it was quite a shock to see something like that happen so suddenly... I wasn't expecting it either. The killer seemed to be a bit... Well... Easy to anger, but I still wasn't anticipating something like that. Also, it's crazy that Occisor was involved with two of our cases back to back. Maybe this agency is just incredibly unlucky in that department. I hope we're not destined to end up in trouble like that forever. That wouldn't be fun."

"I hope that's not it also. It would be a serious disaster if we found ourselves in cases like that all the time," Yuri said. "But we can't really jump to conclusions like that now. We should focus on what's going on in the moment. Do you want to go and talk to your client? I forgot her name. Oops. I guess that's what you get when you don't show up for the first day of the trial."

"Speaking of, when did you guys get here? I didn't think you were coming to see the trial yesterday, so what made you decide to come?" I asked.

"We had a bunch of paperwork to fill out yesterday, so we couldn't really find time to sneak out and come see you. We were able to handle it for today though, so I convinced Deirdre to come with me!" Yuri chirped. "Also, I have a question for you two... Did you guys notice how your client looks a lot like Venus? I mean, they're practically identical. It's a little bit creepy, if I'm being perfectly honest."

"Chrysalis seemed to notice that. Speaking of, she should be over here soon. She's been talking to Ms. Mercure ever since the trial got out. They seem to be discussing something pretty serious. I don't think I want to butt into it," I said. "Anyways, is there anything else you guys want to talk about before we head back to the agency? Also, is Mr. Morix around here at all? It seems a bit odd to me that you two would show up while he chose not to. Did he mention anything about that to you?"

"He said that he wanted to hold down the fort in case we got any other defense requests," Yuri explained. "I'm sure he'd be happy to hear about this victory in court, though he won't be quite so satisfied to learn that Occisor made another public appearance. It wouldn't surprise me if he hated them given the way things have been going so far. Then again, I bet a lot of people aren't exactly fond of them since they're kind of killers that have been on the loose for heaven only knows how long."

"Don't remind me. I just hope we don't ever have to see them again," I told her with a shudder. "Today was terrifying enough in my eyes. I bet that they're getting very close to finding out who Oracle is too. I can't quite tell for sure though... I guess we'll just have to see how the future plays out... I can only hope that it happens when we aren't in immediate danger... Today was a close call. If those guys had decided to do much else, we would have been toast. It really makes you appreciate the simple things in life, such as not being dead, you know? I don't really know how else I can describe this sort of feeling... Here's to praying that we never have to worry about it again."

"There's no way to say how things will end up now," Deirdre frowned. "We can't predict the future. Instead, we'll just have to wait."

"Yeah... I don't really want to do that, but what choice do we have?" I asked. "Oh, well. It's fine. Let's focus on other things for the time being. We should head back to the agency soon. Mr. Morix will probably want our help if there's another case. This city seems pretty susceptible to false accusations as well, which means that we're going to have our work cut out for us should something else happen."

"Sounds good to me. Let's just pick up Chrysalis first. She won't like it if we leave her. She's a useless bisexual. Well, I say that, but I just mean that she can't drive. Bisexuals either can't cook, can't do math, or can't drive, and she's in the last category for sure," Yuri shrugged. She looked over to the couch where Chrysalis was sitting. Our coworker was nuzzled up against Ms. Mercure. "Wow... Just when I start talking about her bisexuality, it appears... Talk about luck."

"I don't think she has any crushes. I certainly would have picked up on something if it was there," I remarked. "But that isn't important right now. The point is that we should be heading back to the agency soon. Mr. Morix will probably be wondering what's taking us so long. I get the feeling that he's about as protective of his sister as Robbie is of me. He could panic if we leave him without an update for too long. Call it a gut instinct that he'd get antsy. Anyways, let's go and head for the car."

"I'll go and get Chrysalis," Yuri said. I turned to look where she was sitting on the couch. Ms. Mercure had gotten up and left, so Chrysalis was alone now. She was staring down at a small piece of paper in her hands, but I couldn't say for sure what was on it. I figured it would be best to stay out of it. What was her business was her business. I didn't want to butt into it and end up finding out something I didn't want to hear about. You could say I'm pretty easygoing in that respect.

Yuri dashed over to where Chrysalis was sitting and helped her to her feet. The two of them talked for a moment or two. Judging by the solemn expression on Yuri's face, they were discussing something pretty serious. Chrysalis kept on glancing down at the slip of paper between her fingers. After chatting for about a minute or two, they came back over to us. "Okay. We're ready to head out," Yuri smiled. "Chrysalis is probably going to go and see Neptune though. Apparently, they bonded a lot after the trial. Are we sure that she doesn't have a crush on our new planet-named friend? It certainly wouldn't surprise me. She doesn't get cuddly like that with just anyone."

