The New Partners

January 20 1:35 PM

Holmes Detective Dept.

Office

I was sitting in my office with my hands behind my head. I spun around in my chair and yawned a bit. It's been two months since Erika's trial ended. Honestly it was nice having peace after such a stressful trial. Mari and Olivia were still recovering, Sophia began working again as an attorney a lot more. Liliana went somewhere and Erika is staying at an apartment nearby my workplace.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" A female voice asked and walked into the office area.

I stopped spinning in my chair and looked at the young female who just waltzed in my office. She stopped and looked at me and her eyes sparkled.

"No way! You're Alice Holmes!" The young female ran towards me.

"I really need to get some security in this department.." I mumbled to myself.

Now that I've got a closer look at her, she was a girl who had light blue eyes and brown hair. She stood at 149 cm and wore a magician's outfit. She carried a short wooden stick and wore a top hat.

"Hey! Hey! Wanna see a magic trick?" The girl asked and took off her top had and smiled.

Such benevolent innocence...reminds me of Liliana back in 7th grade. I watched her do her magic trick.

"Abracadabra! Walakazam!" She tapped the hat with the stick. Nothing happened. "Eh? That's not supposed to happen! Wait how did the trick go again?"

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh! My name is Winter Starr! I am a magician in training!" Winter smiled.

Another person in training. I scratched the back of my head and closed my eyes. I honestly do not know how to approach this situation. I wasn't expecting anyone to come into the department at all. I heard the door open and another female walked in the office.

"There you are Winter. Why can't you just sit still?" The woman asked.

"Humph!" Winter crossed her arms and turned her nose up.

"And you are..?" I asked the woman.

"Sorry about the intrusion. My name is Summer Starr." Summer bowed.

Winter...Summer..? It then clicked to me.

"You two are the infamous Starr Sisters! I've seen you all on T.V.! You especially because you're a defense attorney!" I pointed at Summer.

"Oh? Well yeah, my other three sisters are magicians. Winter, Autumn, and Spring." Summer smiled.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"I'm 22 years old. Winter here is 8 years old. Spring is our eldest sister as she's 24 years old and Autumn is 17." Summer answered.

"Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Were you all born on the season of your names?" I asked.

"Yep!" Winter smiled and nodded happily.

"I see, very interesting I have to admit. So where are your parents?" I asked.

"Oh uhm...They are...no longer with us. They died in a car crash when Winter was just 4 years old." Summer said.

"Yeah...I was really really sad when they died...but I have my sisters! I love them very very much!" Winter smiled happily.

I nodded, understanding. I looked at them and saw their bond was strong.

"Oh! Wanna see my most famous trick?" Winter asked happily.

"Famous trick?" I asked.

"Trick? Wait- No! Don't show her that trick!" Summer tried to stop her.

"My famous trick is called...Winter's Pocket Dimension Panties!" Winter smiled and pulled out a pair of her panties from her hat.

"Uh...excuse me, what is the trick's name..?" I asked.

"Winter's Pocket Dimension Panties!" Winter smiled. "Now hold your hands out!"

"Uhhh..." I looked at her with a dull smile.

"C'mon! C'mon! It'll be awesome I swear!" Winter smiled.

I looked at Summer and she shrugged and I sighed and reluctantly agreed to Winter's request and held my hands out. She placed the panties on my hand upside down. I looked a bit uncomfortable, but allowed her to continue. She smiled and she looked determined. Summer covered her eyes and I was feeling my soul leaving my body.

"Here we go! Not even my sisters have this ability! Abracadabra!" Winter pulled the panties off my hand and a bird appeared in my hands.

I looked surprised and Summer peeked through her hands then saw a bird.

"Hello! Hello!" The bird squawked.

"Meet Luna the Parrot! She's my partner in my magic tricks!" Winter smiled.

Luna was a special Parrot. Her wings were a space purple color and her eyes sparkled. I was pretty impressed and Luna flew to Winter's shoulder.

"My panties are the star of my magic show." Winter said proudly.

"Whoooaaa..You might not wanna say that.." I said. "Sure your panties that strangely have a pocket dimension in it, but doesn't surprise me, are cool...but you might not wanna say they are the star of your show.."

"Yeah..too many weirdos in the world..plus your little pocket dimension trick is dangerous...who knows what you might pull out." Summer said.

I can see why Summer is so cautious...after all she is a defense attorney and she doesn't want anything bad happening to her sisters because of their magic.

