It was really unfortunate. A brilliant mind like his, locked away in the depths of a prison, waiting to either rot away or be executed and end his pain for good. Kristoph Gavin sighed, his face now buried on his two hands, in frustration. Which of those choices to die was more appealing? None of them actually were, but given his situation after the damned Phoenix Wright managed to corner him with that new law system, Kristoph would probably be waiting for one or the other. These thoughts frustrated him and angered him to no end, but he had wasted almost all of his energy by now: it had been about 10 days after his final sentence, and there was nothing else to be done.

One part of him, maybe his conscience, favored the thought of a quick, painless death to get that entire thing done with. He had no place to exist in that world, where he had played all his cards in an act of hatred and revenge, and with that, earned nothing but people hating him in return. The other part of him, a part more human and down-to-earth, desperately tried to find a way to escape the breaches of prison. Several methods passed by his head, some remarkably impossible, others just silly, but all of them were being considered, for his very survival would depend in at least one of them.

Suddenly, some footsteps echoed through the prison. Everything had been rather silent and calm up to that point, so the noise called Kristoph’s attention. He stood up from the bed he had been sitting down over, and walked towards the bars of his cell, just in time to see a guard passing by, apparently patrolling the place. He stopped, however, as he passed by Kristoph’s cell.

“Mr. Gavin, is it? The judges have reached a conclusion about your case. On the charge of murder of two people, attempted murder of another, and forging of evidence, you are to be executed on the assigned date, that is here.” Said the guard, handing Kristoph a piece of document. “It is approximately one month from now. Get ready.” Apparently, given the uncertainty of his sentences and his posture, the man was a newbie, not nearly as professional as, say, the guard that looked over the criminals in the detention center of the precinct.

“…Certainly.” The evil mastermind adjusted his glasses in his usual fashion, and took the document, feeling like his stomach was sinking. One month. That was all he was going to get. Thinking that it would be better than to stay his entire life in a prison didn’t help how he was feeling. The guard, despite being new, apparently noticed he should say something to at least try and look sympathetic towards the person, so he risked:

“My condolences, but it’s the decision of the higher-ups. Well, you do get one call and one last ‘wish’, as they say.”

Kristoph sighed. Wish… he wished he had never encountered Zak Gramarye, and tried his hand at poker with the magician. Things wouldn’t have gone downhill then. He wished he had never met the accursed Phoenix Wright, who always meddled with his plans. He wished Apollo wouldn’t see him as a monster now, like all the others seemed to. He wished he at least had support from someone, anyone… the slightest hint of support would be enough for him to get some courage and keep living. But no… Apollo, Phoenix, Trucy, Vera, Klavier… they were all against him, and nothing would change that.

Unless…

The guard was just about to turn around and keep his patrolling, but Kristoph called him back as soon as the idea struck him.

“Wait. You spoke about this last wish of mine. It is normally fulfilled when the execution date draws near. How close to it will it be?” The ex-attorney asked, his face as serious as before, despite the fact his inner self was getting rather excited. He had imagined it… one way to escape. It would be difficult… very difficult… but he had played all his cards in a simple attempt at revenge before. Why wouldn’t he be able to devote all of that energy, if not even more, when we meant to survive?

“Err… let me check.” The guard drew from his pocket some sort of hand-sized manual, and checked the index for something. Kristoph’s supposition was right. The man was a newbie. “It is 3 days or so before the execution… it can be later, if the prisoner hasn’t decided on something by then.”

“I see. Thank you.” Replied Kristoph, and turning back to the guard to face his rather empty cell, not the slightest like the one he was in when he was judged for “simply” killing Zak. He had seen his chance. Now he just needed to prepare. Prepare well, for this would be his chance of clinging to life. He looked at the mirror which was opposite to the bed he had been sat over for some time, thinking. He should begin preparing right away…

(…)

“Your visit has arrived. Would you like me to call her inside?” Said the guard, the same who had talked with the evil mastermind 27 days ago, and answered his question about a last wish. Again, he addressed Kristoph, though his attitude towards the incarcerated attorney had gradually changed over the course of the month. The guard even considered Kristoph some sort of friend that helped him endure the occasionally arduous, occasionally boring, work journey. Kristoph nodded to the guard.

“Yes, do just that.” Replied Kristoph in a hurry, adjusting his glasses. He couldn’t get nervous now. But it was the big moment. The guard, assuming Kristoph was as ready as he could get, went off for one moment. When he came back, a small female figure clad in blue cape and hat followed him, in a rather slow pace. The guard opened the cell, whispered something to the girl (which responded with a nod) and hurried away to somewhere in the darkish dungeon that was the prison.

“Trucy Wright… it’s been a while.” Kristoph started, flashing her a timid smile. The girl stared at him with a vague expression. Her eyes didn’t tell much of how the magician girl was feeling, but her entire body contracted in some sort of repulse.

“Kristoph… what are you trying to achieve with this?” She asked, solemn. Though she dressed in her usual blue attire, she ‘wore’ a strongly aggressive attitude towards Kristoph, quite unbecoming of her usual personality. Kristoph sighed.

“A man fated to die calls for one person that will hear his final words before passing on. Why would there be a plan in this?”

“I know what you’ve done, Kristoph. Trusting in you would be a mistake at any moment.”

“I’m heartbroken.” Said Kristoph, now shaking his head, but still keeping his smile up. “…Well, and I see you have brought in one of your father’s special devices, have you not?” He continued, once his eyes sat over a rather well-hidden yellow button right above Trucy’s shoulder, attached to the girl’s cape. It was very similar to the one Phoenix had in his hat. Trucy bit her lip.

“Well, it seems you haven’t lost your touch.” She said, taking the button out and throwing it to the darkness. Kristoph conjectured that such an easy disposal meant she might have another device on her, but it may have simply been because the conversation was supposed to be private, and depending on who was recording, he or she could be subjected to legal action. Trucy glanced quickly to the camera attached right beyond the bars of the prison, that supposedly filmed the whole thing. Kristoph noticed that, and suddenly his second guess seemed more probable.

“There’s no reason Phoenix or Apollo should know about what I want to speak to you now. And doing anything to you would just be silly. At best, it would hasten my death sentence.”

“You’re already under death sentence.” Trucy crossed her arms. “That’s what worried everyone. But, if you have something to say, then say it, and let’s get this over with.”

There was a moment of silence, in which they both exchanged glances. At the end of a minute, Kristoph closed his eyes and spoke:

“I owe you some explanations. After repenting from my past actions, despite being too late to fix anything, I thought I should speak with you about a side of the story that was never brought to light. I prefer to speak it up now and die in peace rather than bringing this secret to the grave.”

“Why am I the one who has to listen?” She asked, still keeping the solemn voice, but her body was less inclined to the outside. The repulse was fading, probably because it had been overtaken by curiosity.

“This side of the story involves you directly. Besides, I don’t have any choices.” Kristoph now opened his eyes. “As you might have guessed, after the past events were brought to light, I lost the sympathy of everyone I had called ‘friend’ before.”

