A/N: Onward to finish this before I have to go to work!
No review replies this time. Oh well!
Apollo is fifteen, Trucy is eight here.
I will also begin to write Apollo's POV from here on out.
…
Chapter Six: The Turning Point
Three Years Later
I plastered a huge grin across my face, swept off my top hat, and bowed to the cheering audience of Gatewater Land, Dad and Uncle Valant doing the same on either side of me.
"Thank you again!" Dad cried, before the three of us exited, stage left, to where Trucy and Grandfather waited.
"You were awesome, Daddy! Polly!" Trucy squealed, darting forward and throwing her arms around the two of us. My fake smile morphed into a small, real one as I hugged Trucy back.
"Thanks, kiddo," I said, while Dad ruffled her hair.
"Mediocre, at best," Grandfather said, with a frown at me. "You need more practice, all three of you!" He turned his eyes on Dad and Uncle Valant, and a sick feeling rolled through me.
Since my mother's death, Grandfather controlled those two, always hanging the accident over their head. Neither knew which fired the killing shot, and I don't think we'll ever find out. Not that I blamed either of them for her death. Accidents just… happen.
As for me, I hated my Grandfather with a bitter passion… but I was scared of him as well. The only one free from his controlling grasp was Trucy… for now.
"Magnifi, please, we need a break," Uncle Valant said. "We're tired – all of us. Including yo—"
"Silence!" Grandfather snapped, and I couldn't help but flinch slightly. "We will take a break when I say so. For now, we… we will…" he swayed suddenly, and Dad let go of me and Trucy to catch him as he collapsed, falling unconscious.
…
"Your grandfather is dying, Apollo," Dad said, sitting on my bed next to me. I fiddled with Mom's bracelet, which had stayed hidden in my room for the past three years. "Apparently, he's diabetic, and in the third stage of cancer."
"The amazing Magnifi Gramarye, bought down by a muggle illness," I said bitterly, slipping the bracelet onto my wrist. Dad didn't say anything, just wrapped at arm around me. I leaned against him, closing my eyes. Despite my hatred for the man, and the hell he's put all of us through… a strange sadness was overcoming me.
"How's Trucy?" I asked.
"Sad. She… doesn't have the same history with your Grandfather as you do…" he said, rubbing my back. I simply sighed.
"'History'… right."
…
Grandfather had been in the hospital for quite some time when the letter came. I found Dad's, already opened, and couldn't help but read it myself.
Basically, Grandfather wanted Dad to kill him, using one of the prop pistols. One that might have killed Mom, and he couldn't refuse for reasons 'they both knew.' There was a specific time as well.
I decided to go first, about thirty minutes before Dad was supposed to.
The hospital room was quiet except for the soft snoring of Grandfather, and the beeps of the machines monitoring his life. Laid up in bed like that, he seemed almost… harmless. Weak.
I carefully crept forward, to where the prop pistols sat on the nightstand, and picked one up, surprised at how heavy it was.
"What do you think you're doing, boy!?" Grandfather suddenly growled. I jumped, turning to face him, still holding the gun. He was still laying in the hospital bed, glaring at me, and all the fear I had of this man melted.
"Grandfather," I spat. "I found the note you sent to Dad. I decided I needed to talk to you before you died." My hands tightened around the pistol as I spoke. "For fifteen years, you treated me like dirt. Always told me I'd never be a magician… or a Gramarye. Did you really hate me that much?" I demanded. Grandfather stayed silent, just watching me with cold eyes. I growled softly.
"Fine! I don't even care about that!" I could feel my voice rising, but I didn't care. "What about Mom. Where is she!? Where did you send her! I heard you on the phone that day, saying you sent her away, and there was no reason it should have been a closed casket funeral! Where is she!?" Before I knew it, I was pointing the gun at his face, my arms trembling.
"Thalassa Gramarye is dead, boy," he snarled. I almost believed him.
His right eye twitched slightly.
"LIAR!" I yelled. My entire body was trembling now, tears blurring my vision. "You did something! What was it!?"
Grandfather didn't answer. With a yell of frustration, I tried to squeeze the trigger. I tried to shoot that smug man in the face, to save Dad the trouble of doing so.
I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"What's wrong, boy? Don't have the guts?" Grandfather asked in a mocking tone.
"SHUT UP!" I yelled, trying again, and again unable to. Silence ruled the room for a moment, before I threw the gun onto the nightstand and ran out.
He was right. I was a coward.
…
Despite everything that Grandfather had put Dad through, I knew he wouldn't be able to kill him tonight. Especially with how good a mood he was in when he returned home. I was in bed, curled on my side, still trembling slightly.
"Apollo?" Dad asked, coming in and putting a hand on my shoulder. "Are you feeling alright?"
"No…" I mumbled. I didn't want him to know what I had almost done.
"What is it?"
"I just feel tired… and ill," I spoke into my pillow. I could almost feel Dad hesitate, but then he sighed and patted my shoulder.
"Daaaaaaddy!" Trucy's sing-songy voice filled the air. "There's a cop at the door who wants to talk to you!"
"A cop?" Dad asked, standing. I turned my head as well, quickly wiping the residual tears away, before getting up and following, curious.
"Shadi Enigmar, you are under arrest for the murder of Magnifi Gramarye," the cop said as he put Dad into handcuffs. "You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say and do can be used against you in a court of law…"
"Wait, what!?" Trucy gasped, her eyes wide. I quickly caught her before she could run out the door after the men.
"Trucy, Apollo, don't worry!" Dad called over his shoulder. "I'll be okay!"
…
A/N: Well… it got a little intense there. I played with the idea of having Apollo be arrested, but I didn't know how to go about it that way, and still have Valant responsible for the framing (he'd never frame Apollo) and still have Zak disappear, so…
