Date: Friday, February 8th, 2019
Time: 12:55 am
Location: Training Hall, Inner Temple, Eagle Mountain
When Maya regained consciousness, I directed her to the note that Mia had left her. She was unsure why she needed to lock herself in the cavern, but she agreed to do so knowing that Mia had formed the plan, and she had never led Maya astray before.
I was expecting her to ask me again why I was there, but it somehow never came up. I was just there for some unknown reason, and she just went with it. Maya asked me if I had talked to Mia at all and if she had told me anything else while she was channeled. I lied and told her that I hadn't; Mia just directed me to the notebook.
I promised Maya that I'd keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed safe from the elements until the bridge was fixed. She thanked me and asked me to give her snacks through the barred gate of the cavern if we were stuck for a while. She said that she had plenty in her backpack.
I also placed Maya's notebook in her backpack so that Dahlia wouldn't see Mia's instructions. I still wasn't sure about all the nuances of spirit channeling, but I was concerned that Dahlia would try to commit suicide while channeled if she realized that she was in Maya's body. She wouldn't have a weapon in the cavern but, knowing Dahlia, she'd still find a way.
Once Maya felt prepared to execute the plan, I unlocked the cavern, retrieved Pearl, and carefully placed her back in the training hall. I locked Maya in the cavern, and she went further inside to channel Dahlia, out of sight and seemingly out of earshot.
About an hour later, Pearl woke up, in the same place and position where she had initially fallen asleep. I was sitting against the wall on the other side of the training hall, wishing I could sleep too.
She looked at me apprehensively. "Mr. Lawyer, what are you doing here?" she asked shyly.
"You remember me, Pearl?" I asked, sidestepping her question.
She nodded lightly. "You were talking to Mr. Nick at the courthouse one day." She frowned. "You were very mean to him."
"Yeah, I was just joking around," I lied. "Just a fun little rivalry between prosecutors and defense attorneys."
"I don't think Mr. Nick likes that or you very much," she said matter-of-factly.
I laughed. Sounds like "Mr. Nick" and I have that in common. "You're right, Pearly. I'll be less mean the next time I see him."
"Why are you here?" she asked again. Looks like Pearl was less easily distracted than Maya.
"I was conducting a top-secret investigation into Hazakura Temple for the prosecutor's office and then I got stuck here."
"Stuck here?" she asked confusedly.
"The bridge has burned down. A lightning bolt struck it. Only you, me, and Maya are on this side of the bridge."
"Is Mystic Maya okay?" she inquired worriedly.
I nodded. "She's okay. I just saw her an hour ago. She's further in the cavern, completing her training."
"Why is there a lock on the door?"
"Uh, she just wanted to stop herself from backing out of her training," I explained. "She told me to lock her in there so she wouldn't try to quit or leave for a snack break."
Pearl giggled. "That does sound like Mystic Maya. She loves snacks."
"That she does."
She got quiet and her face became solemn. It must have suddenly hit her what kind of a predicament she was in. I was probably the last person in the world whom she wanted to be trapped on an island with.
"I know it must feel scary being stuck here," I comforted her. "I'll make sure the three of us are okay until they fix the bridge. I promise."
"How will you do that?"
I didn't have a good answer for her. There wasn't anything here. No food, no water, no heat, and no plumbing. Luckily, there was light in the training hall but that was the extent of the modern luxuries the Inner Temple offered. There was that incinerator outside though.
"When it's bright out, I'll get the incinerator running. Chop some firewood. I have a couple of energy bars in my coat pocket that we can eat later. I have a thermos here too and, once I finish my drink, we can put snow in there and drink that."
"My mother says that snow is too dirty to eat," Pearl replied skeptically.
"Just the yellow snow," I joked. Pearl giggled again. "We'll put the snow in the thermos and warm it in the incinerator. That will kill all the germs."
"Do you have any water left? I'm thirsty."
"Well, it's coffee. You can have some if you want. I don't know if you'll like it though."
"I've never had coffee," she replied.
I grabbed the thermos and poured the remaining liquid into the lid cup. Then, I walked it over and handed her the cup. "Give it a try. I promise; I don't have cooties," I assured her.
She took a large sip and then spat it out. I laughed. Yeah, I figured. "Didn't like it?" I asked.
She handed me the cup back with a look of disgust on her face. "It's so bitter."
"It's an acquired taste. You'll probably like it when you're older." I took a large swig, finishing the little coffee that was left. "We'll stick to snow then." She nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Lawyer?"
"You can call me Godot," I corrected. The last person who called me Mr. Lawyer left me for dead on the courthouse steps. I didn't particularly care for the name.
"Gandho?"
"Godot."
"Got-toe?"
"God-oh," I corrected again, pronouncing it phonetically.
She looked at me nervously, like she was too scared to mess it up again.
"You know what? Mr. Lawyer is fine," I acquiesced. "What were you going to say?"
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"Okay," I replied. Didn't need to know that but thanks for telling me. "You can go if you want."
"There's no bathroom here."
Oh, right. That's why she brought it up. "Yeah, I guess you'll have to go to the woods. Nature's bathroom."
"The woods are scary though," she said fearfully.
"It's just me, you, and Maya here, remember? You'll be okay."
"Can you come with me?"
"No," I refused.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to end up on a list."
"What do you mean?"
Yeah, if she didn't see the problem, I wasn't explaining it to her. "Never mind. How about you go and, if you get scared, you can come back, and I'll be right here."
"The Inner Temple is too far from the woods," she pleaded.
I rubbed my face in resignation. "Okay, new plan. I'll come with you, but I'll stand 15, no, 20 feet away from you, with my back turned. If you see anything scary, I'll help. Okay?"
She nodded and we walked outside and to our agreed-upon places.
"Have you seen anything?" she called out from the woods.
"Nope! Coast is clear," I called back. "You all done?"
"Almost!"
I shook my head, laughing. Like many situations I found myself in after the coma, sometimes I had to just laugh at the absurdity of the circumstances. How the hell was this my life now?
I heard her walking towards me. "All done!" she announced.
I turned around. "Did you clean your hands?"
"There's no sink."
"In the snow," I responded.
"But you said that the snow has germs."
"Cleaner than your filthy paws though," I teased.
She smiled back before she rubbed her hands in the snow.
When we got back to the training hall, we talked for a few more minutes, mostly about how old we were getting. Seriously.
"I'm going to be ten in April. I can't believe I'll be in double digits soon," Pearl said wistfully.
I chuckled. "Well, I'll be 34 in May. If you think you'll be old, what does that make me?"
She thought for a moment. "Very, very, very old."
