//March 18, 2027. Morix Law Offices, 3:01 PM//

I walked into the agency with Venus close behind. Averl had gotten a text on the way, so she had to go home. I guess it was better that it would just be Mr. Morix, Venus, and I at the agency so we could discuss things that happened at the trial.

"Mr. Morix?" I asked.

He walked out from the back room. "Great job at the trial today, Lucas," he said.

"Why did you leave?" I questioned.

"I got a call from Interpol to expect Chrysalis back soon. I dashed back here so that I could meet her," Mr. Morix answered.

"That makes sense," Venus said.

"Oh! Venus!" Mr. Morix gasped. "Glad you're here."

"I want you to explain a few things about the trial today," I told him. "Why you spoke from the gallery out of nowhere, why you left, how you knew about Interpol coming...."

"I left for a short period of time so that I could call Interpol to ask about their progress in finding my sis. They hadn't found her yet, so I was asked to stall. And as for how I knew that they were there, I could see silhouettes through the window of the plane," Mr. Morix explained, finishing with a laugh. "Evil assassin, ha! They didn't even notice Interpol coming to get them!"

I could tell he was just putting up a facade, but I decided not to call him out on it. He did get rather emotional about the topic, after all.

"Keep acting, Cotoli," Venus sighed, shaking her head. "You could definitely use the practice."

"Cotoli?"

I gasped and looked in the doorway. There she was.

Chrysalis walked inside slowly. She looked tired. Not that I blame her. "Cotoli...!" she exclaimed, running to her brother. The two hugged. I smiled slightly. They sure were a cute little pair of siblings. Well, if you could call Mr. Morix 'little,' that is.

"I was so worried about you...!" Mr. Morix whispered into her hair.

Chrysalis nodded gently. "I'm happy to be back, to say the least," she told him. I saw a tear slip down her face. Venus rubbed her eyes from next to me. I didn't expect her to be the kind of person to tear up at a situation like this. Wait, I'm starting to tear up now. Gosh, Venus!

The two siblings released their embrace as I rubbed my eyes to make them stop leaking. Chrysalis met eyes with Mr. Morix, who nodded. She sighed and slowly turned to face Venus and I.

Chrysalis slowly walked towards me, avoiding my gaze by having a staring contest with the floor. Venus stepped back, as if to give us a very little more privacy. That's certainly an odd move, if you ask me.

When I looked back to Chrysalis, she was about two feet away from me. "S-so, you know now...."

I nodded. "Yeah. Venus told me."

"I-I hope you aren't mad.... I was going to tell you, I really was!" Chrysalis exclaimed, meeting my gaze.

"I'm not mad. But I just want to know...why didn't you tell us anything about this until now? It's a big secret to keep," I said.

"I came to the office after the VY-3 trial to tell you guys so that you could help me out with this whole project," Chrysalis replied. "But the fact that I was the motive for an accomplice's murder...it was a bit too much for me to take emotionally. So I avoided it for a while. Until the Buff Guiy murder...I had to face the music when I was assigned to the case."

"Wait. If you were Jo Jade, how did you suggest to Detective Mills to arrest Yuri?" I questioned.

"My questioning ended up finishing earlier than you guys'. I changed into the other costume, since it was stashed at the precinct, and suggested it that way," she replied. "The things I pull like this only get more complicated from there."

"Well, now that you know, you're going to have to keep this a secret. I don't want to endanger anybody else at the agency because of this secret," Mr. Morix said. "You do realize how risky this is, correct?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Venus explained it all to me."

"So, this will remain our little secret?" Chrysalis asked, turning to me with pleading eyes.

I nodded again. Those eyes were persuasive. "Yep." I paused and realized something. I hadn't even thought through what I had just said. "I'm starting to see your cough-up powers shining through."

"You didn't see it before?" Chrysalis asked, laughing. "I thought it was obvious!"

I sighed and shook my head. "You are ridiculous."

Venus tapped Mr. Morix's shoulder and began whispering to him. If Venus had kept Lily's stature, there's no way that she could have reached his ear. But Venus was considerably taller than Lily, and the channeling procedures with height worked in their favor this time.

After watching Mr. Morix and Venus whisper for a moment, I turned to Chrysalis, who shrugged in confusion. "I have no clue what they're doing," she told me.

Mr. Morix and Venus were finally done chattering when she said this. "We're just going to leave you two alone now," Venus said.

"Do you think we're going to kiss or something?" I asked sarcastically.

"Chrysalis writes this stuff all the time, so that wouldn't surprise me," Mr. Morix smirked.

Chrysalis laughed at this comment. I hope she doesn't pull off something that will make me keep yet another secret....

We watched Mr. Morix and Venus walk into the back room. I turned to face her once we were alone. "So, I guess this means I'm supposed to be keeping you safe from the UCA now, huh."

Chrysalis nodded. "Yeah. If they ever break out of jail like they did a month ago, then chances are you might have to."

"You're okay with that?" I asked.

She nodded with a grin. "Only problem is, what does my brother think?"

"We're just coworkers with a shared secret," I told her.

Chrysalis nodded again. "Yeah. And I'm happy that you're the one I share this secret with. Because I know I can count on you."

And at that point in time, everything seemed alright.

Because maybe after this whole hurricane, there could be a little bit of quiet.

Quiet after the hurricane, you might say.

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AH OMG I ONLY HAVE THE EPILOGUE LEFT AND THEN ITS OVER

CRI

BYE

-Digital