(Route) [003.5]: The fateful meeting. [action for Kay Faraday]
[It has to be, what, three, four in the morning now? Maybe even five, who knows. He's been up for almost a whole entire day and could collapse any second, but he doesn't feel even the slightest bit tired right now. Even if he did feel tired, he wouldn't care.
Right now, there are more important things than sleep. Like standing outside of the Pokemon ( Read more... )
He won't lie, her confirming his heavy suspicion hurts him, even though her answer was plainly obvious from the start. What else could he think? Try as he might, he cannot remember what happened when he blacked out that last day before showing up here. The images he gets are foggy at best - something about being in a room with Calisto and that damn Mack Rell, and then...nothing. Given the circumstances he was in, it's entirely possible something terrible happened in that room, and that's why his memories of that day abruptly end there. Forget the who or the how, it's the only theory he can come up with that makes sense.
But theories are just theories until someone verifies them as facts.
Before he speaks again he stares at his daughter for a moment, hesitating. This has to be painful for her, he knows, and going into detail will only make it worse. Or will talking it through make it better? He's unsure what to do, and fearful of causing more pain. It's not what she deserves.]
Kay, I...
I-if you don't want to talk about it now, I...I'll understand. [Oh, the faltering is becoming so obvious now. It's getting harder and harder to keep up his veil of security. ...If he even had a convincing one to begin with.]
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But she'll never be able to keep secrets, not from Byrne, so she gives her muffler a light tug and speaks carefully. It's going to hurt him, what he'll learn, but she'd rather he know it now and have the time to adjust than having to constantly skirt around the issue. He'd worry the whole time, anyway. ]
You... were stabbed. By someone you trusted.
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He was stabbed. Stabbed by someone he trusted. Who? Who the hell would do something like that? When, how? The only people he was near in that room were Calisto and Rell, and Byrne would label Rell as the murderer any day. He trusted Rell as far as he could throw him, but there was absolutely no reason for Calisto to kill him. She was his trusted ally - he'd trust her with his life, and he was sure she was the same, given their partnership as part of the Yatagarasu. But regardless, there was no knife in that room, he was sure of it. Unless that bastard snuck one into the courthouse somehow - and how he would've done it was beyond all explanation - there was no knife on the scene.
He's assuming, of course, that these last memories of being in that room are his absolute last memories.
...Now that he thought of it, he'd...met someone named Sissel who claimed to have died and became a ghost before showing up here alive and well. Could it be possible that Byrne had a similar experience and just couldn't remember? The thought frightened him for a moment, but he knew he'd need to address this eventually. And he also knew he needed to learn the identity of the killer, as much as knowing might hurt. If the killer is really someone he trusted, then...could he handle the news?
He found himself uttering the question before he could think any further on the matter. Now or never. Slowly but surely it's becoming easier to ask these things.]
Who...?
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And she blinks furiously against the renewed sting of tears. She herself hadn't known just how deep the betrayal ran until a day or so before she'd first found herself in Johto. She hadn't known, and now she has to tell her own father exactly what happened.
It's a bizarre situation, but more than that, it aches. But she can't turn back now. Her voice is surprisingly steady now. ]
... Ms. Yew. She was working for the ring that you wanted to shut down.
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[His eyes grow wider. Calisto killed him?! What--how--why? She was part of the Yatagarasu! Her sister was murdered by Coachen and she wanted revenge against the ring...she'd never work for the people who took her sister's life away! That was just absurd... No, it couldn't be true, he refused to believe it! Not her, she would never...why would she ever...?!
......But why would Kay lie about something like this?
Byrne's face turns twenty shades whiter as he tries to recall his last memory once again, and he realizes something dreadful in the process of remembering. He'd been assuming 'Rell must've done it' because he hadn't had his eye on that thug before everything went black. Perfect opportunity for backstabbing, right? But now he realizes something he should've been wondering about since the start...
Calisto had moved towards him before everything went black. Not just casually walking towards him, no, she'd whipped around real fast and came right for him...but he hadn't seen anything in her hand, he'd never guessed she was going to do anything other than just turn around...she'd been upset, after all, so he'd assumed...
No...
He swallows hard, and finds himself unable to respond with anything.]
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But Kay says nothing, bright green eyes locked on her father's unwaveringly-- even as much as she doesn't want to look at him just then. In the end, he'd deserved to know. ]
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...