I laughed again at her answer. Her mother's older than I am. I wondered how many "very"s Pearl used for her. "You getting tired at all?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes, I am. I must do something first." She kneeled into a prayer stance and closed her eyes for about a minute, concentrating. When nothing happened, she got frustrated. "Mother is going to be so disappointed in me," she lamented.
"What do you mean?" Obviously, she had just tried to channel Dahlia, but she didn't know I knew about that.
"Um, I can't say. It's a secret."
I pointed to Misty's hanging scroll, doused in gravy. "Does this have something to do with it?" She nodded. "Your mother asked you to do that?" I asked.
"Yes."
"You haven't let her down then," I reassured her.
She turned her head down. "Maybe. I was supposed to help Mystic Maya with her training though."
"Maya will be okay, I promise. Look how well she's doing with her training right now. She hasn't asked to be let out at all. Your cousin's strong."
She smiled. "Mystic Maya will be okay," she agreed.
There was a pillow and a comforter in the training hall, and I got Pearl situated more comfortably than she had been when she initially fell asleep. I can't imagine anyone would voluntarily sleep here, but maybe they were there in case an acolyte got too tired after her training to walk back to the main temple or for Sister Bikini to use while she supervised a session.
"I wish I had my books with me. I sleep better after I read," Pearl said.
I wished that too Pearly. If I had my way, she'd be asleep with a pile of Elise Deauxnim books in Misty's room instead. "Have you tried counting sheep before?"
"I have. It's so boring though," she whined.
I grinned. "Yeah, that's kind of the point."
Despite her bellyaching, it took her all of five minutes to fall back asleep. I wished it was that easy for me. There weren't any more blankets or pillows in there. There were two comforters, but I gave the other one to Maya before I locked her in the cavern. Dahlia had probably wrapped herself in it while cursing whoever locked her in there.
Instead, I had resumed my position, my back to the other side of the wall, with only my black wool trench coat for warmth. My one nice piece of pre-coma clothing that had been salvaged. The jacket I was wearing at the courthouse when I was poisoned.
With Pearl asleep, there just wasn't anything to distract me from my thoughts. All I could think about was this hellish night and everything that had happened. During all that ruminating, I had an even worse thought, and it made it harder for me to settle.
What if it had been Pearl? What if she had channeled Dahlia before Misty could and just happened to find Misty's staff lying around? I thought for sure that it was Misty when I saw Dahlia carrying her staff and running across the bridge, but I really had no way to know.
It was bad enough that Misty was dead and that I had killed her. The idea that I would have killed a nine-year-old was haunting. The possibility of that made me feel so guilty. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had done that. I could barely live with myself as it was.
Unsurprisingly, I didn't sleep at all. Not a wink. I just sat there and thought instead. Probably for the best that I hadn't. At around 3:00 am, I heard quiet footsteps shuffling towards the locked cavern door. Dahlia was trying to inspect her surroundings and plan for an escape. I didn't want her to look in and potentially see Pearl. She probably assumed Pearl was channeling her.
I walked to the locked gate but didn't look inside. I didn't want her to see me either. I tried modulating my voice too, on the off chance that she'd recognize it. "Dahlia Hawthorne, get your ass in that cavern or I'll send you back to the hell you came from," I rasped.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Your worst nightmare," I replied. She had said something like that to Maya before she tried to kill her. Not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?
"You can't keep me in here. It's inhumane."
"Good thing you're not human," I retorted.
"A human is channeling me though. A little girl."
Perfect. She still thought she was Pearl. "I'll slide some water and food through the bars. For the little girl. I'm not letting you out though. If you try anything fishy, I won't be so kind." I didn't mean that last part, but she didn't know that.
She didn't say anything, and I just waited where I was until she shuffled back inside. Great, just one more thing I had to worry about. Dahlia escaping. I couldn't stay there and babysit the cavern door until rescue, so I had to check on her periodically from then on.
At around 9:00 am, Pearl woke up. She said that she was hungry but the only food options available were the energy bars in my jacket pockets and whatever snacks Maya had brought with her in her backpack.
I opened Maya's backpack, assuring Pearl that Maya had given me permission, and discovered that Maya had prepared for an apocalypse. There was a whole box of granola bars, some beef jerky, a bag of chips, a reusable water bottle, and several bananas.
When I showed everything to Pearl, she refused to eat any of it, saying that it would be like stealing. These were Mystic Maya's snacks, and she needed the energy for her training. I begrudgingly agreed and said I would save everything for Maya. I gave Pearl one of my energy bars and told her to savor it because there was only one left.
When she was finished eating, we went outside to survey the surroundings. The bridge had stopped burning, but it was a total mess, and no one was on the other side yet trying to fix it. It really hadn't been that long, but it felt like forever stuck on this island.
I tried to keep us busy. I asked Pearl to go gather some sticks for the incinerator while I got firewood. There was an axe in the garden, and Pearl tried to follow me there when I went to grab it, but I told her not to. I had cleaned up, but I didn't know how good of a job I did.
I told her that there was broken glass in the garden, and I didn't want her to step on it. I had boots on, but she was wearing her traditional sandals. That excuse dissuaded her.
Pearl, while on twig duty, found some mushrooms in the woods and excitedly brought them over to me. She told me that they picked mushrooms back at the Village and these looked the same. When I asked her if they were indeed identical, with no differences in pattern, shape, or color, she looked uncertain. I told her we shouldn't risk poisoning ourselves for the 20 calories in sustenance that they would provide.
When we had a pile of wood and twigs, I got the incinerator running and we just stood by it, trying to keep ourselves warm. Periodically, I told Pearl that I was leaving to feed Maya, and I would go to the training hall. I never saw Dahlia, but I could hear her running away as I walked in. She must have fled upon hearing the door open.
I'd slide items into the cavern, one at a time, and then recheck the lock. She was trying to figure out the combination and there was no way to do so without being systematic, going through every possible permutation, or getting lucky. Whenever I checked in, I'd reset the lock, so she'd lose all her progress.
When I returned to Pearl, each time she'd ask about Maya. I told her that she never revealed herself, only taking the items I left for her between each visit. Pearl asked why not, and I explained that Maya didn't want to break her concentration by talking to anyone. Again, this lie seemed to satisfy Pearl's curiosity.
Pearl tried a few more times to channel Dahlia, but she was unsuccessful each time. I tried my best to reassure her, but she still seemed sad about letting Maya down. She was very hard on herself. While she was convinced of other things I had told her, she didn't seem to believe me when it came to Maya. She kept insisting that Maya wouldn't be okay without her help.
