#except that Alfendi doesn’t talk like that

[probablygayattorneys]

I didn’t remember this particular plot point in Unwound Future, but… hoo boy am I having A LOT of feelings returning to it now, after playing Mystery Room, knowing that Alfendi went through very much of the same thing.

[swansstuff]

So uh, I've been thinking about a hypothetical Trucy Wright: Act Attorney and here is the very poorly written outline for it because yeah. No spoilers except the Apollo Trucy thing. Tw death, murder, blood and grieving so yeah.

Trucy's first case is literally her first ever case. This is a flashback case. We follow her as she wakes up, slightly stressed about today, Phoenix gives her cereal and a pep talk and a cryptic message. Trucy asks where Papa is, it is Miles, they are married. Phoenix is cryptic about that too. He stays behind as he "has to buy groceries" so Trucy heads into the office. Apollo greets her, it's clear they know they're siblings, and he hands her a case. Miles is prosecuting. She is fucking terrified. She goes to the crime scene, Gumshoe is the detective and he's educating his teenage sons, constant confusion of who's who, because they are twins and they look very like Gumshoe, it'll be kinda funny. Its a simple investigation. During the investigation, the player can check Trucy's profile and the profile system shows character's middle names now. We get some gems such as Klavier Hyacintha Gavin later on, the reasoning behind this is coz Trucy is nosy. The important one here is Trucy Mia Wright. She says something about how she chose her own middle name when Phoenix adopted her and she chose Mia after learning about her. Yada yada. Trucy wins the case. Edgeworth is very proud, Phoenix is in the gallery and there's a flash of him crying proud tears, Apollo hugs her afterwards, Athena congrats her.

Next case, flash forward three years later, we do not see Phoenix and nobody really mentions him. Thats because he's fucking dead but we don't know that yet. This case is a Fey case, we meet Maya who is married to Franziska and they're technically on honeymoon in Kurain and Pearl becomes the Maya to Trucy's Phoenix. Its another fey murder case. There are a few mentions of Trucy's admiration of Mia, mainly just a mirror of a few lines she's said and a conversation where her and Maya talk about her, Trucy says she would have loved to meet her and Maya explains how her spirit has been dormant for ages now and how she assumes she's moved on.

"If you want I can try and channel-"

"No no no no NO. Its ok!"

This is our first hint that Phoenix is no longer with us, but we don't know until later thats what she means. Sebastian is the prosecutor, the player finds out that Miles is taking a break from prosecuting work, Trucy already knew of course, and Sebastian is dubbed Chief until he comes back, Fran says

"It would've been me were I not on my literal honeymoon right now." We are not told why yet, but it is because of Phoenix. Kay Faraday is the detective, somebody murders someone and frames Maya, no-one is shocked by this. We also get an update on Iris, she's thriving. She wins yada yada.

Next case, a couple of months later, Trucy gets a call from a friend that the player can't identify at first. Its Katrielle Layton. She needs Trucy's legal knowledge because someone is sueing her detective agency because have you seen how they practice. This, of course, turns to murder and we get another surprise when we meet the prosecutor. Who probably has a licence to practise law in England? Simon Blackquill, he is British ok. Yeah, Trucy wins with Kat's help, we meet Ernest and Sherl and Alfendi and Flora if we have time. I miss them. Trucy and Kat have a conversation that cryptically addresses their fathers and their "whereabouts" and living up to their legacy. We see Trucy cry, but only a similar flash to AJ:AA and we do not know why. Yet.

Next case, flashback case. Trucy is the assistant on this case but we still play as her, even in the court sections since Phoenix is prepping her for the bar and getting her to give him the answers. The bar exam is only in three days. Klavier is prosecuting. The case somehow relates to Kristoph and there's the whole mirror dynamic thing of when Phoenix lost his badge. Kristoph is dead by now, but the whole thing is there was a plot inside prison to make Phoenix pay for putting a bunch of them in, Kristoph was the assumed ring leader until he died and the cops now dont know who's running it. Somebody (Godot? That would hurt big time) was their inside man, sent to figure that out, so when whoever it was turned up dead, the whole thing got exposed. We get a bit of a Mia moment in the trial where Trucy tells Phoenix to flip over the receipt (thats evidence for some reason). Phoenix says "I feel like that shouldn't be the second time someone has said that to me". The killer is found, by Phoenix, and put into isolation, as have most of the other participants. We then see Trucy get her badge. They have a conversation and Trucy says Phoenix basically forgot about it for a couple of months. The case closes with a foreboding "and I forgot about it too, until..."

Next case. Phoenix is fucking murdered. Trucy gets a phone call late at night, she hears laboured breathing on the other end and a "don't forget I love you" from Phoenix. Trucy pulls a simba and goes "dad? Dad?!!" And the line goes dead. The player is presented with a choice of who to call. They have two phone calls. Who they choose first makes no difference, but the second time they are forced to choose Ema who will trace Phoenix's phone call. They could call Apollo and he would comfort her, Miles would panic, Maya would say he was just messing around, Athena would sense her distress and say she's coming over etc. You could attempt to call Phoenix back but he would not answer and you would be allowed to call someone else. Ema then traces the phone call and we follow Trucy to the crime scene. We get a truly haunting cutscene where everything kinda goes blurry except Phoenix's face and the blood. Trucy doesn't cry. She stands there in shock. The WAA is there in various states of shock and upset. Return of grieving Apollo I guess. Miles turns up and the look on his face is haunting. Trucy and him make eye contact and they share the thought of something has to be done. And then. "The bar association took me off the case and Papa too, they said we were too close to it. As a result, we never found out who did it... Until now." And we see a determined Trucy face. We jump forward to where we last saw Trucy, she and Pearl are coming back from England and its a bit more cheery. Trucy sends Pearl on a train back to Kurain and heads on home. She enters the house and we see Miles pouring over Phoenix's case. He jumps up and runs towards her.

"Trucy! I think I have a lead, I-"

"Papa, you're tired, go to bed." (Or better dialogue along those lines)

Its clear he's been doing this sort of thing a lot.

"But I do! At least...I think I do..."

He trails off and rests his head in his hands.

"Do I? Or am I just a mess?"

Trucy gives him a sad smile.

"C'mon let's go to bed."

Miles returns the sad smile and fades out like all ace attorney characters do. The player is given the option to look around. There's probably some emotional dialogue and bits that give clues to how she and Miles have been fairing the past 3 years. Answer is, not very well. Examine the pile of papers on the table. Trucy will take a look and then realise her papa may have actually been onto something. Its a diagram of which prisoners knew each other, with an arrow from each leading to a defense attorney we have never met. Trucy is confused, but she calls for Miles anyway. He comes back downstairs and Trucy asks him about this lead he found.

