#ft aus

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Turnabout Colors – Investigation Day 1 (Part 2)

April 18, 3:22PM. Detention Center, outside.

“So… he can’t remember a thing.” Topaz said, looking down regretfully. She seemed distressed. “I don’t know why that’s been a problem recently…”

“Recently?” I asked.

“Well… ever since I came back from my trip…” She said, and looked up. “I was gone for about a year and a half up until last month because a foreign exchange program in Germany. I don’t know what happened, but a bunch of things changed after I did. Gold forgetting a lot of things was one of those things.” She told us.

“Oh, that must have been hard…” Maya said thoughtfully.

“No, it’s fine. I’m used to dealing with him being a moron sometimes, so I’ve just got to pick up his act whenever he forgets something again.” Topaz told us.

(Hm…)

Gold’s Memory Problems updated.

“Well, he did seem to remember what the town looked like.” I told her, and held out the little map he drew for us. “And where he lived.”

“Oh, yeah, Douglas Street! I’ve been living there too.” Topaz told us. “Gold’s siblings, Amethyst and Fiori live with him. They’re sort of a weird bunch, but you’ll like them eventually. It’s hard not to.”

“Is that so?”

(Amethyst and Fiori… weird names, almost as much as Gold’s.)

(I guess his sisters didn’t get the better luck of the draw on that either, huh?)

“I guess you’re going to head on over to the crime scene now, huh?” Topaz mentioned, and then nodded. “Alright. Thanks a bunch for taking the case.” she told us.

“We’ll do our best!” Maya said, and clenched her fists enthusiastically.

“It should be about a twenty minute walk. The bus already passed so you’re going to have to wait a while if you want to catch the next one. It’s faster to just walk.” She said with a nod.

“Thanks.” I said.

“Alright, see you guys later.” Topaz told us, and then left.

Maya watched as the woman left. “I wish I had a friend like that.”

“Hey.” I told my assistant, and glared at her.

“Oh, yeah.” Maya said, and then ran off down the street before I could say anything else about it.

April 18, 3:42PM. Flower’s Bridge.

“What a pretty bridge!” Maya jeered, clapping her hands together.

“Yeah, it looks really nice with all of those policemen and investigators swarming it. It really brings out the feeling that someone was brutally murdered here last night.” I replied, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in my voice.

Maya hit me in the arm (“Ow!”). “Come on, Nick, just imagine it without all of the death! It’s just a little cobblestone bridge that crosses over a little river that people just happened to have drowned in.” she told him enthusiastically.

(I think I’ve made her a little too immune to murder…)

“It was really nice of Gold to give us those directions to the bridge, wasn’t it?” Maya said, and the two made their way over to the policeman-infested bridge.

“I guess.” I admitted. “He also gave us directions to his neighborhood, and that’s pretty much right across this bridge.” I mentioned, pulling out the little makeshift map from my pocket.

It was a pretty small and simple map. The town was in the southeast end and the Marian Expo center was just a little north from it. The bridge was near the middle, and a road from both the town and the expo center ran into it, crossed it, and then forked off into two directions again on the other side. One road went north up to a little place Gold labeled “Douglas Street” (with little subtitles “I LIVE HERE” scribbled next to it), and the other branched off south to a place far down the road labeled “ALU”.

“What do you think ALU is?” Maya asked me. “You think it’s some top-secret code for an underground organization?” she gasped.

“I’m pretty sure it’s an acronym for his university.” I told her, and Maya deflated with a pout.

(His profile did say something about Akbury Lee. I’m pretty sure that’s what that is.)

“Hurry up, Nick!” Maya said, and scampered off to the scene of the crime.

I followed her. After a bunch of talk with the local investigators and having to prove to them that I was a lawyer, we got in, and were greeted again by a familiar face.

“Detective Gumshoe!” Maya recognized, and waved down the hulking detective.

“Oh, you’re here, pal!” Gumshoe greeted us, and gave us a hearty grin. “Not sure if interfering with the crime scene is what the lawyers are here do but at least they let you in.”

(What does he mean by that?)

“Can you fill us in, Detective?” I asked him.

“Guy wouldn’t talk to you, either, huh?” He said, nodding knowingly.

“Well, actually…”

(He’s completely useless because he can’t remember a single thing other than the fact that he was there and that he fought with the victim which doesn’t help me with my case at all but instead makes it twenty times worse.)

“…no.” I told him.

“Ah, I thought you might have been able to get it out of him since you were his lawyer and all, but I guess not. He told us that he didn’t remember a thing about last night.” He told us, scratching the back of his head.

“Well, he didn’t seem like he was lying.” I mentioned.

(Plus, there weren’t any Psyche-Locks when I questioned him about it. But…)

“I know you were talking about the victim, Daniel Dean. Do you know him?”

. “A-Ahaa, uh…”

(Something was up with that. I feel as if this is going to become one of those cases…)

I sighed.

(If it is, I’m going to have to keep an eye on Maya or she’s going to be kidnapped again.)

“So what’s up with this case, Detective?” Maya asked Gumshoe, and he took a breath.

“Well, I can fill you in on what we’ve got right now.” Gumshoe said, and began. “Since you read the autopsy report, you know that it was around 9PM last night, right here on this bridge. He was pushed off, and hit his head down there on the rocks below.” He told us, and walked us over to the south ledge of the bridge where you could see a mess of rocks being beaten by the strong current of the river below.

He continued on. “Around 9:20PM last night, the department here gets a call that people were scuffling here on the bridge. Right in the middle of the call, the caller’s screaming that someone got pushed. There was a huge mess at the station at the time so they didn’t get there until ten minutes after the call ended, around 9:35PM. That’s where they found the suspect on the bridge, and the victim down there.” Gumshoe said, pointing down at the rocks below.

Timetable added to Court Record A timeline of the course of events. You never know when things will get fishy…

“Yikes.” I commented.

“We have the witness with us right now. She’s pretty cooperative, but a little stubborn. If what she’s saying is true, then your client’s dead meat, pal.” Gumshoe told me with a laugh.

(Jeez, thanks, pal.)

“We should look around, Nick.” Maya told me.

“Yeah, thanks for all of that, Gumshoe.” I told the detective, and he grinned.

“No problem! I’ll be seeing you guys in court.” He told us, and then ran off to talk to one of the officers.

We began our search along the bridge. The crowd of police didn’t seem to thin, so it was a little hard to look around. The bridge was small, about the length of a schoolbus, but was large enough to fit in a large car.

“Look, Nick!” Maya said, and pointed over to the other side of the bridge. I could already see where the bridge forked off, one to the left and one to the right. It was just a smile, dirt road. “There’s a bus stop over there!”

“You think the bus rides by the bridge?” I asked.

“I bet it does.” Maya said, nodding. “They’d have a hard time getting across if they didn’t!”

(I don’t see any other bridges along the river. This must be the only one that goes across it.)

“Unless they could fly the bus across!” Maya mentioned excitably.

“Wait a couple hundred more years for that.” I told her, and we continued on.

Kingstown Bus System added to the Court Record A note about the bus system in the town. Seems to go across the bridge.

We made our way over to the ledge again and looked down. “So they found the body on those rocks, right?” Maya noted.

“Yeah.” I replied. “Apparently he was pushed off here, hit his head, and drowned before he could die of blood loss.”

“Ouch.” Maya said, cringing. “You think there’s anything here?” She said, and pushed herself backwards and began to investigate the cobblestone floor of the bridge.

“If there was the police must have already gotten to it—”

“Oooh! Nick, look!” Maya said, and held up a bunch of red plastic pieces with little metal parts. “What do you think about this?”

“Looks like trash.” I told her.

“Yeah, but it’s red trash!” Maya said, and stuck the pieces into her pocket.

Red trash added to the Court Record Some red plastic and metal parts Maya found on the bridge. I don’t know why we have it…

“Why are you keeping trash?” I asked her.

“You never know when you’re going to need it. Imagine what it was before it got smashed to bits!” Maya told me optimistically, and I sighed.

“Let’s… look somewhere else.” I told her, and walked her over to the other side of the bridge.

“You think Gold would really push that guy off?” Maya asked me, and I shrugged.

“They said they fought. It’s really hard to tell right now. Topaz believes in him, though.” I said.

(To be honest, that’s probably one of the only things that makes me believe he’s really innocent at the second…)

“Hey, Nick, look over here.” Maya said, and waved me down over to one of the spots on the north ledge of the bridge. “There’ a bunch of marks over here.” She said, and pointed down to the rocky surface.

It was a little hard to tell, but there were in fact a bunch of faint scratch marks on the surface of the ledge. They had a couple of traces of gold substance on them. “Huh, you’re right.”

“What do you think they are?” Maya asked me.

“Well, we don’t know how long it’s been there.” I commented.

SNAP

“MAYA!” I shouted, and Maya put her camera away.

“Gotcha!” she cheered.

Scratch marks added to the Court Record A bunch of oddly-shaped scratches found on the north end of the bridge. Seem to have some gold marks on them.

“Why are you taking pictures? Why do you even have that?” I asked her, a little frantically.

“It was for the convention! You want to see my pictures of the Ghosts Through the Ages exhibit?” she asked, and held up her camera again.

“No, just… put it away. Even if they do turn up, you’re not going to be able to use that picture in court, anyways.” I told her, and she pouted.

“Man.” she sighed, and then we moved on with the search.

Maya dragged me all around the bridge, but most of the evidence had already been swept away by the police. After a small, fruitless effort, she brought me back over to the east end of the bridge, where we entered.

“So…” she looked over at the bridge and pointed to her left, where the south ledge of the bridge was. “Gold threw Daniel over there, right? And then he fell in, hit his head on those rocks, and drowned.” She said, and I nodded.

“That’s what it seems like.” I told her, and she walked over a little past the bridge.

“Let’s go take a closer look!” she told me, and slid down the hill that went down to the river.

“Maya! Oh, man…”

I followed her down, and she peered over at the rocks with interest. The underside of the bridge wasn’t that much, but it was really spacious. The river was low, and the bridge was high.

“This river is pretty shallow. Look, you can see the bottom.” she said, and pointed down at the river. She was right. “It would probably go up to my waist.” She commented.

“Yeah, but this river is really strong, anyways. I don’t think you’d be able to stand in it very easily. The only thing that was keeping the victim from being swept away were those rocks.” I told her, looking over at the rocks, and the down the river south to where it rushed. That’s when something caught my eye. “What’s over there?”

“What?” Maya asked, and then followed my gaze. “Oh, there’s something blue over there!” she said, and looked over to the small blue spot at the other end of the bridge. The grass covered part of it, but I could tell there was something bright blue underneath the other side of the bridge.

“We can check it out later.” I said. “Let’s get moving.”

With a couple moments of protest, I was able to drag her back up. We crossed the bridge, but instead decided to save time and go down to Gold’s neighborhood right away.

“But I wanted to see the blue thing!” Maya told me.

“Well, the case isn’t getting any younger.” I compromised. “Trial’s tomorrow morning.”

“I guess.” She said with a sigh, and followed me.

—

April 18th, 4:50PM. Douglas Street.

(Man, this place is quiet.)

We entered the little neighborhood with ease. It was a small little area, with apartment buildings lined up on one side of the street and a forest on the other. A park dipped into the forest, right in front of the line of buildings. It looked pretty nice, with a fountain and light green grass.  A little more rural compared to the town.

“So this is where Gold lives! I wonder which building he lives in.” Maya said, and looked over at the tightly-squeezed brick buildings. “Hey, there’s another bus stop!” She commented, and pointed over to the blue sign at the end of the sidewalk.

“So this must be one it’s stops on this side of the river.” I commented.

