With fame comes ruin.
When all of those people look at Troupe Gramarye they don't see behind the smoke and mirrors. They only see the blinding show business, get taken in by our magic, cheer us on and fuel our passion - but what if they knew what is happening behind the scenes? Would they be able to understand how dark the shadow cast behind a stage full of light and tricks is? Would they look, or would they look away, pretending not to see it?
-x-
The greater the light, the darker the shadow cast
-x-
„Daddy?" Zak Gramarye looks up from the papers he's holding and spots his daughter leaning against the doorway, half hiding in the dim light. „I can't sleep ..."
„Come here darling." He puts down the papers onto the table by the side, one hand extended in Trucy's direction, and lifts her onto his knees when she approaches him. "Nightmares again?", he asks and twines his arms around his little daughter, leaning closer to catch her gaze. She has been crying, her eyes red, even though she tries to hide it from him by avoiding his searching eyes. She looks at her hands. She nods once. "It's okay, darling. Your mommy and I are here for you. But remember, little magician-"
Zak puts a hand under Trucy's chin and gently forces her to look at him. „A Gramarye magician never cries. We always keep a smile on our faces. Do you understand that?"
She nods again and fiddles with the hemline of her pajamas. „Can you tell me a story?", she asks, subdued.
„About what, darling? What story do you want to hear?" Zak leans back in his armchair. He can feel today's training in his bones and he feels the strain of performance in his heart. He'd very much like to go to sleep now but there's no way he'd leave Trucy alone at a moment like this. Trucy has been having a lot of bad nights recently but no wonder, after what happened to Troupe Gramarye ...
"About magicians." Trucy's face lights up and she smiles, shifting her weight on Zak's knee. She encloses her own knees with her hands, excited. "Tell me about Uncle Reus' magic!"
Ah … Reus.
Zak exhales silently through his nose to not turn it into a sigh. It comes down to that, huh?
Trucy doesn't know the background of why Magnifi decided to fire Reus from their Troupe. Thalassa - Trucy's mother - and Zak have thought it best to keep silent about the true reason - how could you explain Magnifi's action to a five-year old anyways? Especially when even adults had difficulties understanding that harsh decision ... So Thalassa and Zak thought of a story for Trucy, and they told her Uncle Reus has gone for a long travel before he supposedly makes his return ...
Trucy really loved him.
"Uncle Reus is a great magician", Zak begins and lets go off Trucy with one hand to mimic Reus' favorite magic pose for Trucy's sake. In truth he never got along with Reus really well, and a lot of their problems had been because of Reus' magic tricks. They weren't exactly a part of Troupe Gramarye, too much of everything, too dangerous, too distracting, thrilling, all of that. How often had Reus been forced to perform low level magic, nothing great if you compared it to the others' performances and at best getting the kids' attention?
Fire. Reus loved fire with all his heart. Zak holds his hand with his palm turned upwards, as if he's holding flames in his hand, and continues the story - for kids, Reus was conjuring fire out of thin air and could make it disappear just as easily. "With his fire he fought against the great evil shadows and chased them all away!" He clenches his hand into a fist and raises it in triumph against the evil shadows.
"Like the demons in my room?" Trucy jumps off Zak's knee and repeats his last gesture. "Take this, great evil shadow! Back to the underground with you!"
"Hahahaha!" Zak rises from his armchair, ruffles through Trucy's hair and smiles down on her. "Do you think you can sleep now, fearless magician Trucy Enigmar?" Trucy nods. "Good. Then good night, darling."
Zak watches Trucy jump away into the direction of her room and his smile slowly fades away. Yes, there have been problems with Reus but have any of them justified Magnifi's reaction? Have any of them justified throwing Reus out the Troupe for good? As much as Zak likes his job, loves magic and his fans' enthusiasm ... he just isn't sure that Troupe Gramarye really is the place for a kid like Trucy. Should she be raised with magic around her? Should she be given a choice to choose a different path for herself? Does Zak want her to continue on the Gramarye creed - or is that too much of a burden for her to carry alone ... ?
"Trucy couldn't sleep again?" Two hands close around Zak's midriff from behind and his wife rests her head against his back, humming into his ear with half closed sleepy eyes.