"Well I realised all those prisoners would know this defense attorney (insert name?)"

"Why? And why would they be suspicious?'

"They (pronouns?) Were always the defense attorney who would take on the cases of those Wright had already accused. They gained a reputation of being the doomed defense attorney."

"So... They knew all the prisoners in the plot and they had a grudge against daddy... Papa I think you're onto something!"

And the case continues, since we already know who's been accused, it plays out more like an investigations game, Trucy has to prove it, with Miles' help of course, literally every other character we know and love plays a part in making sure this guy gets a guilty verdict. There is still a courtroom bit and a moment when all is looking dark, Trucy literally has a full on breakdown as the Judge threatens to remove her from the case again. Miles is by her side, they're both technically prosecution here i guess. Miles, however, is too deep in his own mental breakdown to help. Everyone else is in the gallery besides Pearl. Pearl channels Phoenix as a last hope sort of thing. Phoenix comforts her and tells her to keep fighting, he touches her badge and probably says some sort of bullshit about it. The Judge is about to bang the gavel when Trucy and Phoenix object at the same time. Miles looks up and realises whats going on and he objects too, a little later. The battle goes on until it finishes and the other attorney has a breakdown that steals little bits from every other murderer Phoenix has put behind bars.This is the one time seeing the word guilty on your screen feels good. There's a whole heartwarming celebration at the end, Phoenix sticks around for a little bit and everyone gets a bit of closure. Its assumed he's gone since Pearl passes out and Trucy dips out for a sec. She's away from the festivities, staring at the badge in her hand and we see someone coming up behind her. Maya is channelling Phoenix now. He gives Trucy a hug and utters the words "the only time a lawyer can cry is when its all over and, Trucy darling, my light, its over." Echoing both Diego and Mia.

And the screen fades to black with a final hug between father and daughter.

:)

[unwoundfutureost]

Ooohh maybee 4, 29 and 50 for the PL-asks if you don't mind?

4. already answered!

29. favorite minigame?

the tea minigame in diabolical box… it’s infuriating i hated it but it reawakened the me that loved to pretend cook and make potions as a kid 

50. tell me any headcanon you have about the games!

THANK YOU FOR SENDING THIS ONE… HOO okay i have a list. here i go

.

.

- hershel adopted alfendi after unwound future because after the destruction of london and alfendi lost his parents, hershel saw young clive in alfendi and thought, ‘back then, when clive’s parents died, i was so emotionally damaged myself that i couldn’t care for him, but now i can, and i can’t make the same mistake again’

- desmond actually had a husband, he said he had a wife as to not make anyone turn any ears 

- desmond IS resentful of layton, but he still loves layton more than life itself. it’s kind of like a ‘part of me would die for you and part of me wishes you were dead’ thing 

- brenda triton is chinese. no reason except im chinese. on this topic tho free hong kong 

- the reason randall was so desparate to sacrifice his life for the mask and the azran was because he wanted to prove himself to his father and his friends 

- this one’s probably canon but angela and henry only married so that no one else could court them and they could sort of ‘keep their bond’, in a kind of messed up tribute to randall they gave their lives for… they still are kinda in love tho and after randall comes back they have a kid

- after miracle mask randall… becomes an archeologist again it may have brought him a ton of pain but it’s still his calling and his passion. this time though angela and henry frequently accompany him. they’re wary at first but soon they become Archeology Buddies and even get on the front page of the world times at some point 

- hershel hates confronting his problems but he kind of blames himself for how clive turned out so he sends him a letter every once in a while to jail. clive doesn’t read them at first but eventually he becomes super attached to them 

- hershel spent so much time looking after katrielle that he didn’t give as much attention to alfendi and flora later on. flora and alfendi both became slightly distant and when hershel and luke disappear in the anime they don’t even notice for a while

- after layton disappears, flora visits clive in jail in an attempt to forgive him and move on. when he gets out, flora’s the one that provides him with a home. desmond comes back during this time and is upset to find layton missing, but he, flora, and clive become the kind of second mystery trio and they go on stupid wacky adventures 

- flora gets a girlfriend on one of these adventures 

- flora frequently writes to alfendi. the two are close

- hershel layton is autistic!

- luke triton is also autistic! 

- marina and luke are only married for health benefits but they’re bffs

- marina and luke met in junior year of high school. luke was trying out his skull denim jacket thing and marina marched up to him and said ‘quit your job. join my emo band’

- ernest greeves is trans 

- randall ascot has adhd

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK!!! THIS 1000% OK TO RB BTW I LOVE SHARING MY LAYTON HEADCANONS BC I MYSELF HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS WITH THE WRITING OF THE LAYTONVERSE THAT I JUST. EHFKDGJF

[sintheyokai]

(LCRoA-3) Chapter 2: It’s No Fairytale

A/N: Sorry this took forever, I've just been REALLY out of it lately (that and I wasn't really proud of the word count for a good long while)... But on that note, I hope to finish this story, so I'll try to post more often!

A/N 2: The foreign language in this is one that I wrote myself. I wrote my own alphabet and pronunciations of letters (because I'm THAT lazy to not play or watch Azran Legacy and get clues from there). The language is, no surprise, called Akbian. I will also provide translations for ACTUAL languages and I'm sorry if they start to get annoying. Now you may proceed.

Word Count: 7214

Five figures, all gathered around in the back of a dark alleyway. The youngest held up her forefinger, a single dim light glowing from the tip.

"Wichihrih eex Ooleebroondoolee?" the eldest asked, pushing a strand of crimson hair behind her ear and careful to not hit the bow on her back with her hand.

(Where is Umbrundum?)

"Pr-Prawbahbisleheer shahooxeenig t-tirawoobislehih..." the second youngest of the group stuttered, dagger in hand

(Probably causing trouble...)

"Roodih... Eerawoor wawrdix shoot eerawoor ihslehdihr xiwooltihr, Preesha..." an emotionless voice came echoing from the shadows.

(Rude... Your words cut your elder sister, Prica...)

A woman, Umbrundum, emerged from the shadows of the alley, her staff grand and beautiful compared to the black hoodie and jeans that she wore. Her older sister gave her an irked look.

"Wichaht chahvih eerawoo bihn oop taw?" she asked.

(What have you been up to?)

"Ahx Preesha xaheerx... Mawnd chahx swawoond xawmihawnih, ahnd chih weesleh ahreevih shawmih neegichitswahsleh..."

(As Prica says... Mond has found someone, and he will arrive come nightfall...)

The third eldest sighed and shook her head in response to her sister.