We didn't do much else but try to stay warm. We boiled some water in the incinerator using my thermos and Maya's reusable metal water bottle and drank that. There was a small spring on the Island, so we didn't have to resort to snow like I thought, but I still heat-treated it, just in case.
We played I Spy for a bit and built a snowman. We also talked. Unsurprisingly, we didn't have much in common, but I let her talk as much as she wanted about the Village, samurai TV shows she and Maya watched together, trains, and what she liked to do when she was in Los Tokyo.
She told me that she was certain that Mr. Nick would be here soon, and I agreed that he'd probably come by to investigate with the police once the bridge was fixed. She insisted it would be for more than that. She claimed that he was in love with Maya and would do anything for her. I asked if she was joking, and she seemed offended that I would doubt true love.
God damn it, Trite. He was really working his way through the whole Fey clan, wasn't he? When Pearl turns 18, I'll have to build a wall around her to keep him away from her.
Before nightfall, Pearl and I collected some large stones, and I warmed them up in the incinerator. I said that she and Maya could wrap them in their blankets to help keep them warm at night.
While Pearl was outside getting the last of the heat from the incinerator, I reset the lock one more time, and placed the hot stones, Maya's water bottle, and one more snack through the gate. When Pearl and I re-entered the training hall a few minutes later to settle in for the night, the items had already been taken.
I gave Pearl the last energy bar before she went to bed, and she fell asleep shortly after. It wasn't even that late, but she must have been tuckered out from enduring the elements for 24 hours.
Once again, I wanted to sleep, but I was unable to, even though I was exhausted. I hadn't eaten anything, I had exerted myself chopping firewood earlier, and I was freezing. I put some hot stones in my pockets and, while they kept my hands warm, the rest of me froze. I still couldn't risk Dahlia escaping while I slept. My medications were wearing off too.
Mia used to call me "old man" as a joke, and, boy, had that nickname become accurate. I thought the name was a little unfair; it's not like our 3.5-year age gap was obscene. However, she said I couldn't call her kitten unless she could call me that sometimes, so I compromised.
I really was an old man now though. I had a pill divider at home. You know, the kind that divides pills by morning, noon, evening, and night. I had 16 pills, yes 16, to take every single day to keep my body running semi-normally.
I hadn't taken them with me though. I didn't expect to get stuck here. My normally low-level headaches from my visor had become pounding headaches. My muscles were aching and tingly. I felt sick to my stomach. My tremors were acting up.
I also had to turn off my visor and take it off. It'd run out of charge eventually if I kept it on and taking it off my face helped with my headache a little bit. Without my sight, my brain filled in the darkness with images from last night. Stabbing Dahlia. Maya's horrified face. Misty's dead body. Over and over and over again.
It was torturous and the delirium from my lack of food, sleep, and medication only made me more rattled. I could feel myself going insane, but I told Mia I would keep it together, so I did, just barely.
The next morning, Pearl and I continued our routine, finding more twigs, and cutting up more firewood for the incinerator. When we looked out across the bridge though, we noticed that progress was being made. The bridge was not close to its condition prior to the fire; it was not even that great to begin with. However, it was halfway finished.
"Look!" Pearl exclaimed. "They're coming to save us."
I smiled. "Thank God, huh Pearly? I don't think I can stay here much longer."
"Me neither!" she agreed.
"Will you be okay on your own? I have to go and hide."
"Are we playing hide and seek?
I chuckled. "No, not right now. Remember how I said my mission here was top secret?" She nodded. "Only, you, me, Maya, and the Chief Prosecutor know I'm here. If anyone asks you if you were here with anyone, can you tell them it was just you and Maya?"
She looked uneasy. "You want me to lie to them?"
Yes. "Not exactly. You'd just be keeping a secret. Like you did for your mom."
She thought for a moment and smiled. "Okay, Mr. Lawyer. I can keep a secret."
"Thanks, Pearly. If anyone asks, we don't know each other."
I went to the woods to go hide. When I saw Gumshoe and the other police officers make their way to the temple garden, and that the bridge was clear, I joined them after a few minutes.
I wanted to go home. I desperately needed to sleep, shower, eat, have several coffees, and take my medications. I had to pretend like I was here to investigate though because why else would I be here?
"Hey, Gummy. How goes the investigation?" I asked casually.
Gumshoe looked surprised but then stiffened before saluting me. "Mr. Godot, sir. What are you doing here?"
"I came in the other police car. I'm here to help with the investigation."
He scratched his head. "I guess that makes sense. Are you okay, sir? You weren't at the trial this morning. You weren't here to investigate yesterday."
"Family emergency. I called in, but maybe they didn't let everyone know. I hope my replacement didn't have a heart attack facing off against Wright," I remarked sarcastically.
"Phoenix wasn't there either. He was in the hospital. Had a cold or something."
Seriously, Trite? I think you could have handled your itty-bitty cold at home like a real man.
Gumshoe's face brightened. "Mr. Edgeworth is back. He was subbing in for Phoenix this morning."
I was taken aback. "Really? He came all the way from Europe?"
He nodded. "Took the first plane over. You'll have to say hi when you see him. You're good friends, right?"
"Yes, yes. We go way back." Wow, I never thought I'd potentially get caught in that lie. "You have any leads yet, Gummy?"
"Not yet, sir. Something definitely happened in the garden. There's a dagger lodged into a tree trunk and the snow around the stone lantern was shoveled for some reason. Haven't pieced it together yet."
"You'll figure it out. One thing's for certain: we'll need Sister Iris over here."
"The defendant? What for?" he asked, befuddled.
Iris is the defendant? I guess that makes sense. Misty's body was on the other side of the bridge. "We'll need her to free Maya."
"Maya?"
"Has your team not explored the Inner Temple yet?"
He shook his head. "We were focused on the garden."
I laughed derisively. "Tsk tsk. Sleeping on the job again, I see. I already checked it out. Maya is locked in the cavern. It's the only place she could be. She was trapped here when the bridge burned down. Iris is the only person who could have locked it. That's her duty during acolyte training, right?"
He looked embarrassed. "Of course, sir. I'll call Mr. Edgeworth and ask him to bring her over as soon as possible."
"Atta boy," I said, patting him on the shoulder as I walked away. "I'll explore the training hall until she arrives."
Iris didn't know the combination any more than Dahlia did. It would look suspicious if I unlocked it without effort though. I planned to subtly tell her the combination once she arrived. I was standing in the training hall, pretending to explore it for clues, when Trite and some woman walked in.