“…Well, then. Shoot! But you spoke of repenting? Don’t you dare use that world lightly! You did… you…” Trucy started, letting some of her anger go to her head, but containing herself from furthering it and stepping back.

“I won’t. I am perfectly aware that you have the power to perceive people’s nervous habits. I wouldn’t be such a fool as to try and deceive you.”

That statement stuck Trucy as being sincere, and made her more inclined to hear the story. She uncrossed her arms and looked intently at Kristoph. The ex-attorney saw in that an opportunity to begin, so he started his tale.

“You might find this hard to believe, but I once was a promising lawyer, eager to start my career and defend people with my knowledge of law and my sense of justice. Of course, my sense of justice was never as big as my own ambition, but a human without that will go nowhere, no matter their potential or intelligence. This ambition as so big as to create me some hatred towards the person that ditched my services over a simple game of poker. Zak Gramarye…”

“Daddy could see the kind of person you were from the beginning!” Exclaimed Trucy, making Kristoph flinch slightly upon this unexpected interruption. “That’s why he didn’t keep you as his attorney!”

“No need to spank a dead horse, Trucy.” Kristoph said, shaking his head again. “It has passed. Please let me continue with the story.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Thank you. Now, after your father send me away, my anger and wish for revenge took over, and thus led to the events with the Misham family, and Wright’s disbarment. However… you remember that, on the day of the trial…”

“…You made me deliver the false evidence to Daddy.” Trucy confirmed, although rather sadly. Reminiscing the moment seemed to sting her with some guilt.

“Exactly. That was very curious of me to do, don’t you agree?”

“…Eh?” Trucy seemed lost. Kristoph gave her yet another smile.

“Think about it. For all effects, if I had given the false page to Phoenix as being part of the evidence I held previously, wouldn’t it had been less suspicious than to simply have someone deliver it to him?” He spoke as if she was leading her to a conclusion, but Trucy held out her hand in a palm towards Kristoph, clearing signaling him to stop.

“For one, making me send the evidence didn’t make you suspicious at all, but it made my father look more suspicious, since I was the one who delivered. On the other hand, if you gave out the false evidence with all the previous others, you could be investigated for them to be certain you weren’t involved with the forgery.”

“Good point, Ms. Wright, but remember Misham was with me on that one, and he’s a veteran in the black market. If he wasn’t good enough to hide out the evidence pertaining the truth on this matter, or deny convincingly who his real client was, well, he wouldn’t have lasted at all up to that point.” Was Kristoph’s answer, which only served to leave Trucy more irritated.

“Look, what are you trying to say with this charade? Say it already!”

“…Alright. The truth is, I never planned to deliver the false evidence through you. In fact, I hardly remembered Zak Gramarye had a daughter at the time. But it was then that you appeared…”

Trucy waited to see if Kristoph continued on his own, but he remained silent. In fact, he just kept staring. This eventually led Trucy to become uncomfortable.

“What about me? Say it!” She demanded once one minute or two had elapsed. Kristoph nodded once before restarting.

“It was the first time I met someone at such an age with whom I actually sympathized on first sight. You played around the courtroom in a manner that reminded how I always wanted to, and how Klavier had done so many times on the park we went to all weekends when we were young.” Kristoph continued, bending his head slowly towards the floor, an action which Trucy followed by lowering her head a little. “It was both beautiful and nostalgic. So we talked for a bit. You might not remember the exact conversation, but it wasn’t important. It wasn’t even that long. When we finished, my mind wasn’t at all clear until it neared the time of Phoenix’s trial, and I noticed that, in my distraction, I hadn’t even planted the item of my revenge. Doing it at the last second myself would make me seem very suspicious by the end of the trial. Then the idea struck in my head, and I made you deliver it for me.”

“You.. you sympathized with me… what?”

“Then came the trial, Phoenix’s downfall, and Zak’s escape.” Kristoph continued in a slightly louder tone, before Trucy could interrupt him. “I discovered you were Zak’s daughter, and was thunderstruck. With that man out of the picture, though, you were left without a father, and my mind was invaded with an idea, one not out of hatred nor revenge, but out of a simple necessity. Me and Klavier had grown together, but despite his apparent happiness, I knew he was suffering inside for not having anyone around that loved him as family. I knew because I felt the same way. We had each other, but sometimes, a paternal arm to cry over is a very big... necessity. Maybe that’s why Klavier became a rockstar. Having fans saying that they love you and shouting your name might be one way to try and make up for this absent paternal care.” Kristoph took care to emphasize that point as a whole, as he had noticed Trucy would relate to it: she also didn’t have a paternal arm to lean against and cry or just feel safe. And thought she called Phoenix his ‘daddy’, the truth was that Phoenix wasn’t all that paternal towards her, leaving her to earn money by her own.

Trucy didn’t say anything. Apparently, she couldn’t. She had been entranced by Gavin’s words. Kristoph took this opportunity immediately:

“So I had an idea. I would adopt you. I had enough age, money and room at my house. Klavier might have benefited from the idea as well. It would have make our lives a tad more full of love. But then, once again, Phoenix Wright appears on the scene, and has the idea of adopting you. I can’t really express in words how I felt at the time… but I can affirm that everything seemed to be empty after I lost this opportunity of… having someone near I could actually try to love.”

“No… this… you’re joking…” Trucy stepped back, quite unsure of how to process the entire thing. She wanted a break, to try and reason everything on her head, but Kristoph continued his tale, relentlessly.

“You know why I stood in the lookout for Zak Gramarye all this time? You know why I really wanted to keep him out of this world as an existing person? You know why I got close to Phoenix Wright just so that, in the first opportunity to defend him, I would stuck him in a corner to be declared ‘Guilty’?”

“I-It… can’t…”

“It all came down to a single end, and one only! One which should be natural for any human to pursue, and to fight over. It is love, and only that. With you around, I might never have strolled into the path of darkness. With you to shed some light in my life, I might have raised on my career, be a judge, and never try to enforce evil in what I tried. You understand…. Trucy Wright?”

“Y-You… you wanted to l-love me… as your daughter?”

This question was followed by a great deal of silence, in which Kristoph just stared, and Trucy still had a surprised look all over her face, her mouth wide open and one gloved hand next to it.

“…At the time, yes. I can affirm that, when you were even younger, when I met you for the first time, I saw myself as being happy with having a daughter like you. But now that you have grown up, while still maintaining some traits from before… I’m not sure. Maybe I developed… another kind of love.”

If there had been silence after the last question, this time the silence lasted even more. Kristoph didn’t count, but for him, it was about 20 minutes of awe from Trucy. The silence on the cell was so dense, a single drop of water from the sink right below the square mirror of that cell echoed strongly like thunder.

“You…” Trucy began, her voice rather weak. “You killed my father…”

“Ah, yes, a sin from which, in this life, I will never escape.” Kristoph answered instantly, closing his eyes for some moments as he spoke. “Repent as I might, it will still be true for as long as I live.”

“Y-You barely know me…”

“I know you more than you think. Your magic shows, Eldoon’s Noodle… those places are open to the entire public, are they not? They are not all of them, of course… but the one who searches always ends up finding what they want, no matter how much time it may take.”

