Post by Yoshimitsu on Dec 1, 2017 8:09:04 GMT -5
So with the likelihood of OT ever concluding (we have a wrap up of day 1's investigation, the first trial, day 2 investigation and second trial), I'm cutting my losses and just publishing my plans for the rest of the plot. I know Pohatu had some plans for day 2 of investigation, not sure if you want to share below, and I can't speak for Lee's plans.
A lot of this had been sketched out and some written up, but it was lost to my last laptop that had an unfortunate alcohol incident.
Investigation Day 1
The next post has Nopcsa immediately taking Yoshimitsu up on his offer, which me and Lee were collaborating on a post on. In this, he delves into three of Yoshimitsu's memories. First two exerts are as follows:
And a third, unwritten one that I was leaving for Lee to imagine up. The third memory is less memory than it is an overwhelming sense of dread and wrongness that Nopcsa can't put an image to. In theory, the post concludes with Nopcsa going on his merry way to prepare for trial day 1, and Illiana and Yoshimitsu return to their hotel to go over the case they've worked on so far.
[Retrospective thoughts: In hindsight, I'm not sure how happy I am with the decision to put as much focus on Yoshimitsu here instead of letting Illiana take control of the situation. On one hand, it's fine in showing that Illiana is out of her depth in such a political scenario, but on the other it could have been a prime example to show that she isn't as weak as she's been made out to be so far. She's had her moments previously where she's shown her conviction, but nothing so concrete as to portray her as confident and independent without Yoshimitsu's intervention.]
Trial Day 1
I'm as disappointed as the next person that we don't get the introductions of Staudt and Hooper, but hey ho, sometimes that's life.
Once all the niceties have been dispensed with, the subject of the trial becomes Antonio's involvement in the murder, being tried as an accessory. The main points of debate involve Antonio's presence at the crime scene, with Illiana arguing that it's illogical for him to be in a location that would implicate him in the murder in any way, while Nopcsa's argument (in my mind, at least) would hinge around it being the perfect place to embarrass the Winstone Police Force by not being able to apprehend a murderer when the murder happened a room away.
Because there's no hard evidence to support either claim, and the obvious bias on both sides of the court room, Illiana switches gears to another line of debate - was Jacob Marshall involved in the murder? While the line of questioning is sketchy at best due to circumstantial and anecdotal evidence, the fact remained that he had reappeared in Winstone after a self-imposed exile as soon as Antonio had been locked up, illegally visited him while in solitary confinement and provided otherwise illegal evidence that would be inadmissible in a court of law due to the nature of how it was acquired. Rather than try to use the evidence in relation to Antonio, Illiana points out that the existence of the evidence proves that Marshall had broken into Antonio's house and stolen with the intent to implicate Antonio. While still not solid evidence, when coupled with the incident regarding the Edward Diamond and Marshall losing his badge, it provided enough motive to place Marshall under suspicion. The trial is dismissed with both the defence and prosecution instructed to investigate further.
[Retrospective thoughts: Initial drafts of the case had Yoshimitsu in charge of the defence for the first half of the trial, rather than Illiana immediately taking control. Again, like the point above, it portrays Illiana as out of her element. If this had ever actually made it to final draft, I'm pretty certain everyone would be a bit fed up of Yoshimitsu somehow being hyper-competent in a court scenario with no prior evidence to back it up. It's a back-and-forth on my opinion here, since it makes sense for Illiana to be uncomfortable but it's making what should have been an Illiana-centric plot all about someone who's had enough limelight in the past.]
Investigation Day 2
Yoshimitsu departs and Illiana visits Marshall in lock-up. During the course of their conversation, Marshall challenges Illiana's logic, which she refutes using the same arguments used in court. Ultimately, nothing is gained, but the conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Williams who informs Illiana that the vial of magic has been identified as a teleportation spell. Taking it as evidence that Marshall now had the means to commit the murder, she prepares to leave. Marshall states that, regardless of his past relationship with Antonio and his drive to prove his guilt in the Edward Diamond robbery, he did not commit the murder.
Choosing to pursue the line of Marshall being the culprit, Illiana investigates cases that he has worked in the past. Most reports had a debrief regarding Marshall being warned multiple times about unnecessary aggression and violence but with no official warnings, however one listed a dispute between Marshall and Dacten while working a case regarding a known criminal Power. The following exchange was noted down
Marshall: "These people do not deserve the punishment you inflict on them.
Dacten: "Coming from the man who openly encourages threatening innocent civilians?"
With an attached newspaper article that pushing public opinion against Marshall even further. With this in mind, she refocused her investigation on Dacten.
Initial attempts to speak to Dacten were a dead end due to him being placed on temporary leave after his attempted assault in front of Landsvale. However, she was allowed to investigate his office at the precinct due to a possible link between Dacten and a suspect.
[Author note: I did go back and forth here a bit on whether I thought Williams would have authorised this.]
