'What strange sight doth mine eyes behold!'
the man said, twirling his baton, phoenix mentally groaned in his head, ...greeaat
'Two men on either side of a single transparent pane... ...yet it seems fickle Fate has switched sides, so to speak! The forger of fakes walks freely. While the innocent languishes within these flexiglass confines'
Phoenix stared angrily at him
'There's been no proof that jousha poppet forged anything'
'Nor proof that I took the life of my dear mentor'
he replied back, phoenix studied him with his eyes, watching out for his body language and anything else that may seem off
'Yet... these chains cannot hold me for long. The stage awaits! And what, may I ask, awaits you?'
'A piano in a shitty cold little hole-in-the-wall'
he replied back, crossing his arms, valant smirked
'But, since you are here... ...what shall we discuss?, I have to hand it to my partner. He knows how to make an exit. That's talent'
phoenix glowered at him through his eyes
'yeah, he made my fill in losing his badge, and he never even fucking touched it'
Valant carried on with his cheerful stone however
'Glory's spotlight always leaves someone weeping in the shadows... ...yet his very disappearance is itself a revelation'
Phoenix raised a brow
'Revealing what?'
'Zak Gramarye killed Magnifi. It's as good as a signed confession, I grow tired of my cage. And the time of my release is near. I must go and prepare'
'your seriously planning on going back to magic after this?'
most people who are such a high public figure would ditch their career to save their public image, the fact that valant was willing to go back to perform despite being a suspect for the murder of his mentor, that was unusual
'As long as an audience waits with bated breath, there will be Valant. And also...'
he trailed off, phoenix rolled his eyes
'what?!'
'Now that my partner has disappeared, Magnifi's repertoire... is mine. Valant Gramarye has a tradition to uphold'
Phoenix perked up at that a little
'Seen in this light, the trial was quite good to me, verdict or no. And... you can't pay for that kind of publicity'
'The suspicion on you hasn't lifted entirely Gramarye, you received one of those letters too, You were just as obligated to follow Magnifi's instructions as your partner'
Valant stared at him for a moment before he spoke
'...So I was. But only Zak Gramarye followed them. Let us not speak any more of "who shot what". Now that my partner has vanished... the question is moot'
'i'm not here for that'
valant raised a brow at him
'What might that be?'
'how could Magnifi coerce you and your partner to kill him?'
'The "trick" up his "sleeve"? Ah ha ha ha ha...! Perhaps you do not know'
phoenix glared at him
'let me fucking guess, a great magician never reveals his secrets
'....perseisly'
the two stared at each other, the atmosphere getting darker
'The audience must remain forever... in the audience. ...Bathing in the reflected glow of the spotlight'
Phoenix narrowed his eyes at him
'"To ask someone to take a life, even one not long for this world" that's literally asking someone to commit a fucking murder.
Valant nodded
'Yes. Our mentor was fond of dramatic moves... and dramatic finales'
he admitted, but that wasn't enough for phoenix
'he got his wish. His life was taken. What "weakness" could be so powerful as to coerce someone into committing murder? My guess is this, life or death'
valant stared at him
.'..Care to explain?'
'Your troupe lived in a world of showmanship , "the flashier, the better" and that often means danger doesn't it!'
Valant stared at him again
'...Let us make this as painless as possible. If you have proof of this "danger"... then show it'
phoenix wasted no time as he pulled out the stage pistol, all the evidence from the trial was in his hands now after jousha was let go of his attorney duties
'...! Why, that's one of ours!'
'this is specially designed for your show, A single bullet... One shot...'
he said a little more slowly, watching valant slowly lose his cool and confident stance
'...What are you suggesting!? We are magicians, Mr. Wright. Not murderers!'
'I'm not crying "murder", I'm crying something far more tragic, An accident'
valant tilted his head slightly downward, his hat slightly covering his face
'Zak & Valant's Quick-Draw Shootem"... ...How long has it been since those shots were last heard?'
'Was the Shootem cancelled because someone might get hurt?'
'...Of course. What other reason could there be?'
'it could have been cancelled because someone had already been hurt'
he pointed out, valant eyes shot up in surprise but quickly regained his composure, but phoenix mentally smirked in his head, yeah, he was onto something
'...! Fascinating, my Faustian forging friend. But tell me, what can you prove with a single pistol?'
'tell me, what would have happened if there had been an accident. What if one of your bullets took a life on stage?'
he asked, watching him closely
'The performance of magic is not concerned with "what ifs". It is concerned with precision. Precisely whom do you claim we shot!?'