“The bus must run everywhere around here.” Maya said, and we walked down the street. “It’s so empty around here.”

“Must be a slow day.” I mentioned.

“Yeah, maybe…” Maya looked up, and then grinned. “Wow, hello!”

“What?” I blinked, confused, and then turned around to see who she was talking to, only to jump ten feet in the air at the man standing right behind me. “GAAHH!”

The man took a step back and I calmed down, but only slightly. He was tall and a little broad, and dark hair ran over a bandana masking his left eye as his other silver one blinked in surprise. The thing that scared (no, freaked me out, not scared) me the most about him was his intensely intimidating aura. It made me want to wither up on the ground to my knees.

“Oh, I apologize. Did I scare you?” the man said, his gaze softening. His lips curled up in an amused smirk. “I try not to do that, but it seems I still tend to catch people off guard.”

“That’s okay, Nick’s just a scaredy-cat.” Maya told him with a laugh.

“I am not!” I protested.

“That’s a cool bandana you got there!” Maya continued on, completely ignoring my comment. “Something up with your eye?”

“Maya…” I warned her.

(Don’t say you’re curious, too, Phoenix. Be the mature adult. Be the mature adult.)

The man laughed and folded his arms. His work shirt was dirty and splotched with black spots, and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “I suppose you could say that. An eyepatch would scare the kids away, and it covers up too little.” He said, a little distantly. “Gold says one would look badass, but I’ve learned over the years not to listen to anything that comes out of his mouth.”

“Oh!” Maya said. “You know Gold?”

The man gave us a small stare, and then nodded. “Yes, I’m—”

“Wait,” I interrupted, something coming to mind, “better yet, do you know his older sisters?”

“Older… sisters?” he echoed slowly, his gaze turning hard.

(Oh man, I feel like he’s staring into my soul.)

“U-Uh,” I stammered, “yeah, um, Fiori and Amethyst.”

“Fiori and… Amethyst.”

“Yeah.”

“…”

“…”

(This silence is really uncomfortable…!)

“Am-am!”

Much to my great relief, the stare-down was broken by the sound of a young girl’s voice. I deflated and my intense shivering turned into a race to regain the breaths that I didn’t know I had been holding. That was scary.

“Look! She’s adorable!” Maya suddenly said, and I looked up.

A girl bounced into my vision, black pigtails bouncing and smile wide. She looked to be even more filled with sunshine and rainbows than Gold had been. Her emerald eyes twinkled in the sunlight and her little pink dress twirled. She looked about 14 with her size.

“Is she your daughter?” Maya asked the man in front of us, and his dark glare disappeared into something softer.

(I think this guy is way too young to have a daughter that age, Maya.)

“No, just a troublemaker.” he said, loud enough for the girl to hear.

“That’s mean, Am-am!” the pigtailed girl cried, and the man smirked.

(Is she wearing cat ears?)

“I apologize for not introducing myself earlier.” he said, a little slowly, his eyes settling on me. “I’m Amethyst Kimu.”

Amethyst Kimu Age: 24 Gender: Male A local mechanic. Used to be in the military. Something about him scares me really badly.

“And I’m Rosie! Rosalind Chrise!” the twin-tailed girl called, raising a hand.

Rosalind Chrise Age: 14 Gender: Female A cute young girl with cat ears. Has made herself at home with the Kimus. A teenager, but acts like she’s younger.

(Oh, this is Amethyst.)

(Shit.)

Maya turned to look at me like I had just broken my mother’s best china. Sweat broke on my brow as the temperature suddenly bumped up thirty degrees. I pulled the collar of my shirt and laughed nervously under Am’s gaze.

“Oh, I, um, wow, it’s…”

“This never happened.” Amethyst told me. Though it felt more like a command than a suggestion.

“Yes, sir.” I replied automatically.

“Good.” he said with a smirk, and Rosalind looked up at me.

“Did he think you were a girl, Am-am?” She asked him, and Amethyst looked down at her.

“No.” he said with fake pride.

(Liar!)

“So you’re Gold’s *ahem* brother?” I said, correcting myself mentally, and Am nodded as if the previous events had never happened. Though, I could still feel his gaze cutting through my skin. It burned.

“Yes, who are you?” he asked us, and Maya perked up.

“We’re his lawyers!” she answered for the both of us.

“Yep.” I said, and flashed my badge at him. “Actually, just lawyer, and a troublemaker.”

“Nick!” Maya scolded me.

“So you’ve taken his case?” Am said, raising an eyebrow. He stared at us for a moment, as if he were sizing us up. I felt my body tense as I felt an immense pressure fall on me. He then nodded. “Well, I suppose I should thank you.”

“No problem, we’re happy to help.” I told him, just happy to not feel as if I was being drowned anymore. “It’s good to find people who know he’s innocent.” I commented, and then stopped when Am’s gaze fell.

“…About that…”

(About what, what is this about, don’t tell me…)

“You… don’t think he’s innocent?” Maya said, very surprised, voicing both of our thoughts.

“…” Am didn’t look up for a couple of seconds. When he did, his expression held a mixture of anger and regret. “…Gold wouldn’t ever resort to anything like that, but I do know that they fought. I can understand why something like that would happen.”

“Oh…” Maya said under her breath.

(This case just seems to be going more and more downhill…)

“Are you guys talking about what happened to Mr. Dean…?” I head Rosalind say, her lip trembling slightly.

“…Yeah, him.” Am said after a pause, as if he wasn’t sure about what to say to the girl.

Rose stayed silent for a moment, looking at her twiddling fingers absentmindedly. She fingered the collar of her dress, and then spoke again.

“…I-I’m not saying that what I think he did was right… but…” Rose looked up. “I never liked that person either.”

“What?” I said, even more confused.

“Rose, you should go home. Why don’t you start making dinner?” Am said, looking a little distressed. Rose looked as if she was about to protest, and then closed her mouth and nodded. Picking up her mood and giving us a goodbye grin, waved us off and then ran down the street.

“I’m… really confused.” I told Am after watching Rose disappear down the sidewalk.

“I know I have to get myself to talk about things like this around her, but… even though it’s been a year, I still can’t ever seem to think she’s ready.” Am told us with a sigh.

“Like… the birds and the bees talk?” Maya commented a little uselessly, but Am chuckled at that.

“I guess you could say that.” He said.

 “Wait, a year since what, exactly?” I asked, trying to pry in.

Am looked at me, his gaze intensifying once more. I felt a jolt down my spine. “I’ll tell you what, Mr…” he trailed off, thinking for a moment.

“Wright. Phoenix Wright.” I introduced myself.

“And I’m Maya Fey.” Maya followed up.

“Right, Mr. Wright.” Am said, and then paused again. He covered his mouth slightly.

(Did he just laugh at his own joke?)

I looked over at Maya.

(Don’t you laugh at it too!)

Amethyst coughed. “Okay, so why don’t you figure it out for yourself? If you think you’re onto something, I can confirm or deny it.”

“What’s wrong with just telling us?” I asked.

Am rubbed his left arm subconsciously. “…Long story. But if you ever want to completely unravel this case, you’re going to have to understand it the best you can. It’s better if you just find out on your own first.” He told me.

“…Alright.” I agreed with slight hesitation.

“Good.” Am said with a slightly relieved nod. “I trust that my brother is safe in your hands then… right?” he asked us, narrowing his eyes slightly at me.

“You can count on us!” Maya cheered, and I shivered slightly.

“Yes, sir.” I said once again.

“Well then. If you ever need me, I’ll always be around here. My shop’s nearby, so I hang around near home a lot. Speaking of which, I think I’ll head back there now.” he told us, a little pride in his voice. He turned around to walk away, but then stopped and turned back to us.

“What is it?” I asked.

“If you’re looking for a place to spend the rest of the evening, I suggest going by the Diamond Wolf.” he told us, and I raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a map?” he asked.

I handed him the little slip Gold drew for us, and Am scribbled a little note on it. He then handed it back to us and smirked.

“My sister works there, and she should be working there tonight. You might also find a couple more persons of interest there.” Am told us, and then turned around. “That’s where Daniel Dean worked, after all.”

I opened my mouth to thank him, but he was off already.

(Oh, well.)

“He was interesting, wasn’t he? And Rosie was super cute!” Maya told me, grinning madly.

“U-Uh, yeah, sure.” I said, remembering a few of the many frightful glares that had turned me to stone.

“I guess if we wanna hurry, we should head over to that Lonely Wolf place, huh? All the way back on the other side of the river!” Maya said, dragging her words out.

“The Diamond Wolf.” I corrected her. “And I suppose we should.”

“Great, Nick!” Maya cheered. “Let’s go!”

And so we did.

And when we got there, the characters we met were definitely more than interesting.

--

Court Record:

Attorney’s Badge My badge that proves I’m a lawyer. I feel just really… good with it on.

Expo Pass A pass that lets me into the Marian Expo. Just a regular visitor’s pass.

Kingstown Newspaper A newspaper that tells of the Flower’s Bridge murder. (Open to inspect)

Autopsy Report An autopsy report of Daniel Dean. (Open to read)

Victim: Daniel Dean (Male, 29) Cause of Death: Drowning after falling off of a bridge. Hit his head on the rocks and bled out before eventually losing oxygen. Time of Death: Around 9-10PM March 17th.

Gold’s Memory Loss Gold seems to forget things unnaturally. Apparently it’s a mental issue. Why?

Timetable A timeline of the course of events. You never know when things will get fishy… (updated frequently)

A/b 9:00 PM:  Incident starts A/b 9:20 PM: Police are called, suspect and victim are fighting A/b 9:25 PM: Victim is pushed A/b 9:35 PM: Police arrive, suspect arrested, victim found

Kingstown Bus System A note about the bus system in the town. Seems to go across the bridge.

Red Trash Some red plastic and metal parts Maya found on the bridge. I don’t know why we have it…

Scratch marks A bunch of oddly-shaped scratches found on the north end of the bridge. Seem to have some gold marks on them.

Profiles:

Maya Fey Age: 19 Gender: Female My assistant and the sister of my late mentor. A spirit medium. She’s great but really quirky.

Topaz Rosso Age: 21 Gender: Female A veterinary student at Akbury Lee University. Seems to be pretty mature. A good friend of the defendant.

Dick Gumshoe Age: 32 Gender: Male A detective. Very friendly, and a little clumsy, but I can rely on him. Came in because he was nearby.

Daniel “Danny” Dean Age: 29 Gender: Male The victim. A bartender at the café The Diamond Wolf. Doesn’t really like trouble.

Gold Kimu Junior Age: 20 Gender: Male A computer engineering student at Akbury Lee University. Plays soccer. A little too giddy for his case.

Amethyst Kimu Age: 24 Gender: Male A local mechanic and brother of the defendant. Used to be in the military. Something about him scares me really badly.

--

Extra: The White King (I)

But first she (Elizabeth) had to gather a couple of morons. Yes, her first friends here at Hogwarts. Where one is the other should be, so it shouldn’t be that hard.

Unless Shiu’s doing something stupid and Alan’s still holed away in the library to do anything about it, she thinks negatively.

  But it was pretty unavoidable to say that both statements were true. Alan would be conversing with a Swedish fire wizard in the library while scolding him about his vodka and Shiu would be…

Well, being Shiu.

—

Unlike Alan, Shiu has no interest on the ice-covered eating habits of Finnish sea snakes aka something Latin that commonly resided in the lakes of blah blah blah, other than the fact that they would make great pets (in his vivid opinion). But unlike Elizabeth “Lunatic Lizzie” Willow or Alene “Fuck you my name is Alan” Vin, Shirou is a gentleman.

Most of the time.

