Apollo had so many questions inside his head. But he couldn't ask them, since in "this world" his mother had never left him.
When they finished eating breakfast together, the boy left the table.
- Thank you. - For the first time in few years he could say that after meal. That thought made him so happy, that he smiled when he said that.
Trucy quickly drank her cocoa drink and got up as well. After that, she gave her brother a warm hug.
- Good luck, Apollo! - She said cheerfully. – I know you'll do great!
- You too, Trucy! - He tousled her hair a little. He'd never done that but then he could. After all, it was his own younger sister!
Thalassa approached both of her children and kissed each in the forehead.
- Sonny, it's 9 AM already. It's time you go to the court. I'm sure that Mr. Wright is waiting for you there.
The boy nodded his head.
- A-alright! Goodbye everyone! - He shouted a bit louder than he should, and then he left the house.
While walking down the street, Apollo was thinking about the whole situation. To his surprise, he accepted it all very fast. He was still very confused, having no clue how he ended up there. For him there was only one thing that mattered – it wasn't important how, why or where. It was the family, that he had never had.
"I don't care how this happened. If it's a dream, I don't want to wake up."
Knowing the whole road by heart, he quickly found himself in front of the courthouse. He stood vis-a-vis the front door but when he grabbed the doorknob, something made him worry.
"I don't have a bloody clue about the case! Who am I even defending?!" - The feeling of panic oame over Apollo. When he was starting his career as a lawyer, during his first trial he made a few blunders. But Mr. Gavin was very forgiving and turned a blind eye to his weird and sometimes too loud reactions or amateurish mistakes. That time, however, his mentor was Phoenix Wright. Young attorney didn't know what to expect from him.
"Oh boy... I haven't been so stressed since my frist trial!"
Apollo felt that he needed some support. He put his hand in the pocket, to take out his phone. He grabbed his mobile and started looking through the contacts list. To his surprise he didn't find the person he was looking for. He searched the contacts again, and again, and again... Nervously checked all people under the letters "C" and "T" but his search was useless. He didn't know any person called Clay Terran. Apollo had to lean on his back against the wall. For another time this day he felt his strength leaving his body.
"I-it's obvious... If I had never been in the orphanage, we would never have the chance to meet... And because I hadn't been abandoned by my mother, I wouldn't have understood how he felt when his died..." - Everything became clear, when the boy rethought the situation. He clutched his head, trying to calm down.
"I've gotta go... Mr. Wright is waiting for me..." - Still holding the wall with his hands, Apollo slowly entered the building. Next, he went upstairs, heading to the second floor. He had to hold the railings. "I'm not sure if I am able to... After all I went through..." - His head was clouded with such thoughts and it threw him off the balance. He faltered and almost fell over. Thankfully he was still holding the barriers and in the end he hit the wall with his back.
Phoenix had been waiting in the courthouse since 9 AM. He leaned against the wall in the lobby, when he heard footsteps coming from the staircase. He approached the stairs, hoping to see his student.
- Good morning, Apo... - He stopped, when he saw him resting on the wall, white as a sheet and gasping boy. - I-Is everything alright?!
Apollo looked up at Mr. Wright, still loudly breathing he let the railings go. He walked on the floor and replied:
- Y-yes, I'm fine! - Being so nervous, he almost shouted these words.
- Are you sure? - Phoenix extended his arm. - You don't look very good.
- It's only nerves, sir! You don't have to worry! - Apollo's voice was trembling a little, when he said that.
Mr. Wright only sighed and walked with him to the couch in the lobby:
- Sit down and chill out, because I can see how big jitters you have.
Boy sat down on the sofa, relying his elbows on his knees. "I can't back off now! I have to calm down!" - He kept repeating it to himself. He was still aware that he knew almost nothing about the case.
- M-Mr. Wright? - He raised his head and asked. - Could you... Remind me the whole situation?
Phoenix looked at Apollo with a small surprise but he replied:
- There isn't much to remind but I guess thanks to that stress you could forget something. So if you have to...
Boriginian singer he met few months ago, on Gavinners' concert.
"It's a dream. The only thing I have to do is to wake up." - That was the only thought that had gone through his head before he went to dining room. “It is. Just. A dream.” Unfortunately for him, the biggest surprise was still waiting for him. Except for two women, there was another person sitting by the table. And it wasn’t Mr. Wright, as Apollo had thought. It was Zak Gramarye, or actually, Zak Enigmar.
Apollo had to catch a chair. This was just too much for him. As much as he tried to explain the whole situation in his head, he couldn’t. That man, he saw with his own eyes, should be dead. And the young attorney knew it very well. He was the victim in his first case!
Trucy again looked at her brother with concern.
- Mommy, I think Apollo doesn't feel very well today...
- N-no! I'm fine! - He shouted at once, not wanting to trouble others. - Really, there is nothing to worry about... - He moved the chair he leaned on earlier and sat down.
Lamiroir approached him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
- Are you sure? - She asked with a smile.
Apollo looked up. When he saw that peaceful face, he smiled too and nodded his head.
- That's good. Here, your breakfast. - She put a plate with two sandwiches on the table in front of him.
- Well son, today is your big day! Hahaha! - Mr. Gramarye sitting right next to him suddenly yelled joyfully.
Apollo, who already took one bite of his meal, chocked himself and started coughing.