He'd...always felt so sorry for Calisto. That day her sister's killer had been declared innocent in court, when she let out that wail... And when he and Badd tried to apologize to her, and she'd slapped Badd and screamed that she never wanted to see either of them again for what they did... It hurt Byrne, and it hurt so much more that he couldn't get that bastard a guilty verdict like he deserved. Calisto was the reason Byrne decided that the law was nothing more than a wall, blocking the path to justice. She was the catalyst behind the idea of 'Yatagarasu'. She... She may have been aloof and she may have mocked him and Badd every chance she got, but he had always thought she was just insecure. She laughed because she didn't know what else to do. It was a way to cope. And in some sick way, he sometimes felt like he deserved the taunting.
He never doubted her.
He thought she wanted justice upon her sister's killer. Not to join her enemies for whatever convenient reason she had. It just didn't make a bit of sense, but...
...No. It didn't have to make sense right away, it would eventually. Color returns to Byrne's face and he's ready to keep asking more questions. The ability to bounce back is a Faraday family trait, it seems. He definitely needs it here, as it's only going to get worse with everything he learns.]
Kay, how...how did you find out about this?
[Does he want to know? Does he want to hear the story behind her Yatagarasu pin? Once more, he's in a now or never position. He's choosing now.]
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This? She's not so sure.
But Kay retracts a hand to touch the pin. She'd been having her Murkrow hold onto it to avoid questions, but she'd wanted to wear it this time. ]
I... found your journal a little while ago, and I learned that you were the Yatagarasu. Back on the day you... [ she pauses. Amends. ] On that day, it was set up to look like a double homicide at first, and then they pinned the murder on Gummy. Even when I knew he didn't do it.
Mr. Edgeworth solved it, though, and Ms. Yew shot at him and ran away. But her perfume bottle... I kept it and preserved the fingerprints, like you told me how to.
And seven years later, when I found out, I decided I wanted to follow your path. I wanted to steal the truth and catch the killer, and I heard that the Yatagarasu was planning on striking at the Embassy, so I asked Mr. Edgeworth for help in catching the fake. I knew it'd be Ms. Yew.
[ another pause. She's not sure she wants to talk about almost getting shot in the head. ] She was someone else, someone Wolfy trusted, but Mr. Edgeworth figured out who she really was. Kind of.
Cece Yew never had a sister. The smuggling ring you were after sent an agent to stop you from getting closer to shutting them down, but you still came too close-- and she was ordered to kill you.
[ Kay's eyes are stinging again, her voice getting softer. ]
She said I was just like you. ... And that it wasn't a very pleasant job.
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To hear that Calisto wasn't even related to Cece...that just shatters all his remaining doubts. Her betraying him is suddenly so much more believable when she turned out to be a spy from the very beginning. But then she killed someone else that day? So she couldn't stop at him, she had to murder someone else, too? How dare she throw away life so easily. How dare she blame someone innocent for the murder (even if Byrne has no idea who 'Gummy' is). Not only that - no, not only that, she then she tried to shoot someone else in the meantime! Mr. Edgeworth, in fact. For a moment Byrne thinks of the child Edgeworth he knows in Johto and winces at the thought of Calisto trying to harm him. No, not the child Edgeworth, twenty year old Edgeworth. Still so young regardless, and just starting his career as a prosecutor...if she had killed him...ohh, if she had killed him...
He's close to uttering several dark words under his breath about that lying, backstabbing, murderous son of a...And then Kay's last comment stops him short. And once again, he's rendered mute. Was that comment of Calisto's intended to be sarcastic, or was she telling the truth? Did she truly not want to kill him, but had to anyway? Why would she say that? Calisto... Goddamnit, he hates not knowing how to feel about this.
...Byrne's proud of his daughter, at least, for preserving that bottle.
But what's more controversial than any of that is the topic of the Yatagarasu. Kay knew. It's likely that everyone else has figured it out by this point too, especially if Kay was running around wearing its symbol in broad daylight. But that's the thing. Kay didn't just know about it. She wanted to be the Yatagarasu, too, and steal the truth as he did--well, used to do. Oh, god. Imagining his daughter getting into the same dangers that he went through and died for! His life was in jeopardy every time he went on a heist, every time there was chance of him being caught by a camera, every time there were armed guards, every time there was a jump he had to make from one building to the next that if he screwed up, he'd plunge three stories to concrete and be unable to walk for weeks.