"Fooeetih ahn awd baweer... trayed taw sweegichit mih..." Umbrundum told the clearly disappointed sister.

(Quite an odd boy... tried to fight me...)

"Ee chahvih ahslehxaw swawoond a mahn... chim ahnd chix axeewooltahnt peefooih meer eentihrihwoolt." the shadow woman stated, sending the youngest into a fit of giggles.

(I have also found a man... him and his assistant pique my interest.)

"Eerawoo? Eentihrihwooltihd? Swooneer!" she teased.

(You? Interested? Funny!)

"Chix xawoosleh eex xipsleheet een tiwaw, Shawreeootahnah... wicheeslehih chix axeewooltahnt, tichrih. Ee wawndihr..." the second eldest mused.

(His soul is split in two, Corioanna... while his assistant, three. I wonder...)

She pulled out the stone ball and tossed it to the third youngest, who caught it.

"Awn ahnawtichihr nawtih, Ee rihtrayevihd tichim. Ahsleh eenixeedih."

(On another note, I retrieved them. All inside)

The third youngest grinned, quickly proceeding to open the ball and pull out her emerald earring. She put it in her left ear before taking her third elder sister's diamond necklace and handing it to her. The ball went around, with each sister, except the second, removing an item. The eldest, her garnet bracelets; Prica, her sapphire ring; and Corioana, her citrine hairband before making quick work of placing her hair into a comfortable ponytail.

"Ooleebroondoolee, ahrih eerawoo awehahrih tichaht-" The eldest looked to the sister in question before she was interrupted by said sister.

(Umbrundum, are you aware that-)

"Eerihx, Ahleesah. Tichih Eeshihrx. Ee xahweh awnih ahtahshgoo a wawmihn ihahrslehayer."

(Yes, Ajiza. The Icers. I saw one attack a woman earlier.)

This caused Ajiza to sigh in exasperation.

"Tichihn wih moowoolt rihmaheen lawweh." she said before turning to the third youngest and third eldest, "Veerdahn, Gahlslehnzhoo, shihp wahtishich. Wih weesleh waheet oonteesleh Mawndix shichaweeshih shawmihx."

(Then we must remain low.... Vydan, Gajlnx, keep watch. We will wait until Monds choice comes.)

After this was said, Corioana's finger returned to normal, the light disappearing as they sat in the darkness, waiting for nightfall.

Time- 3:05 p.m.

It hadn't taken Ernest that long to stop foaming and leaking goop, but he had been forced to lie down on the long couch for a bit.

The room was still in a silent state, no one really daring to speak. Ernest suddenly realized just how many people were standing up and felt a pang of guilt. He began to get up.

"Mr. Layton, Ms. Baker, I can get up if-"

"NO." Aunt Okri fiercely said, pointing an index finger directly at him, "You will keep your ass right in that couch and not get up until we are satisfied with your health! So lay your ass back the fuck down!"

"Greeves, listen to my aunt." Alfendi warned, "She told us herself that she has the beating skills of... um... Kat remind me again?" he turned to his sister. The brunette gave a small smile.

"A hormonal teenager who's just been denied chocolate on their period." she managed to say with a semi-straight face. Alfendi held back a laugh before turning back to Ernest.

"That. So I suggest if you don't want to have any broken bones, stay down."

Ernest, only slightly amused from the previous joke, nodded and layed back down again.

Katrielle noticed that Lucy had quickly fallen asleep against the wall. How, she had no clue, but with a smirk, she lightly slapped her friend. She notice her ginger hair grow a slight shade of bright red rather quickly and backed up. A pair of angry red eyes opened up.

"Not fuckin' funny, Faun, I thought we agreed: no smackin' me when I'm asleep." Loopy said. Katrielle raised an eyebrow.

"Lucy? Are you al-"

"Who th' fuck are you?" She turned to Alfendi, "Ya know this bitch?"

Placid closed his eyes, sighing, "Loopy, I would very much appreciate it if you didn't call my sister and Lucy's friend a 'bitch'."

Loopy raised an eyebrow and gave the very confused detective a look-over.

"Seems t'check out. Wrong foot, eh, love?" Loopy held out her hand in greeting, "Name's Loopy Lily. Ya know Longstockin'?"

Kat cautiously shook Loopy's hand, "Yes... Al, what's going on?"

"Ah, right," Potty came out and put his fingers to his eyelids, "You weren't around to meet Lily. Long story short, Daddy issues lead to the Lucy Baker you know to have a split personality like me. Only she can't share memories with other personalities like I can."

Katrielle looked at her friend, "How many?"

Loopy smirked and held up three fingers. "There's Longstockin', li'le Scotland Yard girl; Barde, who's shy as fuck and can't 'andle th' most basic tasks; then there's me~! The crazed serial killer: th' York-Lanc Fox~~!" She gave Lucy's friend an insane smile, then looked around the room, giving everyone a look-over.

"Well, well, who've we go' 'ere? Th' whole gang an' family, Red?"

Potty chuckled, "Yep." he then turned to his aunt, "And still waiting for an explanation from our aunt!"

Okri sighed and dropped her head in minor shame. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you..." she said, taking a few deep breaths before beginning her story.

"I'm pretty sure you all knew that my last adventure was not actually a simple government rebellion because they have something they shouldn't. I'm your aunt, I don't take jobs that boring; I'd die in a snap! No... While it is true they had something they shouldn't have, they didn't know at first. Obviously, that thing was the ball I was carrying around. Since you all opened it, I guess y'all saw what was in it?"

Seeing the group nod, Okri continued.

"Those items aren't exactly normal jewelry pieces ya find at home, and that hairband (yes Alfendi, knowing you, my nephew, I knew you'd question it) is of the same- call it what you will, I'll call it danger capacity- of the jewelry. As cliché as it sounds, put in the wrong hands or misused and you're conducting the end of the world. Didn't wanna risk the government trying to use it improperly."

Fauna raised her hand.

"Okay, I get that, but what's the big deal? Kat nearly died because some..." she gestured to the dead body, "Crazed bitch was after it."

"And with good reason." their aunt stared at the body and numerous glass shards on the floor, "Those things belong to the six empirical princesses of Akbadain. The statues that were stolen."

The room grew quiet.

"Kit-Kat," Sherl whispered, "Doesn't that mean... the woman you gave the ball to..."

"That was Ooleebroondoolee." Okri answered the pooch, "The princess of shadow."

"Eh?" Kat gave her aunt a surprised look, "You can hear him, Aunt Okri?" she then noticed everyone, aside from Flora and Ernest, giving Sherl wild looks. Her aunt nodded, "Guess everyone else can too."

Loopy gave a wild grin, eyes almost glowing. "A talkin' pooch! Now this is interestin'!"

