bratworth | OVERFLOW prismatica

Well, I only interacted with them for a short time. Usually it takes several hours at least for these effects to wear off.

At this point, there might not be much more we can do than wait.

( However much he hates to admit it. )

That's boring.

[Kay huffs and leans...no, before she can lean against the buffet table, she hesitates and then leans against a nearby chair instead.]

Most boring investigation ever.

I would rather have a boring investigation than an exciting one.

( He frowns again. )

Be careful with the food.

( Goodness knows it might contaminate them just by being touched! )

I dunno, if all the food was laced with something, wouldn't everyone be acting strange?

[She waves a hand over at the people milling about. A good number of them weren't holding hands or looking into each other's eyes - or, if they did look into each other's eyes, it was in a conversational way.]

We do not know how long it takes for the poison to take effect.

( A beat. )

But what I meant is that you should try to avoid breaking anything.

I am not gonna break anything.

[Kay pouts. Even if she totally almost broke something.]

The Yatagarasu doesn't break stuff!

( Wait, what...? Isn't that the woman who had... )

The Yatagarasu?

What? Wait, the Yatagarasu wa -

[Oh right. This Edgeworth doesn't know the plot twist to the whole Yatagarasu puzzle. Kay halts mid-sentence, and throws up her hands.]

Am I gonna have to give you spoilers about what happens seven years later?

I would prefer an explanation, yes.

( Honestly, he feels like his head is going to explode as-is. )

Okay. [She takes a deep breath and hopes she can tell the full story by herself and not make Edgeworth's life more difficult (even though by merely existing as a 17-year-old from his future, she already is).] Do you remember what Uncle Badd said about why the Yatagarasu could never be caught?

( Given it has only been a matter of months ago from Edgeworth's timeline, it's certainly not hard to remember at all. )

Indeed. It was a three-pronged approach: the Yatagarasu always knew the location of their target, how to disable any security systems that might stand in their way, and not leave any evidence behind.

And at that time, Calisto Yew claimed to be the Yatagarasu.

[Kay does not seem troubled with invoking the name of her father's murderer, apart from a brief scowl when she says Calisto's name.]

But some time after that, I found my dad's diary where he said he was the Yatagarasu.

What do you think?

I would think that somebody is lying.

( It wouldn't be the first someone had falsely claimed to be the Yatagarasu, after all. Then again... )

Do you think my dad would lie in his own diary?

[DON'T YOU DARE TELL HER THAT HER DADDY LIED.

(Even if she already knows he didn't.)]

( Look, it's possible, but he's not going to suggest it while Kay is staring at him like that. )

Perhaps it was the Yew woman who lied.

That was what I thought when I found my dad's diary and went looking for you so we could catch Miss Yew once and for all.

[She called Calisto the fake Yatagarasu and everything.]

So what was the result in the end?

( Seeing as Kay has clearly done all the hard work and everything... )

[Not really.]

The Yatagarasu has three legs; each leg was a person. A defense attorney always knew the location of their target, a prosecutor always knew how to disable any security system, and a detective always knew how to leave no evidence behind.

You were the one who figured it out. [Kay knows to give credit where it's due!]

( So if the defense attorney was Yew, and the prosecutor was Faraday, then the detective could only have been...

the final piece of the puzzle falls into place, and suddenly, the words that had been spoken that terrible day when he had been held up at gunpoint in the courtroom start to make more and more sense. With one hand, he rubs his temples. )

How did I figure it out?

( He doesn't think he could have with what he knew right now if Kay hadn't given him such an obvious hint. )

Honestly, I don't know how your mind works, but...

[She pauses, glancing away and narrowing her eyes. Though her father's murderer was behind bars now, the painful memories remained.]

Calisto Yew captured me and put a gun up against my head and asked you that question again. At that time, we thought she was a fake, and my dad was the real one. But then...you figured it out.

( Each answer only begets more questions. )

I suppose during the course of... whatever investigation we were undertaking, there were enough clues to put it all together.

( A beat. )

I am sorry we could not catch her sooner.

( Then perhaps Kay wouldn't have had to go through all that. )

[Oh. Kay shrugs and reaches up to pat Edgeworth's shoulder gently.]

It's okay. What's important is that she got caught eventually. She was in disguise and it was her laugh, and her fingerprints, that gave her away.

( He really doesn't know what to do with this reassurance. It's not something he's accustomed to receiving. Shaking his head firmly, he reiterates: )

No. She should have been caught sooner.

( Who knew how many more lives she'd been able to ruin in the intervening years? She should have never been allowed to walk free that day he had crossed paths with her in the courthouse. He had been a naive fool, and as usual, it was other people who would have to bear the consequences of his mistakes. He swallows thickly. )

I hated that damn laugh.

( At the end of the day, he'd underestimated her.

He wouldn't underestimate a defense attorney again. )

[Maybe she should have been caught sooner, but that was already in the past for Kay. This Edgeworth was still reeling from Calisto's escape, and even if he knew she eventually got caught, it was probably not comforting to know that it would take seven years before that.

To her credit, Kay withdraws her hand from his shoulder and places her hands behind her back. Her lips curve into a slight frown and when she speaks, her tone is suddenly softer and more serious.]

If you hated her laugh, I heard it in my nightmares for months after that incident.

Even seven years later...when she began to laugh again, I felt chills down my spine.

( For the better or the worse, Edgeworth's nightmares tend to be filled with screaming. )

It would be a difficult laugh to forget.

( Even after seven years, he's sure he would remember it.

For a moment, an oddly pensive look settles on his face. He has a lot to process for now. )

Is there anything else you need to tell me?

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kayssistant - 2019-05-14 14:21 (UTC) - Expand

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bratworth - 2019-05-17 07:38 (UTC) - Expand