"'Son'?! What else?!" - This moment he just wanted to get up and run away but he forced himself to stay. His eyes were wandering all over the room, wanting to find answers for at least one of the thousand wuestions going through his head. But then his sight fell on Trucy, who was looking at him with concern again.
- Don't worry, nothing's wrong... Everyone can choke with a bread sometimes, right? Hehe... - He quickly sait it, to console young magician.
She smiled a little but she was still wondering about the fear in Apollo's eyes.
He fast finished the rest of his sandwich and then he sighed deeply, trying to sort everything in his head.
"So... It started with Trucy waking me up. I live with her, her father, who somehow is still alive, and Lamiroir. And I can't forget about the fact they're treating me like their son... Hm... Maybe there is no logical answer for it and it won't hurt to play this game..."
- I understand, that you start your job today, but I'm afraid I don't understand what are these two anthennas on your head are supposed to mean. - Zak said with a little irony in his voice.
- Firstly, there are not "anthennas"... - Apollo didn't exactly like jokes about his hairstyle. - ... But horns! And I just... Thought they look cool... Don't they? - He grinned stupidly, knowing not everyone likes this kind of hairdo.
- Well, this certainly gives you some character! - His interlocutor patted him on his back.
- Hey, Daddy! - Trucy interrupted them. - Don't forget that today is my important day too!
Apollo raised his eyebrow a little. As far as he remembered, Trucy started doing her own performances in the age of 8, even before Zak's disappearance.
- Yees. I can't forget about my daughter's first big show! - He laughed again. - The audience will be huge for sure!
- That's a pity though, that you can't help me, Polly. You would be a great assistant! - She smiled, showing her tounge a bit.
- Me? Your assistant? - He didn't like it entirely but he smiled to himself – You're dreaming! If so, it's you who should be my assistant!
Trucy imitated a surprise but it looked like she was waiting for that kind of proposition.
- Why not? We all know you won't manage without me! Tee-hee!
Everyone started laughing at the joke. But the one who was the most glad was Apollo. It was the first time in his life he felt that he has... A family.
Remember when I mentioned an idea for a fanfiction, where Apollo lands in an alternate universe?
Well, I started it some time ago but today I decided to finish at least the first part.
Enjoy!
—-
- Polly! Wake up! It’s your big day!
- Don’t sleep! It’s already past 8 A.M!
- Apollo! APOLLO!!!
Apollo opened widely his eyes, brutally awoken by a direct shout to his ear. The perpetrator was no one other that his half-sister, Trucy. He wiped his eyes, mumbling something to himself, when a horrible fact got into his mind.
- T-TRUCY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BEDROOM?! - he quickly pulled up the quilt, covering his naked chest.
The intruder was also surprised by that turn of events. She blinked few times with astonishment and asked:
- What do you mean, Polly? I wake you up every day, sleepyhead! - She giggled a little at the end of that sentence.
- W-what do you mean by “what do I mean”?! - Firstly, somehow you broke into my apartment, and secondly… Wait, what? You wake me up every day?
- Y-yes, of course… Apollo, is everything okay? - Trucy stopped giggling, worried about her brother’s state.
He yawned, and then said:
- Yes, everything’s fine… Though could you leave my room? I’d like to dress up…
When the young magician leaved his bedroom, Apollo clutched his head.
”What the-? Trucy lives with me?!… So what, now I’ll have to stand her and Mr. Wright constantly everyday?! Something isn’t right here…”
He got out of his bed, and opened his wardrobe. Just when he did that, he realised he’s not in his own room. Most of the clothes were just outfits for a magician, in the colour of bright red. He turned around, to take a look around the place he got into.
The room wasn’t much different from his “normal” apartment, except for the furniture placement and a little mess made of magic props. Above the small table next to the bed there was a pin board. On the biggest note there was written: “27th of October, 10 AM – FIRST TRIAL”.
”So that’s what Trucy was talking about… 27th of October… It’s today!” - However he couldn’t think about it for too long, because cold breeze from opened window reminded him of the fact that he was in his underwear. He decided to return to going through “his” wardrobe. Except for preformer’s capes he found a white shirt and a blue tie, as well as a red suit. Unfoutunately, he couldn’t find his favourite red and black vest, so he was forced not to roll up his sleeves, which was a habit of his. Only when he was completely dressed, he noticed attorney’s badge pinned on his collar.
”So it really is my ‘first day’?” - Apollo continued to wonder, heading his steps to bathroom. When he stood in front of the mirror, he realized in what condition his hair was. He immidiately started combing it and forming two horns in front of his head. Again, to his surprise, he couldn’t find hair gel. On the shelf there were most women’s cosmetics, among them he managed to find a hair spray.
”Well, that should do the trick as well…” - he thought as he grabbed the bottle and lavishly sprayed his hair, so it would stay. Indeed, the effect wasn’t perfect but for him it was important that his trademark was visible. Until the final corrections Apollo noticed, that his bracelet is missing from his left wrist.
”What is it? I couldn’t lose it in my sleep, could I? And it’s hardly plausible I took it o-” - A call broke him from his thoughts:
- Apollo, sonny! The breakfast is ready, we’re waiting for you! - A while had passed, before he shook off from the shock he received. It wasn’t Trucy, who called him, but it was a familliar voice. This time it was… Lamiroir.