Shirou Kazuo liked to think of himself of as a simple man. His father was Japanese (hence his name), and his mother was a witch from the lovely land of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; England, to be exact, since he wasn’t Scottish, Welsh, or Irish.

Except for his great-great-grandfather who, who was from Wales and eloped with his great-great-grandmother who happened to be from the lovely land of England even though he turned out to have a rare fairy disease and died thinking he was the Fairy King.

Luckily, it wasn’t genetic. Shirou was fine.

Totally.

 To many of his friends or anybody he asks to, his name is Shiu. He’s on his last year at Hogwarts and an avid lover of battle magic. Despite a proclaimed gentleman, everybody who is around him for at least twelve hours knows that he loves nothing more than to blow crap up.

Because it’s cool.

Now, Shirou Isaac Kazuo is also known for another thing that makes him even more less of the gentleman he proclaims to be. The Shiu Rule, aka “If I see my friends hurt and/or any of their blood I will wreck your shit”. Said friends are famously known as Elizabeth Willow and Alene Vin, also Katherine Willow but she went to Beauxbatons. However, all three of them are there now, so it’s triple the risk.

The most famous is Alan. Shiu LOVES Alan. Shiu ADORES Alan. Shiu would KISS Alan.

Sadly, the last one isn’t true as seen from the Mistletoe Incident two years ago that happened right before everybody went to Christmas break. However, the first two live on and Shiu’s undying Roman love for Alan never dies (as well as the large population of the school that believes that he doesn’t just love Alan like the Romans do).

That number is smaller now, especially since, after the incident, Shiu turned right around and kissed the girl behind him right before he got punched in the face by her angry little Gryffindor brother.

And so, came Cerise Rosso.

That was also when another thing about Shiu was learned:

Shiu was a romantic.

A big one.

He still is.

So things got a little weird after that.

A few things happened:

A) Shirou Isaac Kazuo actually turned into a gentleman. Around Cer, at least. Instead of the wild-enough-to-counter-Quidditch-maniac-Maroon demeanor he usually gave, he became unusually nicer. He became happier, pippier, sun-shinier, lighter, and just one big bundle of smiles and cheer. It was weird, but kind of nice, too.

It became no secret that Shiu was completely and utterly taken in by the little lady, and Shiu’s gentlemanly charms were really quite something. Back at the Faculty Office of the Professors with Nothing to Do, the professors began to take bets on who would get together first: Shirou and Cerise or Crimson and Indigo.

It was a tough battle.

Unfortunately, in the end, the C/I group won because Crimson got lucky around the FOLLOWING Christmastime and was slipped a Truth Taffy by none other than Gold Kimu Junior.

(Professor Jethero made Gold make three extra parchments on his essay because he lost 10 galleons to Professor Pine, who can still be heard snickering madly about the entire ordeal.)

And so brings us to B:

Shiu began to work.

Work.

Suddenly the “What the hell are books, Alan”s turned to “Dude I kind of need your copy about Northern Atlantic Astronomy or whatever it is”.

Shiu was the slacker out of his little trio of friends (and still kind of is), but the sole fact that he actually tried working was a miracle to everybody that made their Divination teacher faint when he asked her a serious question.

Shiu Kazuo despised Divination.

(Mostly because he pretty much sucked ass at it.)

Alan was the most distressed at this, since he had been trying for “SIXTEEN FUCKING YEARS” to get this guy to even lift up a quill, and even more to lift up a pen. So it was up to Master Detective Alene to figure out what the hell was going on.

Unfortunately, that was what he was good at.

So then came said Series of Weird Events C:

Nobody knows.

Something happened. Something strange happened to the three. But soon, everybody noticed despite the very silent transition. It was just the little things, but still, many were able to see it.

But none of it was bad. Everybody seemed fine, but for some reason, it was like changes were made in the code, a switch in the railroad tracks, a hack in the system.

It was only one year ago, in of Shiu’s sixth and Cerise’s fifth years.

But still, everybody seemed happy. Better, even, like a cure had been made to something that wasn’t even there. Shiu became more mature, more of an adult (though he still liked to blow crap up).

Sometimes people ask him what happened, but only a few know what really happened. If you ask them, it would hurt them, but still remind them about just exactly what made them what they were. Some painfully, some peacefully.

Even so, you can always feel an undying love in the air around the two, Cerise and Shirou, something unbreakable.

The kind of love that seemed like it would have taken a journey to find.

But even still, some people wonder exactly what kind of journey that was.

Shirou Isaac Kazuo likes to think of himself as a simple man, but there are some things that make him one of the biggest enigmas of all.

—

“SHIROU!”

Shirou feels a chill rocket up his spine at the voice and in front of him, there’s a crash. Shiu winches at the sound, and whirls around to the woman stomping towards him with a light-haired boy in her tow.

“What was that, Liz?!” Shiu asks, and throws a hand to the scene before him. “I was making my mark!” He tells her while pointing to the giant pile of several small items from around the room in a big pile.

“Seriously?” Alan says from behind Liz, raising an eyebrow at the structure.

“That’s a pile of books and marbles and candles and crap, Shiu.” Elizabeth tells him with a face.

“It was a Gollum before you broke my concentration! I had the perfect setup for Professor Jethero!” Shiu tells her with a huff, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Elizabeth rolls her eyes.

“That would have been useful.” she says with an edge of sarcasm.

“I know, right?” Shiu replies with excitement and a grin, receiving groans from both of the friends in front of him. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t be like that you killjoys. What do you want, anyways?”

“Helloooo? My sister is here! The whole gang’s here and you’re just going to stand here and build giant book monsters?” Elizabeth scolds him and tightens her grip around Alan’s wrist, making him cringe in pain. “We’re going to the courtyard. Come on!” She tells him.

“Shouldn’t I do something about this stuff, first?” Shirou asks her.

“No. I won’t make her wait, because that damn vache is with her and I’m not making her spend another minute with that twin-tailed Frenchie. We’re leaving now.” Elizabeth tells Shirou, and waves him along.

Shirou looks back at the pile and thinks for a moment. Should he really leave this entire mess for the professor?

He shrugs. “Oh well.” he says, and then catches up with Elizabeth.

As the three exit, Alan turns to Shirou, his wrist still in captivity by the fuming French woman in front of him, but her grip looser (much to his thankfulness). “Hey, shouldn’t you bring Cerise?” he asks Shiu, and Shiu blinks at him.

“Really? I can?” Shiu says, a little excitably, and Alan lifts his head to him.

“Sure, I mean, she’s part of the group too. Practically, anyways.” Alan tells him, and Shiu brightens.

“That’s awesome! It’ll be the five of us!” Shiu says enthusiastically, and Elizabeth barks a laugh.

“We just keep getting bigger and bigger! Cerise came, and before her, Kate, and you couldn’t have met her before you met me.” She tells them, and smirks at the boy she’s holding. “Aren’t you grateful, Alene? You met your soulmate through none other than me.”

“Shut up, Elizabeth.” Alan growls, and turns a soft red. Shiu and Elizabeth break into laughter as Alan fumes silently while being dragged down the hall.

Shiu looks over at Alan, and then thinks back; back to when they first met, when they first entered Hogwarts, when he met the first person, when he first met the second, the Christmas Incident, and everything that followed and everything in between.

“You can talk to me. Don’t worry, I don’t mind it. I guess since I know your secret, I can tell you mine.”

“O-Oh, so… you’re…”

“T-This is stupid…”

“It’s you!”

“Well, like that wasn’t obvious, Kazuo!”

“Stay the hell away from her!”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’ve always been pretty obvious about it, you had that… look in your eyes.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m sorry… I am so, so sorry.”

Shiu smiles, and then turns away. He’s only got a few treasures in his life, and he enjoys naming them all. He can’t say that the adventure to getting them was easy, or painless.

But in the end, he knows it’s worth it.

--

A/N: This wasn't supposed to be that serious, I swear. But it happened. So here we freaking go.

--

2. Beauxbaton’s and Durmstrang II

Elizabeth Willow is not an elegant woman. When they kicked her out of Beauxbaton’s, she grabbed her broomstick, rode out, and made her mark right up there on that huge damn clock tower that was supposed to be a “school symbol” or whatever, but nobody really liked anyways (in her opinion).

Her parents, determined to get her magical education, shipped her off to England and enrolled her in Hogwarts despite her clearly wanting to go to Durmstrang. Though she was eventually taken by the amazing advancements in potions at the school and stopped complaining (a lot).

She decided to change herself. Once-punk and multicolored Eliza then became passionate, intelligent Elizabeth Willow. She decided on intelligent after the sorting hat decided on Ravenclaw over Slytherin (it was a very hard choice, she noticed), and decided to do something about it.

So she studied. Like hell she studied. Potions, spells, charms, herbs, magic. However, it was during one of her summer vacations in America where she discovered the most amazing ever in the history of the world since the polyjuice potion.

Science.

And also juice boxes.

So, at her second year at Hogwarts, she decided she would use this amazing muggle discovery and make a name for it and herself at lovely ol’ Hogwarts.

However, when they sent her sister, her cute baby sister, over to bloody Beauxbaton’s, she threw a fit. That was the start of the Lunatic Lizzie craze in the school. Not nice and peppy, but insane and deadly.

Elizabeth, convinced that they were only rumors, decided that if she didn’t acknowledge they existed, they didn’t.

This wasn’t the case.

Lunatic Lizzie continued to thrive on.

More incidents followed after that: the Chocolate Frogs Incident, the Purple Hogsmeade Incident, the Great Tragedy of William Durkley, they Nargles in the Grand Hall Adventure, and a lot more. It soon became known that you do not mess with Elizabeth Willow or she will mess with you.

So, with a box of apple juice in her hand and a dark excitement swelling through her body, she watches over the poor ignorant little witches and wizards as they scurry around the halls. She slurps loudly, once again tasting the true amazingness of muggle juice boxes.

However, she searches eagerly for one face amongst the crowd over all of the others. Every time she sees one of those (disgusting) periwinkle Beauxbaton’s hats among them, she shoots around. But unfortunately, none of them hold the greatness of her baby sister.

They’re just lucky they’re here for a good cause, she thinks, and grinds the juice box straw between her teeth.

Ah, the Triwizard Tournament. The only reason she hasn’t driven out damn Beauxbaton’s singlehandedly already. Durmstrang was her former dream school (still kind of is, but they’re a little out of date), so she was completely okay with having them around.

She threw her name into the cup the second she could. She actually tried to throw her name in twice but that ended up having Viola and Scarlet removing blue spots from her skin the entire evening. Even now, she’s dying to get in and kick some Beauxbaton ass. Durmstrang just as much, because she wants to meet up to their standards as much as anything.

“Oh yeah, you losers better watch out for Lunatic Lizzie…” she says under her breath, even using that dreaded nickname. She convinces herself she hates it, but she does feel a strange sense of pride in it.

“Excuse-moi?”

Elizabeth nearly crushes her juice box, and swerves around to the moron that dared to use her cursed home-tongue in her presence. At first, she’s met face-to-face with just a familiar blue hat, but when she looks down, she notices a pair of glinting emerald eyes.

“Salut, mademoiselle.” The girl before her says in an almost mocking voice. Elizabeth spits the straw out of her mouth and smiles at the taunting girl. However, it’s cold and she’s pretty sure her eyes are saying otherwise (because she’s trying to do so).

“Who are you, kid?” Elizabeth asks.

“How rude! I assure you that I am not a child.” the girl tells her, her accent showing when her “that” sharply sounds as a “zat”. She flips one of her black pigtails over her shoulder and smirks at Elizabeth, who is more than annoyed. “Besides, I sure remember you, mademoiselle.”

“What, those morons spreading rumors about me again? Too bad, I’m already happy with my reputation here.” Elizabeth tells her with a little pride in her voice. The girl grins.

