Once upon a time, in the land of Aselia, there was this orphaned kid named Lloyd Justice. He was adopted by Dirk, a dwarven judge, and as he grew up, he learned some things about lawyers from his father, and decided he wanted to be one. When he was seventeen, he met Kratos Gavin, a skilled defense attorney, who took him on as his pupil, even assisting him with his Chords of Steel, however disgusted the older man may have been by his student's decision to point both fingers when he objected. He studied under him for three years before taking on his first case, defending Regal Wright, a former defense attorney and current poker player/pianist, who had seven years ago, after losing a case, made a sudden decision never to enter a courtroom again. He was accused of murdering a traveler known only by his last name, Kafei, and cross-examined a very strange waitress-gambler named Seles Orly; startlingly, when the truth came to light, the true murderer was found to be Kratos (whose last words before he left the room were the cryptic "Don't die, Lloyd.") And so Lloyd found himself out of a job.
At last, he gave in and went to Regal, the former attorney, for help. He met the man's adopted son, Genis Wright, an aspiring magician, and found a case defending Sheena Kitaki, a local ninja accused of killing two doctors who had a son named Kuchinawa, and searching for the Wonder Chef's lost noodle stand. Along the way, Lloyd met Igaguri (Sheena's adoptive grandfather), as well as science-and-magic-obsessed Detective Raine Skye, who also happened to be Genis's older sister. The next day in court, he went up against Kratos's celebrity brother Zelos in court, ignoring what seemed suspiciously like attempts to flirt with him, and cross-examined a rather ruin-obsessed and rambling witness named Linar Stickler, and discovered that his Exsphere, which he had had since birth, gave him the power to sense a witness's nervous habits. The killer turned out to be Pronyma Tiala, a freaky lady who had plotted with Kuchinawa to frame Sheena. Zelos, bizarrely, was rather helpful with the trial, aside from his constant flirtations toward the defendant and the one whom he called 'Lady Pronyma' for some reason. After the trial, Kuchinawa vowed to never set eyes on Sheena again until he had the ability to defeat her in combat.
A while later, Zelos invited his 'Bud' Lloyd to one of his concerts; Genis, who had taken an immediate dislike to the man, was not please, but Lloyd decided to take the prosecutor up on his offer anyway, and Genis ended up adoring the music, while Lloyd was less than pleased with the sound level. Raine had also been dragged along by Zelos to be security for the concert; and indeed, it turned out to be necessary when the guest singer Tabatha (who was admired by fans for her almost robotic voice)'s manager, Altessa LeTouse, was shot. Tabatha's pianist, Mithos Tobaye, was accused of his murder, and Lloyd was more or less forced into defending him. Despite the latter's lack of knowledge of Aselia's language, Genis and Mithos managed to become close friends. Lloyd was also introduced to magician Yggdrasill Gramarye ((NOTE: ugggh what to do for his name Dx)), Genis's 'uncle' and close friend of his father Yuan Gramarye. Eventually, Lloyd's suspicions had settled on Forcystus Crescend, a detective and friend/band member of Zelos's, who was eventually convicted despite his insistence that he had not done it. Zelos watched his friend leave the courtroom in handcuffs with a carefully neutral look on his face, being especially careful not to make eye contact with the young defendant...
Lloyd's next case was a test of a new legal system. He was assigned to defend Presea Misham, a silent girl who looked younger than her 19 years, accused of killing her father by Aionis poisoning. Her father, it was revealed with Raine's help and that of a reporter named Botta Brushel, had been a forger of paintings; however, during the trial the truth came to light that Presea had been the true forger. Zelos eventually asked about a piece of evidence that Presea claimed to have forged, sounding suddenly desperate; however, before she could state the name of her client (only having said that she thought he might be an angel), Vera passed out; from Aionis poisoning, it was later learned.
To understand these events, the story now goes back seven years to Regal's last trial. His client: Yuan Gramarye, the famous magician. The magician had been accused of the murder of his wife, Martel Gramarye; mysteriously, Yuan's son Genis delivered a crucial piece of evidence to Regal before the trial, saying that he had been told to give it to the 'old boy with blue hair'. Regal began the trial with little information about the circumstances save a photograph and a letter, and met newbie prosecutor and rock star Zelos Gavin for the first time. As the trial went on, it came to light that the murder was equally likely to have been committed by Yggdrasill Gramarye, the victim's partner. Eventually, to prove his client's innocence, Regal was forced to present the evidence Genis had given him; immediately, Zelos called a young painter and forger, Alicia Misham, a long-time friend and love of Regal's to the stand. She admitted under pressure that the evidence was her own forgery. Regal was not disbarred due to Kratos Gavin's intervention, but the case was lost; however, before the verdict was announced, Yuan Gramarye disappeared from the courtroom, never to be seen again (leaving Yggdrasill to take the blame), and Alicia Misham was soon killed mysteriously. Out of guilt that he had caused his lover's death, Regal vowed never to wear his badge again.
