Sorrow & Mercy: a Great Ace Attorney AU

Violent Grief

The sound pierced Susato, throttled her awake. A fear she could not explain clasped her body and tugged it upright in bed. Heart clamouring, she strained to listen. The room was grey, shadows bruising towards light as morning ascended. All was still.

Then it pierced her again. A low, keening wail.

Panic threw her feet to the floor. She tripped over the bedding and bumped into the corner of a dresser. Then yanked the door open and hurtled down the stairs.

The sobbing was loud. It guided her along the hallway, past the drawing room's side entrance. Towards the study.

"Susato. Stop."

Confusion tilted through her panic, scratched at her mind. That was Genshin calling after her. Wasn't it? But Susato's nerves would not allow her to obey his command or even to glance back and see if it was truly him. She barrelled forward. And the doorway came into view.

Susato slowed.

The sobbing sound was a bit quieter now, but constant. She could hear his breath between each cry. Something pricked at the back of her mind. Recognition, despite the fact she had never heard his voice sound that way before.

Gradually, the entrance to the study drew closer to Susato. Although, she could feel nothing. Not the rug beneath her feet, not the movement of her own legs, not her own breath.

And then she caught a glimpse of the room.

It made no sense. Like she was staring into the gaping maw of a nightmare that had carved itself into the hallway. This could not be real. She had to be sleeping. They had a tall gate. They knew how to protect themselves. How could anything bad possibly happen in the van Zieks' manor? This was not the study. This was not the place where she had sat writing letters. This was not the room where she had hunched with Barok over books for hours, lantern burning low into the night, their voices hushed as they wrote and studied together. This was not the room where Klint often disappeared to write and collect his thoughts. This wasn't a room at all. It wasn't.

Susato stared numbly at his back. He was kneeling on the floor, his bowed shoulders trembling as he sobbed. She could not see his face, but she did not need to. She would know him anywhere. Those broad shoulders, his hair and the way it fell against his neck, his pristine waistcoat, so at odds with his mourning.

How could this sound be real? Barok never sounded this way. He was soft-spoken, calm, measured. Never had his breath twisted with such piercing despair.

And then Susato's gaze shifted. She realised Barok was holding something. No, that was not quite right. Something was there. Resting on the floor. Her view was partially shielded by Barok's shaking shoulders. All she could see was a red sleeve. And a hand. Fingertips stained with scarlet.

Susato backed up, her throat sticking shut. Truth sank its teeth into her, deep and undeniable. Her lungs attempted to scream, but she could barely breathe, and no sound could fight its way out.

Genshin's arms clasped her by the shoulders. He dragged her back, crushing her cheek to his chest. But she could not move or even turn. Her wide eyes were trapped, ensnared by the door. And the nightmare it displayed.

"Come, Susato. Come away from this."

His voice floated strangely above the scene. Too loud. Too familiar. Susato could not understand how his voice belonged to this time, to this moment.