“O-Our age difference is…”

Kristoph couldn’t help but smile. She was grasping in straws, trying to find something to use against him. It was rather cute.

“Well, women tend to like mature men, don’t they? Not that it really matters. Age is a number, a ranking system invented by humankind which, in the end, just shows how much experience one man got in this Earth. And may I add my experience with love is rather small, if not barely existent? I’m sure most teenagers these days have more ‘age’ than me in the matter, so it doesn’t make a difference, in the end.”

Trucy took another step back, and she felt her back leaning against the cold iron of the cell’s bars. She constantly shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. Apparently, the thought that Kristoph loved her would take some hours, if not days, to sink in and be accepted.

“But you’re here… you’ve done so many bad things and were… condemn to death…”

At this, Kristoph turned around slowly, to which Trucy reacted by approaching some steps instead of backing down even more.

“…That is true. I shall die in nearly 3 days. In the end, all my efforts to have someone I could love, all my attempts to have a family that would shine light in my days… they were useless. I never got what I wanted. I failed at what I tried. Not just with you: I failed to properly hide my crimes and use the law to my favor. I guess this mind of mine won’t be haunting this world for much longer. And yet, I felt I should tell you this entire truth… because I don’t know where I’m going right now. I’ll cease to exist… I shall be no more. I would have left nothing but hatred towards me, to the bitter end, if I hadn’t decided to speak with you and tell you the entire truth. Now that I told you everything, maybe… just maybe… you won’t see me as a monster that so ruthlessly killed your father… but as a feeble man who wanted nothing more than someone that would love him back... and fought with all his mind to get this which he wanted.”

Trucy obviously wanted to say something, but didn’t manage to: she was choking in her own words. Kristoph couldn’t see what she was doing, as he was facing away from Trucy, but heard these poorly mumbled words for some time before they simply faded in the air, and another silence was born between the two of them. This one was the biggest silence of all. Might have lasted for about half an hour, and neither of them moved or said something. Finally, Kristoph closed his eyes strongly, hoping this final move would work.

“This is all I had to say to you, Trucy. I am sorry. I must have invaded your head with several thoughts and memories, some of which might be painful. I apologize, but… it had to be said. This… was my last wish. You can go.”

“Hold on.”

She suddenly spoke clearly and loudly, despite the entire time she had been silent. Kristoph looked back to her, and saw she was not surprised anymore. She seemed sad, maybe unsure, but her words were firm.

“Kristoph… you really… you really repented? From everything you done? From Drew, Vera and… Daddy?”

“…I realized how wrong I was.” Said Kristoph, adjusting his glasses, and trying to keep his voice perfectly natural, for some eagerness was born inside of him when hearing Trucy’s question. “How foolish my motives were and how pathetic I was for thinking it to be the way I should follow.”

“Let me… appeal to your case.”

“…What?”

Trucy inhaled deeply before explaining her own thoughts.

“I have the power you mentioned at the start of the conversation. And I don’t really know how to believe it, but I can’t see anything on you that makes me think this story to be false… it’s so shocking, I-I’m not even sure what I’m saying right now, but let me… let me speak to the judge… explain this situation… he might change your sentence to perpetual prison instead of execution.”

“Trucy…”

“I-I can’t help but feel guilty now!” Shouted the magician, tears beginning to drop out of her eyes. “You plotted a more intense revenge over my father and Phoenix than you did before, all because of me… and I was the one that delivered Phoenix that fake evidence… Daddy… Daddy… it’s all my fault!” Now her tears exploded, and she covered her face with both hands, sulking. Kristoph approached her and, in a slow, uncertain motion, hugged her. She didn’t shrug him off. Someone to lean on was exactly what she needed right now. She contained this guilt for almost 7 years, after all.

Kristoph thought the best to do was to stay silent, but after Trucy started to calm down, and raised her head again to look at the now dangerously close Kristoph, he decided to speak up.

“Don’t think you’re to blame. Everything is still my fault. I started this hate circle, and for that, I am the source of all evil that befell you and your fathers. I’m truly sorry, Trucy.” So he said, but his face wasn’t that much more expressive than his normal one. Of course, that was due to her difficulty with showing emotions. Trucy didn’t mind that right now: the entire time, she had been looking for hints of lies, nervous habits and twitches, but none of her reads seemed unnatural up to this point.

“But I…!” Trucy seemed to be ready to announce once again how guilty she was, but Kristoph shook his head strongly to make her stop.

“No “buts”. You’re not guilty of how I ended up feeling towards you. That is entirely my fault. And…

“Stop! It is my fault, one way or the other! If I hadn’t existed… if I hadn’t ever bothered Daddy and you… none of this would have happened! Your lives would be just normal! Why… why did I have to cause this to you!? Why…?” She was almost in tears again, when something unexpected happened: Kristoph leaned in and their lips found each other’s.

It was a sudden kiss, but that didn’t end immediately. Trucy was weakened by her existential crisis: she needed a comfort, either mental or physical, and despite being from someone she always thought of as an enemy, it was very much a necessity at the time. Kristoph, feeling no resistance from Trucy, caressed her lips the best his experience and theory could imagine at the time, hoping it would ease her pain. They held their breath, until Trucy could stand it no more, and withdrew her head away from Kristoph, breaking both the kiss and the hug. She gasped for air, and Kristoph did the same, albeit less dramatically.

“Kristoph… I… caused Daddy nothing but problems…” She began, once she renewed enough air. “But if I was to… begin things anew… with you… in the future… maybe he would be able to live normally again? Go after his late friend… Auntie Maya… and then be merry…”

“Trucy, you think yourself as something of a burden. This is definitely not true.” Said Kristoph, adjusting his glasses, that had almost fallen off when Trucy broke the kiss. “I don’t mean to say I know perfectly how Wright thinks about you, but for me.. you would be nothing but a blessing.”

“Kristoph…”

“But alas, I won’t be able to share any joy with you, will I? After all, I will be dead and buried in a few days…”

“N-No! You won’t!” Said Trucy with a final gasp, recovering some of the energy and eagerness for which she was remarkable, both on her shows and on investigations. “Let me appeal to the case! We might get you out of it! I… I feel that I need someone close to me now, Kristoph. I can’t demand this level of affection from Polly... he’s my half-brother, after all. And I caused Daddy so much grief… I…

“…Once I’m out of here, I will do my best for you, Trucy.” Kristoph confirmed, and Trucy flashed him a timid smile: the first one through the entire conversation.

“Thanks… I feel safer now… but then I must be off!” She announced, suddenly realizing how late it was getting. “Kristoph… I will be back tomorrow. I will do what I can to help you there. Count on me.”

“I will. My thanks, Trucy.” Kristoph said, smiling back to her. Trucy opened the door to the cell (which was a detached section of the cell’s bars) and left the place, though not without looking back at Kristoph once, wondering whether this was all just a dream or a really intense plot twist.

