In the lobby…
“What in the world was all that about.”
“Yeah, it’s a weird trial today.”
“‘Weird’ doesn’t even cover it. Mr. Wright somehow set up a trial so he could sue Applebees to make up for the dinner coupons he forgot! How did he even get the judge to do that?”
“Well, he is Daddy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“In any case, Apollo, focus! We need to figure out how to argue our case!”
“Do we?”
“What, are you just gonna take this loss? You are a lawyer! You took this case, so you should pull through!”
“Yeah, I guess… but honestly if it makes Mr. Wright happy, I’d be willing to pay him those ten bucks just so we could adjourn early.”
“Actually, it’s $10.38, but that’s beside the point. Daddy isn’t here for the money anyway.”
“Then why is he here?”
“You don’t know? I thought it was obvious.”
“You mean… for Lamiroir’s sake?”
“Naturally! She is his client.”
“But I’d have to wonder why she’d even pull this into court at all. She’s such a nice and gentle lady who doesn’t seem to get bothered easily. If anything, this whole trial just feels like a publicity stunt, but she doesn’t seem like the type. I’d even pick Mr. Wright above her as the schemer…”
“Hmm…”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. I just thought of some funny idea.”
“…Like?”
“Like… what if Daddy pulled this trial off so we’d meet with some unrevealed truth about Lamiroir that the world had yet to know!?”
“…That’s stupid. And this is a case about Applebees’ terrible service, for crying out loud.”
“…Yeah, I thought it didn’t seem likely either. Especially with this case.”
Before they realize it, their five minutes are up, and the bailiff’s announcement comes like clockwork.
“It’s time. Everyone, please return to your places.”
And so they do.
~
“Ahem. Court is back in session. Now where did we leave off?”
Phoenix offers: “Your Honor, I was explaining how my client was kept waiting-”
“I can’t help it! I have my old man needs!”
“Uh, Your Honor…”
“When you reach my age, you’ll understand. It’s quite vexing.”
“Well, that’s fine and all, Your Honor, but…”
“Oh, it’s most certainly not fine! How many appointments I had to cancel just because I needed to go and couldn’t make it in time…”
(How long does he even need in there to miss more than one appointment!?)
“Your Honor!”
“Yes, Mr. Wright?”
“I was talking about our case at the restaurant.”
“Which restaurant?”
“Applebees.”
Now the judge nods, recalling things. “Oh. Ah, yes, of course… For some reason, I had this lingering impression that this trial wasn’t a real case.”
(Same here.)
“It is a very real case, Your Honor! Please keep that in mind!”
“Very well, but if you really want those ten dollars, we could always ask Mr. Justice to pay up.”
“No, Your Honor. That’s beside the point. Would I bring this case to court just over some silly coupons?”
(Possibly…)
“What? Did you really have a plan behind this whole thing? I thought I was just in it for the deli!”
The entire court goes into a bewildered silence.
“Er, t-that is… I meant to say the ‘deli-beration’ of this very important civil suit!”
The silence continues, but there is one uncomfortable cough.
(…Your Honor, please just stop. That pun made things even worse.)
“…M-Mr. Wright, as you were.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. We should return to the issue at hand.”
“Oh, um… what was the issue?”
“My client was kept waiting, not only for the dish she ordered, but even for the dish she didn’t order to be taken away. Either way you look at it, it’s sloppy service and highly disconcerting.”
The judge nods. “Ah, yes. It seems quite straightforward to me.”
“Hold on, Your Honor.”
“Yes, Mr. Justice?”
“I agree that it’s sloppy service and highly disconcerting, but you also have to consider that situations like this are bound to happen in a busy restaurant setting. It can happen even to the best of restaurants, especially when business is booming.”
“It wasn’t all that booming at the time, though,” Phoenix adds. “There were plenty of empty seats, and it was still within the prime time period for dinner.”
“E-either way, the fact remains that it was a different waiter who served her each time, and while it is poor communication among them, it’s not something so out of the ordinary.”
“…Mr. Justice, just where are you going with this?”
“Well, Mr. Wright… I’m just questioning whether or not this lawsuit toward my client would actually hold up.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t see every unsatisfied customer at Applebees starting up suits just because they had a bad time there. After all, if bad service like this happened that much, word would get around pretty quickly and they’d be out of business in no time. But you still see it hanging around anyway. Doesn’t that suggest they still do a pretty good job most of the time?”
“Yes, you do raise a good point…”
“See? I knew I was right!”
“But Mr. Justice, let’s also consider the probability for three different waiters to bring the wrong dish to the same person. It’s not very likely at all, is it?”
“Of course not. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with this, actually. Why would it be that my client so happened to get this sort of treatment when there were no other reported incidents like this one on that day?”
