THIRD PERSON

"I just...didn't know when you'd find out." Loki frowned at the smaller fox before crossing her legs on the ground.

"S-So you knew all this time!?" Grace turned her head to slightly grimace at the Zoroark.

Loki flinched in response, but she continued to hold her composure with a calm expression.

"Not the entire time, I only found out after his death." The dark-type huffed lightly as her eyes looked elsewhere. "I put the pieces together from what I learned about Vanta's past..."

"...but you didn't tell me..." Grace sniffled in reaction.

"I didn't want to make you more emotional—it was a bad time to reveal it. I was more worried about the fact that Sam decided to let Talus and Lancer know they're related, but not you and Vanta." The Zoroark muttered in thought as she subconsciously wrapped the Umbreon's corpse with a blanket.

The Eevee didn't have much of a response to that.

"It hurts a lot for me too, you know." Loki sharply inhaled at the sight of Vanta's lifeless eyes before turning to the ground. "I depended on him a lot, it's not going to be good without him."

"Sam called us...didn't she?" Grace uttered with a monotone voice.

Loki only nodded in affirmation before the Eevee forced herself off the ground and trudged away, leaving the Zoroark behind.

The black fox only took a moment of silence to watch the Umbreon's body for a moment. Time was moving so quickly that even this was too much for her to accept.

She would have to continue forward for him.

After a few minutes of waiting, a considerable portion of the participants had gathered in the center of the living room as ordered. Though some were missing, this didn't stop them from conversing to pass the time.

"Not lookin' good." Sherwood crossed his arms and picked at his fangs with a talon. "I got some theories but nothin' concrete."

"We provide what we're able." Leon reassured after heaving a pained sigh. "Let us pray that it's enough."

"Is everybody here?" Sammy approached the center of the room with a clipboard against her chest.

"We're missing Loki, Grace, Galant, and Vince." Rayne answered as she kept a tally in her head.

"I'm here." Vince casually strolled up around the corner with his arms crossed. "Is Grace alright? Where is she?"

"Loki went out to look for her a bit ago." Sammy frowned up at the Greninja. "They should be here any minute now."

"Hmm..." The frog hummed lightly in response. "I'm not likin' this at all. Vanta dying is a fucked up situation...poor guy didn't deserve it."

"He didn't, but that's why we should pay attention to the trial so this wasn't in vain." Luster added with a clear of his throat.

ZANTAI'S POV

The remaining few had finally come back from whatever they were doing before the trial. Both Galant and Grace were visibly upset once they returned—something else was bothering them outside of Vanta's death.

No one really wanted to say much else aside from Luster's reassurance about the trial. Sherwood mentioned something about this one being the most important one, as this time we had little to no evidence as to who did it.

"Alright~!" Sam's voice chirped through the intercom. "Everybody step into the center of the room right now!"

Following her orders like some mindless soldiers, we all decided to comply with her words and stand exactly where she wanted us. As if we'd done this a million times before, we were not surprised when the ground came to a rumbling start and lowered slowly.

Every time we go through this the ride down gets even quieter. All it is anymore is the pitch-black darkness accompanied by the gentle hum of the machinery.

It felt like there was a lot more space in the elevator—thinking about that too much makes me hate that feeling. We haven't really accepted just how many of us have died already.

Once the machines shifted into white noise, I could clearly hear one of the girls sniffling—presumably Grace. She was decently close to Vanta, so I wouldn't be surprised if this affected her badly.

Finally, the elevator came to an abrupt stop. The doors swung open to reveal a familiar and dreaded room.

"Welcome, welcome~!" Sam's voice rang from the other side of the courtroom. She fidgeted with a string of confetti before tossing it around her throne. "Say cheers for the first death in weeks!"

"Fuck off." Luster spat towards the ground as he trudged out of the elevator first.

"Why the hell would we celebrate that?" I muttered under my breath as I found my podium.

"Oh, you all are so silly, of course you guys wouldn't celebrate that!" The manic Braixen leaned back and raised a leg against her chair. "That's more of a me kind of thing!"