And Kay was doing this, too. Or she claimed she was or is, at least. For him. To catch the one who killed him, she was seriously getting involved in all of this...? Taking on such a big name and going headfirst with his enemies...? The smuggling ring leader had his eye on him and Badd the whole time with Calisto around. Byrne was never truly safe from them because of that. Could they be targeting Kay the same way just because of the Yatagarasu name she'd taken on? His daughter isn't an idiot. She has to know about these dangers. And yet...she's doing this.
He's not sure whether to feel humbled or just...horrified. Maybe a little bit of both.]
K...K-Kay....
[He stutters, and can't say anything else. Too much. It's all too much. There's a lump in his throat, his face is burning, and...oh god, his eyes are getting... No, no, no--not in front of his daughter, he can't--no--he has to be strong for her, he's not weak, he won't, he won't, no no no no no--
...oh fuck it all. He's crying.]
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And it's all her fault.
Kay temporarily forgets that this is for the best. She's always lived her life through her beliefs and conviction, how she feels-- through honesty, and right now, it's not logic that comforts her. It's not Edgeworth's way of reasoning, it's the fact that the most important person in her life is crying and she's helpless to make it better.
But she remembers what Byrne did when she cried, and she eases her arms back around him. It's much easier to hug him as a seventeen-year-old, even if he can't lift her in his arms like he used to. ]
It'll be okay... m-maybe not now, or anytime soon, but... what I did, I did because I knew it was the right thing to do. And right now, you're here.
Don't cry, Daddy.
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I-I'm sorry--[is all he can say. His voice is so very weak from the tears, and that makes him cry even more out of shame because damnit he hates crying in front of people, especially his daughter. He'd always been so good at hiding it, too, keeping it all inside until he was alone, so no one would have to see him lose his composure. Partly out of pride, but mostly to make sure his daughter wouldn't have to see her father weep. No child should ever have to go through that. Ever.
But the tears are inevitable here, just as hearing about his death had been. His daughter's words reassure him, and, just as she had done a moment ago, Byrne cries until he calms himself down, slowly but surely. Even after he's done crying, he doesn't loosen his grip for a second.]
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That had been much less painful than this, but like this, she gets her father back. For how long, she doesn't know, but he's here. And she's not going to let go until he does. ]
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I'm...honestly, I'm not sure...exactly what to make of all this. With my death, and Calisto, and you succeeding me, I-I... [Deep breaths, Faraday. Deep breaths.] But regardless of that, I want you to know, I...
[And now he pulls away, but only far enough to be able to look his daughter in the eyes. His face shows more pain than it has in years.]
.....I'm sorry... I'm sorry I had to go and leave you to bear this alone. I only wanted you to grow up with a peaceful life...that's something I was fighting for as the Yatagarasu. But doing that took me away from you, and left you alone so suddenly that day, and... [He swallows hard.] I never wanted that for you.
['I shouldn't have been so rash to run off and do that without thinking of the consequences', 'I shouldn't have been so selfish and should've told you', I should've this and I could've that, so many things he feels he must apologize for but all he can say is,] I'm so sorry, Kay... [And fall silent again. He's glancing away from her shamefully now, thinking he should've done better. No good father would go and leave their daughter to this kind of sorrow.]
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But she'd met Edgeworth again, and he had become... something like family, him and Gumshoe. She has her best friends here. She's got family here. And Kay finally smiles and moves to meet Byrne's eyes. ]
You're here now. And I'm... happy. [ she pauses, then repeats this firmly. ] I'm happy. I learned the truth.
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Byrne is no exception. He fears for losing his daughter to disasters like crime, drugs, murder, and that one guy who erroneously thinks he's good enough to be her boyfriend. Common paternal fears. But more than anything, he's afraid of screwing up, of making terrible parental mistakes he feels he could never be forgiven for. This is why he feels so hurt right now - by dying, he knows he's left her without the father she loved so dearly. That she had to experience that hurt at such a young age. It may sound silly - and in fact, it is pretty silly once you get right down to it - but to him, knowing that she was ever hurt is everything he dreads.
However...seeing Kay smile now, to hear her tell him that she's happy...]
You're...happy? [He says this in a 'please, assure me you're telling me the truth and not just a lie to cheer me up' sort of way. More than anything, he just wants to be sure, to know that she is, in fact, completely and utterly happy. Her happiness is all he wishes for.]
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It's true that she'll always have that aching hole inside of her, the one that only her father could have filled. But she'd caught his killer. She'd helped to catch the man who had ordered his death. She had people who still cared about her, who had become important to her.
And here, she has someone who completely understands exactly what she went through, what she lost and what she gained. ]
Yeah. I'm happy.
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