“Maybe because they just weren’t reported?” Trucy wonders.
“Let’s not go there, Trucy. Mr. Wright is starting to make sense again, and I don’t want to ruin it yet.”
Phoenix continues, “Not to mention, while we could always toss it up to ‘bad communication’, there’s still one other possibility we haven’t taken account for.”
“And what would that be, Mr. Wright?” the judge asks.
“It’s simple, Your Honor… Perhaps the staff was instead intentionally acting this way?”
“W-what? Intentionally?”
“What!?” Apollo rebuts, “Why would they have any intention to do that? Ms. Lamiroir doesn’t even go there often, does she?”
“No. I’ve confirmed with her on this as well. That visit of ours was the first time.”
“Then, why would they bear any grudge against her?”
“I wouldn’t call it a ‘grudge’.”
“Huh?”
“Instead, they could have been doing so for a different reason.”
Apollo stares, then shakes his head. “…You’ve just lost me.”
“Me too. Where are you going with this, Mr. Wright?”
“I have to admit I’m just going on a whim here myself, but… what if they were trying to catch her attention?”
“Catch her…”
“…attention?”
“Exactly. After all, Lamiroir is a pretty famous name around the world. Suppose there were big fans of her working there. How would they react if they saw ‘The Landscape Painter in Sound’ enter their restaurant?”
“Um… pretty flustered, I guess.”
“That’s right. And people can make some silly, almost novice mistakes when they’re flustered.”
“…Okay, but if you’re saying they wanted to catch her attention, wouldn’t they do better to, well, leave a better impression on her?”
“Obviously, but sometimes, not everything goes to plan when you want to impress someone, right?”
“Right…”
“So, I believe it’s very likely that this example of bad service wasn’t intended to be bad. It just turned out that way due to some basic human error.”
“…Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too.”
“Perhaps some fan of hers wanted to get her dish delivered as quickly as possible, but something happened in the kitchen – let’s say, some amount of spillage for example – and as a result, they ran into some delays.”
The defendant and restaurant owner’s eyes grow wide. It’s as if Phoenix hit the nail on the head.
“Then, in a desperate attempt to cover their mistake, they tried to get something to her instead. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the right thing ready, so they resorted to some others and as a result, Ms. Lamiroir met with some unexpectedly sloppy service… Am I wrong, Mr. Beets?”
The quiet man stares at him in awe, as if he witnessed something amazing happen. “N-no, sir. It’s all as you say.”
“And what about you… Mr. Justice?”
“Huh? Me? Well… it sounds about right.”
He gives a confident smirk. “Then, there we have it.”
The judge pauses to take it all in, but then raises a good question: “Well, that’s quite the truth you’ve revealed, Mr. Wright… but now I’m wondering just whose side you’re on.”
“What do you mean, Your Honor?”
“Well, I would think the one to give this argument is the defendant’s defense, namely Mr. Justice. It’s an argument that would work for their side, after all.”
(…Oh, yeah. Now that I think about it…)
“Oh, I know, Your Honor,” Phoenix answers, “But even if the reasons behind this incident are mainly benign… it doesn’t exactly change the fact that it still happened.”
Apollo blinks. “Huh?”
The judge nods in approval. “Hmm… you’re right as usual, Mr. Wright. Good intention doesn’t cover for careless negligence, after all.”
And now, Apollo is getting flustered. “W-wait. What just happened? I thought Mr. Wright was coming around to our side…”
“Um, Apollo? I think… you just got dunked on.”
“What?”
“Think about it. Daddy knew what arguments you could pull, and he used them before you could, so you can’t use them anymore against him!”
“W… whaaaaaat!?”
Phoenix gives a light chuckle. “Come on, Apollo. You think I’d be so stupid as to sabotage my own case?”
(Argh! I can’t believe I fell for that… His bad acting at the start of the trial totally threw me off!)
“That’s Daddy for ya! Always one step ahead of Apollo!”
(Haha, very funny… It’s not like you caught on that quickly.)
“Actually, I had a feeling.”
“Yeah, well… be quiet.”
“…Well, Your Honor, it seems Mr. Justice has been fully compromised. Shall we proceed with the verdict?”
“Hmm… Well, Mr. Justice?”
“…I’m so done.”
The judge shakes his head. “Well, it seems both sides have reached a consensus on the matter. While the restaurant staff had no ill intentions behind it, they are still responsible for their poor execution of service. Thus, the plaintiff is entitled to the full amount of given compensation… being, ahem, $10.38.”
Lamiroir shakes her head. “It’s fine, Your Honor. Mr. Wright can have it.”
Phoenix just grins that silly grin.