“Well I sure remember « Merde l’école! Je suis une perruche libre maintenant! » Do you not?” the girl asks with a wink, and Elizabeth draws in a sharp breath, and her smile twitches.

“I-I was aware they erased that incident from their school history…” Elizabeth says nervously. “Not even my sister knows about it.”

“Oh, but all but one of the generations from that year have graduated. All except for the first years of that year, Elizaberta.” the girl tells her with her smile widens.

“…Emily…” Elizabeth breathes in horror.

“Oh, merde, it is Emmy, Elizaberta!” Esmeralda groans, her smile gone, now with an expression of annoyance. “At least get my nickname right!”

“I should have known, you’re still as freakishly short as you were six years ago…” Elizabeth says with a strained chuckle. “I’m surprised you’re still even in the school.”

“Unlike you do, Elizaberta, I do not make ah… stupid mistakes.” Esmeralda tells her.

“Oh, what I’m about to do to you is not a mistake—” Elizabeth growls, and makes her way to the girl, spitting fire.

“Non!”

There sings out the only French accent Elizabeth is able to endure, and both heads perk up, their malice gone and their eyes shining.

Katherine Willow pushes her way through the crowd and hops up to the arguing duo, worry etched on her face. She realizes what she has just spoken, and slaps her cheeks.

“I-I mean… L-Lizzie! E-Emmy! You guys can’t fight! Please!” she says, switching to her English accent.

“Did you just call her Emmy, Kate?” Elizabeth shouts in shock.

“But of course, Elizaberta.” Emmy says with confidence and pulls her fellow Beauxbaton’s student towards her. “Kate and I are bonne friends.”

Elizabeth, at this point, suspects that Emmy is only repeating her constant French just to annoy her, but what annoys her the most is not that. Her hands itch for her wand, and she fingers it hungrily. “Oh, you’re really looking for a mouth full of lotus, aren’t you, bit—”

“H-Hey!” Kate shouts, and both turn to her as she backs away from Emmy to face them both. “A-As much as I hate to say this… I-If you two fight here then neither of you will be allowed to compete in the tournament!”

Elizabeth and Esmeralda stop, and then look from Kate to each other. They growl, and Elizabeth removes her hand from where she keeps her wand. “Damn it…”

“As much as I would like to turn you into a little piglet, Elizaberta, Katie does have a point.” Esmeralda says, and Elizabeth cringes at the nickname.

“Fine, I’ll be seeing you on the field, vache.” Elizabeth tell her.

“That is if you get in, perruche.” Esmeralda tells her, a little ticked at the insult.

Elizabeth growls, she feels Lunatic Lizzie coming along… she has to get out of there before Kate sees. “Kate, meet up with me in the courtyard, I’m going to go grab a couple of idiots.” she tells her sister, and ruffles her hair.

Kate perks up and her face brightens like Christmas has come early. “Y-You mean—!”

“Just don’t bring the vache.” Elizabeth said, her eyes averted to Esmeralda now, who snickered mockingly.

“Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t want Katie’s little reunion to be interrupted.” She says, but actually sounded like she meant it with a wink at Kate. Kate nods excitably, and Emmy sends another look at Elizabeth that makes her teeth grind. She shoves the juice box straw in her mouth once more and spins around to make her exit.

It kills her to leave her sister again after just have finding her, but she’s afraid she might have done something nasty to Emily—Emmy— if she had stayed. She still remembers the girl from her first year (now), and still wants to send a Tongue Tier her way. Oh, how that would be hilarious.

Or better, use the power of science.

But all of the things she can think of are illegal and it irks her so. She also can’t do anything that could hurt her too badly because then Kate would cry. Damn it all.

Oh, just wait until the tournament, I hope there’s a battling competition this year because she is so (legally) dead, she thinks to herself.

But first she had to gather a couple of morons. Yes, her first friends here at Hogwarts. Where one is the other should be, so it shouldn’t be that hard.

Unless Shiu’s doing something stupid and Alan’s still holed away in the library to do anything about it, she thinks negatively..

—

“No alcholoic beverages on school grounds.” Alan recites, turning a page in Merllerie’s Guide to Nordic Sea Creatures. There’s a good article about Finnish ice snakes and he doesn’t want to be bothered by worthless drunken banter.

The library newcomer looks up from his bottle, and closes the bottle. His naturally stern face is currently more relaxed right now, and his coat is open due to the warmer weather down in England. “I apl’gize.” he says in a thick voice, and sets the bottle on his lap in a tried manner.

Alan looks at him from the corner of his eye. He’s a teacher, foreign, he notes. Must be from Durmstrang, judging from his attire, though he seems young. He had just been working with something heavy earlier, despite his large form, by the way his fingers rub themselves. He’s not used to the heat, so he must be native to the Nordics. Alan wonders if he’s ever seen a Finnish ice snake in his life. No, by his accent, he’s Swedish.

“Are you going to do something about that?” Alan says from his place across from the man, who looks up at him. Alan lowers his book slightly, just to look at him.

“Nah, I’ll dr’nk it lat’r.” he tells Alan, and reaches for the hem of his open coat to put it away. Alan frowns slightly, and pulls out his wand.

With a swish and flick and mumble of a basic spell from his first year, the bottle slips from the man’s tired hands, and in front of the spot in front of Alan. “Not on school grounds.” He tells him, and taps the bottle lightly. It shivers a couple times, shaking on the table, before it shrinks down and reshapes, turning into a typical round ball.

Alan takes the ball and tosses it to the man before him. The man looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. “Bold move.” he tells him, but not in a threatening tone.

“I get that a lot.” Alan tells him, keeping his eyes on the book before him. He’s moved onto the section about Finnish frostbite crabs. Hm, if the man was Finnish he could have let him have his vodka in exchange for access to one. Shiu would have helped him send one down somebody’s shirt. Like Gold’s, in vengeance for the Ferret incident.

“I don’ suppose ya’ entering th’ tourn’ment?” the man asks him, tossing the ball up and down with one hand. Alan never thought he would have any use for any of the spells in Transmogrify the Fifth Edition, but they did seem they would be fun to play with.

“No.” Alan tells him immediately.

“How old are you?” the man asks curiously, catching the ball and tossing it between his two hands for a little bit.

“Eighteen.” Alan responds.

“You’re eligible, then.” the man tells him factually.

“I have no interest in these events.” Alan says, and turns a page. The only reason he’s thought about them so much is because Shiu threw his name in already. He was going to be involved one way or the other because of him and there was no escaping it.

The man catches the ball and examines it in his hands. “You like to show off, though.”

Alan looks up at him and scowls a bit. He doesn’t say anything, and tries to hide that he can’t respond to that by clenching his teeth tight.

“Thought so,” the man chuckles, “my kids aren’t that tough to beat, either, young man. Don’t think a couple fancy spells are going to win you the gold.”

Alan closes the book, noting to himself to check it out later so that he can read it in his room. He looks at the man and purses his lips tight. “You will go nowhere in life without intelligence, sir.” he tells the man, and the latter smirks.

“There is a large barrier between intelligence and wisdom, kid.” the man tells him a little more cockily this time, and it makes Alan scowl.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Alan asks, and fingers a thick copy of Warlocks in his little pile on the desk.

“A lot of things, kid.” the man tells him, and tosses the ball up in the air and flicking. The ball rolled, and then unrolled into a slim black cat that landed gracefully onto the professor’s arm. It clung to his arm with sharp claws and hissed spitefully. The man looked over to Alan and grinned.

Alan opened his mouth to respond but suddenly, a different face entered the scene.

“Alene. Atticus. VIN!” Elizabeth’s sharp voice snaps his full name, and a couple shushes come from the other library. Alan flinches at the sound of his full name, and becomes frigid.

“I-I…” He wants to retort, but has trouble finding the worlds.

Elizabeth grabs his arm and hauls him, up, nearly throwing Warlocks out of his other hand as she drags him to his feet. “My little sister is here and you haven’t even seen her yet?”

“I looked for her earlier but there were too many blue hats!” Alan retorts, and then clears his throat embarrassedly because he’s spoken too loud. The man across him his has frozen and sits in his seat like stone.

Elizabeth turns to him and waves. “Sorry if he’s been a rude little asshat. (“Hey!”) He wasn’t born with it, but it’s this thing he’s picked up.”

“What the bloody hell does that mean you git?” Alan snaps at Elizabeth, his English accent strengthening at his annoyance. He then covers his mouth and clears his throat again. The professor does not respond.

“Whatever,” Elizabeth groans, and turns back to Alan, “look, did you and Shiu throw your names in?”

“He threw it in the first second he could. You think I would?” Alan retorts, and Elizabeth curses.

“Damn it all. Anyways, come with me, Kate’s waiting at the courtyard.” Elizabeth tells him, and begins to drag him away.

Unlike protesting like he would like to, Alan allows himself to be dragged away willingly (grabbing the copy of Nordic Sea Creatures first) and follows her. He hates submitting to the woman, but he does want to see Kate (a little more than he would like to admit). He also hears that she’s been studying more into Astrology and wants to discuss a couple topics with her that he couldn’t do during summer break.

In all honesty, he does kind of miss the girl. He met her when Elizabeth invited them over after her first year at Hogwarts (technically half-year since she transferred in), and met her when she was ten. She was now sixteen and he and Shiu had spent nearly every summer with the sisters either in England, France, or some other country (he kind of regrets that one time they went to America and now Elizabeth won’t shut up about science and juice).

He’s muggle-born, and not sure about how to feel about it, though Kate makes him feel better about it (Elizabeth keeps on asking him to smuggle in juice boxes and sometimes wins). He also remembers that one Christmas when he kissed her because Delano wanted to hang up decorations and was really excited about the mistletoe. Despite Alan telling him that it was holly and not mistletoe, it happened anyways and hekindoflikedit.

Before that they shoved him and Shiu under it and that had to be the most awkward thing ever since pretty much ever so it didn’t feel as weird as it should have.

Kate stared acting really weird for about a couple months after that but eventually things were fine after that.

Okay not really because everything now seems really weird for him. Even now. Not the bad kind of weird but just weird. He has one hypothesis on it but he thinks Elizabeth will kill him if he even mentions it.

Alan looks back to his table where the professor his fading from his sight. He’s still sitting there, frozen stiff and his cat turned back into a ball. He’s now staring at the ball like it’s the only thing in the room but his eyes are blank. Weird.

Elizabeth lets him check out his books and they leave the library.

He’s got a lot on his mind now: the tournament, Kate, Shiu, the professor, even Elizabeth, but if he’s going to graduate, he’s going to have to keep his head on straight.

—

Ian looks around the library and grumbles. He’s already searched half of the school and if he can’t find his professor after this, he’s just going to report him MIA and be done with it. He runs a hand through his short pale hair; Hogwarts is a lot less intense by Durmstrang, maybe just a bit livelier, but he guesses that’s because of all of the excitement from the tournament.

As he walks through the aisles, he notices the large mass of books they have. It’s a lot more than Durmstrang, but a whole lot messier. He wonders how disciplined they are in the UK.

He then spots his professor, down near the end of the aisle, staring at a bright red ball the size of a baseball. He doesn’t seem to be moving, just staring and… thinking. It appears.

He groans and straightens his sweater and tie before approaching him. He’s five-foot-eleven and just a couple inches shorter than his professor, but still a little above average in height for his school. The professor in question still intimidates him, even if he is new, but his defense lessons are extraordinary, he thinks.

He stops in front of the immobile professor (who he notices hasn’t noticed his presence yet), and clears his throat. “Professor Pyrrhus.” he calls, and the man blinks. Twenty-six years old and you would think the man has lost his hearing.