"Can we just get started?" Vince bluntly uttered to the vixen on the throne.

"Alright, alright. Don't let me stop you all from conversing!" Sam leaned back with a sly grin aimed at the Greninja.

"I'm not gonna waste any time, then." Luster added before placing a paw against his podium. "Let's try to find out the time of death."

I respect the immediate theory crafting, we could have been using our time better in the previous trials.

"Shouldn't Sherwood know? He was with him the whole time." Laker quickly questioned.

"Yeah, but I wasn't awake for his death." Sherwood grumbled in frustration...it seemed as if he was thinking about the situation in hindsight.

"That's alright." Loki nodded in reassurance. "Maybe we can piece it together based on when you fell asleep?"

After a small nod from the Sceptile, I watched as Grace cleared her throat and mustered up the courage to speak.

"I-I can say that it was around twelve in the morning when I left." The Eevee gulped in preparation.

"Doesn't take me that long to start dozin' off..." Sherwood crossed his arms in thought. "I'd say about a half hour later I was asleep."

There wasn't too much to piece together, the biggest issue is the lack of information. Vanta had to have died after Grace left, but the question is when did it happen?

"So we can safely assume that it happened after twelve in the morning?" Loki scanned her eyes across the room for any objections.

"And also before three in the morning." Luster quickly added before anyone else could continue. "I read the clock whenever we left to investigate."

So after 12 and before 3 in the morning? Seems like quite a crunch in time...

"Now that we're done with that." Laker huffed lightly. "Can we get to the evidence? I got shit I wanna say."

"Go ahead." Luster shrugged lightly and eyed the Weavile.

"Are we not gonna talk about how there was a big ass vent in the corner of Hydra's office?" The weasel crossed his clawed arms.

Now that I remember it, I do remember falling down and eating shit in front of everyone...a little embarrassing but it's important.

"Galant." Sammy turned to the bladed 'mon, who was seemingly daydreaming. "You went up to the gym to see where it connected. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, uh..." Galant frowned and placed his blade against the podium in front of him. "It leads to an attic of some sort."

"An attic?" The young Braixen hummed.

"Ahah!" Sam, the older Braixen, immediately chimed in with a wide grin. "Our dear brother needed that to store his medical supplies in! The vent is a little shortcut for transportation!"

"Why can't you give us that info sooner?" Vince snarled at the throned vixen.

"Because that'd be boooring~!" She giggled. "I'd rather wait till you get close to the answer."

"Don't focus on her." Luster cleared his throat to sway the attention. "We got our answer already."

"Point is, there's a vent that was not locked in Hydra's office." Loki started. "Whether that be because it was left that way or it was tampered with is unknown."

"I'd rather say it like...no matter what, it could have been involved in the murder." Luster rephrased with a small frown.

"I'm still hesitant to say it was a murder." Sammy quickly interjected with a puzzled expression. "Something about this all is giving me a bad feeling."

I wish I had something more to add. Part of me wants to believe it wasn't a murder, but the other half can't deny that something weird is going on.

"There's not much to say it's a murder, either." Rayne heaved a long sigh. "Trust me, I want to take your guys' word for it, but there's something else going on here."

"There were a couple of signs that proved to be a dormant illness, but the issue with its validity is that I've never seen something similar act that intensely." Sammy turned to a small clipboard she brought to the room. "Whatever he had clearly affected his immune system."

"Immune system..?" Grace tilted her head at the words.

"Ya'know, the shit that protects you from getting sick?" Laker raised a brow at the Eevee.

"She knows what an immune system is, dumbass." Vince narrowed his eyes at the weasel, who quickly flashed a small grimace back.

"How am I supposed to know that?" The Weavile raised his arms in complaint.

"Whatever it was, that's good info." Luster turned to nod at the younger Braixen. "If it was his immune system that affected him that could add to the argument that it wasn't a murder."

"I'm still quite confused about the memory gem situation..." Galant thought aloud before finally speaking up. "It's very rough since the user no longer remembers anything."