Once she was out of sight, however, Kristoph had to hold himself not to laugh hysterically in front of the camera. He couldn’t believe in that chain of events. It all had gone so well for him. “It seems that one lie told a hundred times over ends up being a truth after all…” He whispered to himself, his face away from the camera. His story, his words, his love… he had to be careful. It might as well become a true story, and true love. He hoped it already was for Trucy right now, which would make her fight to give Kristoph more time to leave and hopefully, escape from the prison. But what if that story, which he told himself hundreds of times during the last 27 days, became true not only for the others, but for him too? Will he become a slave of his own fairy tale? No… Kristoph was smarter than that. He wouldn’t be deceived by his own idea. It was undeniable that the kiss hadn’t been planned, and his body didn’t flinch the wrong way at all while he spoke about his love for Trucy (it didn’t flinch at any part due to hours of training and reciting the SAME story, to make it the most believable possible). However, that was irrelevant. It was just a small passion. His body led himself. He’d get over it. The passion would not grow into him… or so he hoped.

Phoenix sighed, and straightened his all-purpose blue suit to seem more respectful. Looking around, he saw himself at a big fancy restaurant, sat on an armchair, admiring the beauty of the white fur carpet and magnificent blood-red walls. It was quite a place to be, a total change from his usual burger joint, where he went frequently with Maya on his toes. Right now, he was there alone, admiring the place and, at the same time, feeling uncomfortable with all that luxury. But he wouldn't be alone for long, he hoped. Today was a special day. Though...he couldn't say it was a happy day altogether...

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" a shout came from near the restaurant's entrance. Recognizing the voice, Phoenix stood up and looked to that direction. Well, he didn't need to see anything else than that familiar lab coat and pair of magenta glasses to know who it was for sure.
Ema hurried forward to meet up with her friend lawyer Phoenix. When she got close enough, she stopped to catch her breath. Made Phoenix think that she had run all the way up there.

"Are you alright, Ema?" he asked, worrying. When he leaned foward to check on her, he noticed she was sweating a bit. But any further worry was proven unfounded, when she beamed upon him and adjusted her glasses.

"Sure! I'm OK, Mr. Wright! So sorry I took this long. I missed the bus here for exactly...huh..." she took her notebook and pen out, and scribbled something. "About 4,3243 seconds! Can you believe it?" she didn't seem too annoyed by the fact though, and looked at Phoenix waiting for him to comment anything

Scientific way of saying she missed the bus? Phoenix thought to himself, but said nothing and smiled back to her. He indicated the table he was sat at up to now. “Take a seat, Ema,” he said, out loud this time. She complied happily, and sat at the long table that Phoenix pointed to. It was quite interesting, the light-blue table cloth contrasted noticeably with all the red that built the place’s atmosphere. Phoenix also sat, opposite his perky friend. Ema rested her hands on the table and kept staring at Phoenix. He noticed that she was doing that… A little too much, maybe?

“I-Is there something on my face?” He frowned, feeling his cheeks blush a little. Ema then noticed what she was doing, and smiled timidly.

“Sorry, Mr. Wright! It’s just that…I’m still impressed! I mean, because of you…everything ended well in that case… And, well, besides that, you offer me a farewell lunch now since I’m going abroad. And you let me decide the restaurant, even! That’s so… kind of you!” She added, seemingly excited. Phoenix blushed a bit deeper. Yeah, it was true. When he heard that Ema was going to leave (that afternoon, in fact), he felt a sting on his stomach he couldn’t explain. Maybe it was an imprudent thing to offer a farewell lunch to her, especially since she chose quite an expensive restaurant, claiming she had always wanted to be there with Lana, but never could because she was always too busy working on her “Chief Prosecutor’s affairs”. But he couldn’t help it now. Even if he was just about to lose quite a chunk of money…

“W-Well…” he started, thinking about what to say. “I wouldn’t let your leave be unnoticed… After all, you’re a friend. And since nobody else but Lana seemed concerned with that, I…”

Ema’s smile tightened a little. “Yeah, I don’t have that many friends around here,” she replied, moving her glasses up so she could properly see Phoenix. “Never had the chance to meet many people. I am always too busy studying. But that’s nice, isn’t it? I mean, I’ll be able to become the best forensic scientist ever! Right, Mr. Wright?” she inquired, now with a distinguished sparkle in her eyes.

“Please…just call me Phoenix.” He asked. Then shuddered. Ema seemed to evaluate the possibility. Scientifically, possibly.

“Right…Phoenix,” she slowly voiced it, still staring at him. An awkward silence took over, for a few seconds. About the time for someone to notice that the waiter had just approached them.

“Good morning to you both,” the waiter started, as soon as Phoenix took notice of his presence. He was a young and rather tall guy, wearing a black characteristic suit over a white bottomed shirt, carrying a tea set with his right hand and two closed menus in the other. He offered one to Phoenix and Ema, then bowed to them as a sign of respect. “Here are the menus. If you want anything, please s-”

“Oh, wow!” Ema gasped, surprised with the length of the menu. “This is a lot! There are so many to choose from! Hey, what are those…?”

She inquired about practically all of the 32 different dishes on the menu, and the waiter patiently replied to all of them, as formal and concisely as someone would expect from a professional. While they talked, Phoenix’s eyes were fixed on Ema. In a way, he was glad very few people were around having lunch at the same restaurant: Ema was so excited, even twitching sometimes, that it would definitely attract too much attention to them. Then again… her delightful, almost ecstatic expression was one of the cutest things he ever saw. He felt so drawn to her sight, he barely noticed when the waiter was finished talking to her and came to him.

“Sir? Would you like to order something as well?”

“Oh, right, sure! I’ll…huh…” Phoenix crossed his arms, thoughtful. Totally missed what Ema had ordered, so he wasn’t that sure of what to order himself. He scrolled his eyes through the menu and found a familiar name. “I want this Caesar’s Burger, please.”

“Thy will be given,” the waiter replied, noting on a little device attached to his pulse, probably a palmtop. A second later, he headed to the kitchen, just opposite to the direction of the entrance.

“So, Mr. W… I mean, Phoenix!” Ema amended the statement quickly, and blushed slightly upon calling him Phoenix again, for whatever reason. “Can you tell me about how you became an attorney? I mean, you seem like such a cool lawyer, with all the finger-pointing and the “Objections!” and all of that! It was amazing to see your work first-hand!"

Phoenix smiled widely. Ah, suddenly it seemed so nice to have a fan of sorts.

They talked about how Phoenix first became an attorney, why, and Phoenix told her a lot about Mia and Maya. Then they continued on with some of the cases Phoenix had managed to win despite all odds, and Ema thought they were all impressive, even epic. She turned out to be very skeptical when Phoenix mentioned Maya’s powers, though, as he had expected, since she was so linked to science. They argued over it, but logically and friendlily. After they were done with that, Ema engaged on the explaining of a string of mundane things that had quite a scientific background explanation. Phoenix always got lost when she was in the middle of explaining anything, but he occasionally nodded to warn her that he was listening closely. And then, as she finished numbering all the little necessary chemical reactions needed for the luminol to work properly, the food came. Phoenix noticed then that Ema didn’t order anything too exquisite, despite the whole time she and the waiter talked. He couldn’t identify what exactly it was that that the waiter placed on the table, in front of her. It came in a bowl full of meat slices, some vegetables, and chili peppers, all of that half-immersed in a red liquid that had some consistency for itself, like ketchup or something.

