Ace Attorney: Crashing Fates

Turnabout Recollection, Part 11 (Chrysalis)

After Thomas dragged Kyo off to the back room, I decided to sit on the agency couch and prop my feet up for a while. I had used most of today's energy (a limited thing) on arguing with Mr. Tyler, so I needed a moment to relax.

Cotoli walked in shortly after, messing with something in his pocket. He looked rather distressed, if you ask me... "Hey, Chrysalis," he said, taking a seat next to me.

I jumped to my feet, feeling that maybe some romance would help me feel better about life. "Hey, Cotoli! I know that you've been planning to propose to Polly recently, so... Have you done it yet?!" I asked, grinning brightly.

Cotoli blinked in confusion. "I don't know what you mean," he frowned.

"But you were going to-" I paused, staring at the object in his pocket. That looked like a cravat, come to think of it... "No... No... No no no no no no no no this isn't happening!!"

"What isn't happening?" 'Cotoli' questioned, cocking his head in confusion.

I shoved past him and ran from the agency, pulling out my phone. "Polly!!" I cried once I had dialed the number I wanted.

"Are... Are you okay, Chrysalis?" Polly asked me, clearly concerned.

"Agency! Five minutes! This is important!!" I exclaimed, hanging up as soon as I finished.

I was waiting for three minutes and fifty eight seconds (it's not like I was counting in my panic or anything) before Polly appeared on the horizon. I ran to her side, seizing her hand and dragging her for the agency.

Well, not the agency. It's more accurate to say I took her to the cellar under the building where the agency is.

Polly made a few confused noises as I pulled her along. "Where are we going?" she asked, not understanding how severe the situation was.

Though I suppose that is my fault for not telling her...

"Who cares?! Cotoli just said something really weird! It was the equivalent of him saying that he doesn't love you!!" I yelled.

"B-but he would never do that!!" Polly exclaimed, thinking that he was breaking up with her.

"Exactly! He wouldn't do something like that in a million years!! Which makes me think that Cotoli isn't with us! That he was kidnapped or something!!" I shouted.

"But when could this have happened?!" Polly asked, her eyes going wide.

"Maybe... Of course! He came home late after the crime at the bar! Maybe the culprit switched places with him the night of the murder!!" I told her.

"T-then where is he?!"

I pointed to the cellar doors. "I think that he's down there," I said.

"What are you waiting for?! Get us in there, Chrysalis!!" Polly demanded.

I nodded and began ramming my shoulder against the door to the cellar. It ached, but after a few more tries (which made my shoulder begin to bleed ever so slightly), the door gave way, so I stumbled inside, nearly landing on my face in the process.

Polly grabbed my wrist and helped me to my feet. She was staring at something in clear shock as she did so, leaving me confused about what she was so surprised to see.

I followed her eyes and realized what it was.

There was a figure slumped over in the dark corner of the cellar. Their hair was dirty and knotted and blood stained their clothes here and there. The person was breathing heavily, as if in some sort of pain.

I gasped as I realized who it was...

...Cotoli.

I let out a shrill scream and ran to his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Cotoli!! Wake up!! You can't leave me now!!" I yelled through tears. The salty fluid made its way down my cheeks and fell onto his hoodie.

Polly ran to the other side of Cotoli, checking for a pulse. She released the tension in her shoulders. "He's alive... Badly beaten, but alive..." she told me.

"We need to get him to a hospital as soon as we can," I said sternly.

"I'll call the police now so that they'll be here-" Polly tried to begin, though I cut her off.

"No. If we wait for them to arrive, the person who did this to him could come back. We need to take him and run," I told her.

Polly seemed to understand my logic and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and helped me lift. I noticed that his fist was clenched on my side, so I gently unfurled his fingers to look at what was inside. I expected some sort of rock or stone but instead...

...I saw the ring he had bought four months ago.

The one he was going to use to propose to Polly.

I held back a gasp and pocketed the ring quickly so that Polly wouldn't notice it. She didn't seem to care, instead staring distantly away from me. I guess that this had come as a huge shock to her.

"I kissed that copycat freak," she whispered, her teeth grinding together in anger. "I kissed the person copying Cotoli!!"

"It's okay... He'll be back to normal soon, and then he can tell us who did this to him. They'll go to jail for their crimes. I promise," I assured her.

Polly nodded, but I could tell that she wasn't entirely absorbing what I was saying. Tears were welling up in her eyes, which shocked me most of all. I had never seen her cry. Never. Either that or I forgot.

I patted her on the back, hoping to make her feel at least a little bit better about the whole situation. "It'll be okay," I told her, hoping my whisper had been as soothing as I had hoped.

"I hope so... I don't know what I'll do if it isn't okay..." Polly murmured, the tears in her eyes spilling from the floodgates and falling down her face. I bit my lip to keep from crying myself, but judging by how my vision went blurry and I felt a sob rise in my throat, I didn't restrain myself as well as I thought I would.

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p LOOOOOOT TWISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST

-Digital