Despite seeming young, probably about Maya's age or slightly older, the woman looked severe. She had ice-blonde or white hair, a stern expression, and some crazy outfit. A mini skirt suit with dark leather gloves, dark leather boots, and these ridiculous Victorian-style puffed sleeves. She was carrying... a whip? Is this chick for real?
"What took you so long? I thought even you'd manage to get here faster than this, Mr. Trite." I said cynically.
Phoenix was flabbergasted at how I got here before him. He also wanted to know why I wasn't at the trial today. I threw it back at him. I had it on, uh, moderate authority, that he wasn't there either.
"But I was, I had a cold, so..." he protested.
I laughed bitterly. "I had something slightly more important than a common cold to deal with. The importance of which is something you have no hope of ever understanding."
The woman with him spoke up. "Enough! I believe I have the measure of you. You are the very worst kind of prosecutor. What could be more important than a trial?"
I rolled my eyes. So, she's a prosecutor I take it. The insufferable kind though. Good God, I didn't have the patience for this today. "Who's the wild mare, Trite?"
"This is Ms. von Karma," he answered. "She was the acting prosecutor in your absence today."
Ah, Franziska von Karma. That made sense. They said she was a prodigy back at the office, but I imagine she just bugged the shit out of the defense until they gave up. So, both she and Edgeworth had crawled out of whatever cave in Europe they were in to serve on this trial.
I needed her to go away. This was between me and Trite; I wasn't letting her take over my turf. I knew her type though. The strong, independent type. She wouldn't be persuaded easily. I guessed that I'd just have to piss her off until she left.
I chuckled. "Well, I guess I owe you one then. But you can go now, princess. It's time for the big boys to take the reins."
"Just who do you think you are?" she asked indignantly. "This case is my-"
I cut her off. "Hey, filly. Know your role and shut your mouth. I can't stand women like you. I'm only going to say this once, Lady von Whippingberg. Go home!"
She looked upset, but she didn't leave. "Phoenix Wright," she whined, roughly shaking him, pleading with him to do something about my comments. She took her anger out on him, nearly whipping him before he got her to stop.
I laughed again. You know what? I was wrong about her. Maybe I liked her after all.
I told them the same thing I told Gumshoe: Maya was locked in the cavern and Iris needed to unlock it. Then, I accidentally told them way too much. How I had nearly died six years ago and how I held Trite responsible for Mia's death. Until then, he didn't even know that I knew Mia. Clearly, my poor physical and mental condition had gotten to me.
I wanted to test Trite at the trial tomorrow. I needed him to prove Mia right; that he could figure things out without her help. I wouldn't just accept it without proof. He wasn't the brightest bulb, but he'd put two and two together now. With my comments, he'd figure out who I was and why I was here. He was supposed to do that on his own.
When I walked away from them, I felt ashamed. I told Pearl that I'd be nicer to him. I didn't mean it when I said it, but I thought I'd at least try when I saw him again. Thinking as much as I did the past two days, I knew I had less of a leg to stand on. Knowing Mia, she probably hadn't even told him about Redd White. Once I saw his stupid face again though, something snapped inside me, and all bets were off.
There was an earthquake about an hour after our chat because of course there was. I went over to check on Maya, and to make sure the cavern was alright. Iris and Franziska were there by the time I arrived. There were now five locks on the cavern gate instead of one, and they were trying to unlock them.
I became even more rattled. Maya could be stuck for days now with that many locks. If I was in court, I couldn't stay and watch over her. She could die awaiting rescue. Who put them there? Ordinarily, the police would just bust the locks open, but the cavern was hanging on by a thread after that earthquake, and a light touch was needed.
Franziska shooed me out of there. She told me she'd let me take the case from her, but I had to leave her alone while she worked on the locks. Iris would have to go back to the detention center soon, but Franziska planned to stay there as long as needed to unlock them on her own.
I got what I wanted, the case to myself, but I had to leave Maya there. I exited the training hall, planning to do a tour of the area before I caught a ride back into the city with one of the police cars. I bumped into Edgeworth on my travels.
He offered out his hand and introduced himself. "I don't believe we've met. Miles Edgeworth."
I shook his hand. "Prosecutor Godot."
"Ah, yes. Detective Gumshoe had mentioned you." He squinted at me. "He mentioned that we knew each other, but I don't recall meeting you before."
"I doubt it," I replied. "I just moved here seven months ago. I've heard about you at the prosecutor's office though."
"Hm, it's curious. Gumshoe had sworn that we knew each other. He said you told him we were good friends."
I chuckled. "Well, you know how Gumshoe can be," I said, gesturing my index finger in a circle by head.
He let out a reserved laugh. "Yes, he gets some interesting notions in his head sometimes. So, you'll be at trial for the rest of this case?"
"Should be. I think your sister finally gave up the reins."
"Yes, Franziska can be quite... passionate. She means well."
I scoffed. "Yeah, that's one word for it. You won't be helping Wright on his case, will you?" I pressed. If needed, I could generate a lot of insults about Edgeworth to get him to back off, and they wouldn't be quite as nice as my comments to Franziska.
"No, no. Wright is quite capable on his own. I just stepped in while he was sick."
"Ah, yes. This horrible cold of his," I remarked sardonically.
"He's very lucky that's all it was. He fell a great distance through the bridge."
"The bridge?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes, he was here the night of the murder. He heard Maya was trapped on the other side and ran across the burning bridge to try and save her. The boards gave way, and he fell into the river. Thankfully, he was fished out and rushed to a hospital."
I was speechless. There wasn't much of an insult I could devise. That was unbelievably stupid, but it was also pretty metal. I sure as hell wouldn't have done that. "He survived all that?"
He nodded. "It's remarkable. They'll have to use him as a case study at the hospital. Ran through flames, fell forty feet into an ice-cold river, and just a cold and a fever. He swears by the demon-warding hood Sister Iris gave him to wear that night. Says that it saved him. As a scientifically minded person, I'm skeptical, but I don't have a better explanation."
That sounded like good karma or divine intervention to me. I swallowed. "Yeah, that's pretty crazy."
There was an awkward silence. "Well, I must head back into the city. I have a bit of research to conduct." He smiled reassuringly. "Don't feel bad if you lose to Wright. It can be a tough pill to swallow but losing can make you a better prosecutor. I know that now."
Boy, this guy sure mellowed out while I was in a coma. A little less Bratworth and a little more Gregory. "It wouldn't be the first time," I said shortly. He nodded and left.
I felt even more ashamed. Now, I really had no excuse to unload on Trite like I had. When I saw him again though, right before I left, I only double-downed. Berating him. Telling him that Maya wasn't going to be okay, and that it was all his fault. Pearl was with him, and she looked at me with disbelief. I had just spent two days telling her Maya would be fine and now I was saying the complete opposite.