"Of course not," Chrysalis said dismissively. "We're just going to have a civil discussion about Oracle. She's got a lot of information she wants to share with me. It's as simple as that. I'm going to ask Cotoli to give me a ride over there once we get back to the agency, so... Deirdre is probably going to end up in charge."

"Why not me?" Yuri asked, pouting in the direction of the older girl. "Why not Lily, for that matter? Isn't she older than Deirdre? Do you not trust us or something? I have seniority over them, you know! I've known you for two years now, for crying out loud!"

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just get the feeling that Cotoli is going to want to give her a taste of power or something. I don't know. I won't know until we go and see him. That being said, let's split up, hop in the cars, and head back to the agency. I don't really want to linger around here for much longer. A lot has happened here today. I don't want to stay here where it's so easy to go back to thinking about. I want to forget that today ever happened, for the most part," Chrysalis said. "The trial was nothing short of a complete mess, so can you really blame me for wanting to forget about it? Lily looked ready to straight up pass out by the time it was over. I could have sworn half the gallery was scared witless. All in all, it was just a mess that I really don't want to think about further."

"Alright. I guess we can go and see who Mr. Morix wants in charge," Yuri sighed. "Come on, Deirdre. We have places to be and responsibilities to assume! I hope. I like being in charge. It means that I am ultra powerful or something. Being as short as I am, I don't get that feeling often, so I like to treasure it when it does come once in a blue moon."

Deirdre nodded her agreement with a small, humored smile before walking out of the lobby with Yuri. I turned to Chrysalis. She was staring down at that piece of paper again. When she noticed my eyes were on her, she looked up and stuffed it into her pocket. "If you want the truth, I just don't think it's a good idea to put Yuri in charge. She gets power-hungry. I guess that comes with the territory of being the youngest kid or something... Then again, I'm the baby of my family, but I'm still relatively normal. Yuri is just a strange case, I suppose," Chrysalis told me.

Even if I told myself I wasn't going to snoop into any personal business today, I couldn't help but wonder about that note. Was it important? I hadn't really noticed it until after the trial ended. If it was important, maybe she'd be willing to tell me about it. Before I could think twice, I let out a sigh. "What's on that piece of paper? You've been staring at it constantly ever since Ms. Mercure left. Is something wrong?" I asked, hoping that she wouldn't react badly.

"It's nothing important. We should just go. Yuri's definitely going to lord it over our heads if she and Deirdre beat us back to the agency," Chrysalis said. She walked for the door in a hurry, clearly desperate to escape this conversation before I could really find out what the note was about.

However, I wasn't going to let that happen. I reached out my hand and took her wrist gently between my fingers. She tensed up as she turned back to face me. "You know that you can always talk to me if something is wrong, right?" I asked. "I know that we haven't known each other for very long, but I like to think that you're able to trust me if something is on your mind. I'd be glad to listen if you just need to vent out your frustrations or something. I can tell that note is bothering me. Why won't you just tell me about it?"

"I... I'd rather keep this private for the time being, if you don't mind," Chrysalis murmured. "And it isn't that I don't trust you or anything like that, before you get thoughts like that in your head. I'm just a bit slow to warm to people. It'll take some more time before I can fully place my faith in you. I can tell that you're a trustworthy person. I just need to take care of my own reservations first. As for the note, it's private business between me and Neptune. After we've taken care of it, I can tell you all about it. However, I'm still going to need a little while to think it all over. I hope that you understand and don't get all mad about it. I wouldn't want to upset you because of it."

"It's alright. I'm fine with you taking your time. Just know that whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here for you. Do you understand that?" I asked, gently taking one shoulder between my fingers. She was a bit tense at first before relaxing into my grip. "I won't ever use something like that against you. I get that trust takes time to build, but I'll always be here for you if you need someone to talk to regardless of how strong our bond is at that point. It's what friends do for each other, you know?"

"Friends... I see. Thank you for all of this, Lily. I'm glad you're not pressing me too hard on this. I don't want to be forced to say something I'm not exactly ready to share," she said. "Now, we've been in here for long enough. Let's head back to the agency to take care of the rest of our business for today. I swear, I can already hear Yuri's voice in the back of my head, mocking us for being so late... She can get a bit smug sometimes, but I know that she has good intentions. She's a good kid, just so long as you don't get on her bad side. She can be downright terrifying should you cross her."

"I sort of sensed that," I remarked with a smile. "And I agree. Let's get going. I won't have your brother panicking over how late we are. I get the feeling he's the type to be made nervous easily. Would I be correct in that assumption?"

Chrysalis let out a small giggle. "You have no idea."