Apollo, meanwhile, is cringing hard. (Damn it! I knew I should have given him those ten bucks during the recess! Maybe I could have saved myself this public embarrassment…)
“Ten bucks and thirty-eight cents, Apollo!”
“…Stop that, Trucy. Whatever it is you’re doing to read my mind.”
“Aww.” She just grins that silly grin too.
“That will be all. Court is adjourned! …And good grief.”
The final clack of the gavel seals the deal.
~
Back in the lobby…
“Man, I can’t believe that just happened…” Apollo sighs.
“Man, I can’t believe I just got back the $10.38 I paid last night!” Phoenix exclaims.
“Mr. Wright…”
“Nice going in there, Daddy! …But now that I think about it, $10.38 isn’t very much.”
“Hey, it’s enough for another pack of grape juice when they’re on sale.”
“Oh, come on! Again with the grape juice? I thought I told you to cut down on that stuff!”
“Hahaha. Oh, but Trucy, your dear old dad’s gotta have something to drink from time to time!”
“Well, water does just fine, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, but… after thirty-some years of it, you kinda get tired of it, you know?”
“But water’s a classic! No matter where you go, it’s always as effective as it used to!”
“True… true.”
“Anyway…” Apollo interrupts, “What in the heck was all that about!? Why did you even bring this case to court? It was just ten bucks!”
“$10.38, actually.”
“Okay, already! My question still stands!”
“Apollo, look… I know you’ve been through a lot this year…”
“Where are you going with this?”
“…but there comes a time when you have to stick up to whatever life throws at you.”
Apollo is unimpressed. “…Is this supposed to be some sort of life lesson?”
“Patience. I’m getting there.” He turns toward the quiet, elegant lady now joining them. “Welcome, Lamiroir. It’s been a while since you’ve last seen them, hasn’t it?”
She nods. “Yes, it has. I’m glad to have this chance to meet with them once more.”
“You were pretty cool in there too, Lamiroir!” Trucy pipes up, “Even though Daddy was making a big joke out of himself!”
He makes an uncomfortable smile. “Aw, Trucy…”
She smiles. “Thank you, Trucy… Although…”
“Hm?”
She looks to Phoenix, who offers her a reassuring smile, and turns back to them. “…Hmm. It’s strange.”
“Is something bothering you, Lamiroir?” Apollo asks. “Besides Mr. Wright.”
“Hey, now,” he replies, to no avail.
“I never would have imagined we would meet like this…”
“Oh, me neither. Here I thought Mr. Wright was messing around with me yet again with some really silly case, but then I ended up becoming the loser somehow…”
“No, that is not what I mean.”
“Oh, uh, sorry. You were saying?”
“…Incidentally, Mr. Wright and I met yesterday and discussed a few matters concerning you two.”
“Huh? Us?”
“Ooh! Something with us in it? Maybe, even a show together!?”
“Er… I’m not that good a singer, so…”
She chuckles. “No, that isn’t it either.”
“Oh, phooey. If only Apollo could sing…”
“Hey, why is it my fault now?”
“Well, I must admit it feels uncomfortable coming out like this, but it is about time I told you the truth…”
“Oh, wow… It seems like we’re really going to know something big about Ms. Lamiroir after all!”
“Uh… It sounds like it’s something pretty personal. Will it be alright telling it here?”
“No, it’s fine. It is important that you know. You see…” She takes a pause for breath. “After my memory returned, I learned of many things… things that relate to you.”
“Go on…”
“I learned what happened to your mother, Mr. Justice, and yours as well, Ms. Wright.”
“Our mothers?” Trucy gasps. “Oh… but I heard mine passed away a long time ago.”
Apollo shrugs. “And I never knew mine, so I don’t know what happened to her…”
“Yes, but in fact, she did not. She was merely taken to intensive care, where her life was saved, though her memory was erased.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief! And a shame. No wonder we all thought she passed away.”
“Wow. Her memory was erased too?”
“Hey, that sounds familiar…”
“Yeah… awfully so.”
“It took some time, but she eventually recovered. Shortly after that, she underwent eye surgery to recover her sight.”
“She even had eye surgery?” Trucy’s eyes grow wide.
“Her eyesight…?” Apollo has connected some dots too. “…Wait a minute. Lamiroir, are you suggesting…?”
She smiles. “…The two of you have grown up wonderfully. I’m so pleased to call myself your mother.”
The two of them are stunned into silence, and they react together:
“Whaaaaaat!?”
“Lamiroir was my mother all along!? No, wait! She said both of us, right?”
“Whoa… I did not see that coming.”
“Wait… then does that mean we’re siblings, Apollo?”
“Y-yeah… I guess.”
“…Wow, that explains everything.”
“Huh?”
“When I first met you… I thought you were a pretty funny-looking guy.”
“Um… Thanks?”
