VESPER

ex ante

Julius doesn't remember much about his parents due to the fact that they were taken away from him at the young age of five. All he had of them were photos and stories that he heard either from their friends or his sibling. They were two police officers who were brave and active in the community. They were hard working people but they did their best to make time for their children on their day off. It was always only good things and Julius would always feel as if their murder robbed him of these two wonderful people in his life. "Why did the bad man who took mom and dad away not in jail!?" he shouted one time at his older sibling when the stories were getting to be too much. He wanted to get to know them, he wanted to meet them, he wanted them to be more than just people he hears about like some kind of historical figure. They weren't people born hundreds of years ago, they were his parents, he should have been able to talk to them and tell people his own stories of them as well.

de mortuis nil nisi bonum

Despite not growing up in a normal family of four that is directly tied by blood, Julius and his older sibling were actually adopted by a friend in the police force. They had a child and Julius would have to share a room with his sibling. Despite the warmth the police Lieutenant and his family had given him, Julius could never consider them family. They looked too different from him and they were not related by blood. They did not even share the same last name and therefore he would often do his best to not disturb them too much. Instead, he would often run to his older sibling whenever he needed help with his homework. When his older sibling was old enough, the two moved out using his inheritance to their parent's money. It wasn't much but it was enough for the two to have a small apartment. "This...is our apartment...." Julius couldn't help but whisper. It felt so strange to have a place that was owned by the two of them. A residence that was only for the two family members. No longer would he feel like some kind of intruder or stray animal that was taken in.

guardian ad litem

It was Julius's turn to cook tonight as it was the weekend. The boy has been trying his best to help his older sibling whenever he can whether it was cleaning the dishes or preparing meals (which was often split between the two). His older sibling had a job and was working but Julius himself was only a few months into his first year in high school. There was a sense of nervousness as he did not dare look at his only family member in the eye, "I...I got a job." He had been worried that the older sibling wouldn't like it but Julius figured if his older sibling was already paying for so much, he could at least just pay for the small things. The younger Vesper promised that it wouldn't get in the way of his schoolwork and fortunately it didn't. It had just been a part-time job and he was even able to get into college with the help of his older sibling's money and whatever scholarships he can get his hand on. At age twenty-two, Julius had managed to enter judiciary school.

sui juris

The twenty-three-year-old male felt someone nudging his arm and he was tempted to not give them his attention. He had agreed to go to eat lunch with the person he was interning for out of politeness but that didn't mean that he had any plans to make small conversations. Not with what happened earlier. "Are you still mad about that plea bargain?" Yes. It happened every time Julius found a prosecutor taking a plea bargain (which he did his best to avoid taking whenever he could). The younger intern merely turned his head away with a small huff causing the other to laugh. "You better get used to it. Think about it this way, if we accept plea bargains on small fries, it means we have more energy to spend on the bigger fishes." Well...he supposed...it does. He still didn't like it though. Julius swore, whoever killed his parents better not get a plea bargain. Once they find him..as if it hadn't been considered a cold case by now. There was still two more years.

facio ut facias

There was only a year left and Julius found it harder for him to get any good night sleep or focus when he knows the criminal that doesn't deserve to live freely was out there. Whoever they were, this unknown figure that had thought it would be alright to kill two good people. The newly appointed prosecutor was drinking from his tea in his apartment in order to calm him down when someone appeared in the apartment he had gotten for himself last year. It was hard to tell if they were male, female or simply did not exist within the binary gender. He had been ready to kick them out of his apartment when they told him that they had a proposition for him. They told him that they sense he had a wish and that they can grant it but at a price. Honestly, it had sounded preposterous. The idea of a wish that could be granted so magically and in return he was given powers to fight some kind of evil magical entity? It sounded almost like those cartoon shows he used to watch. This person was clearly insane. Not wanting to alert them, he used the table to hide the fact that he was ready to call the police. In order to distract this clearly insane person, Julius knew he had to make up some kind of random wish. Still, maybe it was because of the statute of limitation for his parent's case was running out or maybe he hadn't actually drank his tea yet, Julius gave out his true wish. "I want the person that killed my parents to face justice." There was a bright light and then nothing. The male could not help but wonder if he had imagined that from long nights looking over cases.

mens rea

Two days later, Julius heard rumors of how evidence was suddenly found to arrest someone from a cold case. A mere coincidence he had thought then. Whoever was affected by that cold case was lucky. Then when the convict was announced on tv along with the cold case that was opened, Julius couldn't believe it. He had given his case for that day to a co-worker (which he later found out had taken a plea bargain but really, Julius couldn't even be mad) and went to the court hearing to see for himself. The criminal was a man who seemed to be in his thirties (he must have been young when he committed the crime) and was found guilty. Julius couldn't help but wonder if this elation was what families of the victim felt when Julius managed to get a guilty conviction. When the court case ended, Julius had walked out ready to buy a meal for his co-worker in gratitude but also celebration. He didn't bother to look at the criminal who was crying with his family on the other side.

pacta sunt servanda

The unfortunate part about contracts was that when it was made and the other side has seen their end, there was a sense of obligation. Julius didn't mind though, it was a small price to pay. Just another side job in a sense but also an extension of his duty. His job was to see those who have committed a crime be punished. Whether it was a normal human or some kind of magical entity that really should only exist in some cartoon show mattered little for him. And on his days off, he would hopefully be able to see his older sibling for lunch or dinner.