'Thalassa, trucy's mother, and gramarye's wife'
he simply said, crossing his arms, Valant eyes widen as he began to sweat bullets
'Ah! Allakazaaaaugh--Bu-But how can you say this? How can you say she was struck by one of our bullets?'
he said, phoenix raised a bow
"he's still fucking trying to denie it"
"Thalassa was at the greatest risk of being shot. And this clearly shows just how much danger she was in!'
he then showed the picture of the stamp from his phone
'Troupe Gramarye's performances were very popular, they even made a commemorative stamp at the height of your fame'
'We were not merely the "latest craze"... We were an age. A golden age'
he said, staring at the photo, phoenix pointed at the women in the middle
'...It's all here on this stamp. ...There's Thalassa, yes?'
Valant reaction said it all, phoenix glared into his eyes
'what happened to trucy's mother?'
'I... I don't know!'
he stuttered out, but after a moment, he regained his composure
'...There is one thing you're failing to address'
he fixed him with a hard look
'what?!'
'As you say, our troupe was a world unto itself. If our leader, Magnifi was so inclined, he could hide anything he wished with ease. ...But, Mr. Wright. Then he would have hid a crime... making him an accomplice! ...Not a great foundation for blackmail'
to his surprise, phoenix simply smirked
'It wasn't a question of who shot Thalassa, Thalassa was the problem!'
Valant stared at him, no way did he know
'What... do you mean?;
'She was Zak Gramarye's wife, Trucy's mother and Magnifi Gramarye's only daughter!'
Valant eyes widen in shock, it wasn't so hard to piece together, it made sense after all, why else would valant bo so compelled to magnifi
'There was a terrible accident, and the two of you killed your mentor's only daughter! If that wasn't the key to Magnifi's power over you, I don't know what fucking was!'
Valant eyes widen as he cried out in despair
'It... It was... It was an accident!!!, ...There's no proof, none at all!!!'
'Thalassa went missing, and your mentor blackmailed both of his disciples. It doesn't take a genius to put one and one together'
he pointed out, valant frowned as he looked down at his gloved hands
'...... Ours was... a complex family, The master, Magnifi Gramarye, his only daughter... ...and his two disciples'
phoenix took out his notepad as he began to write
'Do not be tempted into faulty flights of fancy. Yes, there was an accident... ...but that is all it was. An accident. Zak & Valant's tour de force! The guns blaze, the bullets fly... straight toward that beautiful body on stage. And then crash! zing! pow! into everything but her. Now that... is magic. It happened one day when we were practicing. Same trick, with a new twist. And... tragedy. But as for whose bullet stole Thalassa's life... ...we shall never know the answer. Thalassa disappeared from our lives... and Zak was bereft of his wife. Trucy lost her mother... ...and Magnifi, his daughter.
'which then later led to blackmail'
'It is all part and parcel of the darkness that comes when the curtain falls'
he comfirmed
'Why did Magnifi Gramarye try to cover up the accident, It was his own daughter who fucking died!'
he simply shrugged
'All I can say is, it was a critical time for Troupe Gramarye. A passing of the torch from Magnifi to Zak & Valant. We all sacrificed so that it might be a success. Thalassa's death... was the greatest sacrifice of all. Yet... ...even when her life was extinguished, her presence was not'
he raised a brow at him
;In time, we, myself and Zak, found we could no longer oppose Magnifi's wishes. Magnifi forced us to perform his art, for his benefit'
'..in a way i can understand he did lose his only daughter, ...but still fucked up to try and cover a death like that, especially when it's your own damn kid'
Valant nodded
'you find cowardice in his actions yes? To decide to hide the truth of your own daughter's death is one thing... ...but then to hang that death as a guillotine above our heads!?'
he cried out in angry, but this was also a hint of sadness in his voice, phoenix expression softend a bit
'..does trucy know?'
he shook his head
'She was not told. ...Naturally. Who would want to know that their father might have taken their mother's life?'
a sudden flashback of his own mother and Willam appeared in phoenix's head, he glared down at the notepad
"trust me ...no child in this world does...."
'...I had not thought of that accident for a very long time'
he said dreadfully, Phoenix closed up his notepad and said in a less intimidating voice
'I'm sorry to bring up up bad memories, but this has helped a lot'
'Not to find Magnifi's slayer, I should think'
Phoenix said nothing as he just stared down at his hands, suddenly, valant spoke up
'Ah...'
phoenix looked up at him
'After that accident... ...there was one who came sniffing, quite persistently'
'A reporter?'
he asked
'He called himself a "newsman" at the time. Often I spied him lurking about the dressing room, doing his "research"'
phoenix had a feeling he knew who it was
'you remember his name?'
'What was his name...? Sorry, I have forgotten. But, in the course of his interview, he became quite close to my partner, Zak. I liked him not, His name... I do not recall. But his scent -- the cloying aroma of mint. ...Yes, whenever he smiled. Which was far too often'
Phoenix nodded, and just when he was about to leave, valant said one last thing to him
'...It does no good to interfere with the past, Mr. Wright. You will not uncover answers. Only wounds'
and once again, phoenix silently agrees with him on that