Sherl instinctively backed up from the crazy eyed killer.

Potty dug through his ears for a bit before taking a deep breath, "OkaY! Ignoring the fact that the dog talks, what other princesses are there, aside from... Ooleebroondoolee....? What's their deal?"

Okri took a seat on top of her niece's desk.

"Well, listing them from eldest to youngest," she began, "There's: Ahleesah Shreemaw of flames, Ooleebroondoolee Shayewoolt of shadows, Gahlslehnzhoo Spahfah of stars, Veerdan Green of flowers, Preesha Bloo of pools, and Shawreeootahnah Kaye of light. As for their whole schpiel, the rumor is, when the Azran Dolls destroyed the civilization, Akbadain was warned by one of their mercenaries, Aurora. The king and queen of Akbadain, Teetahn and Shawximeeah, agreed to go down with their city, but refused to let their children suffer a death from rebellion. So, the princesses were told to become statues until the time came where they would be safer than they were then. They just listened and did that, leaving their enhancory (enhance-ery) items behind and weapons separate."

"Auntie, I'm pretty sure 'enhancory' is not a word." Flora piped in.

"That's what they were called by Akbians, Flora, I'm calling it by the same damn name." Okri replied, "Each princess has a magic ability pertaining to their title: Ahleesah, fire; Oolee, shadows; ya get the idea. Those items in the ball were called 'enhancory items' because they, as their name pretty much suggests, enhanced each princess's natural ability to a nearly god like level. It's why they're hella dangerous when they're misused."

Suddenly, there was knock on the door. No one moved a muscle.

Another knock, a bit louder and quicker this time. Aunt Okri began walking to the door. Alfendi and Katrielle gave her a bewildered stare.

"If you're worried it's one of those bitches again," she pointed to the body, "Let me ease your conscious." Okri said.

"They don't knock like that."

She went to answer the door while the others stood, processing the story and information told to them.

Aunt Okri had never been one to lie to her family when they were children, lest she considered them too young (of which she did rarely). So even if this did seem like nothing more but a child's fairytale...

Could it really be true?

Were six ancient princess really just walking about the streets of London?

Okri suddenly came back into the room, a woman trailing behind her.

"Kat, honey, do you-" Aunt Okri tried to say, before being interrupted.

"Katrielle Layton, I might actually require your help." the thin, dark skinned woman said with a hint of desperation.

"Emilianna Perfetti? You? Need my help?" the detective exclaimed in playful mockery.

Alfendi heard Loopy mutter under her breath, "Oh Jesus fuck it's logic bitch." He had to hold back a laugh at the insult. The restraint caused the criminal analyst to turn and look at him.

"Inspector Layton, are you not supposed to be at the Yard solving the case given to you earlier this afternoon?" she said irritably.

"See, I would, Perfetti," Potty retorted, "But my sister beat me to the punch."

Emilianna pursed her lips and gave Lady Layton a sharp look.

"And what... mystical solution has your sister offered?"

"The statues are alive, hon." Okri answered her promptly. Emilianna chuckled.

"Even for you, Katrielle, that seems rather far fetched!"

"Well, guess wot Perfuck-ti!" Loopy threw an insult at the analyst, "We're pre'y fuckin' sure it's true."

"And how can you be sure?"

"Because one is literally at the door right now." Okri was looking into the hall and out the door. Before she could step forward, Emilianna yelped, her eyes glued to the corpse on the ground.

"Wh-What is the meaning of this?!" she asked, trembling ever so slightly, "Which one of you did this!?"

Loopy let out a snicker, "Funny 'ow, even though you're a criminal analyst, you don't see the dead body right away~"

There was a muffled cry outside the door, "Chihslehaaaawwww!?"

(Helloooo?)

"Shawmeenig, Shawreeootah!" Okri responded, hurrying to the door.

(Coming, Corioan!)

"Wait!" Emilianna tried to stop the Layton aunt, but to no avail. She turned to the group in the room, "What are we going to do about..." she gestured wildly to the bleeding mass, "THIS?"

Before anyone could answer, Aunt Okri returned, a peppy woman close behind. Her bright golden hair was tied up in ponytail. She dawned a bright blue tank top, paired with a white puff skirt but no shoes. Her yellow eyes appeared to shine with the light of a thousand suns, and her pale skin was almost translucent. She was quick to look at the body, puffing her cheeks up in mild annoyance.

"Deed Oolee daw tichaht?" she asked. Okri was quick to answer, "Eerihx."

(Did Um do that?)(Yes)

The bubbly woman made an odd noise of frustration, before turning to the student on the couch. She giggled.

"Deed Mawnd beetih eerawoo, gooeed?" she asked.

(Did Mond bite you, kid?)

"Eerihx, Preenishihx." Ernest answered, not even thinking about the words that came out of his mouth until he finished saying them.

(Yes, Princess)

The girl giggled again before taking a small thorn and vial out. "Naw chahrd swihsleheenigix, boot meer xiwooltihr wahntix taw ihzhoopslehawrih." she said, approaching him.

(No hard feelings, but my sister wants to explore)

Ernest gave her a concerned look before she shoved the thorn into his arm. If that didn't send the group into a controlled frenzy, it did when they saw that Ernest's blood wasn't red, but rather black. Leaving the blood covered thorn in for a while, the woman giggled again before waving to everyone. For some reason, each one of them waved back.

She soon took out the thorn and placed it in the vial, closing it tightly. Getting up, she walked over to the window, basking in the afternoon glow. She turned to everyone and waved again.

"Gawdibeerih!" She exclaimed, before dissolving into light, disappearing into thin air. Katrielle turned to Ernest.

(Goodbye!)

"Where did you learn that language?" she asked. Ernest shrugged. Okri piped in to answer her niece's question.

"Snake bite." Everyone turned to her, Emilanna only opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. Okri continued.

"That snake is Mond Tanz, the immortal pet of Ooleebroondoolee. His bite marks you as a guide for the princesses, turning your blood black until they understand the era they're in."

"What drugs were put in this room!?" Emilianna finally snapped, violently jabbing a finger into Okri's chest, "All of this defies logic, and I believe you're the one behind it!"

Okri smirked and let out a hearty, guttural laugh, "You're funny! I like you!" She exclaimed, casually brushing off the analyst's accusations. She continued.

"You think I drugged the whole room because you're the type to decline fantasy subjects? The type to not play a bit of Murderous Blue's Clues and Life or Death Cinderella? Listen sweetheart, the shit that's going down now? Oh, it's nothing compared to what might happen in the future. So I suggest you buckle the fuck up and take your logic goggles off, cause since you're here with us," she pointed to the dead woman, "You'll be made a target by things like her."