His office was initially nothing out of the ordinary, though the board attached to the wall with pictures and string pinned to it had Illiana interested enough to stop rummaging through the desk. First glance, it connected a bunch of mundane crimes including, but not limited to, petty theft, arson, jaywalking and a couple of murder cases. However, Illiana's innate ability to sense magic made her strip away an illusion cast on the board.
Instead of mundane crimes, the board was covered in pictures of known Powers with varying levels of infractions, including some that she recognised from the same holding cells she had passed when visiting Antonio. Others she recognised from news articles, specifically ones where the Power had ended up dead. Under every picture was a small tag with a monetary value written on, and then a second prefaced with "Captured". Many of the pictures had red crosses over them. The central picture was one of Antonio, and captioned "Butterfly. Capture alive."
Using this information, as well as the newspaper article regarding the altercation, she visited Marshall again. The conversation this time revolved around why Dacten had this board. According to Marshall, there had always been people willing to pay for the elimination or incarceration of Powers, whether it was justified or not.
"One or two Powers go missing and it's no big deal, Miss Attorney. Chances are, they probably blew themselves up and your average Joe can sleep better at night."
"But Antonio isn't a threat to anybody."
"Define anybody. Sure, you and I know he only ever stole the big stuff, the challenge, but since he made his debut, you ever notice how there's more locks on everyone's doors? No windows open at night? 'Tonio didn't hurt 'em none but he got 'em scared they weren't safe. If some Power can break into an impenetrable vault without leavin' a trace, what good's that piece of plywood they call a door?"
Marshall stated he suspected Dacten of being involved in this anti-Power activity, but could never acquire evidence to prove it. However, they agreed that Antonio seemed to be the next target. Seeing no other choice, she went to Williams.
[Author note: I think Pohatu had some plans for this next section]
Because the murder was looking more and more like an attempt to keep Antonio behind bars for being the Butterfly, Illiana confessed to Williams that she knew Antonio was the Butterfly and requested any case reports Dacten and Odio worked in relation to the Butterfly. The main argument point for Illiana is that, up until now, there was no evidence that Antonio's identity as the Butterfly was related to the case outside of coincidence, but it was now getting more and more likely that the entire case was hinging on it. The case files were not completely useless, even though they had very little in the way of information - they showed that Odio and Dacten had an interest in apprehending the Butterfly and that they seemed to be actively avoiding any involvement from Marshall.
[Retrospective thoughts: I go back and forth on how Williams would react to this information. There is some evidence that he doesn't completely disassociate himself with Illiana in the initial plans for Antibibble, however he remains paranoid about her and keeps tabs on her regardless. I guess it's down to Pohatu for how this would play out]
At this point, Illiana reviewed her evidence to make the dots connect. Seemingly pointless evidence now had a new relevance - Odio's expensive spending habits were now evidence of the financial gain from his and Dacten's anti-Power activity, the note from Dacten could be construed as hesitancy to go forward with the plan to incarcerate Antonio, testimony from Landsvale reinforced the schism in their relationship. The only thing she didn't currently know was the actual method of the murder. With time now running out, she revisited the scene of the crime with the vial in hand.
With the knowledge that the vial of magic was teleportation, she examined the crime scene with a fresh view. Now that she was looking for it, she could sense the faint trace of the magic that was used. Two areas had the lingering sensation, the first around the body, the second a scant few meters away. Someone had teleported the body in, then teleported themselves out. The murder did not occur at the Felice Potabile. She then used the magic to trace the teleportation back, hopefully leading to the actual murder scene.
The alleyway that she reappeared in was nondescript, just another alleyway at first glance, but the perfect place to be away from prying eyes. The only noteworthy thing to be found was traces of blood on the wall, mostly washed away by rain and easily mistaken for paint.
[Retrospective thoughts: There's a lot of circumstantial evidence involved in this case - in the real world, I've got some pretty strong doubts that Illiana actually has enough evidence to build a case around. That said, this is fiction and I'm making some of the rules up as I go along.]
Trial Day 2
Okay, we're just gonna barrel through this as quickly as possible.
The second day of the trial, Illiana's case is this:
Odio staged the murder, knowing that Antonio was meeting with Williams at the Felice. The intention was to get Antonio incarcerated for any possible crime due to a lack of evidence proving Antonio is the Butterfly. Dacten was aware of the plan but did not get involved and tried to dissuade Odio from enacting. The actual scene of the murder was the bloodstained alley way, and the body was moved after the fact.
Prior to the trial, Antonio requested a deck of cards for "stress relief". He is caught shuffling the cards multiple times during the course of the trial. Marshall and Dacten are called to the stand separately. Marshall is called just to share his awareness of anti-Power bounties, Dacten is called to testify regarding his involvement in Odio's plan.