"Yes. She must still be worried about Reus." Zak places his hands on top of Thalassa's, lifts one of her hands up to his lips and places a kiss on her palm. She giggles.
"Come to bed, it's late. Tomorrow morning is a new day to be worrying about letters and my pa but tonight it's time we sleep."
"I love you", Zak murmurs, turns in his wife's arms and presses a kiss onto her lips. He truly loves this woman. He loves her more than anything, both the charming magic of her personality and her stage magic. There is no other like her in this world.
"I love you too, you big hairy lion."
-x-
-x-
Losing Thalassa is terrible. Destructive. Murderous. Knowing that it may have been Zak's own bullet that killed Thalassa is even worse. To be blackmailed by Magnifi for that fact, to be put under pressure for a mistake, is beyond imagination, it takes every light from the world and dips it in endless black shadows that consume every hope inside Zak's heart and soul.
But to see Trucy heartbroken is the worst.
They never get a body to bury Thalassa properly. They never get a funeral to begin with. They are simply not allowed to. To the outside world, under Magnifi's blackmail and the power he holds over the rest of the Troupe, Thalassa never died, she just disappeared and left the Troupe's core behind: Valant. Zak. Magnifi. There is no open mourning, nobody cancels their shows.
Magnifi doesn't allow them to show weakness.
"Don't you care about Trucy? What am I supposed to tell her what happened to her mother? Don't you at least care for your only grandchild, bastard? It's HER child, it's YOUR blood!"
Trucy is six years old. She just six years old and has lost another member of her family. She lost her mother, her mother's blood possibly on her father's fingers.
How can I ever look into your eyes again after what I may have done, Trucy? How can I tell you what your grandfather is doing to me and Valant now? How can I ever find the strength to put all the cards on the table ... ?
"Daddy?" Trucy doesn't know. She doesn't know yet. Zak left her with Valant all the time he has been trying to argue with Magnifi. It was a long argument with a lot of screaming, with murderous intents, cold glares, desperation, violence.
"She is your daughter, bastard! SHE IS MY WIFE. What the fuck are you going to do with her body? You can't pretend she never died, give us a funeral, give the world the truth! Don't treat your own flesh and blood like this!" - "What happens to her body is none of your concern. It's my business and I will take care of everything. Wasn't it your bullet that took her life?" - "She's my wife. She's Trucy's – your grandchild's! – mother! How can it leave you cold?! How can you be such a fucking liar, ugly assho-" - "Now now. You don't want to destroy what we have, right Zak? You have always been the smarter one, think about it. You don't want to take away Trucy's future, do you? You don't want that she loses her father too, because he shot at her mother during practice. Maybe a mistake but not if I tell them you did it on purpose. Not if the police finds evidence that you had a motive. You don't want to take away the only childhood Trucy has, do you? Obey me and Trucy won't be suffering anymore. Disobey and you will face the consequences."
"Daddy?" They have been standing in front of Zak's mobile home for several moments now, Valant holding Trucy's hand, Zak staring into empty air. Trucy reaches out, puts a hand against Zak's leg, and it startles him from his thoughts. He kneels down, embraces his daughter tightly, all while looking directly at Valant.
Valant knows. His eyes are dark when he looks back at Zak, his face as if made out of stone. He is not a fool and he can put one and one together. Before this shooting accident – before one of either of them killed Thalassa Gramarye – they had been practicing together, working together, been a team together; but they never really were together. It was all part of the stage play. Now they are partners in crime. Blackmailed into submission. Guilty of murder.
Thalassa liked Valant. She liked spending time with him after practices, talking to him, getting lunch with him. Of course Trucy likes him too. He's another of her family, her Uncle Valant, a haven of peace in these troubled times.
He's part of it. He's just as guilty as Zak.
"It's okay Trucy. Let's go home for today." Zak listens to himself as if his voice is far away. All the while he does not avert his gaze from Valant.