“O-Oh, yes, Washin’ton?” he responds, and starts rolling the ball absentmindedly in his hand.

Ian groans a bit at the nickname. Washington. Yes, he did live in the state the year before he transferred, but other than that he had nothing to do with America. “They’re calling all of the professors to the Grand Hall.” He tells the man.

Magnus stares at the ball for a couple more seconds. “…Washin’ton?”

“Yes?” Ian responds.

“You and Robin ‘ood meet a’y pretty girls h’re?” he asks.

Ian flinches a bit at the statement and his cheeks tint red a bit. He adjusts his glasses in an embarrassed manner and clears his throat. “I-I have no idea, professor. I don’t think Carter has any interest in girls anyways.” He tells him. Carter has always been Robin Hood to the professor because of his strange obsession with archery, but he felt more comfortable calling his brother by his actual name.

“Bes’des Jay?” Magnus asks.

He can’t argue with that. “Yeah, sure.” Ian agrees. “And can you stop calling us weird names? Her name is Minnie.” Actually, it was Michael but nobody called her that anyways so it didn’t matter.

Magnus tosses the ball up in the air and catches it. “Ya think Robin l’kes Jay as a w’man?”

Ian doesn’t know how to respond to that. Professor Pyrrhus is acting weird. “Er… It’s kind of obvious that he does, to me at least.”

Magnus sits back and stares that the ball some more. He thinks of a wild face, with lush brown hair like hot coffee and cream, and passion emitting from her like sunshine. She’s young, a student, in a different school, even, but he doesn’t care.  “Hey Washin’ton?”

“Yes?” Ian replies.

“I think I’m in love.”

Ian chokes on air.

—

Wow! That was a fun chapter. There was a bunch of unintentional focus on the Unovan quartet but everybody else came too!

I knew Magnus was going to be a part of Durmstrang but he was too old to be a student (even if I adjusted the ages). So he became a teacher. But I didn't have any proper characters to become Durmstrang-appropriate, so I now can introduce to you some of the Zeta line characters!

Ian's codename in NE is Washington, and Magnus makes up a bunch of weird nicknames for everybody so that's what those codenames became. Ian's 18, and his brother his brother is Carter (16), who's called Robin Hood. Their best friend and third to the trio is Minnie (18), whose real name is Michael (long story), and her codename was Jay

Oh yeah! And translation to what Emmy told Elizabeth:

« Merde l’école! Je suis une perruche libre maintenant! » = "Fuck the school! I'm a free parakeet now!"

It was a message Elizabeth burned into the walls of the music room before she left. Her nickname at the time was parakeet (perruche). When Elizabeth calls Emmy a vache, it means cow and it's very insulting in French.

Emmy's not really an antagonistic character at all! She and Elizabeth just have a bad history. She's pretty fun to be around, actually. It's just that when they see each other it's like they turn punk or something.

Alan secretly loves pranking people. He just likes to blame his urges on Shiu because he's more open about it. He's also really sweet on Kate and both of them are half-aware of the UST in different ways.

Well, that's all for this installment! Gotta work in HISTORIC VOCABULARY. I really hope this project is acceptable. It's kind of weird.

--

Turnabout Colors – Prologue

There was a throbbing in his head, one that made his vision blur and his breathing heavy. Sound reached his ears once more, and the violent rushing of water ignited distant memories. His vision cleared, and the stone-cold feeling of the ground met him once more.

He pushed himself up, head still like bricks, and his arms shaking violently. He sat up, looking around and trying to recollect his thoughts.

What… What happened…?

He looked over to his right, and his eyes caught the sight of the bridge ledge. With a sharp breath of realization, he scrambled to his feet.

“What the… where is he?! Where did he go?!” He exclaimed, and steadied himself on his feet, looking around the dark scene around him. Only the streetlights could help him see through the night.

Rustle

His ears perked and he spun around to the other side of the stone bridge. “There!” He shouted, and sprinted over to the other ledge, throwing his gaze downwards and searching for his target.

Only to stop at the sight.

“What the… No way… Is that…!” He gasped, and stared down at the scene in the river below. His stampede of thoughts was only broken by the wail of nearing sirens in the distance. He threw himself backwards from the ledge, and could only watch as the policemen filed out of their cars.

“Hands in the air! On your knees!”

Still in shock, his hands slowly rose into the air, and he subconsciously brought his knees onto the stony floor as the policemen ran up to him. He felt his wrists taken harshly and placed behind his back as handcuffs were thrown onto him, accompanied by a faint click.

“Down here, sir!” One of the policemen called out, pointing down the ledge Gold was just at.

“Oh, damn, looks like we were a second too late.”

“What’s his name?”

“Found his wallet here!”

“Gold Kimu Junior, you are under the arrest for the murder of Daniel Dean. You have the right to remain silent.”

—

Turnabout Colors – Investigation Day 1 (Part 1)

April 18, 2:37PM. Marian Expo Center

I sat on one of the many couches in the building, completely exhausted. Maya was more than ecstatic to be here, and it was hard just keeping up with her.

“You’ve got to get some more strength into those old bones of yours, Nick!” Maya told me, still bouncing on her heels excitably.

“How can you still be standing…?” My feet were completely numb with all of this walking by now.

“Well it’s a psychic’s meetup, Nick! I can hang out with people from all over who are just like me!” Maya said happily.

“I think the Feys are enough to deal with…” I groaned. I knew there were mediums, and it took me enough time to just deal with that. Now I had to deal with more.

“You liked the fortune-telling hall, though!”

“You dragged me in there even though I told you I didn’t because of that last case with that murderous fortune teller!” Fortune tellers still freaked me out because of that case.

(To be honest, I’m surprised I survived that part of this trip at all…)

“Come ooooon, Nick!” Maya jeered while tugging on my arm. “I hear there’s a triple psychic here!”

“T-Triple…?” I echoed wearily.

(Whatever that is, it doesn’t sound good…)

“Yeah! I want to meet whoever they are! We might miss them if you just mope around here all day!”

“Why don’t you try and find them, Maya?”

“Because I can’t just leave you here unattended!” She exclaimed with shocked eyes as if I was crazy. “Who knows what might happen!”

(Says the girl that might get kidnapped if I take my eyes off of her for even a second…)

(Wait… I suddenly feel this chill up my spine…)

I looked over across the small part of the lobby, feeling like I was being watched. It took me a little bit of effort to find the culprit, but I suddenly saw a couple of dark eyes set on me. A little girl with stared holes at Maya and I, sitting still and silently.

(W-Wha… is she even blinking?)

“Hey, Maya…” I began, turning back to my assistant, but before I could, another voice broke in.

“Excuse me…”

Maya and I turned, and there stood a young girl with light blonde hair and hazel (orange?) eyes. She looked really young, but her face was drawn and mature. One of her hands held onto the strap of her messenger bag.

“Are you… A lawyer?”

“What?” I looked down at myself, though I was already sure I wasn’t wearing my suit or my badge. The latter was in my pocket for emergency situations because you never know when you would have to flash it.

“Oh! He is!” Maya broke in, grinning wildly. “How did you know? Are you a mind reader, or maybe you asked a spirit—”

“What?” She asked, and then shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m an Animal Whisperer. I’ve seen your face in the newspaper a couple times, Mr. Wright.”

“Oh…” I said, sighing in relief slightly. Maybe it was because it wasn’t anything weird I was dealing with.

“You have a reputation for being… uncannily lucky and unlucky… at the same time.” She said with a sympathetic look.

(Is that what I’m known for!?)

“But Nick can turn any case around on its heels! Even if he is a bit of a loser old man at times.” Maya said.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, and the girl held a laugh.

“Oh, yes.” She said, and looked down at me. “I… um… are you on any cases at the moment?” She asked.

“Um… no?”

(Just dealing with a hyperactive medium at a psychic’s convention…)

“Oh! Are you willing to take one?” She asked politely, but also a little too quickly.

“Well, I… um…”

“Please!” She intervened. “I’m running out of options for him! He’s going to ruin his future because of something as stupid as this! The trial’s tomorrow, and I don’t know what I can do besides this.”

(She went from polite to desperate just like that! Was she holding it in…?)

“Well, I haven’t even seen the case yet, so…”

“Oh.” She said, almost guiltily, and pulled something out of her messenger bag. She handed me a thin a newspaper, and pointed to the front page. “It’s today’s, so I wasn’t sure if you had seen it or not…”

“What is it?” Maya asked, looking over my shoulder.

“Hold on, just a minute.” I told her, and read the paper.

The Reaper’s Bridge? Last night, around 9pm, local bartender and city resident Daniel Dean (29) was found dead in Flower’s River. The suspect for his death is Akbury Lee University student Gold Kimu Junior (20)…

“Murder?!”

(Again?!)

Received Newspaper

 “Gold would never do such a thing! No matter what’s happened, he would never resort to killing!” The girl told me frantically.

“It says here that there were witnesses and that there’s a ton of evidence heaped up on him.” Maya said, taking the paper out of my hands. “Oh! They even have a picture of him, he looks like a lady-killer.” She said, shoving the newspaper back in my face to show me the picture of the grinning college student. His dark hair was messy and he was winking at the camera with a peace sign.

(Are his eyes gold?)

The girl chuckled a bit. “He can be, but it’s mostly him getting the bad end of the stick most of the time.” She said trivially.

(So this means…)

“Are you asking me to… defend him?” I asked, just to confirm. Another murder case… does stuff like this follow me everywhere?

(But this was yesterday… and I wasn’t here yesterday so there!)

“Oh, yes, I am.” She said, sounding surer of herself. “People usually drop his case whenever they hear his side of the story or anything about it… and I can’t find anybody who will take the chance for him. It’s a small town, so there aren’t a lot of offices around here for me to choose from…”

“Won’t the government provide him with a lawyer?” I asked her.

“If that’s what it would come to, yes. But I feel more secure knowing who has his life in their hands.” She told me, and looked at me directly, her eyes glinting with seriousness.

(She seems really serious about this…)

“Come on, Nick! Think of it as a challenge!” Maya cheered. “Besides, you can’t just leave the girl hanging! Miss… Miss… um…”

The girl blinked, and then cleared her throat. “Oh! Sorry, I’m Topaz. Topaz Rosso, I just turned 21. Gold’s an old friend of mine. I know him well, so you can trust me on this. You have my word.” She told us with a nod.

Topaz Rosso Age: 21 Gender: Female A veterinary student at Akbury Lee University. Seems to be pretty mature. A good friend of the defendant.

(TWENTY-ONE??)

“Y-You look very young for your age, Miss. Rosso.” I stammered.

Topaz sent me a glare, and a frown as well. “I get that a lot.” She said through her teeth.

“A-Anyways,” I began, coughing distractedly a bit, “I’ll look into his case and see what I can do.”

“So you’re taking the case?” She asked me, hopefully.

Before I could open my mouth, Maya interjected. “He will!”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Wright!” Topaz said, her annoyance from earlier now lost, now replaced with a thankful smile. “I can show you to the detention center around here. I imagine you’re not from here, right?”

Maya gasped. “How did you know?” She asked hopefully.

“Your clothes are from Kurain.” Topaz said. “And besides, I live around here, so I would know if I’ve seen you or not. The newspapers agree with me.” She said with a nod.

(That’s right… she’s been looking for lawyers, too. She would have known if I wasn’t in the area by that anyways. She must have gotten pretty lucky to find me here.)

(…)

(Or unlucky, depending on your view on it…)

“Niiiiick! Come on, Topaz is going to show us to the detention center!”

“Alright, alright!” I said, and began to stand up, but then remembered why exactly I sat down in the first place and nearly fell back over.

(Owww! My feet still hurt!)