“Oh, Phoenix, this is a Chinese dish called Shuizhu,” Ema asserted, seeing how puzzled Phoenix was at that moment. “I asked mine to be with filleted whitefish and slightly less salt than they tend to put on. For this dish, they tend to boil the meat in water for about 30 seconds, much better than frying. It’s also made with water, starch, and seasoned with minced garlic and dried chili pepper. It’s pretty good!”

“Wow.” Phoenix was in awe, not exactly because Ema knew how the dish was made, but because of the choice. He DID offer her the liberty of choice, and she didn’t buy a dish that was expensive: that one was rather cheap, actually, as he saw when he took a look on the menu. He silently thanked God: he would probably be able to pay the bills in full this month. Now he only had to worry about those of the previous months…

Ema giggled as the waiter stationed the so-called Caesar’s sandwich in front of Phoenix. It seemed like a regular burger, but with all kinds of vegetables going in the stuffing, besides the big juicy hamburger.

“Bon appetite,” the waiter bowed to them again, and left.

They spent some minutes, eating. Ema was extremely well mannered while she ate, eating regularly slow and always keeping the table-napkin close at hand, should any of the red water spot her lips too much. This made Phoenix feel a bit ashamed of his own eating habits of gnawing the burgers, only being slower than Maya at that, which is saying much. In order to look a bit more respectful, Phoenix tried to mimic Ema’s chewing speed, withdrew both elbows that rested against the table, and went as far as to try and use tableware, something to which Ema responded with a loud laugh.

“Haha, using cutlery for a burger? C’mon, Phoenix!” She giggled. “No need to seem so…formal, right?”

She sure got the hang of calling me by the first name quickly… Phoenix thought as he set the fork and knife aside to eat his burger ‘properly’. Then he wondered why he even noticed that.

As Ema finished her lunch, he did, too, and was now deliberately slowing down on the chewing more than Ema. It troubled him what was going to happen after that: she would probably have to go home so she could get all her luggage and then head abroad. He wasn’t sure he would be able to take it well. This made him remember the day Maya went away to finish her training in Kurain. It had been hard for him to let her go, but he felt now it would be as hard to let Ema just go like that, and the two of them were not even big friends! Phoenix tried to think she would someday be back, when she finished her studies, but then he had to wonder why was it so hard for him to see Ema bid that place farewell and carry on with her life. And…

“Phoenix? Y-You’re OK, right?” He heard Ema’s voice calling him, even stuttering for a brief moment. He raised his head and saw that she bent forward, looking at him with a worried expression. Phoenix quickly straightened.

“I-I’m fine, Ema. It’s nothing…” he promptly replied. Ema tilted her head to the side, not entirely convinced. Seconds later, though, she smiled and leaned back against her chair again. Then she sighed.

“Phoenix, I got to go now,” she finally announced. Phoenix felt his heart executing a painful acrobatic trick inside his chest. As Ema stood up, he followed suit, a little too nervous than he would've liked to appear to be.

They went to the cash register for Phoenix to pay the bill. And, for the first time in his life, he cursed the fact that there was no line there, which made the process of paying the bill too quick. Though he had no intention of hindering Ema any longer, he couldn’t help it but think that way…

“That was really great, Phoenix!” Ema happily exclaimed as they left the restaurant and walked through the sidewalk to the nearest bus station. “Many thanks for that!”

“Now, now, it was nothing…” Phoenix said, slightly surprised with how much Ema seemed to have appreciated such a small thing. Her eyes were glowing, and all the contentedness expressed over her face seemed very genuine. It was all very charming and, despite the fact that she was going to leave that day, her smile made him temporarily forget that fact. Ema had been this cheerful ever since they met for the first time, and that didn’t seem like it would change…or so he thought, at that moment…

They heard a big motor roar, and turned around to see it was a bus. They were just getting to the bus station, and the bus was already on its way there. Ema stopped and faced Phoenix. Their nearness made Phoenix blush slightly right then.

“So, Phoenix…thanks for everything! I owe you quite a lot, especially since you got me off the mess on that case…and I will repay you someday, OK? I promise.”

Then, without any other word, she hugged him. A warm, friendly embrace, that had a very pleasant feel to both, exposing physically the bond they developed on that brief time they had together. Phoenix responded in kind, slowly wrapping his arms around Ema, too, pressing her tightly against him. He would have kept like that for longer, if it wasn’t for the bus that passed aside on to the bus station. Ema then withdrew her arms and looked forward, glancing at the considerable amount of people that were now embarking on the bus, and back to Phoenix.

“Good bye, Phoenix. Take care. Until next time! Oh, and I promise I’ll bring you a scientific souvenir!” she declared, smiling at the end of the sentence. Then, she turned around and ran towards the bus before it left.

At that time, Phoenix almost stretched his hand to call for her again, but knew that he should let her go already, no more getting in her way. He was static, as he saw Ema get to the bus and give him one last look before embarking. A look so mysterious; a mix of sadness, hope and happiness. It was over as soon as the bus driver activated the electric door to close.

And then the bus took off.



Later, Phoenix came back to his office, where he should have been the whole day. But work was the last thing he wanted to do now. He felt like going home as soon as possible to rearrange his thoughts and stop grieving over the absence of everyone there. First was Mia, then Maya had to leave, and now Ema…

The first thing he did when he arrived at the office was water Charlie, the only other living being around there. For a moment, he pictured him and Charlie talking about trial law: he was probably very knowledgeable, given the fact he had been there with Mia for a long time before Phoenix even started to advocate. He played with that thought while he finished watering his only present friend and then moved to take a seat on Mia’s swivel chair that was now his. Then, taking a look at the amount of books in the nearby bookshelf (he was sure Mia had read them all, but he highly doubted he would be able to accomplish the same), he took one by choice and started to read it. He skimmed through the text, not being able to focus on a single line, actually. His mind was totally absent. Then, after 10 minutes, he gave up and threw the book over his desk in frustration. He hastily stood up and opened the window to get some fresh air into the office.

Nothing was working to prevent him from thinking about his loneliness. He wasn’t even sure why he was suffering so much on the inside because of that. He did stand alone for some time without Maya close to him. All he knew was that the fact that Ema was leaving had somehow made him more fragile. He looked at his watch: it was 1:30 PM. Not much time had passed since they bid each other farewell and he was already missing her presence. And then, there was the thought that they wouldn’t see each other for years, maybe never, if they weren’t able to keep contact.