May 31

Unknown Location

Unknown Time

Unknown Perspective

When I arrived outside the building, I stared it up and down with a frown. I hadn't anticipated something like this. The past few months had been a bit messy for me and my coworkers. More and more incidents were taking place, which did nothing but make everything even harder for me. Occisor was turning out to be a real thorn in my side. I was going to have to be more careful than ever before if I wanted to avoid their grasp. If they were really watching my every move like they seemed to be, then caution was the only thing that would keep me alive. Of course, I knew full well that they weren't able to do that. They didn't know who I was yet, but things could easily change and take a turn for the worse at any moment. I did everything with hesitation these days. I wished that I could just figure out where they were hiding out so that I could haul them off to prison for their crimes. That would certainly make my job easier. Plus, I'd be one step closer to achieving my endgame goals.

"Hello there. I expected you to come by sooner or later."

I turned to the right upon hearing a voice. There was a young woman standing just beside the door. A small smile was on her face. I frowned as I approached her. "I see. You predicted that we'd meet," I murmured.

"Of course I did. I got the feeling that the message would end up in your hands eventually... Of course, I didn't expect you to come in costume. I didn't realize we were having some sort of masquerade ball here. Do you have an explanation for why you look the way you do?" the woman asked of me. Despite her smirk, I wasn't sensing anything malicious from her, at least not yet. Even so, it was enough to make me shudder a little bit.

"I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about," I lied, hoping she wouldn't be able to see through me.

"When I gave that young girl the note, I had a sneaking suspicion that it would get around to you. I was correct. Good, good... Now, please come inside. We have a few things to talk about. I wouldn't want to keep our lovely spy waiting, now would I?" The young woman let out a small laugh as she opened the door and gestured for me to enter. I stuck one hand into my pocket and toyed with my phone for a moment, ready to whip it out and call for help should something go wrong. After taking a deep breath, I walked inside.

The building was rather fancy, which I admit I should have seen coming. I didn't have time to linger on my surroundings though. Instead, I turned to the young woman beside me. "If you don't mind my asking, I want to know exactly how you learned of this truth. I want to hear all the details, and I'd like to hear them now," I said. My voice was as hard as rocks to get the point across. My hand clenched into a fist at my side as I internally crossed my fingers in prayer that she'd agree to tell me.

"You don't need to be like that," the young woman assured me. "Follow me. I can show you to a private location. I don't want anyone else overhearing and getting assumptions about you. That wouldn't be good, now would it?" I wanted to say that she was wrong, but deep down, I knew she wasn't. There had to be other people around here somewhere. There was no way that one woman who didn't even appear twenty yet could own a home as large as this one. If there were other people, that meant that they could easily overhear us if they came too close. I didn't want to be alone with her out of fear this was some twisted trap, but at the same time, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

The young woman led me into a room far from the entrance. It appeared to be a guest bedroom. It was pretty messy. Clothes were draped on the various shelves in the room. Papers were scattered about on the ground. I had to watch my step to keep from crushing any of them under my shoes. Just to be sure I wouldn't mess anything up, I walked on my toes. I hoped the young woman couldn't see any signs of weakness. I didn't know her well enough yet to be sure that she wouldn't jump at the opportunity to do anything illegal or unnecessary. I was going to need to be on my guard until I had properly evaluated the situation.

She was able to navigate her messy room with ease, making it to the bed on the far side within a matter of seconds. I was still trying to skirt around the crinkled papers that I could see everywhere. I tried to catch a glance at them to see what they were about, but unfortunately, I couldn't really read them. The handwriting was far too untidy for me to even attempt it.

"Sit down, please," the young woman instructed of me. Despite the solemn severity of the situation, she didn't seem to mind. She had a bright smile on her face and a chipper quality to her voice. I couldn't help but shudder. There had to be something darker hiding behind that wide grin and welcoming attitude. I couldn't put a finger on it yet, but I was positive something was going on.

"I want to know how you figured it out," I demanded of her, less willing to cooperate this time around. She hadn't answered my question before, so I'd just have to press it out of her. Luckily, I was a professional at doing that. I had drilled many a criminal before. Even if she wasn't evil (which I couldn't say for sure at that moment), I still figured it was a good idea to get this out of her. She had to tell me how she figured this out. I wasn't going to be leaving easily without that information.

"Getting right down to business, I see," she murmured. "I don't understand why you're asking me this. I'm just a humble private investigator trying to learn more about the world that I live in. It's harmless, really." She shrugged to herself and picked up a mint from a bowl sitting on a small table beside the bed. The bowl was barely visible under a pair of papers on top of the table's surface. "I don't understand why you're getting so tense over this. It's nothing important. If it was important, you'd likely know about it already. What about you go on and let go of this topic? I know. That's what matters. You can now talk to me openly about anything that's on your mind. It's a simple concept, if you ask me."