“Don’t be such an old man, Nick.” Maya told me, and hauled me up by the arm before running back over to Topaz.

I staggered a bit and balanced myself. “I’m only 26, Maya!” I called after as I wobbled after her. As I did, I noticed that eerie feeling of someone staring at me again.

(And that little girl is still staring at me… You know what, maybe it is a good idea to get out of here as quickly as possible.)

—

April 18, 3:10PM. Detention Center.

Maya and I went into the detention center while Topaz opted to stay outside so that it might make our meeting with Gold a little easier. She said that there were some things he wouldn’t tell her and that maybe we would have more luck if we went in alone.

Just when we stepped in, we stopped at a familiar face.

“D… Det…”

“Detective Gumshoe!” Maya finished for me in shock, and the big guy shot up at the sound of his name.

“What the… Hey pal! What are you guys doing here?” He asked, fixing his trademark trenchcoat.

“I was at the convention nearby when this nice lady that talks to animals asked us to defend this guy!” Maya said, and held up the newspaper, pointing to the familiar face.

“Him?” Gumshoe said in surprised. “Oh, he’s that guy on the case I’m on!”

“Why are you even here, Detective?” I asked, still in shock from the fact that his guy was on the same case as me yet again.

“I was in the neighborhood, so they called me up!” Gumshoe said with a chuckle. “I have a lot of experience with murder cases, after all.” Gumshoe looked away and then scratched his head, his face falling a bit. “Well, I’m not sure whether I should be proud of that or not…”

(For some reason, that makes sense…)

“Well! Since you’re going to be this guy’s lawyer, you’re probably going to want this.” He told me, and handed me a file.

Received Autopsy Report

I opened the file and began to read.

Daniel “Danny” Dean Age: 29 Gender: Male The victim. A bartender at the café The Diamond Wolf. Doesn’t really like trouble.

Cause of Death: Drowning after falling off of a bridge. Hit his head on the rocks and bled out before eventually losing oxygen. Time of Death: Around 9-10PM March 17th.

“This was only a few hours ago.” I noted, before tucking the report under my arm.

“Someone called the police real quick, pal. We’ve got a witness that was right there at the scene of the crime!”

(Uh oh… this doesn’t look good.)

“Do you know who the prosecutor is?” I asked, a little weary.

“Nope.” Gumshoe said with a shrug. “But hey, if it was Mr. Edgeworth, we would have the whole gang here, wouldn’t we?”

“Yeah!” Maya agreed.

“Yay.” I cheered flatly.

“GUMSHOE!” A voice from across the room called.

“Whoops, pal, gotta go. I’ll see you around!” Gumshoe told us, and big a goodbye before heading off.

“It’s a good thing Detective Gumshoe’s here, right Nick?” Maya said happily.

“Yeah, I guess.” I replied.

(At least I don’t have to deal with any weird people…)

(…Maybe I spoke too soon.)

With that, we left to meet with our client.

—

Gold Kimu Junior was even more sunshine-and-rainbows than he looked like in his photo, which I found odd due to the fact that he was behind a sheet of bulletproof glass and on trial for murder. I wasn’t really sure what to make of this, but I guess I had seen worse.

“What’s up?” He greeted. “Who are you guys?”

Gold Kimu Junior Age: 20 Gender: Male A computer engineering student at Akbury Lee University. Plays soccer. A little too giddy for his case.

“Uh…” He seemed so excited and happy that I wasn’t really sure how to reply.

“We’re going to be your new lawyers!” Maya told him determinedly.

“Really? You mean you guys are actually going to stick around?” Gold said, a little surprised. He thought for a moment, before choosing to snicker. “I guess if there’s a cute girl on my team then it can’t be that bad.”

Maya beamed, and then turned to me. “Isn’t he nice?”

(Uh, I guess? He’s acting really weird considering his situation, though…)

“So you guys are here to defend me, right? You’re not going to get scared and run or anything like that?” He asked, a little teasingly.

“Why would we?” I asked. “I’ve taken on some pretty weird cases in the past. This can’t be that bad.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Gold shrugged, toning his brightness down a bit. “How would you define “weird”?”

“Um…” I tried to find the best words to explain it. “There was this one time when I had to question a parrot.”

Gold stared at me. “Are you serious?”

“It actually worked, you know.” I told him. “There was also this one when I had to break into the Chief Detective’s office to get vital evidence.”

“And you actually got away with that?” Gold exclaimed, and then mumbled under his breath. “I can’t even get away with unscrewing the professor’s chairs…”

I decided to ignore his comment. “I’m sure your case is more normal than questioning my deceased ex-girlfriend against my dead mentor’s ex-boyfriend who we all thought was dead too. So what’s up?”

Gold stared at us for a moment, and then grinned. “Dude, that’s like a triple-whammy. I’m not sure if I could even believe that one if it wasn’t for Topaz and Cer’s weird psychic thing.” He told me, and then continued. “So you want to know what happened?”

“Please.” I replied, and Maya nodded.

Gold scratched the back of his head and thought for a moment. “Well… it’s kind of hazy.”

“Just try to tell us what you know, Mr. Kimu.” I told him.

“Well… I remember I was heading over to the bridge pretty late that night.” He began, trying to recollect his thoughts. “So the bus drops me off near the intersection where the road cuts off to the bridge and I make my way there. It’s pretty dark, but I remember I saw him under the streetlights, Dean. And then… I think we fought… or something. I dunno what…”

“…”

“…….”

“………”

“………..”

“…And?” I asked, urging him on.

“That’s it.” He said, grinning a little guiltily.

“Wha… WHAT?” I exclaimed, and stared at him long and hard. “That explanation itself was really vague, are you telling me you don’t remember a single thing besides that!?”

“Nick! Don’t yell at him!” Maya said and smacked me in the arm.

(Ow!)

“Ahaha… I guess that was, huh?” He chuckled slightly, scratching the back of his head. “It’s not my fault, anyways.”

“What do you mean? Did you hit your head or something?” I asked.

“Nah…” He said. “I’ve got… this thing.”

“…”

“…”

“…What thing?” I asked after some silence.

“Uh… a… head thing?” He told me a little more hopefully.

“What head thing?”

“…Memory loss problems?” He told me, and shrugged.

“Me… Mem… Memory loss?!” I exclaimed, and nearly fell of my chair.

“Uh oh, Nick.” Maya said, her eyes wide.

Received: Note, Gold’s Memory Loss Problems

(I’m starting to think this case wasn’t such a good idea…)

(Nothing you can’t deal with, Phoenix, just because he’s got memory loss doesn’t mean he’s guilty)

“I can tend to forget things sometimes.” Gold told me, still grinning. “I don’t think I would kill anybody, but this guy…”

“…”

“……”

“……..”

“…What about him?” I asked, feeling a dead feeling at the pit of my stomach.

“What about who?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I know you were talking about the victim, Daniel Dean.” I said, and showed him the guy’s photo. “Do you know him?”

“…” Gold thought for a little while, pressing his fingers against his bottom lip. His eyes narrowed a bit seriously for a moment as he stared at the photo, and then looked away at the ground. When he finally looked up, he noticed me staring, and then laughed nervously. “A-Ahaa, uh…”

Suddenly, the background turned dark, and the sound of chains filled my ears.

(Oh, no…)

My magatama heated in my pocket, and before my eyes, four psyche-locks appeared in front of Gold.

“…No…?” Gold said uncertainly.

(I don’t even need these Psyche-Locks to tell me he’s lying, oh man.)

“You’ve got that look on your face, Nick.” Maya told me, knowing what I was seeing.

(Looks like this case is going to be complicated…)

—

There it is! The first part.

Notes:

Psyche-Lockes: Red locks that appear in front of a person whenever they are hiding a secret. The more locks, the more they want to keep that secret (usually 1-5). They can be seen with the help of a magatama.

All of the cases Phoenix has talked about were actual cases. The Fortune-telling case was from the manga.

So these updates are going to be Saturday updates. I kind of want to write another chapter but I've got vocab stuff to so so I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the Sunday Special of Wizardmore. It's the Triwizard tournament, saga, everyone!

I also want to make some more parts to Familgiamore since people seemed to enjoy the first part. I have a bunch of the parallel names figure out too!

So I'm back on! Gotta walk my dog, first. 

1. Beauxbaton’s and Durmstrang

“Yeesh, the Durmstrang kids are just as freaky as ever.” Gold says with a shiver, rubbing his arms in emphasis. Topaz sits up on the rock ledge, watching as the bustles of students filled the halls, the heat of the summer sun beating behind her.

“Why are you complaining? I thought you would be more or less be all over the Beauxbaton’s kids.” Topaz tells him, shrugging.

“Yeah, but still.” Gold grumbles, but smirkes at the thought of the French school’s beauties. “Well, you take one, you lose one, I guess. Evens itself out.”

“You guys taking about the guest schools?”

Gold and Topaz turn to the sound of approaching steps amongst the crowd. A familiar head of dark wavy hair stands out to them, and Topaz waves.

“Hi Viola!” She calls, and the Ravenclaw girl stumbled forward out of the crowd.

“Hey, Topaz, Gold.” Viola greets the two casually with a nod. “They’re all everybody talks about. Beauxbaton’s this and Durmstrang that; we have studies to think about, not just some silly deathmatch. Whose idea was this, anyways?” Viola grumbles, and sighs heavily, propping herself on the ledge next to Topaz.

“Hey, it’s completely awesome!” Gold tells her, kicking himself off the ledge to face her. “Who wouldn’t want to take on a dragon or fly through a forest of ice and monsters once in their life?” He argues, and crosses his arms in thought, nodding to himself.

“It’s dangerous and stupid.” Viola retorts, and rests a hand on her hip, looking past the ledge and to the courtyard. “What’s even the point of this thing? It’s just two schools pitting out students that were drawn from some weird flaming cup for pete’s sake.”

“…Isn’t that what sports are…?” Topaz asks quietly, and her two companions turn to look at her. She then flinches and holds her hands up in panicked defense. “You know, without the flaming cup part…”

Viola stays silent for a moment, and Gold smirks victoriously before she leans over and smacks him in the shoulder. “Don’t look at me like that! I still don’t see what the point is. Besides, you’re not even old enough, why are you so giddy?”

Gold grumbles. “You don’t have to remind me, but hey, that doesn’t mean I can’t watch.”

“I… I wouldn’t want you to go in anyways.” Topaz tells him hesitantly, making Gold chuckle and try to hide an embarrassed blush. Topaz smiles in understanding. “I’m old enough but I’m not going to enter… Like Viola said, we still have work to do around here.”

“See?” Viola says, taking her turn with the triumphant smirk, but then frowns. “But I can’t say the same for Elizabeth.” She grumbles, thinking about the senior Ravenclaw with a little too much fire for her tastes. Gold and Topaz tremble in understanding.

“She’s probably already thrown her name in.” Gold says, thinking back on the genius witch. “It’s her last year here so I don’t think she would forgive herself for passing something up like this.”

“She won’t shut up about her sister coming over, too.” Viola scoffs.

“Oh, I’ve heard about her.” Topaz says, and receiving the two’s attention. “Katherine Willow… she’s the Beauxbaton’s student who’s supposed to be some sort of master seer. I’ve seen her in the Daily Prophet a couple times. She’s really shy, so they rarely get her face.”

“Oh yeah… I think I heard something about her almost never leaving her room. I wonder how she’s holding up here.” Gold says sympathetically, and then grins. “I bet she’s a reeeal beaut! Hiding her face like that and then coming out with—OOWWW—” Gold was cut off by the drilling of a blushing Topaz’s heel into his shoulder and Viola grabbing his ear and pinching it hard.