And then, Phoenix made a decision. Grabbing his wallet out of the pocket, he quickly selected some coins to hold to, put them aside and then returned it to its original place. He hoped he wasn’t going to be wasting that money for nothing, but at the same time, if he didn’t do that, he might not forgive himself in the future…




Ema stretched herself and yawned. She had sat there for about half an hour, carrying two heavy suitcases and a purse full of elements she’s been testing at home, and no sign of the incoming train she would take. There were very few passengers for that train, it seemed: a couple that sat on the chairs behind her, a family with three kids that were making some noise to the left, and a woman way too focused in reading the newspaper to notice anything else. It was quite boring to stay all that time there, doing nothing. And, for once, she wasn’t exactly willing to open up her science books to pass the time, so she kept staring at the a big clock affixed to a concrete pillar to her right. It was still 2:00 PM. Time passes pretty slowly when you want it to just speed up and get everything done with, she thought to herself, lowering her head and distractedly stroking her left arm.

Then, she felt someone nudging her shoulder. Instinctively, she looked back, and was amazed to check who it was, almost falling on the ground when she tried to stand up so she could talk to him properly.

“P-Phoenix!! What…what are you doing here?”

Of course it was him, she wouldn’t mistake that blue suit, red tie and spiky hair for belonging to anyone else (seriously, his wardrobe probably didn’t have anything else, and that hairstyle was unique). But she couldn’t think why he was right there, in front of her, panting a bit, as if he had run all the way up to the train station.

He took some seconds to answer, as he caught his breath.

“I’m sorry, I…just wanted to see you departing, Ema. Since, huh…” He put a bit too much thought in that before saying it out loud. “Since I had nothing to do at the office! Yeah…”

Ema couldn’t perceive his true intentions, but she figured that wasn’t the real motive. And now, she wasn’t sure what she was feeling. She was really happy that at least someone was there to acknowledge her leave, to be there with her until the moment she had to dismiss her homeland, everything she had built while she was there, to explore a new world abroad. But then, it was strange that it was Mr. Wright who was there. Of course, she knew that Lana would never be able to be present there, but…

Then she had to wonder why she was internally bugged with Mr. Wright there. After all, he WAS a friend… and, compared to others, the few she had, he was quite close. Or at least she felt that way. And thinking like that made a smile form timidly on her face.

“Phoenix…” she said, twinkly. “You should have called me to say you were coming! I could have even gone away by now, couldn’t I?”

“Well…I guess.” Phoenix replied, defeated. Ema chuckled.

“Well then, if you can stay, I would love to have your company!” Then she pointed to the chair just beside the one she was sitting on before he arrived. “C’mon, sit down.”

With an expression of gratitude, Phoenix flopped down on it. Ema sat normally beside him. And, suddenly, both seemed silent. This had happened in the restaurant not long ago, and it bothered Ema quite a lot. She wasn’t sure about what to say, which subject to take, what to…

“Wow, you’re taking all of that with you, Ema?” Phoenix questioned upon taking a look over the luggage she carried. Ema wasn’t bugged with the question: she silently thanked him for stating something from which they would be able to start a conversation.

“Uh, yeah, I’ll be spending a lot of time there, right? I figured I needed to take as much as I could…”

“Still, will you be able to carry all of that?”

“Of course!” Ema replied, adjusting her pair of glasses happily. “I got here with it on a bus…it will be no problem to go around with it until I find the place I’ll be staying.”

“So, everything is settled there for you? You won’t struggle with finding a place for you to stay, right? You have any contacts there?” Phoenix insisted. He seemed to be quite worried, so Ema tried to assume a stronger, assured tone.

“Yeah, my sister helped taking care of everything. Though it was mostly me, of course! I had to arrange a good portion of it. So, see, I can take care of myself,” she added, quite suddenly. Thinking that might be taken in a harsh way (as if she wanted him to stop being worried already) she quickly elaborated. “I mean, you don’t really need to worry about me. I wouldn’t undergo any unnecessary risks.”

“Well, if you so sure, then it’s OK.” Phoenix responded, smiling timidly to her, that responded in kind.

Silence. This was getting Ema pretty nervous. Then she decided to ask the only thing that came to her mind when Phoenix expressed his worry like that:

“Why do you worry so much, Phoenix?”

She expected a quick answer, thinking it was something as simple as because they were friends. But Phoenix remained quiet, his head now lowered, thoughtful. Ema leaned closer to him, as to check on him, and saw him shudder.

“Well?” She insisted.

“I…” He seemed to be trying to come up with the right words, but failing at it. This rendered one or two minutes without response, and Ema started to think about why he was taking so long. Could it be more complicated than she thought?

She couldn’t think about it much, when she saw Phoenix’s head raising again and looking to the trail’s direction. “I don’t know. I just…really felt the need of being here. With you.”

Ema felt herself blush upon hearing that. Phoenix also reddened a little, when he took a glance at Ema. None of them seemed to notice that Phoenix hadn’t exactly answered the question, but rather declared what he felt.

“Y-You did? But why?” she stuttered, her eyes staring at Phoenix now. He thought it had something to do with he knowing that she would be all alone when she departed, so he pitied her or something and came just to be nice. This particular thought wasn’t that nice to Ema, though…

“Because you’re leaving and…well, we won’t see each other for so long…and I thought, I…that thought pains me…”

Ema abruptly felt her heart pump stronger in her chest. He was actually there because he didn’t want them to be separated, and wanted to stay with her until that was absolutely necessary, unstoppable. That meant…he wanted her close? He wanted her to be around? But she really had to go abroad, study, it was her wish to become the best forensic scientist…

Then, she suddenly understood what the silence meant.

The people in the surroundings stood up. Ema quickly looked forward and saw the train was arriving. So focused on the conversation they were having, she didn’t even hear the train’s approach.

Ema got up as soon as she saw it. Phoenix followed, and helped her carry her luggage to the train. However, before they entered, Ema stopped walking and turned around to Phoenix, who halted as well.

“Phoenix…” she started, looking, at the same time, happy and grieving on the inside. “Thank you very much for today. I really had fun spending time with you. A-And, huh…I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can, OK?” she added, trying to sound more optimistic, so Phoenix wouldn’t have such a sad face upon seeing her leave. And sure enough, this made him smile a little.

“Thanks…you take care, OK, Ema?”

“Sure! Oh, and…Phoenix. I have something to you.”

Saying that, she ripped off from her lab coat the largest of the three pins she used, and gave it to him. He looked at it and examined with interest.

“Your pin…?”

“Yeah! Please…please keep that as a memento. It’s a nice and useful pin, actually.” Ema asserted, getting full of herself. After all, that wasn’t just a regular pin…

“It’s…unique.” Phoenix said, still examining it from top to bottom. “But…why do you say it’s useful? Latest fashion in Paris?”

She laughed. “No, no, it’s not that. Huh…you’ll have to discover by yourself.” Now she smirked for a little while. “Consider this a last scientific puzzle from me until I come back, OK?”

Phoenix laughed, too. If Ema wasn’t in somewhat of a hurry because the driver was scowling at her (the only passenger that hadn’t embarked yet), she would have thought about how difficult it was to see Phoenix laughing so openly like that. “OK, thanks for giving me what to do while my office doesn’t get any clients, Ema.”

