Ace Attorney: Council of Crime

Part 55 (Lapis)

//February 25, 2030. Interpol Headquarters, 3:00 PM//

By the time everything had been sorted out, D drove us back to HQ. The whole ride was pretty quiet. Ms. Giuseppe didn't talk much, just looked at the ground distantly. I feel kind of bad for her, I must admit... Poor girl...

After D carted Mr. Giuseppe away, J and I approached N and Q to give them our report. "We couldn't find Dee Vil or Dark Ness. We assume that they heard that Mr. Giuseppe was being arrested and tried to run from the scene, and we didn't spot them since we were arresting him," I explained to N.

"It's okay... I'll send out search parties to look for them," N told me.

"I'm pretty happy that it's you here and not M. He would probably yell at us for being incompetent and unable to catch those guys," J said with a sigh of relief.

N let out a forced laugh. "Yeah... I suppose that you're right about that."

"Anyways... What's been going on while we were gone? X looks sweatier than usual... Meaning that he's actually sweating," J told him, firing a suspicious glance over in X's direction. She was right about him seeming more panicky and worried than usual... I admit that it worried me just a little bit.

"His robots got dismantled and he had to put them back together. We deduced that it was Dark Ness that pulled those apart while Giuseppe attacked M and Vil assaulted Vesgate," N told us. "With all that they've been doing today, it's important that we catch them as soon as possible. We can't have any other innocent people in danger."

"While that may be true... How are we supposed to catch them? They seem like the type that find it easy to slip away from captivity," I frowned. 

"We'll figure something out some way or another. We have to," N declared, a sense of determination making its way into his voice. 

"You're right! I'll get on it right away!" J exclaimed, saluting. She ran from the room, off to most likely prepare a search party to look for the escaped criminals. 

"What should I do in the meantime?" I asked N. 

"For now... There's something I need you to do," X declared. He was still clutching his robotic bears rather tightly. "It's about the mission you gave me earlier."

I gasped in recollection. Earlier, I had asked X to look and see if Ms. Giuseppe had any living relatives left. Since she had been in captivity for so long, it wasn't a good idea to just let her go on with life after all she had been through...

"What did you find?" I asked, just itching to hear an answer.

"The Cruz family. Apparently, Isabella Cruz is her mother's sister," X explained. "I was wondering if you could maybe take her down to their home."

"Why not you?" I asked.

"You know how my social skills are... Lacking," X said, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"I understand," I nodded before turning to Ms. Giuseppe. "Come on. I have somewhere to take you."

Ms. Giuseppe, who had previously been looking off into the distance, looked up upon being addressed. "You do...?" she asked. "Where is it?"

"Your aunt's house," I explained. "Let's go."

//February 25, 2030. Cruz Household, 3:46 PM//

When we got to the house, Ms. Giuseppe was practically entranced with shock of all of this. I watched her make her way up to the door. She knocked gently, her fingers rapping gently against the wood. 

The door opened not long after. Ms. Giuseppe gulped as she stared down the person in the doorway, a woman.

She had long, curled black hair. One eye was a striking violet, the other a flaring red. She wore a blue shirt with a black skirt and high heels of the latter color. The woman, who I assumed to be Mrs. Cruz, gasped upon seeing Ms. Giuseppe. "Who might you be?"

"M-my name is Lira Giuseppe..." Ms. Giuseppe stammered. My guess is that she wasn't good face to face since she had been isolated for so long. 

Mrs. Cruz gasped once again. "Wasn't that... Janelle's daughter's name...?" she whispered.

"Janelle is my mom..." Ms. Giuseppe told the woman.

Mrs. Cruz didn't wait a second in wrapping her arms around the younger girl. "I haven't seen you since you were little...!" she murmured into her niece's ear. 

"I don't even remember meeting you..." Ms. Giuseppe admitted. 

I backed away from the reunion a step. I wished that I could have moments like this... But it's not like I can go back to them. Then again, they probably wouldn't care if I returned anyways... 

"Who are you?" Mrs. Cruz asked, addressing me now. 

"I'm an Interpol agent. I can't tell you my real name, but you can call me T," I told her. "We found Ms. Giuseppe here not long ago and did a background check to see that you and your family were related to her, so... If it's okay... Would you mind keeping an eye on her for the time being?"

Mrs. Cruz paused for a few seconds before nodding. "Of course," she answered. "Come on in, Lira. I have to introduce you to Nikki and Vito. They'll be delighted to see you again after all these years...!" 

The door closed behind them, leaving me all alone on the porch. I turned back to the car with a sigh. I missed my family, as much as I hated to say it. Being the youngest of a bunch of kids, I didn't get much attention from my parents or extended family. I guess that's what prompted me to join Interpol: to make them proud. But in the end, it didn't work. 

I guess I'm okay with that. I'm okay with not seeing them. But now that I've seen the joys other people and their families can go through, I'm okay with just watching. 

This thought in mind, I walked to the car and slid into the driver's seat. I inserted the key into the hole and let the engine purr into existence before letting my foot slip onto the accelerator. 

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so i blew a bunch of stuff up

and i updated much more today than what was intended but im so desperate to finish this and claod before my next play (Alice in Wonderland for anybody who happens to be curious) starts on the eleventh

then i can bring back dwotdw and lsg which ive been waiting to bring out of retirement for like. six months since it went on break due to lack of readers

but at least that day is almost here cheers

-Digital