"I can't do that," I told her, resisting the urge to growl at her with every piece of my being. "This is important. Even if you think that it's just something to be brushed off or ignored, I'm not able to let it go. The fact that you know could change the course of this city forever. Everything that we've ever known could easily be snapped into a million pieces in the blink of an eye. Two years of work to reform this mess of a court system will have gone to waste. You must understand how serious this is." I had to bite my tongue to keep from shouting at her. I was sure that she knew how bad this was. She just had to be choosing to focus on other things for the time being. I knew it.

"It really doesn't matter how I know though," she continued to insist. "I told you that I know. We both figured out that I'm as knowledgeable on the matter as you are. We've covered that. Now that we've taken care of it, we can move on to talk about other things. I want you to understand that I am your ally in this world that does nothing but try to hurt you. I'll always be your ally. That's never going to change."

"It could change if you don't tell me what's going on," I found myself snapping.

"You know you can't let that happen. If you betray me and leave me behind, then I could easily tell anyone and everyone about you. I bet it would take less than a day for everything to crumble into dust. If I wanted to, I could throw you into complete despair." The young woman finally swallowed her mint. "Of course, I'm not going to do that. I'm a far nicer person than you seem to think I am. I know everything that there is to know about you. I'm not going to use it for evil though. I'm instead going to use it to help you out. I won't leave you behind to face the world alone. That's just not the type of person that I am."

"Then what type of person are you?" I asked her. "I don't have a clue. I didn't even know you until that note showed up. You told that girl to talk to you about Oracle if she ever learns about it and needs a confidant. Even so, you gave it to her knowing it would reach me eventually. If you ask me, you seem like some serious puppet master. To my knowledge, you didn't even know her until a few days ago. That sounds incredibly suspicious in my eyes. I can't say for sure what type of person you are when you're being this mysterious. Nobody can tell."

The young woman let out a sigh. "I understand that it's confusing. Life often is. I know that you need allies on this path you have chosen though. I'm here to be that ally to you. Whether you choose to accept me or not, I will eternally be by your side. Call it an agreement of sorts," she said. "It doesn't matter if you agree to it or not. I know a lot about you. Everybody else in this house has stayed out of it for the time being. They don't seem very interested. They don't know that I'm right here with them though. An ally of the one and only Oracle is hiding right within their own walls."

"I don't understand your motivation for any of this," I muttered. "None of it makes any sense."

"It makes plenty of sense, should you know the full story. However, it will be quite some time before that is revealed. For all I know, it may not even happen. I can't say for sure. We'll just have to see. Until that time, the possible time that may or may not exist off in the far future, I'm going to keep my secrets. I've communicated the necessary words for our meeting today. That being said, I think that we're almost done here... Well, that is, unless you're willing to open up to me," the woman said. She moved a bit closer to me and put a hand over my fingers, making a shiver sprint up and down my spine. "I'm always going to be here. My door is always open for you, Oracle. Just say the word and I'll come to speak with you about whatever is troubling you. Or maybe you could come to me. Either way, the effect is the same."

"I don't understand anything that's happened here today," I found myself repeating. "I want to know how you found all this out, but clearly, you aren't in the mood to tell me. If you don't mind I'm going to be on my way. I'd rather not stay with someone who doesn't want to cooperate with me. It'll just make things more annoying for the both of us if I stick around. That being said..." I rose to my feet and started for the door. This time, I ignored the precarious maze of papers and didn't do a thing when I accidentally stepped on a few of them here and there.

"I know that you'll be back. I will not greet you with hostility when that day comes. I'll be here with open arms to greet you, Oracle," the young woman smiled. "Until that day comes, I trust that you will stay out of harm's way. Granted, that isn't the easiest for you, but I'll still have faith in you. Maybe you can turn things around and stay out of trouble for a little while. I suppose that we'll just have to see how things play out. For now, I'll see you later. I'll talk to you another time, Ms. Sakura Rai. Granted, we both know fully well that isn't your real name, but I'm not here to mess with you over your name. There are enough people out there who want to heckle you over it. I'm your ally, not your enemy, so I'll just let you go. Your secret is safe with me until you're ready to admit the truth to yourself that I'm here for you. That much I would swear on my life."

I found myself leaving a little bit faster when she said my name. I had hoped that she wouldn't know that much, but apparently, it was all in vain. I could feel fear gnawing away at my chest now. How did she know about this? When did this happen? She was saying that she wasn't going to expose me, but I was still terrified. I had an awful feeling about all of this. I could just pray that things wouldn't be as bad as I was fearing they would be in the end...

TURNABOUT ON THE WAVES

END

I'm so sorry about how late this update is. I had a bunch of forensics stuff on Thursday and Friday followed by a wedding on Saturday. I apologize.

Anyways, we're done with this case! We get to go on to our next case, The Festive Turnabout, next week! The angst seriously kicks in!

Also, as of this update, we are officially halfway through this book! Awesome!

Until next week, I hope you enjoyed!

-Digital