Odio initially pitched the plan to Dacten with the idea of having a random killed and their body moved. Dacten drew the line at murder of an innocent and opted out of the plan, at which point Odio contacted Colichemarde to provide an assassin. Dacten agreed to help move the body to minimize Colichemarde's involvement. Colichemarde obliged, however when it was learned it was an anti-Power murder, they targeted Odio instead. Seeing an opportunity to get the cash reward, Dacten moved Odio's body anyway.
Antonio is acquitted of murder, however he is immediately apprehended for being the Butterfly, to which 3 people confirmed during the course of the trial. Using the deck of cards he had been given, and the fact that his Power had changed to enchanting any deck of cards to his trick deck, he escaped the court room and is on the run.
[Retrospective thoughts: The idea of the murder being planned out like this was developed as the original thread was being written. I knew that Odio and Dacten were the culprits, and that Odio being killed was not the planned course of action, but it wasn't until well into page 3 or 4 that I'd decided on a third party being the actual killer. Colichemarde's involvement came after me and either Biscuit or 90 (I honestly can't remember who) came up with Colichemarde being a branch of Joyeuse. All things considered, it could probably have had a tidier plot and I haven't stopped to think about the nuances involved for a very long time now. Some suspension of disbelief is required.]
So that's Obscured Truth: Case Closed. Feel free to point out any plot inconsistencies and major logic issues because I'm about 98% certain that they exist. I can now wash my hands of Marshall's one-bit part because I needed a detective and ripping from Phoenix Wright was quicker than trying to invent someone from scratch. (I may actually revisit Marshall from scratch to reinvent the character, since barring being a cowboy he actually doesn't have a lot in common with the source material, but he's such a minor character in my cast that I probably won't)
A lot of this had been sketched out and some written up, but it was lost to my last laptop that had an unfortunate alcohol incident.
Investigation Day 1
The next post has Nopcsa immediately taking Yoshimitsu up on his offer, which me and Lee were collaborating on a post on. In this, he delves into three of Yoshimitsu's memories. First two exerts are as follows:
The air was humid.
Of all the things to focus on, that was what Yoshimitsu chose.
It was one of those nights, where the day had been like sitting on the surface of the sun, and the temperature only barely dropped when night fell. Even with no cloud cover to let the cold in, it was muggy. Moisture made his t-shirt cling, his jeans constrict and his shoes squelch every time they moved. Was it even possible to feel this drenched when there wasn't a hint of rain? He hadn't known that before. There were a lot of things that he hadn't known before.
Like the sensation of a person's muscles contracting around a blade.
It was an accident.
an accident an accident an accident oh god my hands why isn't he bleeding more
Assassins. Or, one assassin. He didn't catch their name. Barely caught their face, covered to the eyes in a black mask and hair scraped back. Blonde, he had been. Blonde, and green eyes. Under the mask, there might have been a snarl, or maybe a determined expression, or maybe his mouth was completely blank. Yoshimitsu had no idea. The only thing he had really registered was the assassin's eyebrows, thin but close together. Brow furrowed. Hair slicked back, maybe gel, maybe sweat, he didn't really get much chance to analyze it.
A knife whispered by his ear, he only just managed to roll out of the way, fingers fumbling at the hilt of his sword, dangling uselessly at his waist. A kick caught his chin, a fist sunk into his stomach and he went tumbling, rolling over the gritty ground, small stones stabbing into his exposed arms. There was no time to think about that. He kept his momentum going, rolling away a bit further as his breath came back.
He is going to kill me.
The thought came suddenly, but Yoshimitsu couldn't disagree with it. As he hauled himself to his feet, the assassin was already in his personal space, batting the sword away and catching his chin with the flat of his gloved hand. Leather. No fingerprints. He staggered away, swinging randomly with his sword on the off-chance it was even close to hitting the assasin.
Wasn't he supposed to be the fast one? He'd always been the fastest. Hector and Kilik could never keep up, he could have run rings around Vincent and Miko and Zebedee, couldn't he?
Speed didn't matter. He had to survive.
He let his left foot slide on the loose stones and thrust out the sword, hearing the sound of pebbles shifting behind him.
Shnk
His stomach fell, his lungs turned ice-cold, his hands went numb. What
He didn't
It wasn't
I didn't mean
The muscles contracted. Around the abdomen, the muscles clamped down on the blade, holding it in place. When the assassin stepped back, it almost tugged the sword out of Yoshimitsu's hand. Not that he could do anything about it. The strength had left his limbs, his fingers now loose around the hilt, his whole body sagging. If he had been in any state, he might have noticed that the blade would have severed the stomach and the acid would already be leaking out into the rest of the assassin's body, but there was only one thing rattling around his head.
i murdered him i murdered him i murdered him
Like coins in an old washing machine, it was bouncing around and echoing louder and louder in his head with every passing second. The assassin, they were staggering away now, fingers fumbling over the hilt of the sword stuck in their stomach, sliding from the wing motif of the guard. They wanted to remove it.
Almost too-late, Yoshimitsu remember what would happen.