I decided to quit while I was behind. I told him that I'd see him at court tomorrow and walked away. As I left, I overheard him reassuring Pearl that Maya was okay and not to listen to "that man." There went two days of goodwill I had built up with her.
Date: Sunday, February 10th, 2019
Time: 9:23 am
Location: Prosecutor's Lobby No. 7, Los Tokyo District Courthouse
Ordinarily, before a case, especially a case I was thrown onto at the last minute, I'd be up late the night before, preparing. I didn't need to this time. I knew the details of this case better than anyone else. Instead, I recovered from the past two days and started saying my goodbyes.
I drank ten cups of coffee between the time I got home and the time I got to the courthouse, making at least one cup with each of my machines. It would be a long time, maybe never, before I had such varied and quality cups of coffee again.
I finally ate something. Dry toast at first, because I was too nauseous to eat anything else. Then some cheeseburger ramen takeout from the stand me and Mia went to all those years ago. During my fast, I had an unexpected craving for it.
I took a hot shower, an hour-long one. The longest shower I've probably ever taken but it took about that long to warm up. I was frozen to my bones. I charged my visor, and I took all my medications. They didn't kick in instantly but knowing I would feel some relief eventually was mentally helpful.
I started saying goodbye to everything in my apartment. My books, records, and CDs. My TV. Most importantly, the mementos from Mia and Mamá. I re-read Mamá's letter and looked at the old photos of her and my dad. I leafed through all her old photo albums. I stared at the photo of me and Mia on the mountain peak, trying to commit every detail to memory. I went through the box of keepsakes she gave me.
Last night was my last night as a free man. Soon, all I'd have to look at were the walls of my prison cell. Knowing that, part of me wanted to stay up as late as possible but, after two all-nighters, I knew sleep was more important. I went to bed earlier than normal and slept until it was time to get ready for the courthouse.
While I was getting ready this morning, I received two phone calls. The first one made me laugh. I was on a waitlist for a therapist. I told the psychologist at the hospital that she could put me on there seven months ago, and then I forgot about it.
The woman on the phone told me that one of their therapists had an opening for a new client and they were wondering if I was free for a session on Friday. I told them I'd check my schedule and get back to them. Between this call, the lightning strike, and the earthquake, I was starting to think that, if there was a God, he sure as hell had a sick sense of humor. Either that or he didn't like me all that much.
The second call was from Gumshoe. He told me that Iris wanted to testify for the prosecution. At first, I assumed that he meant she wanted to implicate herself in the crime because she still felt so guilty. I told him that was unnecessary. I knew the truth, so I wasn't going to let Iris take the stand just to perjure herself on my behalf.
He said that wasn't it. Iris wanted to implicate Maya in Elise's murder. Iris was going to testify that she saw Maya stab Elise and that Iris moved Elise's body to protect Maya. I couldn't believe it. Was Iris just as bad as Dahlia this whole time? I could convince her not to testify if it was to implicate herself, but not if it was to implicate someone else.
When I got off the phone, I went straight to the courthouse so I could get there early and chat with her. I saw her in the prosecutor's lobby and walked over to ask her what was going on.
She smiled sweetly and greeted me. "Hi, Mr. Lawyer. Did the detective tell you about my plans to testify today?"
I smiled back. Never in my life did I think I'd be happy to see Dahlia Hawthorne. Maya was alive. She had been channeling Dahlia for nearly 60 hours, but she was okay.
Only one twin had left the crime scene so that could only mean that Dahlia had finally escaped, locked Iris in the cavern with those extra locks, and Franziska was still trying to unlock her. Less than ideal but better than Maya being stuck there for three days.
"Yes, he told me all about it. Tell me more. So, Maya Fey really killed Elise Deauxnim?" I asked with faux earnestness.
Her lips trembled and her voice started wavering. "It was just dreadful. Mystic Elise had tried to kill Maya and Maya was forced to stab her in self-defense. I hid the body to protect Mystic Maya. She's the next Master of Kurain and I have a duty to protect her as part of the branch family. I just couldn't bear to lie anymore though."
"Oh dear, that must have been very hard for you, Sister Iris. Well, just testify on the stand like you did right now and I'm sure everyone will believe you."
She wiped her crocodile tears with her sleeve. "Thanks for believing in me, Mr. Lawyer. It was really hard to come clean."
I smiled kindly. "I'm sure it was. You seem like an upstanding young lady."
Well, this trial was already shaping up to be interesting. Not only would Trite have to uncover the mystery and determine the motive behind my involvement but now he would have to tell his ex-girlfriends apart from one another.
I entered the courtroom and took my place at the prosecutor's stand while the bailiff escorted "Iris" to the witness stand. Trite walked in a minute later, Pearl in tow. I didn't know why they allowed a nine-year-old to sit in on a murder trial, but I guess he was on babysitter duty with Maya incapacitated and Morgan on death row.
He looked over at the witness stand, uncertain why Iris would testify for the prosecution without first conferring with her defense attorney. Then, he looked over at me. I expected him to glare but the look he gave me was pitying instead. What had he figured out since yesterday?
Pearl was barely tall enough to look over the defense stand, but I could see her from about the neck up. I looked at her and smiled feebly. She responded with a worried look. She must have been thinking about Maya and wondering if she could trust anything I had said.
When Dahlia gave her testimony, Phoenix was outraged at the idea that Maya would kill Elise, and that Elise would try to kill her. He said it was impossible because Elise was actually Misty Fey, and Misty would never kill her daughter.
I was surprised. I didn't know that he knew about that yet. He was right. Misty would never kill Maya, but I told him that his argument wasn't enough on its own. While it didn't happen often, mothers have killed their daughters before and vice versa. That argument alone wasn't enough to discount the testimony, and he'd have to prove it some other way.
He tried to do it by poking holes in Dahlia's testimony. Dahlia claimed that, in Maya and Misty's struggle, Maya was backed up against the stone lantern. However, that would have implied that Maya stabbed Misty in the stomach when she had been stabbed in the back.
I pointed out that it was pitch black in the garden, as Sister Bikini had testified that the lantern was unlit. Dahlia's testimony was inaccurate due to mixing Misty and Maya up in the dark, but she ultimately would have discovered it was Misty who died when she moved her body.
He tried again to discredit her testimony. Dahlia claimed that the snow had stopped by the time she moved Misty's body, but the snow hadn't stopped until after the bridge was on fire. There was no way she could have moved it across the bridge and for it to be clear outside at the same time.