“Oh, shut up! You wouldn’t want Liz hearing you say that, would you?” Viola warns him. “Besides, all of that premonition stuff is a load of hogwash anyways. Probably just has too much magic and a bunch of luck…”

“Oh, “You wouldn’t want Liz hearing you say that, would you?”” Gold taunts her, mimicking Viola’s voice and making her pinch harder (“Owowowow—”).

“But you shouldn’t stereotype all of the Beauxbaton’s kids like that… Remember the Thomas Tebbit incident yesterday…?” Topaz reminds them, and Gold thinks back.

“Oh, how could we forget? Kid’s still in the infirmary.” Voila says.

“What was that girl’s name? Emily… Amalie…?” Gold tries to remember.

“Esmeralda.” Topaz tells them knowingly. “Esmeralda Emerarudo. She’s a senior Beauxbaton’s. I think Tommy put worms in her hat after lunch.”

“Serves him right.” Viola grumbles.

“Scary, though.” Gold says with a shiver. “You would wonder how a girl like her managed to stay in that school for seven years.”

“Better than Elizabeth. I hear she got kicked out her first year, that’s why she’s here and not with her sister.” Viola tells them, lowering her voice slightly as if the information was a secret.

“…Well enough about punk Beauxbaton’s kids, who do you guys think is going to be in the Triwizard Tournament?” Gold asks excitably, swinging himself back up on the ledge and kicking his feet out giddily.

“Aren’t your siblings both eligible?” Viola asks him, fixing her blue striped tie.

Gold cringes. “Oh… Oh, crap, I forgot they were!” He curses, and groans loudly, leaning down to his knees. “One of them might get picked… shiiit.”

“But even so, Gold, Am’s would be one tough customer.” Topaz argues, though she still looks down at her feet in worry.

“Yeah, and Fiori would probably make the dragon give the egg to her itself and ride it too. She would dominate anything that had a magical creature in it.” Gold grumbles. “Man, now I know what you’re talking about, Vio…”

“Exactly.” Viola said with a high head, feeling a little proud, yet sympathetic. “But you know, there are also a couple other eligible people we know. Like Maroon.”

“You mean that Gryffindor beater?” Gold immediately identifies, and his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Crap, that guy’s like a flying master! I hear he learned how to apparate faster than anyone in his grade! He must get all of the girls! (Right behind Gold Jr, of course)” He says, lifting his head to look at Viola.

“Goldy, he’s one of your friends.” Topaz tells him, rolling her eyes.

“Oh,” Goldy chuckles, grinning innocently. “Is that right?”

Viola sighs, “Man, what are we going to do with you?”

Gold snickers, and then leans back on the ledge carefully. “Well, I’m not lying. They say he’s going to be the next team captain, and he really did learn to apparate really fast. It was like it was natural to him.”

“Maroon’s one strange guy…” Topaz comments, thinking back on the redheaded senior.

“Oh, we can’t forget those two guys.” Viola says.

“Who… Oh.” Topaz replies, kind of  ashamed how quickly she got who Viola was talking about.

“Who?” Gold pipes up, scrunching his eyebrows at the two, and then thinks for a moment. Before Viola can open her mouth, he mouths an “Oh” and turns back to them. “You mean Shirou and Alan, right?”

“They’re both 18…” Topaz tells him, sighing in worry, but then picks her head up. “I doubt that Alan put his name in, anyways.”

“Have you ever seen that guy outside of the library besides to go to class, anyways? I mean, sometimes he even skips class to stay in there. How does somebody just skip class?” Viola scolds the absent person in severe disappointment and crosses her arms, grumbling to herself.

“Shirou wouldn’t be an easy opponent either.” Goldy says. “Plus, even if Alan’s not entering, there’s no doubt about it that he’ll be helping Shirou if he gets in. That’s kind of scary.”

“Well, it’s not like they’re fighting against any of us, right? They would be our team players, not opponents.” Topaz reminds him, making Goldy stop and nod.

“I still don’t approve of that guy’s habits…” Viola grumbles to herself, rubbing her blazer collar in irritation.

“What about the other Slytherins?” Topaz asks. “Diamonda’s 17, she’s eligible.”

“Do you really think she would throw her name in?” Goldy retorts with a scoff, and Topaz thinks for a moment before nodding.

“I know a guy.” Viola tells them, catching their attention.

“Really?” Goldy says, perking up. “I know Grey, and he would probably put his in but he’s not eligible for another five or so months.” He says, thinking of Am’s friend.

“Well, I can’t say I know in, but I’m aware of him. He’s more… I would say infamous is the best word.” Viola tells them darkly, though more like she was just trying to be dramatic.

“Ooh… I think I know who you’re talking about.” Topaz says, her eyes widening for a moment. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Flax Ama, would you?”

“That’s him.” Viola confirms with a nod, and Goldy flinches.

“Are you serious? I’ve heard rumors about that guy! He ‘aint pretty. I mean, he is, not that I mean that in a gay way, but… you know what I mean!” Goldy says, stumbling over his words and grumbling. Topaz giggles at his awkwardness and Goldy blushes in embarrassment.

“It’s hard to say. The more I hear about him, the more of an enigma he becomes. I’ve seen this group of Ravenclaws that are studying psychology, and their main subject is him.”

“I’ve only heard bad things… though… how is he confusing?” Topaz asks. The most she can remember is what her friends and siblings have told her, and she has to agree what Goldy said.

“Well it’s really weird,” Viola begins, “Like you guys said, he’s not a friendly guy in the slightest, but he always has these weird personality shifts, I’ve heard. Like he usually has a really bad temper and says a bunch of nasty stuff, but I’ve heard from some people see him when he’s alone and he’s like the complete opposite. But whenever they see him like this, it’s always in the weirdest places, like in the secret passages or in some abandoned empty hall. Then when they see him again it’s like it never happened. Whenever they try to talk about anything they’ve talked about he acts like nothing happened.”

“Really…?” Topaz asks in obvious confusion.

“Must be seeing things.” Goldy says, and rolls his eyes.

“They thought so too, but they’ve had entire conversations with this guy before. He’s completely polite and smiley and all that. They say he’s apologized for a lot, too, and never leaves the place they find him in.”

“Twin, clone, double, replica, name it.” Goldy says, and looks at Viola in disbelief.

“No, they’re pretty sure it’s Flax, even the context of what he says confirms it. The psychology Ravenclaws are all over his case.” Viola says with a sigh, and runs a hand through her hair in frustration. “And then besides that, there’s his whole muggle thing.”

“Muggles?” Goldy asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, I know this one.” Topaz says eagerly, perking up. “I’ve heard of a couple fights he had because of this. He’s got this weird muggle fixation, doesn’t he? He’s really defending of them for some reason.”

“Yeah.” Viola nods. “He sent a couple kids to the infirmary because of that, mostly from his own house. The subject really messes with his emotions, I’ve heard.”

“…Damn, this whole thing is making me confused.” Gold says with a sigh and then interjects. “The point is that he’s a candidate, right?”

“Yeah, he’d most likely throw his name in.” Viola says with a nod.

“Weird guy…” Gold grumbles.

“I’m really worried for everyone…” Topaz says, but grins a bit. “But it is really exciting, isn’t it?”

“SEE?” Goldy says, hopping up, and throwing his arms at Topaz. “She understands!”

“It’s still utterly pointless!” Viola argues and hops off of the ledge as well.

“It’s sport. Haven’t you heard of that muggle sport, Ruggie or something?”

“Rugby, Goldy.” Topaz corrects him.

“Rugby is nothing like this! It’s just a muggle sport where they throw the ball around!” Viola tells him. “Nobody’s pitting kids against monsters!”

“That’s why we’re better!”

“What’s wrong with you!?”

“Guys…”

---

Now you know all of the eligible Hogwarts champions!

Aka the potential people that I have to choose from but haven't yet because IT IS HARD.

Goldy, Topaz, and Viola act a lot like the Persona 3 trio of Protag, Junpei, and Yukari but also some Golden Trio because of Vio.

Topaz became more shy because I'm replaying Virtue's Last Reward and Luna is a big cutie and I want to hug her so bad because of AAAGGGHH. But don't worry she's not a Shrinking Violet.

At all.

Runemore- ForestFairy

Grey stares up at the hut. He knows Topaz wants him to go and meet everyone in the town, she put it as a bulletin board request, but after he met up with Vera she-man and Mareen needs-a-shirt or whatever that guy’s name was back at the Inn, he thinks he might just turn in for the day.

He stares at the door, and looks over to the sign at the right of the door. Diamond Taste – Open 9 AM – 6 PM – Closed Tuesdays.

A café? He wonders, placing a hand on his hip, just above the shortsword he got from Gold and Amethyst at the blacksmith earlier. Though he appreciates the sword, a lot, the former was one of the reasons he wanted to go home and take a well-needed rest.

Nah, I can do this. It won’t be too bad. He says to himself, trying to be optimistic. He wonders if he was very optimistic in his life before the town. He doesn’t think so; it doesn’t seem like this thing. He guesses it was the cheeriness of the general-store owner’s daughter, Jade, rubbing off on him. Though, that might have been because she wanted him to buy the overstock of emeralds they had accidentally ordered.

He sighs to himself. A café wouldn’t hurt, it might actually be pretty relaxing. He thinks, and steps in.

“Customer! Hold your positions!”

I was wrong.

Grey stops as soon as the door flies shut behind him, staring at the clean round tables around the wide wooden floor before him, a long counter in the back. Behind it, a short-haired teenager in dark blue hops up like he’s just been crouching down behind the counter, holding a tin of cookies and slamming them onto the table.

Is that… Wait, no, that was a girl’s voice earlier… unless this is another Vera-the-Innkeeper case… He shivers at the thought. He had enough of that, especially just for his second day.

“Hey stranger!” The voice shouts again, and Grey nearly jumps in his place when a woman seems to pop up out of nowhere from the side. “Welcome to Diamond Taste!” She says with a derpy grin, her rosy eyes flashing in excitement.

“I’m… Grey.” Grey starts, still a little shocked by the sudden turn of events. He opens his mouth to speak further, but finds himself at a loss for the appropriate words for the situation. Right before he can conjure a good response, the young woman grabs him by the wrist and drags him across the room to the back counter.

“Jaz, new guy, tell ‘im what it’s worth! I’ll get the menus.” She says to the boy behind the counter before dashing upstairs.

The boy looks fairly frazzled with his hands up cautiously. Nonetheless, he calms down after a couple moments and smiles warmly to Grey, which helps his mood profoundly.

“Hello, I’m Jasper!” He greets in a soft voice. “Sorry about Fiori. She’s just excited because this place is finally open. It’s a small town so service is thriving and slow at the same time.” He laughs, and Grey feels slightly better about the place. “Ecstatic, but she’s a good chef. Not that I’m not; have a biscuit.” He offers, pushing the plate of honey-colored cookies towards Grey, who waves a hand apologetically.

“Oh, sorry, I’m not a sweets person…” He says, and Jasper looks up at him with an expression he’s not really sure of how to comprehend. He’s smiling, but his eyes are disappointed and threatening at the same time.

“You won’t know unless you try it.” Jaz says to him, with his small business smile. Grey stares at him and shuffles backwards slightly. He’s doesn’t think he’s fond of this boy anymore.

“Uh…” He stalls, and is only saved by the cry heard just after.

“Back!” Fiori cheers, hopping down the stairs with the menus in hand and slides down next to Grey and smacks one in front of him. There’s an apron over her poofy shirt and red-brimmed shorts now, all pale pink in all of its glory, making the woman seem much more feminine than she actually was. Grey looked down at her waist, where a frying pan and several pockets were clasped on tightly by string and a sash.

“You have a frying pan?” He asks.