"Are you not going to practice with Uncle Valant? I thought you, mommy and him had a routi-"
"Not today. Let's go home." Trucy is not a fool either. She must see that something is wrong. She must know that something happened. And yet she puts her head back, puts both arms against her sides and smiles widely, nods and shouts: "Yes! Let's rest for the day!"
Zak gives Valant one last glance before turning around and leaving but he cannot wish his partner in crime good luck or strength. They're both ruined. They're both destroyed individuals, completely broken because of what happened. Broken ...
How will Zak tell Trucy what happened to her mommy ...?
"Where's mommy?", Trucy asks this evening. She sits by the window of their mobile home and looks at the cloudy sky, waiting for her mother's return for a while now. It's going to rain tonight. Heavy rain, by the looks of it.
Hopefully mommy comes home before the clouds break loose. She forgot to take her umbrella.
Zak doesn't know how to answer that question. He buries his face in his hands, cowering deeper into his armchair. He doesn't allow himself to break now. He cannot afford to let it get to him yet.
"When is mommy going to come back home? Where is she, daddy?" Trucy turns around on her place of observation to look at her daddy but an answer is not needed. Somebody knocks at the door and with a cheerful shout Trucy runs over, tears open the door in expectation that her mother returned home. "Welcome ho-", her voice dies away. "Uncle Valant?"
His eyes are bloodshot, he looks agitated and restless. He doesn't even look at Trucy, doesn't pay attention to her when his unsteady hand wipes sweat off his forehead, just steps in with a flow of words that are directed at Zak and Zak jumps up from his armchair and screams: "NOT IN FRONT OF HER." It puts an end to Valant's words. They stare at each other. Zak covers his face with both hands and repeats: "Not in front of Trucy."
Valant turns to look at Trucy, who still holds onto the door handle, the door wide open, and she lets go, runs past her uncle and dad and into her room. She's holding back the tears and lets them run over her face when she slams her room's door shut behind her.
She expects her daddy to come and check on her. He always does. Even if he didn't see that she's sad he would come to her room to scold her for slamming her door because Trucy isn't allowed to slam the doors in their mobile house. They would shout at each other then maybe, and in the end - because shouting makes Trucy sad - Daddy would tell her a story about Uncle Reus, and about the Gramarye creed. He would tell her everything will be okay.
And then mommy would come back home and she would explain that she had to do training or that she was with granddaddy Magnifi, and she would bring an apology cake because she knows that Trucy doesn't like being without her mommy for too long. She would hide them under a blanket to fulfill their secret mission: eating the apology cake without daddy noticing because then they don't have to share the cake that's only for Trucy.
Zak doesn't come.
Neither does Thalassa.
-x-
-x-
The next months Trucy has a hard time sleeping. The first few days she often thinks she hears her mommy come home and startles from her unsteady sleep only to find that it's a lie and their home still is empty and dark.
Her daddy isn't home often too. He stays out all day long and if he comes home it's late at night when he thinks that Trucy is sleeping already. He never comes to check on her though, and she can hear him talking to himself in their living room and sometimes crying when he thinks that she's long asleep.
More often than not he's staying out though. Trucy then lies awake all night, eyes wide against the darkness, but she doesn't want to go to Uncle Valant's home every night. She must stay at their own home, in case her mommy comes back. She must be there in that case. Mommy would be scared if Trucy wasn't there anymore. Mommy would be frightened.
"Uncle Reus' fire will protect me against the shadows, don't worry, Mommy", Trucy whispers, her arms wrapped around her knees while she's hiding under the blanket. Trembling she's listening to the shadows who creep around her bed. They will attack her if she doesn't pay attention, if she falls asleep, Trucy knows that. They might even take her away like they have taken Uncle Reus if she isn't awake to use his fire against the evil shadows.
"Uncle Reus' fire … will protect me." Trucy wipes away the single tear that runs over her cheek. "A Gramarye magician always smiles. A true entertainer never cries."
-x-
Days turn into weeks. In the mornings Trucy has troubles getting out of bed. Sometimes she takes her time to stand up. Sometimes she doesn't stand up at all. Uncle Valant comes to check up on her from time to time but he's never truly there for her, not like daddy has been. But her daddy isn't home for a long time now.