I pointed out that the body had indeed made its way over to the other side of the bridge and Sister Bikini had witnessed Iris desecrating it. He would have to explain how that was possible if the murder happened on the Inner Temple side.
His next argument was the first time I felt that I might have underestimated him. He noticed the broken suspension wire, looking at the photos of the burnt bridge, and correctly concluded that Misty was swung from the Inner Temple side and across. I was the one who did that, and I would have never suggested something so insane. I still couldn't believe that it had actually worked.
He wasn't quite accurate in his assessment of how this was done. He said that the killer had somehow grabbed the hanging suspension wire from the far edge of the bridge, swung Misty across, and she became untied just as she reached the other side, dropping 10 feet as she fell. The lower ledge I used wasn't drafted on the map of the area and, obviously, he hadn't noticed it during his investigation. That said, I wasn't going to pull a Furio Tigre and correct him.
I accepted his theory of events but told him that he'd have to explain who had helped the killer. Someone had to launch the body, but an accomplice would have needed to catch it on the other side. Further, if Iris had witnessed the murder and was stuck on the Inner Temple side, how would she later be found by Sister Bikini, arrested, and detained on the night of the murder?
He brought forth remnants of the letter Morgan had given Pearl. Pearl had partially burned them in the incinerator. Pearl must have confided in him what her mother told her to keep secret. He said that the Iris before us was not the real Iris but really Dahlia Hawthorne, who had been channeled according to Morgan's plans. He had correctly determined that they had switched places during the chaos of the earthquake.
Dahlia admitted to her true identity and the judge asked her to testify after a recess. He was more accepting of spirit channeling than I anticipated, believing her to be a channeled spirit.
Dahlia confessed what I already knew: she didn't care about Morgan's plans to install Pearl as the Master. She just wanted to punish Mia for sending her to death row by killing her beloved sister. The rest of her account was inaccurate. She claimed that Maya had killed her, not me, and that Pearl had summoned her in the cavern. She didn't know how she ended up in there.
By the time the earthquake hit, she had unlocked the lock on the cavern gate. Iris went to check on Maya and Dahlia locked Iris in there. Since Maya's body was not found and Dahlia knew she wasn't locked in the cavern, she assumed that Maya committed suicide in guilt over killing her mother.
I got a call from Franziska, shortly after Dahlia's testimony, confirming Dahlia's accounts. Franziska informed me, quite smugly I might add, that she had unlocked the cavern. Maya wasn't in there though; Iris was.
Trite started to lose his mind with grief thinking that Maya was dead. The judge had accepted Dahlia's account as well, ready to rule that Iris was innocent and Maya was Misty's real killer.
I had to step in and give Trite a hint. It wasn't the first time I had done that. I told him too much about my identity yesterday. I gave him hints earlier in the trial about the potential twin swap, and the fact that the witness testifying may not be human. While I had objected to his arguments earlier, I still led him on the right path. There were some hints at our last trial too.
I knew why I did it this time. The case couldn't end here; I needed the truth to come out. I also knew what it felt like to lose Mia. Even though Maya couldn't channel Dahlia forever and he'd realize eventually that Maya was okay, I didn't want him to experience that grief for even ten minutes. Why I helped him the other times? I couldn't really say.
"Trite, have you ever heard this one?" I asked. "'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth.' No matter how improbable it may seem."
"Wh-What is that supposed to mean, Prosecutor Godot?" the judge inquired.
"According to this witness, Maya Fey threw herself into the Eagle River. However, is that really the truth?" Trite looked puzzled. "Remember, this woman testified earlier that the bridge was already on fire when the murder was taking place in the garden." I continued. "Which means if Maya had thrown herself into the river, it must have been from the Inner Temple side, near the bridge."
"That's right!" Dahlia exclaimed. "That's where she jumped from."
"But that's impossible. It's impossible to jump into the river from there." I responded. Trite didn't say anything. He still didn't get it. "Don't get your panties all twisted up, Trite. Just relax and think through the whole thing again."
He thought for a moment and then figured it out. There was a rock ledge on the Inner Temple side of the bridge. If Maya had tried to throw herself into the river, her body would have been found 40 feet below on the rock ledge instead. That only left one possibility. Maya was channeling Dahlia right now and had done so while Dahlia was locked in the cavern.
Dahlia couldn't believe it. Pearl was in this very courtroom right now and she was the only other person who could have channeled her that night. That's when I realized that Dahlia didn't even know what Pearl looked like. She would have realized it was her if she saw her in the training hall, but as a little girl standing in the courtroom, she had no idea. Dahlia had never met her half-sister before.
"I-I don't believe you!" Dahlia argued. "A stupid little girl like that who has never been out in the real world. She could never have come up with a plan like that! Who could have ever given her such a brilliant idea?"
"Me, of course," Mia replied. While Dahlia was fretting, Pearl had summoned her. "It's been a long time, Dahlia Hawthorne."
I smiled. "So, it's true? It was you?"
Mia knew I already knew but played along. "Yes."
I laughed amusedly. "You're something else."
Mia explained to Dahlia what had happened. How Maya wrote Mia a note and Mia asked Maya to channel Dahlia and lock herself in the cavern. She did so without mentioning my involvement. Dahlia refused to accept it. She couldn't believe that her and Morgan's plan had failed.
To rub salt in the wound, Mia and Trite started taunting her. Telling her what a failure and miserable creature she was. How no scheme she had devised was successful. She always got caught. I just sat back and watched the fireworks. I should have brought popcorn.
"And that's exactly the punishment you'll never be able to escape from," Mia stated. "For all of eternity, you'll have to remain as Dahlia Hawthorne. A miserable, pathetic, weak creature who can never win at anything. And for you, there is no escape from that. No hope of freedom. Since the day you were executed, the narrow bridge that once stretched out in front of you has burnt to a crisp!"
"How could I lose to the likes of you?" Dahlia replied, exploding with rage.
Trite delivered the finishing blow to her ego. "It no longer matters! I don't care whether you win or lose anymore. The only thing I want is for you to come out of Maya's body right now!"
"I'm not ready! I'm not ready to go!" she shrieked out. We all watched in horror as Dahlia's spirit was literally exorcised out of Maya's body. If the judge or the spectators were at all skeptical about spirit channeling, they believed it now. You couldn't fake that.
I already knew all the reasons why I loved Mia. However, watching her exorcise the succubus who poisoned me back to hell was a new addition to that long list. And... I guess Trite helped too. Gold star for him.