"No, don't!" He yelled as he lunged forward, batting the assassin's hands away and grabbing the hilt.
His first attempt to pull it loose was nearly enough to knock him sick. The sword didn't shift visibly, but the assassin hissed in pain and more blood started leaking out from around the metal
Of all the things to focus on, that was what Yoshimitsu chose.
It was one of those nights, where the day had been like sitting on the surface of the sun, and the temperature only barely dropped when night fell. Even with no cloud cover to let the cold in, it was muggy. Moisture made his t-shirt cling, his jeans constrict and his shoes squelch every time they moved. Was it even possible to feel this drenched when there wasn't a hint of rain? He hadn't known that before. There were a lot of things that he hadn't known before.
Like the sensation of a person's muscles contracting around a blade.
It was an accident.
an accident an accident an accident oh god my hands why isn't he bleeding more
Assassins. Or, one assassin. He didn't catch their name. Barely caught their face, covered to the eyes in a black mask and hair scraped back. Blonde, he had been. Blonde, and green eyes. Under the mask, there might have been a snarl, or maybe a determined expression, or maybe his mouth was completely blank. Yoshimitsu had no idea. The only thing he had really registered was the assassin's eyebrows, thin but close together. Brow furrowed. Hair slicked back, maybe gel, maybe sweat, he didn't really get much chance to analyze it.
A knife whispered by his ear, he only just managed to roll out of the way, fingers fumbling at the hilt of his sword, dangling uselessly at his waist. A kick caught his chin, a fist sunk into his stomach and he went tumbling, rolling over the gritty ground, small stones stabbing into his exposed arms. There was no time to think about that. He kept his momentum going, rolling away a bit further as his breath came back.
He is going to kill me.
The thought came suddenly, but Yoshimitsu couldn't disagree with it. As he hauled himself to his feet, the assassin was already in his personal space, batting the sword away and catching his chin with the flat of his gloved hand. Leather. No fingerprints. He staggered away, swinging randomly with his sword on the off-chance it was even close to hitting the assasin.
Wasn't he supposed to be the fast one? He'd always been the fastest. Hector and Kilik could never keep up, he could have run rings around Vincent and Miko and Zebedee, couldn't he?
Speed didn't matter. He had to survive.
He let his left foot slide on the loose stones and thrust out the sword, hearing the sound of pebbles shifting behind him.
Shnk
His stomach fell, his lungs turned ice-cold, his hands went numb. What
He didn't
It wasn't
I didn't mean
The muscles contracted. Around the abdomen, the muscles clamped down on the blade, holding it in place. When the assassin stepped back, it almost tugged the sword out of Yoshimitsu's hand. Not that he could do anything about it. The strength had left his limbs, his fingers now loose around the hilt, his whole body sagging. If he had been in any state, he might have noticed that the blade would have severed the stomach and the acid would already be leaking out into the rest of the assassin's body, but there was only one thing rattling around his head.
i murdered him i murdered him i murdered him
Like coins in an old washing machine, it was bouncing around and echoing louder and louder in his head with every passing second. The assassin, they were staggering away now, fingers fumbling over the hilt of the sword stuck in their stomach, sliding from the wing motif of the guard. They wanted to remove it.
Almost too-late, Yoshimitsu remember what would happen.
"No, don't!" He yelled as he lunged forward, batting the assassin's hands away and grabbing the hilt.
His first attempt to pull it loose was nearly enough to knock him sick. The sword didn't shift visibly, but the assassin hissed in pain and more blood started leaking out from around the metal
oh shit is he going to bleed out
and Yoshimitsu changed his grip, wrapping both of his hands around the smooth, ridged hilt. With a solid tug, it came half-way out, the widest part of the blade getting caught on something and he had to ignore the groan he heard, resetting himself so he could pull again. With a sickening sound, the weapon came loose and he threw it to one side, trying to catch the assassin before their body hit the ground.
He walked past and flipped the power switch. The screen fizzled for a moment, an after-image of a man in a suit and tie, then faded back to black.
The quiet was new. It was never quiet in this house. Always something, the television, the radio, the docking system, something making noise to fill the void. The quiet made the house feel... still. Cautious. Like it was holding its breath. He moved from the kitchen to the living room, and then through to the dining room, all without making a noise. The quiet was deafening, suffocating, and he wanted to run from within these walls but couldn't bring himself to leave. It was fitting, some small part of him tried to suggest. He pushed that part of him down.
She was... What? Eighty? Older? Younger?
He didn't know.
he ducked under the sword flying at his head and sent his own explosion to meet the wall of ice that was blocking his retreat, ducking under the shards that flew above him. The mist should have helped him cover his own retreat, but nothing ever worked out that way. An unfriendly explosion behind him made him dive to the side, hiding behind a plywood wall that offered the same protection that his t-shirt. Maybe two layers of fuck all would cover a death blow. Unlikely, but he wasn't above praying at this point. He peered round the wall.
