Ashes Remain (A Man Named Terran #2)

The Cykesquills

Clay... was gone.

He was gone, and Athena was missing.

He was able to hold himself together until they arrived at the Cosmos Space Center, but fell apart just outside of Boarding Lounge One.

He just couldn't do it yet. He needed Clay to find Athena, and Athena to accept Clay's fate.

Mr. Wright had gone in a while back to take preliminary pictures for the police as a bargaining chip for an initial investigation. Any non-police involved in the case would be allowed to investigate that afternoon, but everything was marked off in yellow tape now.

While he was sitting there, begging himself to be fine just long enough to say goodbye to his best friend, Detective Dunn returned to report none of the people evacuated to the shelter were Athena.

He couldn't start over again. He couldn't be alone again. Just when he'd finally realized his dream of being a defense attorney, of being like the great Phoenix Wright; just when he'd begun to settle into adulthood from all the turmoil his younger years brought, life had to take his two most loved ones away.

"Apollo? The police have to take him now, so uh, if there's anything you'd like to say..."

"Thank you, Mr. Wright. Just let me get up..."

~~~~

December 15th, 2027

11:00am

GYAXA Front Gate

~~~~

Everything was in shambles. The detectives, the Wright Anything Agency, the Cosmos Space Center... They were all piles of ash now. To hear a suspect had already been arrested, and that statements were already being taken was shocking despite such timeliness being common for the police. Apollo wanted to meet the suspect, but was thankful they were still in questioning. No more until he'd processed everything else. He'd decided to walk around just outside the police tape, and that's when he heard what sounded like a crash in the bushes. "Detective? I think there's something in the brush over here. Mind if I take a look?"

"Sure. Let me know if you find anything. Need to stay behind the tape here. Fulbright's in charge of the inside, I'm expected to keep things secure out here."

Whatever was in there, it couldn't make the day any worse. Unless it was Athena's dead body. But he'd just heard the crash. If it was her, she couldn't be dead yet, right?

"Okay... Here comes Justice."

He took a few steps into the bushes, then heard more rustling noises up ahead. Once he pinpointed which bushes they were coming from, he hopped over and pulled them back. "Athena!"

Her eyelids fluttered open, but stopped halfway up her eyes. Her head was thrown back by something, and her lower body seemed limp. He saw the unfocus in her eyes, yet still expected a response from her. "Athena! Can you hear me?!" In one leap, he hopped the bushes and began to check her over. Once she was in his arms, he felt her pull into his figure with a dropping grip and a shuddering body. "It's okay, Thena, I've got you." Aside from the limpness in her back, nothing seemed abnormal. Her shaking was called for, considering the events of the past day. Then, he began to shake as well, and in her presence, everything came rushing through. "Clay's dead, Athena, they just found his body in the boarding lounge. And where were you? We've been so worried! Oh, I couldn't keep from worrying you were gone too!" He buried his face into her shoulder to stop his words.