When Maya regained consciousness, she was visibly quite weak, so the bailiff sent her to the medical office to receive care. The rest of us remained in the courtroom, awaiting the real Iris who was being rushed over from Hazakura Temple.
When Iris arrived, the judge was once again very trigger-happy with his gavel, ready to declare Iris not guilty and adjourn this trial even though the true murder culprit hadn't been found. I objected before he could hand down his verdict.
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Godot?" he asked with perplexity.
Mia answered for me. "This trial, it isn't over yet. That's what he means."
The judge and Trite seemed confused, so I laid it out for them. While Misty had channeled Dahlia, she was stabbed. We knew that for certain because Dahlia had testified to losing consciousness when it happened. We needed to determine Misty's killer.
"Unless someone else is found guilty, the accused is still on trial," I explained. "We can't let her walk until there is evidence that proves her innocence."
"No way," Trite replied.
"But the court isn't prepared for further testimony," the judge asserted.
I told them that the prosecution still had one more key witness that needed to be called. The one witness who could testify to the events of that night.
Mia knew I meant Maya. "Is it really alright, Mr. Prosecutor?" Mia asked hesitantly. If Maya testified, my arrest would be inevitable.
She looked at me somberly and I reassured her of my decision with a look of steadfast certainty. "Of course it's alright, Madame Attorney," I replied. She nodded back.
I asked that Maya Fey be called in to testify and the judge agreed. Trite objected on account of Maya's condition, but I told him that the truth needed to come out. The judge stated that we'd recess first and only allow Maya in once a doctor had cleared her.
Before we exited, I had a few words. "Hey, Trite! I've got something to say to you, so listen up."
"What is it?" he asked.
"I don't think much of you as a lawyer. It's always the same with you. You somehow manage to just squeak by without even a faint understanding of the case. Some beautiful woman always seems to come dashing in at the last minute to save you."
"You've got some nerve!" he replied irritably.
"But that's not going to happen this time. This time, you're going to have to do this by yourself."
The judge responded before Trite had a chance, telling us to cut it out with the taunts and asking us to leave for the recess.
When I exited the courtroom, I made my way to the courthouse cafeteria. I sat there during the hour-long break until I was called back to the courtroom. It was empty, just like that day. As I sat and sipped my coffee, I felt oddly at peace. I wasn't doing well, far from it, but I wasn't scared to face the truth anymore. I'd embrace it.
If anyone had asked me a week ago or even yesterday if I was scared, I wouldn't have even known what they meant. Today, I realized that I had been scared the whole time. Ever since I woke up. If I hadn't been, I would have done things a lot differently.
When Maya took to the stand, she was hesitant to speak. She said that she didn't want anything to do with the Fey clan anymore after this case. I urged her to testify to what she saw anyway. She eventually agreed but was evasive with her answers. She said there was a man there, standing behind Dahlia, but she didn't know who he was. She couldn't see her assailant either.
Trite pointed out that it was pitch black so she shouldn't have been able to see that the killer who came to her aid was a man. He asked that the courtroom lights be turned off. In the darkness, the only things anyone could see were the three red neon lights of my mask.
I laughed. "That was a nice bit of deduction, Trite."
He asked Maya if that's what she saw but she lied and said that's not how she knew it was a man. She hadn't seen the red glowing lights. She thought that it was a man because she saw the shoveled-out area in the garden and Misty's body removed before she channeled Mia for help. She assumed a man must have done it.
I didn't know what Maya was doing. Mia went to see Maya in the medical office during the recess. Mia likely told her the truth. Maya suddenly seemed more knowledgeable than she had been the night of the murder. Still, Maya was trying to cover for me, even though I had killed her mother. Mia must have left some key details out of her explanation.
Trite pointed out that the shoveled area was all the more indication that it was me. While I cleaned the bloody area, I had missed something important. Dahlia, after she was stabbed, had written Maya's name on the stone lantern in Misty's blood, trying to implicate Maya for the killing.
Trite deduced that it had to be me because a normal accomplice would have tried to clean the bloody writing. Me? I couldn't see blood on a white stone lantern. This wasn't the first time my vision issues had blinded me to evidence. It happened at our last trial too and he had noticed.
Trite formally accused me and Maya tried to cover for me again. "M-Mr. Godot isn't the killer!" she insisted. "After all, he didn't even come to the Inner Temple until 2 days after the murder took place! He didn't show up until after that old bridge got fixed up!"
"Maya..." I warned. "You can't testify to something like that."
"Why? What do you mean? I may not look it, but I'm-"
I cut her off by slamming my fist on the prosecutor's stand. She was startled. "After the murder happened, you didn't even exist," I said firmly.
She tried again. She said that she knew I wasn't there because she talked to Pearl in the medical office after Mia stopped channeling her. Pearl told her that she was all alone while she was trapped on the island and hadn't seen me until after the bridge was fixed. Right, I had two Fey girls lying for me. Three, maybe. What had Mia told her?
Phoenix tried another tactic. I had mentioned earlier in the trial that I saw Misty Fey's hanging scroll in the training hall, but I couldn't have seen Misty unless I was there before the crime. Pearl had doused the scroll in gravy, covering Misty's image.
I asked why I would possibly be there before the murder, and he said that I knew about the letter. Pearl had told Trite that the letter had been opened before she got to it. With my role as a prosecutor, I could have walked freely into the prison and overheard Pearl and Morgan's conversation.
He was doing what Mia said he would. He was rising to the occasion. Any time I tried to stump him; he circumvented it. I had Maya on my side, actively trying to help me, and he still was able to point to the evidence.
I said that he needed one more thing: motive. Why would I do all of that for some girl I didn't even know? He identified my reason. He had read about Mia's first case in the court records. He figured out who I was. He said that I would do it for Mia's little sister and I agreed.
I filled in his gaps. I explained what had happened over the past six years. How Mia and I had investigated Dahlia and how I became poisoned. How I laid in a coma for almost five years and woke up with no one left waiting for me. How the news had reported it as a murder and almost everyone thought I was dead. How Mia had locked up Dahlia for me.
I told them that I became a prosecutor to see what kind of a man Trite was and to ensure Maya's safety after she had been hurt in the past. I explained the plan, and how I involved Misty and Iris. How we thought we could outsmart it, but we failed. Pearl worried about Maya so much that she wouldn't stay away from the training hall and follow our plan.
He knew almost everything now, but there was still one thing he had left to do. Prove it definitively. Tie me to the killing. He didn't need to be tested anymore. He had proven his skill. I still needed to see if he could do it.
"Anyway, that's all I'm going to admit to, Trite."
"Huh?" he reacted.
"There's no doubt about it. You're a great defense attorney. But you're going to have to do the rest yourself."