After sorting out the business of Yuan's left-behind son Genis by adopting him, Regal went to investigate the studio of Drew Misham, Alicia's father, meeting his remaining daughter, Presea. Though Presea at first would not talk about anything, Regal soon found her weakness: magic. By starting with a conversation about the Gramaryes, Regal managed to get Presea to talk about the forgery; he soon learned that it was her rather than her elder sister who had forged the evidence, and deduced that her client had been Kratos Gavin, whom she described as being 'like an angel', and had given her a bottle of nail polish that was a good luck charm to deal with her fear of people due to a kidnapping attempt when she was young.
Seven years passed, and Regal met a traveler at work who revealed himself as Yuan Kafei, a.k.a. the famous and missing Yuan Gramarye. After being introduced to Yuan's friend Botta, a reporter, Regal talked with the ex-magician discovered that Lloyd Justice, the young man he had seen at his friend Kratos's office, was in fact Genis and Raine's half-brother, the son of Martel and her first husband, presumed dead in an accident. After they had finished their discussion, the two sat down to a game of poker, which Yuan cheated at... and lost. Growing angry at his accomplice, Seles, he became violent, and Regal left the room to phone for help. Kratos, meanwhile, came in through a secret passage and killed Yuan; he was caught the next day by Lloyd Justice.
After the death of Drew Misham, Regal spoke with Botta. He learned more about the magicians Gramarye, including one key fact: Martel's body had never been discovered... Finally, he spoke with Kratos, who, after staying silent for some time and offering only the cryptic line "You cannot oppose fate" told him this story:
He had been married to Martel Gramarye before she was married to Yuan, and had had a son, Lloyd. However, he had been in an accident and been placed in the hospital for months, thought to be on the verge of death, unable to leave his bed or have any contact with the outside world. By a miracle, he recovered, and left quietly the next day, when he learned that his beloved had died and his son had gone missing. Soon, he was approached by his old, trusted friend Mithos Yggdrasill, now the magician Yggdrasill Gramarye, who explained to him what had happened: although the death was thought to be an accident, Martel had really been murdered by her new husband Yuan. Kratos trusted Mithos and helped him prepare a case against Yuan, even becoming the magician's defense in order to throw the case away. However, Yuan suspected him and switched attorneys at the last minute, choosing Regal Wright instead. Angry, Yggdrasill sent Kratos to forging prodigy Presea Misham to create evidence that would be used to destroy Regal, and Kratos passed it off to the attorney, giving a tip-off to his younger brother Zelos about the evidence. Regal presented it and was caught; however, at this point Kratos was no longer sure he believed his friend's story and helped prevent the attorney from being disbarred. Yggdrasill, however, held the fact that he had commissioned forged evidence to destroy an innocent man over his head, and Kratos stayed silent and did what the magician asked of him for the next seven years... even when he ended up taking the blame for a murder committed by his former friend.
Finally having the information he needed, Regal went back and talked to Lloyd, telling him everything except the truth about his family. Lloyd entered the courtroom the next day, feeling fully prepared to find the true killer...
What he did not expect was what happened when he finally wore down Yggdrasill Gramarye. The man stared furiously, desperately at him and Genis; then, with a flurry of feathers, he became a young, blond boy: Mithos Tobaye. The young lawyer and his assistant realized with a start that Genis's friend had been his 'uncle' and the murderer of Alicia and Drew Misham and Yuan Kafei all along. Angrily, the young boy ranted about his stuck-up jerk of a partner and how he had never deserved his sister, and his old friend and mentor who had betrayed him; and finally, about the mysterious singer Tabatha who didn't even remember him, her own brother!
In the jury room, said singer gave a start, suddenly remembering her past; and as she did, her voice changed mid-sentence from the almost robotic speech to a smooth, sweet tone.
Lloyd was quick to pin the murders of Alicia Misham, Drew Misham, Yuan Kafei and Altessa LeTouse on Mithos, who refused to speak any more. Genis watched silently with shock in his eyes, having been presented with both the death of his father and the betrayal of his best friend.
In the jury room, the jurists rule unanimously. Presea Misham was Not Guilty.
From the audience, a detective of days gone by, Colette Gumshoe threw confetti down, smiling with relief at her police dog Noishe.
EPILOGUE: Uh. Martel remembered who she was, Kratos was reunited with her, Genis and Raine mourned their biological father's death, and they and Lloyd still didn't know the full truth about their family. Yet. And Zelos was not all that thrilled to see his brother wasn't locked away for good, because quite frankly, they despised each other.
Then Salamander went to sleep because it was 11:30 and her brain was not working and did you know that Zelos and Kratos were the names of minor Greek gods who were brothers and OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE THIS ALL MAKES NO SENSE ASFDKLJFDSAFJKLAS