"We missed our small window to catch them, too." Sammy frowned in response. "Whenever you choose to forget your memories it takes a few minutes for it to wear off."

"You mentioned five minutes, correct?" Rayne recalled with a worried expression. "That means anything after those five minutes is obsolete proof..."

"Not necessarily." Leon politely objected. "We may make our observations based on the positioning of our suspect. If they simply forget all about what they are doing, then they will not be very far from any crime scene."

"I'm sure whoever took the memory was smart enough to haul ass and leave immediately, though." I quickly added. "Luster and Rayne didn't see a thing, and we know they ran there."

"I think that's where I say somethin' important." Sherwood announced after tapping his claw on the podium. "The speaker was definitely messed with, when I looked inside there was a lot of burnt wiring."

"You looked inside it?" Laker questioned with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Yeh, so what? It was important to look." The Sceptile crossed his arms.

"Did anyone see you?" The weasel raised a brow.

A small pause in the room was about to make Laker burst into an argument before a voice called out.

"I saw him." Galant raised his bladed arm forward. "For a bit, I-I wasn't really paying too much attention."

"Whatever..." Laker cleared his throat. "Let us know next time."

"Point it, you saw that it was tampered with?" Luster inquired.

After earning a small nod from Sherwood, I witnessed the feline visually take a mental note of this before continuing with the investigation.

"Why would the speaker need to be messed with?" Loki nervously bit her claw with a prominently puzzled face.

"Maybe to mask their voice?" I inferred.

"I would agree with you if it wasn't already distorted to begin with." Luster heaved a small sigh. "When I ordered it the quality already sounded that way."

"I have a question." Grace turned to lock eye contact with Sam, who was now sitting cross-legged on her throne. "So you have to say the words 'I wish to forget' in order for the memory erasure to happen, right?"

"Indeedee!" Sam nodded in affirmation.

"Does the gem have to recognize your voice?" The Eevee immediately replied with a very interesting question.

"Nope!" The Braixen giggled. "The gem doesn't have ears, silly, it understands your intentions because it's linked with your brain!"

"Then why do you need to be close to the gem for it to work?" Loki, now interested in the conversation, quickly questioned the science.

"Alright, it appears we need a little lesson!" Sam spread her arms in joy at the thought before leaping off her throne.

We didn't notice it earlier, but where the giant projector screen normally is was a hook that the older Braixen dragged down with her wooden staff. A plain whiteboard the size of the screen was now in view before Sam started etching symbols with the end of her stick.

"A current-day memory gem works in the way of conscience, however, everything has a range!" The older Braixen uttered as she scribbled a surprisingly good visual of a memory gem. "As I mentioned, you and the memory gem are linked once you use it. However, like anything that uses your conscience or psychic energy, it has about thirty to sixty feet range."

"Do walls interfere?" Leon asked before the older Braixen shook her head in response.

"Normally, no...but if you want to forget a memory then the gem must feel the vibration in your voice." Sam tapped the whiteboard with her staff. "It can recognize you no matter how much you change your voice, and all because it's linked to your brain!"

"So then that's why it worked." Grace muttered with a light snarl in her throat. "The gem doesn't need to recognize you, it just needs you to say the magic words."

"I'd like to add something to that, though." Luster eyed the crowd before taking a deep breath. "Before the phrase was said, I heard some shuffling through the vents in the garage. I'm wondering if it was one of you messing with something, or if someone was actually in the vents."

No one could say much about that. There was a small pause where everyone looked around for any comments on the topic, leading the Luxray to shake his head in dismissal.

"Looks like that's another point towards it being a murder, I suppose..." He sighed.

"Hold the fuck up, how come you just expect us to believe you? You're the only person vouching for that!" Laker hissed at the feline, who quickly turned away.

"I understand, but I'm not gonna keep shut about something like that." Luster reasoned.

"I can somewhat vouch for him." Rayne butted in with a small tap on her podium. "I met up with him before the phrase was said and he mentioned something about the vents. The issue is I personally did not hear the noise."