"The background leading up to this incident has been laid bare. There's just one question remaining, Mr. Wright. 'Who killed the victim?' There are only two possible suspects right now. Maya Fey and, I'm sad to say, you, Mr. Godot," the judge stated.
"Well, Trite, if you're the real deal, then finish this thing once and for all. Show us beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can finish this on your own."
Maya begged him not to continue. Not to force her to testify the truth. Did she not realize that we were the only two suspects right now? If it wasn't me, it was her. He instructed her to testify and to tell the truth. He said he'd know if she was lying. Luckily, he convinced her.
When Maya testified again, she mentioned that she heard a man's scream. The sound I made as Dahlia slashed me across the face. Underneath my mask was the scar. Funnily enough, I could never even look at it myself.
Trite said that I was slashed with the dagger found at the crime scene. The DNA on it didn't match Misty's blood. I reasoned that, if it was my blood, I would have tried to wipe it to cover my tracks. I wouldn't have presented it as evidence at trial today. I hadn't done that, and he would know in about a day's time if he got me to take a blood sample, but I wanted to see if he could pin me to it in another way. If he could finish this today.
Maya, once again, worked against him. She pointed out a hole in his theory. If I had been wounded, there would have been a rip or blood on my clothes when the cops crossed the other side of the bridge. If the wound wasn't underneath my clothes, it would be visible.
He suggested that maybe I had changed clothes, but I didn't know I'd be stuck there all night. I didn't have extra clothes with me. He then said that maybe I had run around naked for 36 hours on top of a freezing mountain where I was trapped with Pearl and Maya. I vehemently rejected that theory. He was stumped.
I laughed contemptuously. "So that's all you've got. I knew you weren't tough enough to finish this." He bristled at the taunt. "Right now, if Mia Fey were here..." I paused. "If Mia Fey were here, she would have closed the book on this case already. So come on, Trite. Can you do it or not?"
"How about it, Mr. Wright?" the judge asked. "You've accused Mr. Godot of being the killer. But can you prove it? Have you got even one piece of evidence?"
He thought for a moment, head down, and then looked up at me with determination. "I can prove it. I'm going to bring your magnificent vengeance to fruition, just as you want it."
I laughed with amusement. "That's good. A fighter till the bitter end, Trite."
"Alright then, Mr. Wright. Let's hear what you've got," the judge said.
"There's one thing I've demonstrated in the previous cross-examination. The killer was wounded. That was proven by the blood on the dagger," Trite stated.
"But, we decided it was impossible for him to have hidden such a wound. If he had been cut by a dagger, there should have been a bloodstain on his clothing," the judge countered.
"There's one place. One place the killer could have hidden his wound," Trite responded, pointing at me.
He didn't specifically point to my mask, even though I knew that's what he meant. I scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about. And frankly, I don't need to know. What I do know is that you'll never be half the lawyer she was. Isn't that right, Trite?"
I looked across at him and saw her. She was there too. Pearl wasn't channeling her though; she had stopped during the recess. It was just Mia's spirit, untethered to a host. Was I imagining things? It looked like she was supporting him. Like she was as determined as he was to beat me.
"Even as we speak, you're still hiding the wound!" Trite declared. "It's beneath your mask! During the fight, the red lights given off by the killer suddenly disappeared. Seconds later, the killer let out a scream. That's right. Your mask went flying off your face! Mr. Godot! Would you mind removing your mask? If you have a dagger wound under there somewhere, then I'd say this whole case is solved!"
I broke down. "Just now... I saw her spirit in you." He didn't understand what I meant, and I didn't elaborate. I exhaled. "I never liked you. Six years ago, you helped the woman who put me to sleep by hiding her bottle of poison. And then, while I was sleeping, you let Mia die. But you didn't care. You just kept living your pathetic, happy-go-lucky life. You even had the nerve to follow in her footsteps as a lawyer. I could never forgive you. That's what I thought."
"But I was wrong about you," I continued. "I knew it from the very beginning. The truth is, the only person I could never find it in my heart to forgive was me."
"You, yourself?" the judge asked.
Fuck. Why was I doing this right now? There were spectators, a bailiff, and a judge here. Pearl, Iris, Maya, and... Wright. I just couldn't hold it together any longer.
"I was the one that failed to protect Mia. Me and no one else. I tried to avert my eyes from the truth. To escape from the harshness of reality. I just couldn't face Mia's death head-on, so I ran. I hid behind a mask. I threw away my true name. I couldn't even deal with being a defense attorney anymore, so I quit."
Maya and Wright tried to placate me. Telling me that I had put myself on the line to save Maya so I shouldn't be so upset with myself. I must have looked like an emotional trainwreck if they were doing that. I didn't deserve it. I had been a complete ass since I woke up.
I told them that wasn't true. If I cared about Maya and Pearl, I wouldn't have made the plan that I did. I wouldn't have put them in danger. If I wanted them to be safe, I should have gone to them and told them the truth, all of it.
If I wanted them to be protected from both danger and the truth, I should have tucked my tail between my legs and talked to Wright. They trusted him. If he instructed them not to go to the temple, but didn't tell them why, they would have listened to him.
Trying to protect them from the truth was stupid anyway. They both found out and in excruciating detail. Pearl was here today. She shouldn't have been here in the first place, but the damage was done. Pearl knew what her mom had planned and how Misty had died. She'd now have to live with the guilt of not following our plan. The guilt of almost going through with Morgan's plan. That's too much for a nine-year-old to take on.
Maya doesn't have a mother now and she'd have to live with the horrifying image of her being killed the rest of her life. I forced her to take the stand today, after everything that she had gone through, just so I could test Wright. What the hell was wrong with me? I didn't know she was going to lie for me, so how would her testifying honestly have tested him anyway?
The truth was, I wanted to be a hero for once. I wanted to save Maya like I couldn't save Mia. If Wright had been involved, it would have ruined that stupid fantasy. If I cared about anything else, I would have made a better plan. Then, when I saw Dahlia, the woman who destroyed my life, I got angry, and lost control.
Maya told me that she didn't believe any of that. She knew I was just trying to save her. I thanked her half-heartedly. However, just because she felt that way, didn't mean that it was true.
As if my humiliating public breakdown couldn't get worse, I started crying. Quietly, at least.
"Y-Your wound! It's bleeding!" Wright called out.
I laughed through the tears, even as they irritated my scar. "Did you forget already? In my world, the color red doesn't exist. These must be my tears."
Everyone looked at me with concern. I looked at Maya and smiled. "You'd do well to remember this, Maya. The only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over."