“But after that, I thought you were familiar in some way. I couldn’t quite touch on why… but now it all makes sense!”
“…I guess it does. I never really thought much about having a sister. It was just me, Nahyuta and Dhurke out there in the countryside at first… and later after I came back here, I met Clay.”
“Wow, Apollo. There wasn’t even one girl in your life, huh?”
“H-hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Guys usually stick together anyway!”
“Tsk, tsk. You have much to learn of the ways of the female, Apollo.”
“…I’m good with knowing how to be a guy, thanks.”
Phoenix happenedly breaks in as if on cue: “Hahaha! Glad to see you two are at it as usual.”
“Daddy, you knew?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t up to me to tell you. Lamiroir – oh, I guess I should say – Thalassa wanted to wait a bit before telling you herself.”
“Oh, yeah! That was Mommy’s name… It’s pretty like I remember.”
“Thalassa, huh… To think we actually met a couple years ago by chance.”
Thalassa replies, “I don’t think so, at least not by chance.”
“Huh?”
“After all, it was Valant who set up the performance there at the Sunshine Coliseum that day. I have a feeling he somehow knew, deep inside…”
Trucy gasps again. “Ohmigosh! I just realized!” She turns back to Apollo. “Apollo! That means you’re a Gramarye too!”
“…Um.”
“I knew it! It really is your destiny to become a magician!”
“But I’m a lawyer…”
“Well, lawyers can be magicians too. There’s no law that says you can’t be both.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know magic all that well…”
“Oh, that can easily be arranged.”
“Huh?”
“Now you’ll have to join me for my magic shows! It’s crucial training for you!”
“But…”
Even Phoenix pitches in: “Come on, Apollo. Do it for your adorable sister, your lovely mother, and your ol’ foster dad!”
“No.”
“What? Why!?” Trucy demands.
“While I can stand Trucy and Lam… uh, my mom… Mr. Wright is another story altogether.”
Phoenix’s smile wilts just a bit. “Apollo…”
“Apollo! What’s wrong with Daddy?”
“Many things.” And with that, he heads off for the exit.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“Out for a walk.”
“Apollo! What about the show and your training!?”
But he hears no more and has walked out.
“Geez! I can’t believe he’d take it so hard!”
“Ah, well… I’m sure he’ll get used to it eventually. That one went through a lot today anyway…”
“…By the way, Daddy…”
“Hm?”
“I’m glad you found me my old Mommy again, but when are you gonna get me a new one?”
“Aw, Trucy, not again…”
“What? It’s important! Unless you want to get married to Mommy here…”
That seems to strike a heavy blow on him. He turns to Thalassa, who keeps on smiling to herself, and shakes his head furiously. “Sorry, Trucy, but I’m not exactly ready for marriage…”
Trucy sighs. “Seems like you need some training yourself.”
“L-let’s just skip the training stuff for me and focus on Apollo, shall we?”
“But he ran away… well, walked away.”
“…Huh, that reminds me. Where did Athena go?”
“She also ran away.”
“I know, but maybe she finally returned to the office?”
“If she’s still not there… can you be my assistant, Daddy?”
He doesn’t answer right away. “…I think you’ll do better with Apollo or Athena before dear ol’ dad, Trucy. My back still hasn’t recovered from last time…”
“Oh, dear. Are you alright?” Thalassa asks.
“Y-yeah, I’m alright now…”
“…I still think you should get me a new Mommy, Daddy. You and Mommy here don’t really fit as a couple.”
“Trucy…” He turns back to Thalassa with a sheepish grin. “Excuse us. I’ll need to have a talk with my daughter.”
“Oh, certainly. I’m already satisfied with seeing them again. Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Wright.”
“Any time, Mrs. Enigmar.”
And so, Thalassa watches her daughter and her daughter’s foster father take their leave after Apollo.
In the meantime, a certain restaurant owner who had been waiting on the sidelines finally comes up to her.
“E-excuse me, ma’am.”
“Oh, yes?”
“I’m still terribly sorry about the disservice my staff put you through. Please let me make it up to you! If you’re willing to stop by again, your next meal will be on us!”
“Oh, well… Thank you, I appreciate it, but I think it will be some time that I return to this country again. I’ve just been taking a short break from my international tour.”
“O-oh, I see…”
“But perhaps you can offer my friend Mr. Wright something if he’s interested…”
“Um, yes, well… He’s put us through quite a lot already, so I’ll have to think about it…”
“Very well.”
Before she leaves, though, he has one more request:
“Um, Ms. Lamiroir?”
“Yes? Is there something else?”
“I-it isn’t every day that I’d do this, but…” He takes off his bowler hat and offers it to her. “May I have your autograph?”
She smiles. “Certainly.”
- - -
The End