Emilianna was as pale as fresh driven snow, stealing glances at the corpse.

The room was quiet as everyone realized what the old Layton said, and it dawned on them, to their horror, that she was right.

They were all spotted together when they were attacked. And now that Perfetti was involved, she, too, was considered a threat to these ice haired people. They would hunt her, someone who had simply walked in for help with a case, until they knew she was dead.

"Does that mean..." Kat shyly whispered, "None of us are safe anymore?" Okri gave her frightened niece a slight frown.

"Yes, sweetie it does." she said pitifully, "Sleep in groups tonight, all of you. Gather knives, light fires, do the best you can to stay safe. I'm pretty sure it's obvious, but these things are brutal." she glanced at the dead one on the floor, "This one wasn't even much more than the tip of the iceberg."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Layton?" Emilianna raised a hand, putting it down once she had Okri's attention.

"Ms. Layton Senior, hon. Still single."

"Well, Ms. Layton Senior, might I ask what exactly ARE these things?"

Okri sighed.

"Ahgoobeeahn Eeshihrx. Or, in English, Akbian Icers. They're exiled Akbians that practice voodoo and ice magic, which was a banned practice and ability in Akbadain. They're also hella feral; these guys saw." she said as she looked at her family.

She turned to her nephew, "This shouldn't be too difficult for you, Al, but for the rest of you," she gestured to the others, "Try not to interact with people for more than a minute. Those things easily jump to conclusions, and talking to someone for too long makes them think they're involved. It's easy to unintentionally put a target on someone's back."

"Then should I be concerned for people like our forensic and janitor?" Alfendi asked, "I talked to them for a while."

Okri's eyes widened a little bit. "I'm not too sure," she said, "But it-"

Alfendi's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and looked at the name.

Pertinax

This concerned him. Hilda almost never called him personally, at least since the first Forbodium incident.

"Why's Busty callin' ya?" Loopy asked. Placid shrugged and answered, putting the phone on speaker.

He was greeted by shallow, frightened breathing.

"Al?" came Hilda on the other line, "Al, where are you?" she asked, quietly and frantically.

"At-" Alfendi shot his aunt a look. Was he allowed to disclose where he actually was? Okri nodded, and Potty continued, "I'm at my sister's agency, why?"

"Al, we need backup! Of any kind, I don't care, but we need it!"

At this point, everyone was on edge, hearts pounding.

"Hilda what's going on over there?" Potty asked, Loopy picking up quickly on the small trembling of his voice as he spoke.

"These... things...!" Hilda spat, "They-They got-!"

"Wichaht eex tichaht?"

(What is that?)

A dry, yet peppy voice spoke, loud enough to be heard on Alfendi's line.

"I-I don't understand you, I'm sorry! P-Please! S-Stay back, don't hurt me too!" they heard Hilda frantically speaking, almost shouting.

Then there were shouts in the background that sent the room into a cold sweat.

"Oi! Luv! Lemme go!"

"Shove off! Hey, mind the drip!"

The Icers had Dustin and Florence

In a split second, Alfendi, Loopy, and Fauna were out the door, sprinting with hard breaths towards Scotland Yard. Okri called out to them.

"Y'all, that's what the Icers want dammit!"

The trio didn't listen and only kept running, the others staying in the room.

Split point! --------------------- A- Alfendi's party K- Katrielle's party ----------------------------------

(A)

Time- 3: 36 p.m.

They arrived to see that a large group of Icers, perhaps 15 or 20, had swarmed the Yard, cornering every officer with chunks of sharpened ice. It didn't take long to also notice Florence and Dustin, trapped in a ring of black ice with an Icer fiercely grabbing either one by the wrist.

All pairs of piercing blue eyes suddenly turned to Alfendi, and he suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach.

"Eet eex cheem~!" A whisper came.

"Tichih awnih wichaw weesleh paheer weetich cheex sleheeswih~~!" Another responded.

(It is him~!)(The one who will pay with his life~~!)

"Let them go." Alfendi said with authority, hoping to intimidate them.

Some simply giggled while others smirked.

"Xawmihawnih eex awvihr shawnsweedihnt~"

(Someone is over confident~)

They gave wide grins, all 20 suddenly launching themselves at him. Alfendi reached for his gun before remembering he had left it in his office. Damn his forgetfulness! He panicked as the Icers' blades glistened.

He shut his eyes, hoping death would come quickly.

There were screams, but he felt no pain. It was suddenly quiet.

Was he dead?

He opened his eyes to see he was encased in a pink, translucent flower. He noticed a small hole in one of the petals, and peeked through.

His heartbeat quickened as he saw that a small handful of Icers had been impaled, through both the heart and head, with a vine, while the rest quickly dived onto the floor. He heard the voice of a woman from above, muffled from the thick petals.

"Eecheedah (Ihida), what a fuckin' pain...." it said, the flower receding back into the floor and freeing Alfendi. He turned to the woman who had spoken. She was thin, albeit looking more masculine than feminine, with scruffy short green hair and a bulkier build. She held two bladed wands, each adorned with an emerald. She gave Alfendi an irked glare.

"What exactly was your plan, bud?" she jeered, "Get your ass murdered?"

The remaining Icers snarled, 12 horrible, hair raising gargling noises echoing in the back of their throats. The green haired woman turned to them.

"Koot awp!" she shouted, "Eerawoo ahsleh kawooslehd nawt ihvihn bih chihrih!"

(Shut up!... You all should not even be here!)

She swung a blade at the ice, which shattered on contact. The two Icers inside scattered, dragging along their captives.

Suddenly, a flash of silver zipped through into the head of the Icer holding Florence, who promptly collapsed. Alfendi and the woman turned to see Loopy had thrown a knife.

"Sorry, beauties! Couldn't find th' knife quick enough." she said.

"Hey now, as long as you can throw that knife and kill, you're good!" the woman smirked. She looked back to Alfendi, "Noodle, make sure the sick girl's safe, got it? Bring her outside or something."

Clenching his teeth at the nickname 'Noodle', Alfendi crept over to Florence, whose drip had miraculously stayed in her arm.

He gently picked her up, somehow grabbing onto the drip before slipping outside unnoticed. He felt Florence stir awake.

"A-Al?" she croaked, "Wha... What happened? Where's everybody else?"

"Personally, I've no clue. Loopy and someone else are fighting the attackers, however, and I think Fauna is as well." he reassured the forensic. Actually...

Where was his sister?

He brushed the thought off, fairly confident that his sister could handle herself wherever she may be. He snuck a peek inside.

Loopy was in the air, vines holding her in place as several knives glistened in her hand. She threw one, and it swung around the room, hitting 3 targets. The green woman whooped in rapture.