“You have a sword?” Fiori deadpans before nudging the menu towards him. “But I forgive you because you got the very best! Just like you’re going to get now!” 

Grey stares at her for a couple moments, still astounded by her energy. He hasn’t seen this much since the Jade girl. What was with all of these people and them trying to make him buy things? Even the Vera gir—MAN, tried to sell him a room at the inn despite his constant reminders that he had a house (everybody else in the town seemed to know immediately that he did have one, this was a suspicious exception).

Still, the menu didn’t look too bad. Too many sweets, sure, but some good meat.

Needs more burgers…Grey thought, scanning the menu. Yes, that was it. He gripped his empty stomach. Burgers would be a damn dragonsend right now.

“Did you eat a cookie?” Fiori suddenly asks, making Grey look up and Jaz’s ears perk up as his eyes locked onto the older coworker. She’s got a thoughtful expression on her face, and stares at him with intense rose eyes.

“What?” Grey begins ineloquently, “Oh, no, I didn’t. I—”

“You should.” Jaz says, and pushes the plate of attractive honey cookies towards Grey. Grey stares at his serious expression, and the boy nods like he’s trusting him with a treasure chest.

“No, no,” Fiori says, and pushes the plate away, “Ask for a cupcake.” She tells Grey with an equally serious face.

“He looks like a biscuit man.” Jaz says, and pushes the plate back.

“Actually, I’m neith—”

“Cupcakes are naturally better!” Fiori retorts, and shoots a defensive glare at Jaz.

“Biscuits are the embodiment of everyone’s hopes and dreams!” Jaz says like it’s the most basic knowledge in the world. Grey stops. Was this kid on mushrooms…?

But Fiori visibly flinches, and cringes in a cold sweat. Grey stares at her, she didn’t actually believe…?

“Well… Well Grey wants to try my food! Right, Grey?” Fiori says, completely unaware of Grey stiffening next to her.

Grey suddenly feels as uncomfortable as hell. It reminds him of when he was back at Topaz’s house, the apothecary, and her insane brother went all wild orc on him and had been yelling something about his sisters and a “damn soldier boy” before Cerise yelled something back and smacked him with a sack of medicinal herbs.

“M-Maybe he doesn’t want to!” Jaz shoots back, getting bolder, and Grey suddenly fears a fight.

“Hey guys!”

Fiori and Jaz both look up at him at the same time with vicious, yet wide eyes. Grey looks at both of them and drops his hands to his sides.

“Can either of you make hamburgers?” He asks, feeling hopeful.

Fiori and Jaz stare at him for a moment, and then slowly turn to look over at each other. “…Burgers…?”

Oh, Great Firesome, no.

“…You guys do know what burgers are, right?”

“Whoa, wait, I thought you just said hamburger, what’s with all this just plain burger now?!” Fiori shouts in a panic, holding up her hands. Jaz doesn’t look any safer either, staring at his hands as he tries to look for a solution.

Grey feels a sinking pit in his stomach.

“It’s… um… I…”

“You’re not just screwing with us, are you, city boy?” Fiori asks, giving Grey a look, and he raises an eyebrow.

City boy…? Grey thinks to himself, but pushes the thought away. “No, I mean… It’s just a sandwich. With beef, and other stuff.”

“I can think of like fifty different recipes that fit that description and none of them sound anything like what you just said.” Jaz says to him.

“They’re not that hard,” Grey starts, but then thinks for a moment, “At least, I don’t think so…”

He looks back at the two chefs, only to meet the sharp, intense stare of a pair of twinkling rose eyes. Fiori giggles.

Giggles.

Not good, Grey thinks, and steps back right before the woman hops up to him and grabs him excitably. Even Jaz jumps back from the two from behind the counter.

“Show me! Show me!” She pleads, an iron grip on his shirt shoulders as she begs him. “I’ll know every dish in your foreign book by no time, Grey!” She promises, and grins.

“Well I don’t think…” Grey starts, wondering how exactly he should tell her about his memory contition.

“No, don’t answer that!” Fiori stops him, and steps back only to throw a hand in his face, making him realize that she’s pointing at him. “Bulletin board! I’m going to be calling you out, mister! Official request, you better take them!”  She says, and then springs up in joy. “Alright!” She cheers.

“…You’re…”

“Hm…?” Fiori looks up at Grey with hopeful eyes.

“…tiring.” Grey says.

Fiori gasps, and Jaz snickers from behind the counter. “Whoa there, partner!”

“But eager.” Grey tells her with a tugging smirk, and Fiori stops. “I’ll see what you’ve got.”

Fiori stares at him, but then her eyes start to wander as she thinks, tapping a finger on her chin in thought. She looks back at Grey, and then the floor, and then the window, and then at Jaz (who holds up his arms in an “X” form), and then back at Grey.

She grins.

“You won’t be disappointed in the slightest, Sir City Boy!”

“Grey.” Grey corrects her with a look. Or at least, that’s the name I thought of yesterday.

“Sure, sure.” Fiori laughs, and grabs her frying pan off of her side. “Just be sure not to get in the way of Mr. Pan!” She tells him, brandishing the pan in front of herself. Grey thinks for a moment about how well she would be able to fare with the thing.

He mentally shrugs, and grins the same way.

Weird people in this town.

--

LONG. For a DD update. BECAUSE OF GREY. But I managed to get a bunch of mentions in!

Also a buttload of notes  so watch out.

WITH A LOT OF JAZZ. HER HER.

But the mentions were fun to get into there too. Especially Vera.

Man, Verdant and Maroon have like the best bromance ever I swear. It's one of those cases where they're like SOULMATES but I don't think of it as in a romantic matter. Like BFFLs. They love each other like the Romans did.

Speaking of which.

 More notes about Runemore:

So Grey is our Amnesiac Hero, the general base for a Rune Factory protagonist. This also means he has a farm, fights monsters, and goes on a grand adventure and eventually defeats a great dragon (he earlier said "Great Firesome"; Firesome is the final boss dragon that rules over fire (obviously) in the second game). He also gets married to one of the many available bachellorettes in the town (Topaz, Cerise, Sapphira, Fiori, Diamonda, Pink, Jade, or Scarlet) (Indi and Perla don't count because of reasons. Safaia is the Evelyn, completely available fits the standards but has a more important romance to deal with. She's avalible as a bro.)

The Rosso Family runs the Apothecary, which is basically the clinic of the town (which is like suuuper small, think an old fantasy village where everyone knows everyone because there are only about 20-30 people). Ironically yet not, Topaz represents the main girl of the game, who find the hero and gives him a place to stay. She's more or less his first friend. 

As said, Jade's the daughter of the General Shop owner, who is Blue in this case. Yes, she did try to con Grey into buying their surplus of emeralds. It's the Sakaki family nature.

The Kimus run the Blacksmith! They don't have parents because that's a norm in RF. Mostly young adults on their own with a mom or dad or grandparent. It's very rare to see two of them. Gold mostly works finance while Am's like master hammer and blaze, but Gold's pretty skilled too. Fiori lives with them but works at the cafe with Jaz.

Speaking of Jaz, him and his dad run the Diamond taste! It's a cafe/bar/bakery/ect. He was fun to put in. 

And of course, Verdant and Maroon hang out at the Inn. Verdant's like the main guy there so people acknowledge him as the owner but Maroon's like the guy that does most of the handiwork and goes out on adventures in between. Vera came in like after he came back from one of his journeys when they were 16 and it's been pretty weird since. 

And picture.

Ignore those three losers at the top, they're from something else. But the below kids are Cerise, Runemore Jade (selling her emeralds), and some Verdant and Vera. I REALLY wanted to draw him as both sides, mostly in a Runemore fashion, and this is what came out. I like this version of Vera, he looks more like a crossdresser now while still looking like one of the prettiest girls in the series despite not even being a girl. And then I drew him looking like a boy yet STILL could be the pretty not-girl next to him and it WORKED. Damn Ross is lucky.

Okay I'd better end the notes here. Can't think of a DD fact right now so until the next update.

Familgiamore- Primary

“Rossi, Sir.” Indi says as she steps up to the young man seated lazily in the pristine couch in the middle of the living room. Her hands are folded behind her back respectfully, and her chin pulled to her chest as she looked directly down at the boy.

“Uhhh… Not now, Jil—OW!”

The boy shoots up at the sudden pain inflicted to his side, and swiftly turns to the taller woman’s strict gaze. Indi lowers her eyes at him in a warning glare. “Careful with your words, sir.”

Crimson presses and hand to the side Indi had hit earlier, and looks around the living room. “There’s not even anyone here, Indi.”

“My apologies, sir, but you must learn to hold your tongue at the proper times. If this were a place where the Karmu or Berlazes had occupied you may have exposed my fragile name.” She says, almost sarcastically, closing her eyes calmly and lifting her chin.

“Aaggh… Jillian, what time is i—OW!”

“House: Okean, Age: 20, Codename: Indigo.” Indi repeats for what feels like the millionth time since she met the boy. The number had increased ever since she told the boy her real name, which she had been regretting ever since. But then again, didn’t. She felt a little cunning inside.

“Man, Indi, what do you need?” Crimson asks, running a hand through his tousled hair.

“Your sister requests you in the meeting hall. Something about the Karmu’s recent push on border.” Indi tells him, remembering what the older girl had told her. Feels weird to phrase that she’s older… She thinks, but it was a little fun to watch the enemy squirm at the 23 year old’s master gun skills thinking they’ve just been assaulted by a 13 year old.

Very fun indeed… She admits it’s a little sadistic to like to see their pained faces, but that’s what it was all about. Lady Cerise was a little more pacific, a much more delicate youth suited for other parts in the mafia. Not a cross-family affairs dealer like Topaz, and certainly not a bodyguard like herself. The children of the head Rossi were quite the varied bunch.

Like jellybeans, Indi thinks hungrily. She wonders when dinner will be ready, probably right after the meeting. She looks over to Crimson, who’s fixing his tie, preparing to meet his sister. What would Crimson be…?

…Spicy jellybean. She thinks.

“Huh?” Crimson turns around suddenly, and stares at her. Indi looks at him with the side of her pressed against her mouth innocently.

“What?” She asks, looking at the door.

“…Did you just laugh?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at his bodyguard.

“No.” She replies with a bitter tongue, despite how amused she feels inside. “I’ll be waiting in the kitchen after your meeting.” She says, and heads out of the room.

Crimson stares at her as she retreats, and scoffs. “Looks like Jillian’s got a heart after all.”

“That’s probably what you think every time I’m sliding my tongue into your mouth, Roderich… sir.” Indi taunts, allowing herself a confident smirk when he starts to clam up and turn red. She almost laughs, and then turns on her heel and exits the room.

She’ll let it be this way for a while, with Crimson of the Rossi family. Whether she’s an Okean or not, she’ll protect him.

--

Jellybeans and Primary. 

This one was actually a lot of fun to write! Indi's got an easy POV.

Under the also-AU that everybody's color names are actually codenames and Primary is an already-set relationship. Kesese. 

But no seriously I can see Indi as a Jillian and Crimson as a Roderich no matter how much he hates it. The family names should have been pretty obvious (Rossi- Rosso, Okean- Oak, Karmu- Kimu, ect.). It was a lot easier than #3, I say. Huh.

Also the mafia makes a lot of people sadistic. 

I should have put more Topaz in this instead of just mentions, wow, she's like super badass in her familiga. Crimson looks up to her a lot.

Y'know, before she falls in love with a tailor and everything goes shit.

Anyone want to know everybody else's true names? Hehe... Hehehee...

But no seriously this one was a lot of fun wow.

I'll release the other picture along with #3 because the stuff in that one fits more with it. Heh.