She smiled to him. “You’re welcome, then. Eh, but now, I…must depart…”

“Yes, I know…”

Ema was about to turn around, when she felt Phoenix’s arms wrap around her and clasp. She responded in kind. Now she truly felt how close he wanted her to be. The warmth of the hug was different than the previous one: it felt closer, intimate, sincere. They held on each other until the driver complained. Then they had to part ways. Ema hastily entered the train after that. She chose where she would sit, and placed the luggage on the immediate next chair, without caring much how it landed there, because the train had begun to move and she wanted to look outside to see Phoenix. He had been following her way through the train, it seems, because he was looking directly at her. And, as the train moved, he walked along, wanting to keep the eye contact. Ema, even though grieving now that their time was up, kept looking, enjoying the last sight she would have of him for some years. And, when he couldn’t keep up anymore with the train, she looked at him tenderly and blew him a kiss.

And just like that, the train made the first curve, and Phoenix disappeared.

“Daddy’s here!” That was the first thing Phoenix heard once his hand turned the doorknob and he made his not-so-big entrance at Wright Anything Agency. The ex-attorney faced the piles of several items spread here and there (most of which were “magical”, tools of Trucy’s trade) as well as two teacups over the glass table between two red sofas. One of those was occupied by Apollo, who stared at Phoenix as he entered. At first, Trucy was nowhere to be seen, but when the newcomer felt a tight squeeze around his waist, he knew where the young magician was.

“Welcome back.” Apollo greeted, taking one of the cups over the glass table and sipping from it. Phoenix noticed a frown and a sign of impatience on his fellow’s face, so either the tea was bad or something had happened to upset him. Since his stare was focused on Phoenix at all times, the ex-attorney was betting his money on the second option. That is, he would, if he had any money at all.

“Hey.” He replied simply to Apollo. Trucy backed down a little to look straight in her dad’s eyes. “How was court today for you too?” He added a question, inciting Trucy to speak up.

“It was really hard!” Trucy said, crossing her arms and looking up, going through the details of the recent case. “The prosecutor was really awesome! He made Apollo sweat bullets most of the time!”

“Well, excuse me! I wasn’t the one that stayed the entire time singing praises to the prosecutor than actually trying to DEFEND our client.” Apollo hissed. Hidden in the anger of the tone he used, Phoenix noticed a tad of jealousness. Trucy made a face.

“Polly, I can’t do your job for you! I’m just a supporter!”

“Next time, then, share some of your support with me!” Apollo completed, sipping more of his tea.

“Now now, kids…” Phoenix interfered, before Apollo’s nerves make him say something he’d regret. All the while, he moved to the free sofa and sat, getting a teacup to serve himself. Trucy didn’t follow immediately, obviously still mad at Apollo’s aggressive behavior: she moved to a corner of the agency in order to water Charlie. A deadly silence followed, the only thing breaking it being the sound of tea pouring in the cups and water crashing against leaves.

“So, who exactly is this prosecutor that gave you such a hard time?” Phoenix asked, honestly intrigued. He had just remembered that Klavier, as he heard from Trucy, was making his tour on Cohdopia with the rest of The Gavinners, and he should be out of the country for about six weeks.

“Apparently he was a hotshot prosecutor some years ago, that just recently made his comeback.” Apollo replied, slightly displeased that Phoenix insisted on the subject.

“Interesting. What’s his name?”

“Miles Edgeworth.”

Phoenix choked on the tea, and this caused him to cough, a whole lot. After what seemed to be half a minute, he looked up to face his comrade’s surprised face. He said nothing, probably waiting for an explanation. Phoenix, trying to look casual, simply sipped more tea (properly this time) and looked at him with his best poker face. “What else?” He asked.

“Do you know him?” Apollo insisted. Phoenix rested his teacup on the table and pocketed his hands on his coat. “Well, I must have seen him in court before. The name is not strange for me.” He replied, matter-of-factly. Apollo still stared at him for a moment before giving up and going back to the tea.

“I don’t know much more than this, though.”

“It’s fine, really.”

The conversation shifted to other, safer grounds. However, the fact kept bugging Phoenix to no end. Edgeworth had come back, went back to the courts, and Phoenix didn’t know anything about it. No word from his friend, nothing. A turmoil began inside him as the thoughts of his early years in court and confrontations against Edgeworth in court invaded his mind, to the point that before one hour elapsed, he was afraid of losing composure in front of them, and that was what he least wanted.

“I’ll buy us some dinner” Phoenix announced at some point of the conversation. Apollo seemed puzzled.

“We have enough packs of instant noodles for today.”

“Oh, but you both have been working hard lately. I’m sure we’ll be able to afford some fancier food for a change, at least for today, don’t you agree?” He asked with a smile. Apollo facepalmed.

“So it’s OUR hard-earned money you’re going to use to have your fancy food!?” He said out loud, but Phoenix wasn’t really listening anymore, and already made his way out. Already through the door and turning around to close it, he spied Trucy’s eyes set on him. After closing the door, however, he didn’t hesitate in diving into that night’s darkness.

Phoenix wasn’t sure where he was going to: the general direction was that of the courthouse. But why was he going there? Certainly Edgeworth wasn’t there anymore: it was getting pretty late, after all. Phoenix stopped by a crossing and had an idea: he took out his very little used cell phone and searched for a number. It was an old number, but it was one chance of contacting him… and suddenly, the only thing that really mattered to Phoenix was that they could talk again. He dialed the number once he found it, and took the phone to his right ear.

Silence. For some seconds, there was no response. Maybe he was busy? Sleeping? Avoiding him? That last thought sent shivers down Phoenix’s spine. It couldn’t be that, could it? Yet it was the most probable. Why, he’s been avoiding Phoenix for several years after that incident… what would have changed it now, right?

Somebody picked up.

“Wright.” The voice on the other end spoke. The tone, the accent, and the fact he was called ‘Wright’ instead of Phoenix, all pointed to that person.

“Edgeworth.” Phoenix voiced as if that single name could make his friend understand exactly what had driven him to call. A short silence ensued.

“Your timing is astounding.” Edgeworth remarked. “The court had just adjourned for a recess.”

“You’re still there?” His friend asked with surprise.

“Hmph. Yes, Wright.” Was the reply, and Phoenix could picture his friend making one of his various poses of elegance. “I have been taking a number of cases after my long absence.”

Why was he doing it, Phoenix thought. He wanted to believe that Edgeworth was taking several cases in order to meet up with… him. Phoenix himself. Of course, this thought made his heart sink pretty heavily as he remembered: Edgeworth still didn’t know.

“Why are you pushing yourself after just coming back? It’s not your responsibility to convict every criminal in the city. Besides, it’s really late. You have to sleep sometime.”

“…I have my reasons.” He stated, and in a way this turned Phoenix’s imagination on. “How about you? Haven’t been receiving many clients?” Edgeworth had obviously changed the subject by chance, but when Phoenix remained silent, he seemed to catch something bad in the air. “Wright?”

“Well, you could say that… ahahaha… yeah…”

“...Did something happen?”

