"What the hell?"
Apollo cringed at Ema's choice of words. "Ema, language," he muttered.
"Pardon the language," Ema countered without losing a beat. "But seriously, what the f –"
"Ema," this time, it was Phoenix that cut her sentence off. He looked more like a father chiding his child, which Apollo found weird because he had never seen Phoenix giving Trucy that look. He glanced at Trucy, who was staring at Phoenix and Ema's interaction with interest. Yep, Mr. Wright definitely had never given Trucy that look…
Ema took a deep breath. "It's only been a few hours since I got ambushed… and now the fop, too? That redhead even managed to outrun the police. Just who is this girl?"
The question was left unanswered and silence hung in the air. Although Hotti Clinic was bustling with activity, the group wasn't affected by it. It seemed more like they were enveloped by a barrier that separated them from the rest of the world and nothing could shatter it.
A doctor walked to them and asked, "Are you here for Mr. Klavier Gavin?"
The sentence seemed to have broken the invisible walls. "Yes," Phoenix answered.
"How is he?" Ema rushed forward. Apollo couldn't help but glance at her injured arm. The attack a few hours ago had left her falling down the stairs. She was lucky to have survived the fall, but her left arm had to be wrapped in a cast. Her only reaction, amazingly, was a light 'Thank God it's not my good arm.'
"He is currently in a stable condition," said the doctor, "but he wouldn't be able to write, play guitar, or move at all with that hand for at least two weeks. I'm going to have to ask you to keep an eye on him and prevent him from doing anything that will hinder its healing."
"I understand," Ema nodded.
Apollo didn't pay attention anymore as they engaged a conversation of the possibility for Klavier to resume his work soon. He knew everything had to be Cain's work. Sadly, he couldn't possibly make a phone call to him to talk about things he knew he needed to discuss since Cain always used a private number to call him. He let out a sigh.
"I believe you can stay here with Gavin, Ema?" asked Phoenix.
Ema scowled at the thought of spending time alone with the prosecutor, but then she nodded. "Be careful on the way home. That redhead might still be around."
"See you soon, Ema," Trucy smiled and waved. Ema finally let a small smile slip from her lips and waved back as the group retreated to the exit.
"We really need to do something about this," Apollo grumbled as soon as they stepped out of the clinic.
"Question," Phoenix held out a finger, "how?"
"I don't know," Apollo sulked.
"We'll find a way!" Trucy said optimistically. "Cheer up! There would definitely be a way."
"Hopefully," Apollo muttered glumly.
"Calm down, Apollo," said Phoenix. "You're too uptight."
Apollo smiled dryly. Around the Wrights, even the sanest person would have to struggle to stay calm and collected. They were insufferable at certain times. Apollo honestly wondered how they could be so calm when a big problem such as this was shoved under their throats.
They walked passed a fountain where a group of street performers were carrying out a dance combined with a fair share of magic. Trucy's eyes immediately went wide and shone brightly. She dragged Apollo and Phoenix to see the performance. The wide-eyed look in Trucy's face made it clear to the older males that she wanted to try performing in that fashion… if only Mr. Hat had been repaired.
They watched as the magician of the group – a handsome young lad, Apollo had to admit, though he'd rather think that his looks were better – stood in the center of the group almost all time as he performed one unique trick after another.
"Why's he always in the center?" they heard a little girl in front of them questioned.
"Well the most important one is always at the center…" Apollo muttered off-handedly before pausing. What did he just say?
"Apollo?" called Phoenix to the young attorney.
"Sorry," Apollo said automatically. "It's just that… I think I've just solved the cube key puzzle."
"Really?" his eyes widened. "So how's it?"
Apollo took out the Rubik's cube from his breast pocket and fiddled with it. "I think Father said to me, once, that the most important one, the element of the magic trick or even the performer itself, is always in the center of everything." Soon he was done with it, arranging the cube so that the first symbol mentioned in the riddle his father gave was put in the dead center of one side, surrounded by the symbols in the next line of the riddle.
"That's about the important one in the center," Phoenix commented. "But what about the riddle itself?"
"The circle will tell you all," Apollo recited. "Let's ignore that part. I don't know what to tell anyway. The circle will tell you all… and bring you to the scale."