Not today. She heard how he came home last night, his steps heavy like always but- he has turned on the lights in the living room, he hasn't been talking to himself. He hasn't left yet even though it's morning.
Trucy concludes that today they might be okay again. She dares to hope that her daddy is going to be okay today. Today she forces herself into the kitchen in the early morning despite feeling weak on her knees, searches through the cupboards and shelves until she finds what she needs. Two plates. Two cups. Forks, knives, spoons.
Trucy makes pancakes even though her pancakes are small and a little bit black on one side. Mommy used to make pancakes when daddy was feeling unwell. Trucy even prepares coffee.
"We will be okay", Trucy says into the empty living room. She can do this. She can fight against the shadows by herself now. "Daddy, breakfast is ready!" She runs to Zak's bedroom. It's dark in there, the curtains closed. That's okay. Today they can spend some time together again. Today is a new day. "You can come to the kitchen now!"
She has learned to not ask about mommy by now. Not her daddy. Not uncle Valant. Not granddaddy Magnifi. They never speak about her anymore. They always look so cold when Trucy mentions her mommy, or get nervous or shout at Trucy. So Trucy concludes that the shadows must have taken her mommy with them, just like they have taken Uncle Reus. And Trucy won't allow the shadows to take more people from her family.
"I'm not hungry."
"I made pancakes. And coffee." Trucy rounds the bed and tries to catch a glimpse onto her daddy's face from her position but the blanket and his hand are in the way. She feels unsteady on her feet, the days of not sleeping are catching up to her. Still she climbs the bed, tugs at his arm and almost falls over when Zak turns onto his back and looks at his daughter with sullen sunken eyes. "Daddy, you look sick."
"I'm okay, Trucy. Go have breakfast without me. I'll eat later." He takes her hand and presses it gently and Trucy feels her throat tighten. She nods, forces herself to smile for her daddy's sake and leaves the room with silent steps, not allowing herself to cry until she can be sure that he won't hear it.
It's going to be okay another day then.
-x-
-x-
"Mr. Hat, you are a great gentleman!"
"Oh thank you Milady, you are a master magician yourself!" Trucy moves her arm up and down as little as possible to maneuver Mr. Hat at her side like an individual person.
"Oh no, Mr. Hat, without you I wouldn't be able to stand against the world's shadows! You are truly my hero!"
"Hohoho, you flatter me, Milady!" Trucy's hand freezes when she hears somebody approaching behind her. She clicks the mechanism to hide Mr. Hat away, sits down at the side of training grounds and stares at the tip of her shoes.
"Talking to yourself again?" A familiar face appears in Trucy's line of sight and she immediately jumps to her feet again.
"Uncle Valant!" She wants to throw her arms around him but he gestures her not to. With a smile he shows her both his empty hands, leaning close to her, then moves them to the side and suddenly holds a single rose in his hands.
"For my little darling, Trucy Enigmar", he says, gives her the rose and hugs her, both of them laughing. If you see them like this you won't believe how much hurt both of those magicians are hiding away from plain sight, and how much this hurt has changed both of them. The shadows of hurt have made one of them stronger – strong because they needed to be strong for everybody else – and the shadows of hurt have made the other one twisted, woke desires in them that would not find good resolution in the end.
"I see you're getting really good with ventriloquism!" Valant motions at the folded Mr. Hat.
"It's not ventriloquism, Mr. Hat is a genuine friend!" And the only one who completely understands my mission. Trucy hides both her hands behind her back, smiling, and when she shows her hands again the rose that Valant gave her is gone. "Tada!"
"Alakaz-wow! How in the world did you do that?" Valant acts surprised and Trucy giggles. They both know that Trucy hid the rose by hiding it at plain sight – but there is nothing better than being goofy from time to time again. There are way too many situations where Trucy doesn't have the chance to be a child again.
"Uncle Valant, are you going to practice now?", Trucy asks and notices the subtle change in her uncle's facial expression. It's slightly different from his normal face but then again, he has been wearing it ever since the day her mommy has disappeared.
"I will. You should probably go and see your grandpa with your daddy. Zak is preparing to go to the hospital soon." There are unspoken words between them, a tension that is growing the older Trucy gets – but Trucy nods, smiles and runs off.