"But learning other magic is hard! This is my trump card! My special ability...my sisters are better than me at magic." Winter looked down. "I just wanna continue Mama's legacy with her hat and stick trick."

"Look I know you're trying your hardest and as impressive as your panties are...I just want you safe. Right now your panties are on randomizer mode and I can't risk anything." Summer crouched down and held Winter's shoulders and smiled.

Winter looked at Summer and smiled back a bit. I watched then got a call on my phone from my father.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Are you watching the news?! There's something going on!" My father said through the phone.

"Huh?" I picked up the remote and switched the channel to the news.

Winter and Summer looked at the TV. Gray was on the TV and we watched the TV.

"Greetings to all my fellow Detectives, Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys and others of the same caliber. I am hosting a competition to see whos worthy of their badge and who's not! I, Gray Dawn, am hosting a tournament that requires Brains. It is called the Game of Wonderland. It is being held in the country Inohara! I expect to see you all there whoever wishes to test their intelligence! Alice Holmes, you better come because this will be the perfect chance for us too see who's the smartest." Gray smirked.

"Gray...what is his plan..?" I mumbled to myself.

"Are you going there Alice?" My father asked.

"...Yeah. If Gray wants to tussle, I'll give him what he wants and crush him." I said.

"Alright. Good luck and be safe." He said.

"I will.." I hung up.

Winter and Summer looked at me. I put the phone down and stood up. My usual partners aren't here with me at the moment. It would seem like I am going solo until...

"We are coming with you." Summer stood up.

"Huh?" I looked at Summer.

"Yeah! Despite my cheerful exterior, I'm quite intelligence and can solve even the hardest of problems! Plus Inohara is our home." Winter smiled.

"Where is Inohara exactly?" I asked.

"Southern part of Asia." Summer nodded. "It'll take about 15 hours to get there from Minnesota, which is where we are."

"Huh.." I nodded.

The world has been changing continuously over the course of the years. It is currently 2098 and the entire world has changed and formed new countries. That's mostly the one reason why magic is even possible because we've evolved so far from normal human capabilities.

"Alright we shall go together." I said and grabbed my jacket then left the department with Winter and Summer.

We went home to pack up as we were gonna be in Inohara for a while. My father gave me his pocket watch that had Command Seals on the front of it.

"This was a gift from your mother and I to you when you were born...Command Seals..you know just in case you're in a pickle and you need to escape. These Command Seals come from our family so whenever you decide to activate them it'll be permanent and you'll have unlimited uses like Mari and Olivia. Be wary though, overusing them will lead you into Spiritual Restoration." My father said.

"Right." I nodded. "Thank you, see you later! I love you and tell Mari and Olivia I said I love them too!"

"Will do." My father smiled.

I left the house wearing a black button up shirt with a skirt and stockings. I had a blue scarf wrapped around my neck. I met up with Summer and Winter at the department and got in the car after putting my luggage in the trunk with theirs.

January 20 2:34 PM

Minnesota Airlines

We made it to the airport as Summer drove us here. We got out of the car and got our luggage out the trunk. Winter was very happy to finally be going back to her home. Summer took off her shades and looked ahead.

"Well well...You actually are going.." A male voice said and smirked.

"Hm? Ash! You're going as well?" I asked.

"Yeah but for different reasons." He answered.

"What reasons?" I rose an eyebrow.

"Nothing that you should stick your nose in. Just know I'm more of a Private Detective. I am in no liberty to disclose any information to anyone." He said and had his hands in his pockets.

Gray and Ash have changed a lot...more of Gray. Ash has always been this mysterious figure but he'd never betray his friends. I decided to shrug it off and looked ahead. We walked into the airport and sat down to wait for the plane to be ready. We waited for about 2 hours and we were able to board the plane. Our luggage was already stored in the plane. We got onto the plane and Summer, Winter, and I sat together. The plane soon took off.

"We are finally going home!" Winter said happily.

"We can see Master Yabūchi again." Summer smiled.

"Master Yabūchi?" I asked.

"Our legal guardian. She looked after us and taught me all I need to know to be an attorney." Summer smiled.

"And she helped me learn the panties pocket dimension trick!" Winter smiled.

"Yeah..she's...a bit of a perv.." Summer said dully.

Now I wasn't so excited to meet her. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the plane trip. Winter was reading a book and Summer decided to get some shut eye.