"Is the scale referring to a person or a place?" Trucy, who heard their conversation, diverted her concentration from the still ongoing performance and asked.
"I don't know a person that anyone would ever affiliate with a scale," Apollo furrowed his brow.
"But there's that huge scales in all courtrooms, put behind the judge, remember?" Phoenix said. "If your father wanted you to become a lawyer, it's likely that he somehow ended up putting the treasure there."
"Where, though, is a mystery," Trucy said seriously.
"Let's just go to the courthouse first," Apollo decided. "The faster we can deal with this, the better."
"Wait, we're going now?" Trucy asked in surprise.
"Well, we already have a casualty, I wouldn't want another one," Apollo said.
"That's true, but I have a show at the Wonder Bar tonight!" Trucy protested.
"It's fine. I can just go by myself if you can't," Apollo said. "I don't want to ruin your show."
"Are you kidding? Of course I'm coming!" Trucy hooked her arm around Apollo's. "Who will get you out of your mess if I don't?"
Phoenix laughed. "Alright, alright, what about this? All of us will go together and go back before nightfall, so Trucy's show wouldn't be disturbed. Any objections?"
"None," Apollo said.
"Then we should go now," Trucy decided. She dragged Apollo with her as she marched ahead.
"By the way, Apollo, have you got an idea on which courtroom your father put the money in?" asked Phoenix on the way.
"I don't know," Apollo said. "Maybe courtroom number six, for six symbols in the riddle?"
"So it's our first stop, then, since we have no idea which courtroom it is anyway," Phoenix concluded with a nod.
They stood behind the door of courtroom number six. After they established that there were no scheduled trials for the rest of the day, they went to the deserted courtroom in hopes of getting some clues to where the money was exactly. Apollo took a deep breath, took out the cube, and fiddled with it.
"Do you really think it's here?" Trucy asked Apollo.
"I hope so," Apollo said. "I really don't want to deal with Cain again. He's a pain."
Phoenix tapped Apollo's shoulders. "Just curious, but what will you do once you get it? The fortune, I mean."
"Huh?" Apollo blinked. "I haven't thought about it yet. Put it in my bank account?"
"I'm afraid you'll have to put some for charity in our agency, Polly," said Trucy seriously.
Apollo gave her a look. "The rent?" Upon her nod, he sighed. "Fine, I'll take care of that."
"Thanks, Polly, you're the best!" Trucy smiled that one million dollar smile, and Apollo sighed again. He really couldn't go against the girl.
"Well, let's go in, shall we?" Phoenix smiled at them as he pushed the door open.
Apollo's body went rigid as soon as he saw who was behind the door. "Why are you here?" he asked in suspicion, as the alarm in his head went ringing.
Cain shrugged. "Why, Apollo, isn't that a bit too cold a greeting for your uncle?"
"No, I don't think it is," Apollo deadpanned. He turned his gaze to the unfamiliar figure of a man in a black shirt and the more familiar figure of a red haired young woman around his age. "The waitress," he muttered. "So you two did work together, after all."
"Oh, don't think badly about our sweet Danielle," Cain said, carelessly swinging his arm around the girl's shoulders. "She's a sweetheart, really."
"Stop that," the girl, Danielle, said uncomfortably, as she slowly took Cain's arm off her shoulders.
"Not so much of a sweetheart, after all," Cain shrugged. "And I believe you haven't met my companion." He gestured to the black shirted man, who possessed hair as red as Danielle's. "This is Damion Lowe, father of Danielle, and a good friend of your father, Ares." Cain smiled. "And I don't think you've introduced your companions to me?"
"You already know who they are," Apollo said quietly, but complied anyway. "Phoenix Wright, my boss and mentor, and Trucy Wright…" Apollo stopped, not knowing what to say exactly.
"Assistant," Trucy supplied, looking at Cain's group with clear distrust.
"I really wonder how we can meet here, all of us, without making an appointment before," Phoenix wondered out loud, using that tone Apollo recognized from the time they first met in trial. It was the tone Phoenix used when he told the court that the locket he had, the one that once belonged to Shadi Smith, was a locket with the picture of his daughter inside. The tone that Phoenix used whenever he wanted to lead someone to answering his questions.
"Who knows," Cain shrugged nonchalantly. "But one thing's for sure. If Apollo did not come here for a trial, it must mean he must have somehow understood the riddle Ares left him."