Her granddaddy's time on earth is coming to an end and soon the shadows will claim his life. Trucy knows that Magnifi wouldn't be happy if she was sad, so she keeps her smile. She keeps it for her daddy as well because he likes her more when she's smiling. So when they enter the hospital both Trucy and Zak are smiling and yet Trucy can tell, he's more relaxed than usually, he even buys her a slice of cake at the hospital's cafe.
But when Zak comes back to fetch her, after his talk with Magnifi, he's tense, his eyes darting left and right.
"Do you want to be a Gramarye magician?", he asks Trucy on their way back to the trailer. He holds Trucy's hand and even through the gloves Trucy can feel how cold his skin is. She knows something is off. She knows it for some time now. She's eight, and she knows more than the adults believe she does. Especially since she is no child anymore.
"I would like to become one, yes. I can do magic now too, daddy. Like you. Like mommy, too." Trucy trails off with her last words and Zak doesn't even hear them. He's wearing that smile, nods, asks Trucy to perform a magic trick for him. To prove that she is a Gramarye magician.
"Right now?", she asks but Zak shakes his head, tells her that he will tell her when she will have to use magic. "Later. At a different place. I'm not able to tell you now. It's a secret."
Then Magnifi dies. And men come to arrest Valant and Zak for Magnifi's murder. They knock at the door of Trucy's home, and this time Zak opens the door, and the men take him with them, together with Valant, leaving Trucy behind all alone.
"I'll be okay", Trucy says when Zak turns around to tell her that she must come to his trial. He tells her exactly where to be and when and Trucy only nods.
She knows that the shadows have taken her father too. The shadows have taken her daddy long time ago.
-x-
-x-
The next day after their both's arrest Valant comes back to the home trailers but it's not him, not really. He's shaking, he isn't talking much, he doesn't focus on what he's doing. He explains to Trucy that her father has been arrested for killing her granddaddy. She asks him when the trial is and he tells her, it's the 19th of April. It's the 14th of April now.
"What happened to mommy?", Trucy asks. Valant freezes in his shaking, turns around. Trucy isn't smiling anymore. She isn't a fool. She isn't pretending anymore.
"We don't know", Valant says after a while of silence. His eyes are awake, smart. "Magnifi knew. Magnifi is dead." He picks up his shaking, picks up his nervous behavior. "Zak killed him. Zak shot him."
Would my father kill anyone?
Trucy knows that the shadows have claimed her uncle as well.
-x-
-x-
The courthouse is an interesting place. Trucy feels the nervous anticipation in the air, different from when people are waiting for one of Troupe Gramarye's shows. She asks one of the bailiffs where she can find her daddy and he leads her to a defendant lobby. She can see her daddy standing in front of another man, who has spiky hair, but she cannot see his face because his back is turned to her. Zak spots Trucy over this man's shoulder and meets her halfway before she can enter the defendant lobby.
"It's time to perform our magic trick together, just us two, as father and daughter", Zak tells her, fiddling with the locket around his neck. He says it's Trucy's chance to prove that she's a real Gramarye but all the time he avoids her gaze while she searches for the truth in his face and listens to the details of his plan. "You understand that, don't you? Don't look so down, Trucy. A Gramarye magician always smiles."
It's a lie. But this lie has saved her life.
"A true entertainer never cries", she whispers. Zak extends his little finger and takes hers into his, entwining them together. For the first time since they're together he looks at her, looks directly at her, and for a moment it's her daddy, and Trucy loves her daddy.
She misses him.
"I give you a pinky promise that everything is going to be okay, Trucy. Your father never killed anyone, you hear me?" The shadows did. Trucy doesn't say it out loud. "I have to leave now, Trucy. Everything will be okay. We will see each other again. Don't forget the plan, okay?"
"Yes." Trucy nods and her heart beats faster when her father smiles, genuinely smiles. She misses him. She misses him so much.
"I love you, darling", he says, pats her head and stands up again.
"I love you too, daddy." She almost cries when she says that.