"Ay now!" she cheered, "Keep it up, you're doin' great!" she suddenly spotted Alfendi by the door. She gave him a wild, childlike smile, "She with you?"

Alfendi nodded. Her grin grew.

"Keep 'er! She's a damn good shot!"

Blushing, Alfendi scanned the room to find Dustin. Everyone else had scattered when the fighting started, so it shouldn't have been a problem.

And yet, he couldn't find the Icer grasping the pale blue jumpsuit of the janitor.

"Al!"

He turned around to see the Icer, Dustin thrown over her shoulder, directly behind him, teeth bared and nails poised to strike his throat. Upon being spotted, however, she fled, sweeping Florence and her drip off the pavement.

Alfendi quickly followed, ignoring the ginger woman staring from across the street.

He ran and ran, but eventually lost sight of her and Florence.

My God, Placid thought, Where the hell is she going?

(K)

Time- 3:32 p.m.

Katrielle watched her aunt, the room silent as Okri blankly stared out the door.

"Ms. Layton," Emilianna broke the silence, "Aren't you worried about your nephew?"

"Al?" she let out a short burst of laughter, "That shinless, noodly body's a lot tougher than it looks, Alfendi can handle himself! As long as he doesn't panic, he'll be good."

Emilianna nodded and Ernest began to sit up. Okri snapped her fingers.

"Greeves." she growled it as a warning. Ernest turned to look at her, still sitting,  and the group panicked.

One eye was, yet again, guzzling black by the gallon, while the other remained normal. No constricting, no dilating. Just his normal pupil size.

"No, no, it's fine Ms. Layton Senior, I feel fantastic!" he said.

Katrielle pointed to her left eye, "You may feel that way, but you certainly don't look that way!"

"What do you mean, Ms. Layton?"

"Are you joking? Your eye is going berserk again!"

Ernest's hand immediately went up to his face, fingers getting coated in the black goop. He pulled his hand away instinctively, and it trailed from his cheek like a sick, disgusting slime. Flora, cautiously reached out her hand, taking a bit of slime with her finger and putting it up to her nose. She sniffed it.

"Odd..." she mused, "It doesn't smell like anything." she looked at the gang. "Wish me luck." she said before putting the slimed finger in her mouth; almost everyone made some noise of distress.

She kept the stuff in her mouth for a while, face neutral until she grabbed a tissue and spat it out.

"Doesn't taste weird either; although I could've sworn I tasted a hint of blood in there."

"Would that not be something to, I don't know, perhaps worry about?!" Emilianna urged. Okri raised her hand to wave it off.

"Not really. The stuff's part of his bloodstream, but it's not his actual blood per say. Of course, it's obviously a thicker consistency, so it has a bit of trouble integrating itself in." she said. When she only received odd looks in response, she sighed, "So it's his blood, but at the same time it's not. It's more of an unnecessary blood donation that he (prolly) neither wanted nor needed."

Ernest pointed to the dripping streaks of black. "So, if I understand correctly, this is nothing more than a blood overflow? There's too much, so it's releasing itself?"

"Yeah. Just be glad it's not coming out your mouth or your ass." Okri instinctively reached to caress the latter, "Had that happen once when I met an Akbian mercenary... NOT fun."

Katrielle and Flora giggled.

"However," Okri's tone grew much more serious, "While it's not a personal threat, we should throw caution to the wind. If you're suddenly spilling black, that could mean something's nearby."

Flora's ears perked up at the phrase "spilling black".

"You used to tell Alfendi that..." she said, "Whenever someone we didn't know came to the cottage; 'Now don't go spilling black, Alfendi.'"

"Oh yeah!" Katrielle chirped, "You told me that too, sometimes! Never explained it though..."

"Well," Okri took a deep breath,"When Ahgoobiahn Kahdihx, Akbian Shades, sense a threat, they start leaking black from an orifice, usually the eyes. But there were some that were complete nervous wrecks, like the ones with social anxiety. So even if there wasn't an immediate threat, they'd spew the black blood. That's why, whenever Al thought there was a threat when it was really an old friend, I told him to not 'spill black'."

Katrielle looked at her assistant.

"Ernest, now would be the time to tell us if you have anxiety."

Ernest shook his head.

"Wait a doggone minute!" Sherl barked, "How come Pinstripes isn't shaking like he was before?"

"Prolly because he's gotten used to it and the toxicity. It's mixed and molded to fit both his blood flow and blood type." Okri answered the pooch, "Call it a part of him now, if you will."

The front door suddenly opened, Okri whipping out a Bowie knife from her bag and holding it near her chest. No sooner was it out before it was flung across the room, pinning itself against the wall near Flora. Okri immediately relaxed.

"Slehahdeer Shayewoolt, a wahrneenig nihzhoot teemih wawooslehd bih swahntawoolteesh." she said rather irked. The door closed, and a woman's shadow stretched across the floor, rising to form the hooded woman, a thick black scarf round her neck.

(Lady Ciest, a warning next time would be fantastic.)

"Slehahdeer Slehaheertawn, Ee bihslehayevih eet eex eerawoor lawb taw goonawweh wichaw eex ahreeveenig..."

(Lady Layton, I believe it is your job to know who is arriving...)

"Who are you?" Emilianna gave the princess a hostile glare. Ooleebroondoolee turned to the analyst, face devoid of emotion. The scarf began moving and spoke to Emilianna.

"Ssomeone you besst resspect..." a snake head rose out of the scaly mass to look at Emilianna, who turned pale and began trembling.

"Al-Alright, why does the snake talk?" she asked Okri.

"Mawnd Tahns, koot awp." Okri ignored Perfetti, instead responding to the snake, "Kih eex a beet deexawrayentihd. A slehawgeeshahsleh pihrxawn, eerawoo xih."

(Mond Tanz, shut up.) (She is a bit disoriented. A logical person, you see.)

The reptile hissed in acknowledgment as Oolee turned to Ernest. After seeming to inspect him for a moment, she snapped her fingers.

Ernest stood up and immediately got on one knee, as if the snap were more of an order than a gesture. His left arm went to his opposite shoulder, grasping it loosely as he held his right palm over his heart.

"Swawr eerawoo ahnd Ahgoobahdaheen Ee wooltahnd." he said, in tone much more menacing than normal.

(For you and Akbadain I stand)

Oolee snapped again, and Ernest stood up once more; one eye dripping black while the other constricted and dilated rapidly.

"Chahndslehih tichihm..." she said, before glancing at Katrielle, "Eerawoor slehahdeerx sleheeswih dihpihndix awn eet."

Blushing, Ernest nodded, "Eet kahsleh bih dawnih."