No clear route. Either run the gauntlet or let innocents get caught in the crosshairs. Time to think of a new plan.
He dived to the other side of the doorway, hoping his speed wouldn't even cause a blur to their eyes. He stopped, back to the wall, and listened. Rustling feet, metal gently clipping, the floor complaining when something was raised. They were moving around the room they were in, possibly looking for his corpse if they were as twisted as he was lead to believe. Or they were looking for another victim. That'd fall in line with what he was expecting. He kept on moving, as silently as he could. Out the window, round to the fire escape and up as far as the building went.
"What's the point?" He called down from the roof, through a skylight that he'd shimmied open.
Predictably, he had to dive back to avoid the "energy" blast that had come his way and
His bed was made. It always was. As much as he used to neglect it, he'd gotten into the habit of making his bed before heading out. Every day, he'd strip the dirty sheets and throw them in the washer, and put clean sheets on. When had he got into that habit? He couldn't remember. It was something Vincent had insisted on, something he had rolled his eyes at but he'd done it anyway. Like rinsing his spoons after making a coffee. It was so mundane, so normal, and a routine that he was so glad that he'd gotten into. Black sheets, today, but with blue pillowcases for that one bit of colour that he needed.
He sat down, feeling those sheets under his fingers. Vincent was the one who had convinced him to change his sheets every day. What would he do, if he was here now? Would he chastise, or would he console? Would he quietly debate the information, or would he be indignant from the get-go? Yoshimitsu pressed his palms into his eyes, trying to rub some of the feeling away. It didn't work. He didn't really expect it to. Vincent would have had that answer. It probably wouldn't have been the answer Yoshimitsu wanted, but it was always the answer that he needed to hear. No, Vincent would probably have been his usual calm self, calculating but fair. He pressed his palms to his eyes again.
are you doing?!" Yoshimitsu shouted, dropping to his back foot and raising his sword again.
"How many shots can you take and reflect back?"
"Only one."
"Better make it count, then. I'm sorry."
He ran in, feeling the familiar warmth of Bahamut's aura covering him. Not a blanket, not something meant to comfort him. Meant to empower, meant to make him a threat. A wave of flames, blue and gold and bright, and he saw Scar's fingertips glow, there wasn't time to think, no time to consider, just the instinct that he had to stop this. He launched himself, knocking Scar to the ground and curling himself around his torso, pressing Scar's hands to his chest.
He braced for impact.
Calling it an explosion would have been kind. A disaster would have been more accurate.
He felt Bahamut's aura struggling, converging on the points of impact and the energy, whatever it was, bouncing off and piercing through at the same time, beams of light flying out in random directions and burning through whatever they touched. He felt them cut through the aura, his clothes his skin and muscle and bone and he cried out, the burning raging through his entire body
He sat up, blinking.
It took him a second to realise that the imprints in his vision were because of his palms. How long had he been sat there? He looked out the window. Twilight, or at least close to it. What time was it when he sat down? The room hadn't changed. He shouldn't have been surprised. No extra layer of dust, only the usual light exposure to the photographs he had pinned to the wall. Was it minutes? Hours?
He stood up and made his way back to the kitchen
he wished he hadn't. The woman, still sat at her small table, slumped over and clearly lifeless. Her hair, silver and white, splayed over her head and the woodwork and Yoshimitsu brushed it all aside, gently, carefully. She might have been beautiful once, cheek bones high and jawline strong, all lost to time and wrinkled skin and lifeless eyes that still looked surprised. There was a tea cup on the table, half-full and delicately placed on a saucer. A floral pattern, pink chrysanthemums that were just sparce enough to avoid looking tacky. If he lined the cup up just right, it would probably have made a continuing pattern.
Of all the things to focus on.
The wound was clean. No blood spatter or staining, no internal organs leaking out. A clear line, a slight curve to it, starting at the woman's ribs and cutting cleanly through the heart and lungs. It stopped in the dead centre isn't that a choice of words of her chest. Death was probably instant. He glanced back and saw the hearing aides. She probably didn't even know there was a commotion.
The quiet was new. It was never quiet in this house. Always something, the television, the radio, the docking system, something making noise to fill the void. The quiet made the house feel... still. Cautious. Like it was holding its breath. He moved from the kitchen to the living room, and then through to the dining room, all without making a noise. The quiet was deafening, suffocating, and he wanted to run from within these walls but couldn't bring himself to leave. It was fitting, some small part of him tried to suggest. He pushed that part of him down.
She was... What? Eighty? Older? Younger?
He didn't know.
he ducked under the sword flying at his head and sent his own explosion to meet the wall of ice that was blocking his retreat, ducking under the shards that flew above him. The mist should have helped him cover his own retreat, but nothing ever worked out that way. An unfriendly explosion behind him made him dive to the side, hiding behind a plywood wall that offered the same protection that his t-shirt. Maybe two layers of fuck all would cover a death blow. Unlikely, but he wasn't above praying at this point. He peered round the wall.