"Arceus...if only I just had more time." Galant slightly grimaced and slid a blade against the stand in front of him. "There was something deeply bothering me about this all."

"It's too late now." I stated bluntly. "If we didn't use our time correctly, that's our fault."

"You know what..." Sam snickered from the other side of the room and spread her arms in the air. "I have a fun idea!!"

We all turned to watch her as she maniacally leaped onto her throne and whispered unintelligible things to no one in particular—presumably one of her goons who were invisible.

She whipped around to face us with a bright smile and aimed her staff towards the Gallade next to me.

"Galant! I think this will be very fun, and you'll soon know why I picked you. You will be allowed back into the mansion for thirty minutes to explore to your heart's content!" Sam ordered with giggles in between her words.

What the hell? Since when was this a thing? I'm not gonna complain about another chance, but why now? Why him?

"W-What?" Galant was visibly shocked—as anyone would be. He turned to the rest of the group with an unsure expression. "Really? Why?"

"It's also an excuse for me to test something very special." Sam trotted over and yanked on the hook until the whiteboard swung out of view. Instead, we now saw the same television...except this time it was a blurry static. "You will be equipped with a camera and a microphone to communicate with your friends!"

This is getting weird, why would Galant need something like that?

"Listen, I'm not gonna complain about another chance to get evidence, but tell me why Galant would need all of this other than morbid curiosity?" Luster tilted his head towards the Braixen.

"Oh, you will see!" The older Braixen chuckled lightly and tossed a thin vest towards the Gallade. "You will put this vest on. It's breathable, small, and comfortable. That's where the camera and microphone are, and if you break it, you will be executed."

I witnessed the poor bladed Pokemon visibly gulp in the pressure. I knew he could do it, but what the hell was Sam planning? She definitely would let him just waltz in the mansion mid-trial, right?

Right?

GALANT'S POV

Sam was most likely leading me into a trap. I've known her for this long and all she's done is test things on us like little lab rats.

I've never ridden the elevator up completely alone before. It doesn't feel any different from how it usually is—all it's missing are some sniffles and sobbing, I guess.

"Mic check, mic check!" I heard Sam's voice chime in through a very minuscule speaker on my vest's shoulder.

"Yeah, I hear you." I groaned in complaint.

I didn't know there would be a speaker on this thing.

"Make sure you're fast." Luster's voice called out to me through the gravelly noise in the speaker. "We're counting on you."

Surely this camera could also see in the dark, Sam would have to know exactly what I'm doing for me to even be allowed back in the mansion.

The ride back felt a little slower than usual...or am I just going crazy?

Whatever, I just need to stay focused and get as much info as I can. Sherwood mentioned something about the speaker, I could start with that. Maybe I could even look into the garage to see what vents Luster was talking about.

I feel like if I were to go anywhere it would be the kitchen, something about that place feels important to the trial.

"Alrighty! Once you're up to the surface I will temporarily cut communication with you! We will make sure to be extra silent." Sam somehow thought that would reassure me.

"What? What do you mean 'extra silent'? What's the point in putting a microphone and speaker here if I'm not gonna be able to talk to you guys?" I practically whined to my vest in an attempt to find the microphone.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want tha—" Sam audibly cut off mid-sentence the moment the hatch above me swung open.

Usually, there'd be light from the chandelier on the ceiling, but this time it was nearly pitch black. Every time we'd come back from a trial it was always closer to early morning, but now I'm coming back at practically midnight.

Once the platform below me came to a halt, I was greeted with the dark—and yet barely visible—interior of the living room.

There wasn't much to see though, and I had to try something in order to know where I was.

"Arceus, it's dark in here." I audibly complained before my entire body froze.

As if it was in reaction to hearing my voice, a bright pair of orange eyes looked back at me. Its entire body was bioluminescent, but it only began glowing after reacting to noise.

To see if it was a threat, however, didn't take very long. I could see the bright chemicals flow through its quadruped body before its wide jaws detached to let out a blood-curdling screech—one loud enough to nearly deafen me.

I couldn't move.

"Oh, and say hello to my new Mingle for me, okay?"