(Handle them) (Your lady's life depends on it)...(It shall be done)

Oolee, with a noise close to contempt, disappeared into shadows as the only other door was destroyed.

Split point end

Alfendi finally caught up with the kidnapping Icer, tracking it all the way to his sister's agency.

He saw the door busted, and feared for the worst as he peered inside.

There, both eyes dripping black, stood Ernest.

He stood between Katrielle and an Icer that, from the looks of it, had launched at him (or at the very least, Al's sister).

He was seizing it by the wrists as it squirmed in his grasp, Florence and Dustin dropped on the floor.

The Icer raised a foot to kick the boy in the shins, but was a tad late as Ernest twisted his body, swinging the woman  with what must have been enhanced strength.

She landed with a loud thud against the wall, a slight crack eliciting from her spine.

"Pinstripes! What on earth are you doing!?" Sherl barked in a frenzy.

Ernest did not listen, however, as his hand darted to grab a shard of glass from the previous Icer incident, the piece slicing his palm and staining itself with black blood. He creeped towards the twitching body, raising the impromptu blade over his head and aiming for the creature's heart.

Katrielle stepped forward, perhaps to try and stop him, but both Alfendi and Okri grabbed her shoulders tightly.

"Xaw eerawoo wawooslehd rahtichihr wahtishich cheem gooeesleh mih tichahn wooltawp cheem..." The Icer croaked as Ernest plunged the glass shard into her chest, a spray of indigo blood coating and staining his top and hands.

(So you would rather watch him kill me than stop him...)

Ernest turned to Katrielle, gaping at him in horror and discomfort, and bowed, both hands behind his back.

"Gawd wawrgoo. Rihwoolt, baweer." Okri told him, pointing to the sofa. Ernest, understanding the command, laid back down on the couch, his eyelids fluttering shut as Loopy and the green haired woman came in.

Okri practically yanked the forensic and janitor off the floor, promptly waking them up. She then searched her bag and fished out two shoddy pendants. She gave one to each of them, sternly speaking as they began to focus on her.

"Put these on and head straight home. Don't stop to talk to anyone, call saying you can't come in to work for a while, and pick up food if you have to because this could take a hell of a long time before you can step out y'all's houses again."

She looped the necklaces around their necks as they nodded and began walking home without a word. As they left, Fauna walked in.

"Al, where the fuck did you leave your gun??" she immediately asked.

"On my desk Fauna! Is that honestly why you were missing for half the danger!?" Potty shouted in disdain. Fauna raised an eyebrow and barked back.

"Duh, genius! I was gonna run and get it for you so you could actually kill somethin', but I couldn't find it in the fucking tornado wreckage you've called your office!"

"You do need to clean your office, Al." Kat agreed. Her brother simply gestured to her messy desk in response.

Suddenly, there was a click, and Loopy yelped, "Uh, love, would really appreciate it if ya would put tha' thin' down!"

"Chill, hotshot, just wanna see what it does!"

Everyone turned and panicked to see the green haired girl gently holding a gun. Alfendi stared at it before doing a late double take.

"Now hold up one minute, that's my gun!" Placid exclaimed. The girl's attention snapped to him.

"Cool! What's toe di- What dots- Towhat-" she stopped speaking, sick of her own stumbling tongue. She stared into space, face disheartened before shoving the gun into Alfendi's hands. "SHOW."

Taking the firearm, he cocked it before aiming at the corpse by the window and pulling the trigger.

BANG!

A new hole appeared in the Icer's head instantly. The green girl jumped, frightened before grinning.

"Damn!" she breathed, "A tiny death bringer!"

"Slehahdeer Green, Ee rihahsleheer ticheengoo eerawoo kawooslehd giht bashgoo taw eerawoor xiwooltihrx." Okri told the woman rather urgently.

(Lady Grin, I really think you should get back to your sisters)

The lady groaned before grabbing something from her pocket and tossing it to Flora. The latter opened her hand to see a little flower bell.

"You seem safe. Just give that thing a ring an' I'll be there quick as I can. Name's Veerdahn by the way. Veerdahn Green."

With those parting words, Veerdahn wrapped the Icer corpses in vines before leaping out the window with them.

Ernest was suddenly back up again, eyes perfectly normal. He raised an eyebrow in utter confusion.

"I..." He said rather puzzled, "I was sitting up... Why am I lying back down on the couch?"

"Don't worry bout it, Greeves." Okri quickly said, looking at the nearby clock.

Almost 6

"It's getting late, and we're gonna have to choose groups to sleep in."

Alfendi grabbed Lucy, "I'm taking Lou and none of y'all can stop me."

Fauna smirked, "A'ight, then Auntie can go with ya an' make sure ya don't get too stupid~"

Potty let out a short burst of laughter, "HA! Oh my sweet... dear... innocent older sister... You CLEARLY have not known Auntie Okri that long because she would NOT discourage that ooOOOOHHHH no she'd force me and Lou into a closet fulla aphrodisiacs if it meant a chance at grand nieces and nephews."

"This is true." Okri confirmed with a cheeky, satisfied smile, "And I totally would, Alfendi, thank you for the idea. Although, Fauna, I think you should go with them. It's easier if we stick to familiar groups. Of course..." everyone looked at Emilianna.

"I'll go with the elder Layton." She said in a rather condescending tone, "That way, Katrielle can have her little dream team."

Okri nodded, "Good! Cause then that means I can take you and Flora and protect the weaker links in this dysfunctional chain."

Flora huffed playfully, "Hey now!" she exclaimed. Alfendi smirked.

"It's true~"

"Really now? Then please explain how I can nearly beat your skinny shinless ASS Mr. Noodly Noodle Legs."

"Now you fucking take that back, missy, see here, you may be older, BUT I-"

"Alfendi Layton, cool your man tits," Okri joked, "Let's just get ready to leave. Lou, you might wanna call your momma and siblings. From what I've eavesdropped, you prolly don't wanna make them targets again, am I right?"

Lou blinked once.

Twice.

Three times.

"Wh-What?"

"I said-"

Okri was interrupted by the poor DC's high pitched squeak.

"M-! M-M-M-Mr. Alfendi!?" she panicked, "Wh-Who are-!"

Potty grabbed his assistant tightly, holding her close and petting her hair.

"There there, calm down dear..." he cooed, "Family and friends, Lucille, no need to fret..."

"My, Alfendi!" Okri chirped, "You were never this calm with any of us unless you were your trauma made self!"

"Auntie, I'm gonna have to politely ask you to HUSH."

"A-Al, where are we? We-We were jus' at my folks' place, r-right?"