No clear route. Either run the gauntlet or let innocents get caught in the crosshairs. Time to think of a new plan.
He dived to the other side of the doorway, hoping his speed wouldn't even cause a blur to their eyes. He stopped, back to the wall, and listened. Rustling feet, metal gently clipping, the floor complaining when something was raised. They were moving around the room they were in, possibly looking for his corpse if they were as twisted as he was lead to believe. Or they were looking for another victim. That'd fall in line with what he was expecting. He kept on moving, as silently as he could. Out the window, round to the fire escape and up as far as the building went.
"What's the point?" He called down from the roof, through a skylight that he'd shimmied open.
Predictably, he had to dive back to avoid the "energy" blast that had come his way and
His bed was made. It always was. As much as he used to neglect it, he'd gotten into the habit of making his bed before heading out. Every day, he'd strip the dirty sheets and throw them in the washer, and put clean sheets on. When had he got into that habit? He couldn't remember. It was something Vincent had insisted on, something he had rolled his eyes at but he'd done it anyway. Like rinsing his spoons after making a coffee. It was so mundane, so normal, and a routine that he was so glad that he'd gotten into. Black sheets, today, but with blue pillowcases for that one bit of colour that he needed.
He sat down, feeling those sheets under his fingers. Vincent was the one who had convinced him to change his sheets every day. What would he do, if he was here now? Would he chastise, or would he console? Would he quietly debate the information, or would he be indignant from the get-go? Yoshimitsu pressed his palms into his eyes, trying to rub some of the feeling away. It didn't work. He didn't really expect it to. Vincent would have had that answer. It probably wouldn't have been the answer Yoshimitsu wanted, but it was always the answer that he needed to hear. No, Vincent would probably have been his usual calm self, calculating but fair. He pressed his palms to his eyes again.
are you doing?!" Yoshimitsu shouted, dropping to his back foot and raising his sword again.
"How many shots can you take and reflect back?"
"Only one."
"Better make it count, then. I'm sorry."
He ran in, feeling the familiar warmth of Bahamut's aura covering him. Not a blanket, not something meant to comfort him. Meant to empower, meant to make him a threat. A wave of flames, blue and gold and bright, and he saw Scar's fingertips glow, there wasn't time to think, no time to consider, just the instinct that he had to stop this. He launched himself, knocking Scar to the ground and curling himself around his torso, pressing Scar's hands to his chest.
He braced for impact.
Calling it an explosion would have been kind. A disaster would have been more accurate.
He felt Bahamut's aura struggling, converging on the points of impact and the energy, whatever it was, bouncing off and piercing through at the same time, beams of light flying out in random directions and burning through whatever they touched. He felt them cut through the aura, his clothes his skin and muscle and bone and he cried out, the burning raging through his entire body
He sat up, blinking.
It took him a second to realise that the imprints in his vision were because of his palms. How long had he been sat there? He looked out the window. Twilight, or at least close to it. What time was it when he sat down? The room hadn't changed. He shouldn't have been surprised. No extra layer of dust, only the usual light exposure to the photographs he had pinned to the wall. Was it minutes? Hours?
He stood up and made his way back to the kitchen
he wished he hadn't. The woman, still sat at her small table, slumped over and clearly lifeless. Her hair, silver and white, splayed over her head and the woodwork and Yoshimitsu brushed it all aside, gently, carefully. She might have been beautiful once, cheek bones high and jawline strong, all lost to time and wrinkled skin and lifeless eyes that still looked surprised. There was a tea cup on the table, half-full and delicately placed on a saucer. A floral pattern, pink chrysanthemums that were just sparce enough to avoid looking tacky. If he lined the cup up just right, it would probably have made a continuing pattern.
Of all the things to focus on.
The wound was clean. No blood spatter or staining, no internal organs leaking out. A clear line, a slight curve to it, starting at the woman's ribs and cutting cleanly through the heart and lungs. It stopped in the dead centre isn't that a choice of words of her chest. Death was probably instant. He glanced back and saw the hearing aides. She probably didn't even know there was a commotion.
And a third, unwritten one that I was leaving for Lee to imagine up. The third memory is less memory than it is an overwhelming sense of dread and wrongness that Nopcsa can't put an image to. In theory, the post concludes with Nopcsa going on his merry way to prepare for trial day 1, and Illiana and Yoshimitsu return to their hotel to go over the case they've worked on so far.
[Retrospective thoughts: In hindsight, I'm not sure how happy I am with the decision to put as much focus on Yoshimitsu here instead of letting Illiana take control of the situation. On one hand, it's fine in showing that Illiana is out of her depth in such a political scenario, but on the other it could have been a prime example to show that she isn't as weak as she's been made out to be so far. She's had her moments previously where she's shown her conviction, but nothing so concrete as to portray her as confident and independent without Yoshimitsu's intervention.]