"Wait," Apollo blinked. "It's here? The door to where Father put his money is here?"
"Yes, you haven't figured it out yet?" Cain lifted a brow. "How come you're here, then?"
"We took a guess," Apollo said. "But what about you? How did you know this is where Father put the money?"
"I've long since memorized the riddle in my head," Cain tapped his temple smugly. "Besides, I have Damion here."
Damion smiled at Cain. "That's true. I was the one that helped Ares build the room where he put all those money after all," he sighed, "Unfortunately he built the lock mechanism himself, and I simply don't know how to break through it. Your father might have made a lot more money had he been a safe maker, lock maker, or maybe even an inventor."
"And where he put the money is…?" Apollo let the sentence hang.
"The doorway is here," Damion answered. "The keyhole is in the middle of that scale, behind the judge's chair."
Trucy nudged Apollo. "Go open it," she whispered in his ear. "The sooner we can get this over with, the better, right?"
"Right," Apollo agreed. He walked to the scale and looked for something resembling a keyhole, or anything that fit the cube in his hands.
"There, in the middle of the scale," Damion walked next to him, pointing to a spot that looked like it had a hinge on it. "Open it, it's the keyhole."
Apollo shifted away uneasily as he opened it, seeing that there was, indeed, a cube-shaped hole that would fit the cube he had perfectly.
"Why are you moving away from me?" Damion asked in a teasing tone. "You used to hang around with your father and me, too. Though I guess you don't really remember anymore."
"I don't," Apollo admitted bluntly. He pushed the cube into the keyhole.
Without warning, the large scale let out a loud rumble. The stone where the scale was sculpted shook with tremendous force. Apollo let go of the cube at once and took a few steps back, only stopping when he hit the judge's table. Slowly, the stone moved, as if it was pushed back by a giant invisible hand, before sliding aside with a puff of dust and revealing a round doorway that led to a spiral staircase leading down underground.
"The theatrics just screams 'Ares' so loudly," Damion sighed.
"Well that's my brother for you. He can never be satisfied without the proper amount of theatrics," Cain responded with a shrug. "Honestly, that must be one of the reasons why he was a magician."
"I can't help but agree with that one," Damion sighed. "Come on, now. Let's go." He pushed Apollo through the doorway, and Apollo stumbled forward. His foot tripped on something and he almost fell before managing to catch himself. Checking on the thing that he tripped on, he found that it was the cube that had somehow fallen to the floor. He took it and put it in his pocket, looked down the stairs, and took a deep breath before taking the steps further towards the bottom. Behind him he heard Trucy and Phoenix being quickly shoved inside as well, followed by the trio. The pathway was dark, lit only by the flashlights Cain and Damion held.
Not long after they walked down, Trucy suddenly whipped her phone open and began to text furiously.
"Trucy, who are you texting?" Apollo asked, glancing at Cain who stared at Trucy's phone suspiciously.
"Mommy," answered Trucy innocently. "I want to ask her to make curry for dinner."
"Trucy, this is hardly the time," Apollo couldn't help but remark.
"Well, I also think that telling her we will be home late couldn't hurt, right?"
Phoenix chuckled silently. "Can you tell Thalassa to make my curry extra spicy, Truce?"
"Sure thing, Daddy!" and the furious typing commenced.
They continued to walk down in silence. The only sound to break it was the soles of their shoes hitting the metal spiral stairs and Cain's occasional happy hum. Apollo gulped and proceeded to walk. He didn't know what was waiting for him down there, and that made him feel uneasy. With all the theatrics his father had displayed, having a beast and booby traps where the treasure they were hunting laid waiting wouldn't surprise him. But there was no going back, especially not now when he was already so close to the destination. Hoping that luck was at his side, he took a deep breath.
Here comes Justice.
A/N: Another chapter written, and a writer's block broken! I am so proud of myself.
It seems that my midterm test was what gave me a writer's block, since after it passed I suddenly got a bunch of ideas and my fingers can dance on the laptop like the writer's block never existed in the first place. School, it is always the one to blame. I'm just happy I can write again (though the results of my midterm test made me laugh bitterly for, like, three days).
That aside, there's your chapter. I hope it pleases you.
And last but not least, reviews please?