"Yes, love, but we got called to work." Alfendi pointed to his family, "Those are my sisters, Flora and Katrielle (Lucy's actually Kat's friend), my sister's friends, Ernest and Sherl, and my Aunt, Okri Lay-"

"A-Aunt!? Ohgolly I'm so sorry! I 'aven't brushed my 'air, I din't get ta shower this mornin', oh god golly I prolly look like a right awful mess!"

"Oh no, honey, you're fine!" Okri crossed over and gave Barde a gentle hug, "You look fine and dandy, just beautiful!" Potty smiled before he noticed his aunt giving him a very fierce glare, mouthing:

YOU BETTER FUCKING KEEP HER

He flushed for a split second before taking hold of Lucille again. "Luce," he said, "You might not like what I'm about to explain to you... Do you still want an explanation?"

Lucille gave a shy little giggle. "Well, I kinda need one t'understand wot's goin' on, don't I?"

Potty smiled and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

"We just met a few ancient princesses, and we're being targeted by some psychos who hate them. My aunt dragged us into this, by the way; you need to call your family and tell them you won't be home for a while because if you go to them, they'll become targets too."

Poor Lucille slowly went pale and wide eyed, only nodding and reaching towards the phone in response.

"So that's set in stone?" Flora asked, "It's Lucy, Al and Fauna; Kat, Ernest and Sherl; and me, Emilianna and Auntie. Right?"

Nothing was said, so presumably that was the plan.

"Then, let's get a move on." Al said, "The girls and I'll go to my apartment, where I can call in to temporarily check out of work; Kat, you and your group can stay here at your agency (Ernest, you might want to call your school); and..." he looked to his aunt, "Auntie, do you have a hotel room? Or some other place to stay?"

Okri nodded, "Mhm! Bout a good 30 minute walk away from here though, so girls, you better fucking deal with it and work those calves!"

"Understood, captain..." Emilianna muttered.

"I'll start setting up the agency to be lodging." Katrielle said, "We'll also have to close temporarily..."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Kit Kat?" Sherl asked accusingly.

"What do you mean?"

Flora chuckled. "Perhaps he means your... healthy appetite?"

Katrielle huffed. "Then how about you watch Lucy? I don't know about Loopy or Lucille, but I know Lucy eats as much as I do!"

"Lucille, ya don't gotta worry bout!" Fauna piped up, "She can eat an apple that'll last her till dinner, where she eats, like, a fuckin', half a ham sandwich. Loopy's the foodie time bomb you have to worry about!"

"How so?" Placid asked.

"It's always random." Fauna started, "Some days she'll eat less than Lucille, others she'll eat twice as much as Lucy."

"So, just gather food as if it's the start of the apocalypse."

"Yes. Although you technically could also sign up for delivery."

"Or just have them eat the minimal god-knows-what you eat!" Okri exclaimed before taking a sip of water.

"Understood, pray my wallet can handle it."

Lucille suddenly came back.

"I-I'm done! I-I-I also gave mum th' kids feedin' schedule, Fauna, case ya were wonderin'..."

"Oh, shit, thanks Lou!"

Lucille shifted shyly in response.

"So are we finally done?" Emilianna queried, "We seem to have been discussing this for a lot longer than expected."

"Yes, Ms. Impaziente (*impatient in Italian*), we are finally done. We can go on over to your place and grab whatever shit you need. And Kat?"

"Yes?" Her niece asked, already pulling a blanket out of her desk.

"Smotret' na nego." Okri glanced at Ernest, "Ubedites' chto on v bezopasnosti."

Kat nodded, "Sa'afeal, aleima."

Okri gave the boy another short glance. "Kare ha sotodashi you tosuru deshou. Kono mondai ga hassei shi ta baai, kare o ki ka se te. Seguirlo."

"We'll be fine, Auntie. And don't you worry, I'll be sure to."

Russian: Watch him. Make sure he's safe.

Arabic: I will, aunt

Japanese/Spanish: He will try to go outside. If that happens, let him./Follow him.

The large group dispersed, each trio going out a couple of minutes between each other and leaving Kat's group in the agency. Ernest turned to his mentor.

"You speak Arabic?" he inquired. Katrielle nodded.

"And Russian, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, the list could go on forever and ever." She handed the blanket in her hand to Ernest, "Aunt Okri taught us a lot of languages whenever Dad was on an adventure. Alfendi and Fauna spent a lot of time with her, so they'd know a more about her activities, but I do remember the particular lesson she gave me in archery!"

"Arch- I'm sorry WHAT." Ernest went wide eyed. Katrielle waved a hand to brush it off, "I'll show you some other day! Don't worry! For now, let's get to bed; we'll need it for tomorrow."

Not another word was said throughout the evening. Not while they disposed of the Icer corpses, not while they fixed the doors, not while dinner was had, not even while setting up camp in the office. In fact, the only time words were exchanged seemed to be when Ernest had a sudden blood overflow, and even then, barely much was said.

When it was time for lights out, Ernest suddenly felt very uncomfortable, like an iron ball of dread was just plopped into his stomach. He contemplated consulting with Miss Layton, but, against his better judgement, decided not to.

Slowly, he shut his eyes, drifting off into a peaceful dreamland.

Time- 1:32 a.m.

Katrielle awoke with a start, jolting up to the sound of a hand hitting glass. She turned to see Ernest, just standing in front of the door and tapping it with his palm. Remembering what her Aunt Okri said, Kat got up and opened the door, noticing how her assistant's face was pale and lifeless, black smudges everywhere.

Ernest simply ignored the gesture, walking outside as Katrielle followed at a fair distance behind. She crept in the shadows as he entered an alleyway. Standing behind a dumpster, she saw Ernest be approached by six women.

The statues she had been looking at just earlier that day...

She strained to hear what was said, but the voices only seemed to lower and lower until it was silent. Instead, she watched as they extracted black blood from the boy's eyes, putting it in a glass vial before the princess with crimson hair took a sip. It was then passed around: Oolee, then orange haired princess, Veerdahn, the blue princess, and finally Shawreeootah.

Katrielle suddenly felt woozy, swaying back and forth. Taking her aunt's mentality, she supposed she had seen too much. Slowly, her vision went black as she felt herself collapse.

A/N: Kay, lemme know a few things in the comments:

1. Was this chapter okay? Be honest please! I just honestly feel a little iffy since I feel like I was forcing comedy and honestly feel like this was slapped together in the end.

2. I've wanted to know for a while, but what are your thoughts on the current cast/my interpretation of canon characters? What were your thoughts on the LB:DC cast? I really would like to know!

But anyway, if you're still sticking with the story, thank you for dealing with my laziness and lack of keeping interest in absolutely anything.