Trial Day 1
I'm as disappointed as the next person that we don't get the introductions of Staudt and Hooper, but hey ho, sometimes that's life.
Once all the niceties have been dispensed with, the subject of the trial becomes Antonio's involvement in the murder, being tried as an accessory. The main points of debate involve Antonio's presence at the crime scene, with Illiana arguing that it's illogical for him to be in a location that would implicate him in the murder in any way, while Nopcsa's argument (in my mind, at least) would hinge around it being the perfect place to embarrass the Winstone Police Force by not being able to apprehend a murderer when the murder happened a room away.
Because there's no hard evidence to support either claim, and the obvious bias on both sides of the court room, Illiana switches gears to another line of debate - was Jacob Marshall involved in the murder? While the line of questioning is sketchy at best due to circumstantial and anecdotal evidence, the fact remained that he had reappeared in Winstone after a self-imposed exile as soon as Antonio had been locked up, illegally visited him while in solitary confinement and provided otherwise illegal evidence that would be inadmissible in a court of law due to the nature of how it was acquired. Rather than try to use the evidence in relation to Antonio, Illiana points out that the existence of the evidence proves that Marshall had broken into Antonio's house and stolen with the intent to implicate Antonio. While still not solid evidence, when coupled with the incident regarding the Edward Diamond and Marshall losing his badge, it provided enough motive to place Marshall under suspicion. The trial is dismissed with both the defence and prosecution instructed to investigate further.
[Retrospective thoughts: Initial drafts of the case had Yoshimitsu in charge of the defence for the first half of the trial, rather than Illiana immediately taking control. Again, like the point above, it portrays Illiana as out of her element. If this had ever actually made it to final draft, I'm pretty certain everyone would be a bit fed up of Yoshimitsu somehow being hyper-competent in a court scenario with no prior evidence to back it up. It's a back-and-forth on my opinion here, since it makes sense for Illiana to be uncomfortable but it's making what should have been an Illiana-centric plot all about someone who's had enough limelight in the past.]
Investigation Day 2
Yoshimitsu departs and Illiana visits Marshall in lock-up. During the course of their conversation, Marshall challenges Illiana's logic, which she refutes using the same arguments used in court. Ultimately, nothing is gained, but the conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Williams who informs Illiana that the vial of magic has been identified as a teleportation spell. Taking it as evidence that Marshall now had the means to commit the murder, she prepares to leave. Marshall states that, regardless of his past relationship with Antonio and his drive to prove his guilt in the Edward Diamond robbery, he did not commit the murder.
Choosing to pursue the line of Marshall being the culprit, Illiana investigates cases that he has worked in the past. Most reports had a debrief regarding Marshall being warned multiple times about unnecessary aggression and violence but with no official warnings, however one listed a dispute between Marshall and Dacten while working a case regarding a known criminal Power. The following exchange was noted down
Marshall: "These people do not deserve the punishment you inflict on them.
Dacten: "Coming from the man who openly encourages threatening innocent civilians?"
With an attached newspaper article that pushing public opinion against Marshall even further. With this in mind, she refocused her investigation on Dacten.
Initial attempts to speak to Dacten were a dead end due to him being placed on temporary leave after his attempted assault in front of Landsvale. However, she was allowed to investigate his office at the precinct due to a possible link between Dacten and a suspect.
[Author note: I did go back and forth here a bit on whether I thought Williams would have authorised this.]
His office was initially nothing out of the ordinary, though the board attached to the wall with pictures and string pinned to it had Illiana interested enough to stop rummaging through the desk. First glance, it connected a bunch of mundane crimes including, but not limited to, petty theft, arson, jaywalking and a couple of murder cases. However, Illiana's innate ability to sense magic made her strip away an illusion cast on the board.
Instead of mundane crimes, the board was covered in pictures of known Powers with varying levels of infractions, including some that she recognised from the same holding cells she had passed when visiting Antonio. Others she recognised from news articles, specifically ones where the Power had ended up dead. Under every picture was a small tag with a monetary value written on, and then a second prefaced with "Captured". Many of the pictures had red crosses over them. The central picture was one of Antonio, and captioned "Butterfly. Capture alive."
Using this information, as well as the newspaper article regarding the altercation, she visited Marshall again. The conversation this time revolved around why Dacten had this board. According to Marshall, there had always been people willing to pay for the elimination or incarceration of Powers, whether it was justified or not.
"One or two Powers go missing and it's no big deal, Miss Attorney. Chances are, they probably blew themselves up and your average Joe can sleep better at night."
"But Antonio isn't a threat to anybody."
"Define anybody. Sure, you and I know he only ever stole the big stuff, the challenge, but since he made his debut, you ever notice how there's more locks on everyone's doors? No windows open at night? 'Tonio didn't hurt 'em none but he got 'em scared they weren't safe. If some Power can break into an impenetrable vault without leavin' a trace, what good's that piece of plywood they call a door?"