Then Zak leaves with two bailiffs, returns to talk with the spiky haired man in the defendant lobby. Trucy has not much time to think about it everything, because a polite voice by a polite looking man with a polite smile, who Trucy never met before, suddenly stands by her side and asks her to give a piece of paper to the spiky haired man in the defendant lobby.
"Why?", Trucy asks. The polite man says that the spiky haired man is daddy's defense attorney.
"He will need that", the polite man says and Trucy stares at the piece of paper that this man extends towards her. This piece of paper will prove that her daddy never killed anyone. This piece of paper could help her daddy. Trucy is troubled, deep in thoughts, and yet she smiles at the polite looking man, nods, and shouts: "I will make sure he gets it!"
The polite man laughs and thanks her before leaving.
But all of this is a lie. Every word spoken that day was a lie.
Trucy performs the magic trick like Zak asked her to. They are successful - true Gramarye magician - and Trucy hides behind the couch when people come looking for her. She hears their footsteps, hears their shouting. She sits down in the other defendant lobby, waits for her daddy to return and pick her up.
You did well, darling. I knew I could rely on you to do magic!
And now she's waiting, and waiting, and waiting ...
The spiky haired man, her daddy's defense attorney, comes to pick her up instead. She sees his face for the first time but he looks different from how she thought he would look like. And Trucy knows that look on his face. She knows it all too well. It hits her like a lightning bolt, and hurts her -
the shadows have come to claim this man.
"You are here?" He looks at her and she tries to smile, tries to cheer him up by telling him that she's waiting for her daddy. The spiky haired man's shoulders sink down and he shakes his head. "I can't you leave you alone in the courthouse like this. I have - an apartment. A home. You ... can stay. Your daddy won't come to pick you up."
"Why not?" Trucy doesn't try to smile now. The spiky haired man tries his best to talk to her, he explains what happened in the trial, explains that Zak Gramarye is nowhere to be found. He is on the verge of breaking but still tries his best to talk to Trucy first. He looks like he wants to cry and still talks to Trucy, explains to an eight-year-old girl what happened to her father.
Maybe that's the reason why she takes his hand and decides that she will not let the shadows take another person from her even though he's not part of her family. She decides that it's her duty to protect him.
When they walk to his home Trucy starts talking to the spiky haired man. She tells him about Troupe Gramarye, about Uncle Reus and her own practices. The spiky haired man is smiling at Trucy for her sake, and Trucy can relate to that, and she understand that very well. Maybe that's the reason why she adopts him into her family immediately.
"My name is Trucy", she says when they reach the spiky haired man's home, clicks the mechanism to unfold Mr. Hat and adds: "And this is my best friend Mr. Hat! We're magicians!"
"And the very best ones at that", Mr. Hat adds. Mr. Hat never talked to strangers before but this time, Mr. Hat feels that his efforts aren't wasted on this fight. Trucy smiles for the spiky haired man but she's genuinely smiling, and the spiky haired man smiles back, trying to stay strong, for himself, for her.
"I'm Phoenix Wright. I hope you can … like this place. It's not much. I don't have much." Phoenix sits down on his couch and his shoulders sink down. "Oh god … Oh god ... I don't have anything." He covers his mouth with a hand.
"Can I call you daddy? Will you be my family now?" Trucy folds Mr. Hat back and rounds the couch to sit next to Phoenix. He looks at her, starts crying, his lips shaking, and she smiles and puts a hand on his -
"I'd be honored to, Trucy", he says, and they hug, Phoenix shaking in Trucy's arms.
"It's okay. We will be fine, daddy", Trucy murmurs.
In this moment they make a pact against the shadows, two heroes to fight the evil and to protect each other from being claimed by the darkness – a small Gramarye magician will stay strong to fight against her family's curse, and the disbarred lawyer will stay strong to not sink into madness. The first step in their mission however isn't Trucy's soothing words, though they are the stepping stone for helping him not to break down immediately, no.
It's Trucy's description of the polite man with the polite smile and the polite voice, in every detail she can remember. Phoenix pales while Trucy does her best to describe the pale man who gave her a damning piece of paper, and Phoenix only says one name.
"Kristoph."