Marshall stated he suspected Dacten of being involved in this anti-Power activity, but could never acquire evidence to prove it. However, they agreed that Antonio seemed to be the next target. Seeing no other choice, she went to Williams.
[Author note: I think Pohatu had some plans for this next section]
Because the murder was looking more and more like an attempt to keep Antonio behind bars for being the Butterfly, Illiana confessed to Williams that she knew Antonio was the Butterfly and requested any case reports Dacten and Odio worked in relation to the Butterfly. The main argument point for Illiana is that, up until now, there was no evidence that Antonio's identity as the Butterfly was related to the case outside of coincidence, but it was now getting more and more likely that the entire case was hinging on it. The case files were not completely useless, even though they had very little in the way of information - they showed that Odio and Dacten had an interest in apprehending the Butterfly and that they seemed to be actively avoiding any involvement from Marshall.
[Retrospective thoughts: I go back and forth on how Williams would react to this information. There is some evidence that he doesn't completely disassociate himself with Illiana in the initial plans for Antibibble, however he remains paranoid about her and keeps tabs on her regardless. I guess it's down to Pohatu for how this would play out]
At this point, Illiana reviewed her evidence to make the dots connect. Seemingly pointless evidence now had a new relevance - Odio's expensive spending habits were now evidence of the financial gain from his and Dacten's anti-Power activity, the note from Dacten could be construed as hesitancy to go forward with the plan to incarcerate Antonio, testimony from Landsvale reinforced the schism in their relationship. The only thing she didn't currently know was the actual method of the murder. With time now running out, she revisited the scene of the crime with the vial in hand.
With the knowledge that the vial of magic was teleportation, she examined the crime scene with a fresh view. Now that she was looking for it, she could sense the faint trace of the magic that was used. Two areas had the lingering sensation, the first around the body, the second a scant few meters away. Someone had teleported the body in, then teleported themselves out. The murder did not occur at the Felice Potabile. She then used the magic to trace the teleportation back, hopefully leading to the actual murder scene.
The alleyway that she reappeared in was nondescript, just another alleyway at first glance, but the perfect place to be away from prying eyes. The only noteworthy thing to be found was traces of blood on the wall, mostly washed away by rain and easily mistaken for paint.
[Retrospective thoughts: There's a lot of circumstantial evidence involved in this case - in the real world, I've got some pretty strong doubts that Illiana actually has enough evidence to build a case around. That said, this is fiction and I'm making some of the rules up as I go along.]
Trial Day 2
Okay, we're just gonna barrel through this as quickly as possible.
The second day of the trial, Illiana's case is this:
Odio staged the murder, knowing that Antonio was meeting with Williams at the Felice. The intention was to get Antonio incarcerated for any possible crime due to a lack of evidence proving Antonio is the Butterfly. Dacten was aware of the plan but did not get involved and tried to dissuade Odio from enacting. The actual scene of the murder was the bloodstained alley way, and the body was moved after the fact.
Prior to the trial, Antonio requested a deck of cards for "stress relief". He is caught shuffling the cards multiple times during the course of the trial. Marshall and Dacten are called to the stand separately. Marshall is called just to share his awareness of anti-Power bounties, Dacten is called to testify regarding his involvement in Odio's plan.
Odio initially pitched the plan to Dacten with the idea of having a random killed and their body moved. Dacten drew the line at murder of an innocent and opted out of the plan, at which point Odio contacted Colichemarde to provide an assassin. Dacten agreed to help move the body to minimize Colichemarde's involvement. Colichemarde obliged, however when it was learned it was an anti-Power murder, they targeted Odio instead. Seeing an opportunity to get the cash reward, Dacten moved Odio's body anyway.
Antonio is acquitted of murder, however he is immediately apprehended for being the Butterfly, to which 3 people confirmed during the course of the trial. Using the deck of cards he had been given, and the fact that his Power had changed to enchanting any deck of cards to his trick deck, he escaped the court room and is on the run.
[Retrospective thoughts: The idea of the murder being planned out like this was developed as the original thread was being written. I knew that Odio and Dacten were the culprits, and that Odio being killed was not the planned course of action, but it wasn't until well into page 3 or 4 that I'd decided on a third party being the actual killer. Colichemarde's involvement came after me and either Biscuit or 90 (I honestly can't remember who) came up with Colichemarde being a branch of Joyeuse. All things considered, it could probably have had a tidier plot and I haven't stopped to think about the nuances involved for a very long time now. Some suspension of disbelief is required.]
So that's Obscured Truth: Case Closed. Feel free to point out any plot inconsistencies and major logic issues because I'm about 98% certain that they exist. I can now wash my hands of Marshall's one-bit part because I needed a detective and ripping from Phoenix Wright was quicker than trying to invent someone from scratch. (I may actually revisit Marshall from scratch to reinvent the character, since barring being a cowboy he actually doesn't have a lot in common with the source material, but he's such a minor character in my cast that I probably won't)