“Actually… yes, Edgeworth.” Phoenix sighed. He was going to tell him. If he wanted to know, it would be easy for him to find out. It was pointless to cover it up. “I… I don’t think we are going to meet in court for some time.” Phoenix shook his head. His resolution failed on the precise moment, giving some kind of vague answer, although one that would surely ring all alarms on Edgeworth’s head, and thereon would be no escape.

“Be more specific, Wright.”

“I am… no longer an attorney. I lost my badge.”

“W-Whaaat!?” Through the phone, Edgeworth sounded as surprised as he could get. Phoenix thought he heard another voice on the other end, but Edgeworth didn’t seem to be bothered by it. “Wright, are you serious?”

“Would I joke around about that? With you, even?” Phoenix replied, which led to another silence, this one being quite painful.

“You will… have to explain this to me as soon as possible, Wright.” He said, solemn. His words surprised Phoenix once again. Being Edgeworth, he half expected him to postpone the moment they saw each other again to as far as possible. Just like he had been doing before. But he composed himself. The opportunity was unexpected, and too valuable to let pass.

“Of course, that’s why I-“

“The undergoing trial here is the last of the day for me. Can you be here in the District Court in an hour?”

“Wha- I mean, of course, I can.”

“Then we’ll see each other here. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Edgeworth said, ending the call right after.

(…)

To Phoenix, everything passed by in some sort of blur. He vaguely remembered running the way to a point where he could see the courthouse, ignoring most of the other things. But other than that, he didn’t remember much. The notion of time slipped him, and it seemed nothing but a minute had passed, when in actuality it had been a long run. His mind was racing too much for him to feel tired or to wonder what time it was, and still in this state of mental instability, he entered the courtroom, and the change of atmosphere immediately made him a different person.

The entrance hall of the grand palace of truth was very fairly decorated, almost majestic to people that were unused to it. From Phoenix’s time to the present, it had changed a lot. There were new photos of remarkable judges, notable prosecutors and some statues of the scales of justice around the hall. A string of chandelier lit the hall in its entirety, and granted the bright white walls a gleam of purity and perfection. Phoenix smiled. Perfection. It evoked a memory of a certain perfect prosecutor that like to whip imperfect beings…

He would have examined more of the hall, or reminisced even more than he had already done, but then he spotted his friend leaning against one of the statues, with his impeccable suit and cravat as always. He looked exactly like the Edgeworth he had faced several times in court years ago. However, his face was apprehensive, and when Phoenix approached and Edgeworth turned his head to look, his face looked normal, but his eyes examined with amazement his so foreign hobo look.

“Wright. You’ve… changed.” He said after some seconds in amazement. Phoenix tried to laugh it off, but he instead grunted. His mouth had gone dry. He also needed some seconds to compose himself.

“You have changed too… Edgeworth.” Phoenix replied vaguely, tilting his head to the side. “Although not physically. You still look like the same old Edgeworth.”

“Good Lord, Wright, what… what caused this?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have the time.”

Phoenix chuckled. “That is really a surprise. OK, I’ll tell you… see, after you left…”

And then Phoenix narrated his saga. Edgeworth needed to know everything. He started with the story of the game of poker with Zak Gramayre, explaining its circumstances, and going all the way up to the implementation of the jury system and the last showdown with Kristoph. At several points, Miles expressed surprise, but in a much more tamed manner than he had been showing so far, which was more… becoming of him. However, he could never predict the fact that Phoenix now had a daughter which replaced him as the breadwinner of the family after Maya disappeared and he lost his badge. Or that he of all people was the one that incited the new jury system, of which he had heard much already. Or that his office had become a talent agency.

“So let me get this straight.” Edgeworth said, asking for a time-out with a signal of his hands. “You fell victim of the enraged plot of a defense attorney that was rejected by his client in a game of poker, befriended him afterwards although with much suspicion of his actions for several years, adopted the daughter of your last client and made her work in order to have everyday’s bread, created an ingenious plan to convict the real culprit of the whole scheme all the while planning to change the law system, dragged that guy’s pupil to work for you as well, and to top it all, helped an international celebrity regain her eyesight, she conveniently being the mother of your two employees.”

“Pretty much.” Phoenix affirmed.

“…Either you have the best or worst luck I ever saw on a human being, Phoenix.” He said, his arms crossed, and tapping his index finger against his forearm frequently. Phoenix heart suddenly went warm when he heard Edgeworth call him by the first name.

“Tell me about it.” Phoenix shrugged, as he had to move to the matter he wanted to discuss more: why had Edgeworth not tried to contact him when he came back. However, his friend must have read his mind, for he changed position and looked directly at him again.

“…I’m sorry, Wright.”

“Huh?”

“I cannot answer what you want right now.”

“…” Phoenix made silence. He wouldn’t tell him why. But what was he hiding? Didn’t he want to meet his friend again? So was he really avoiding him? Even though, Phoenix couldn’t bring himself to ask why. He lowered his head, thinking it’d be too painful to hear it out loud. He’d rather be fooled by the thoughts of excuses for his friend not to say anything than hear straight from him a bitter truth. It would be… too much to bear.

“I cannot answer what you want… because there are much more urgent matters for we to deal with.” Phoenix heard vaguely, and when he finally noticed what it was, he raised his head. “Seriously, Wright, look at your condition, your story… let me help you. I can spare you some clothing, or money, something you n-“

“NO!” Phoenix heard himself shout, which startled his friend. He quickly tried to fix it. “I-I mean, no, Edgeworth, please. I’m earning enough as it is to keep me alive. Being a pianist isn’t so bad. Trucy also earns much since her shows are so popular. Don’t concern yourself with me.”

“How am I supposed to do that, Wright? With you in this condition…” Edgeworth stuttered upon the end of the sentence.

“I was more worried about why didn’t I know you were around after you came back.”

“Well, I am not, Wright.” Edgeworth said with conviction. “Please, if you just let me help you in something…”

“No, Edgeworth… there is no need to. I had decided, I’ll take the bar exam again. Then I will be in the same level as you. Then you will explain it to me, right?”

“W-What? Phoenix, that’s not it, I…”

“It is! Don’t lie, Miles. I’m probably not good enough to be searched by you after you make your grand comeback…”

“Wright, you have it all wrong!” Edgeworth said, elevating his voice more than he intended to. Phoenix looked at him again.

“Then tell me why! Why didn’t you contact me? Why had I never heard anything from you?”

“That’s because I… I…”

His voice faltered once again. Apparently, he just couldn’t say it. Phoenix was on the verge of losing his mind. Feeling betrayed by his own friend, he turned around to leave.

“Wright, wait!”

“For what? You won’t say anything to me. I filled you in my whole life story and you won’t tell me anything from your side. Now don’t bother. I will… I will get my badge back. And we will meet again. Maybe then… then I will be good enough for you to tell me, huh? Now I’m simply a hobo… but you’ll see me again as Defense Attorney Phoenix Wright!”

After the announcement, Phoenix left. Miles tried to call him again, but he didn’t find such strength. When Phoenix disappeared in the darkness of the night, Miles almost fell, holding himself up with the help of the statue beside him. Why had he not contacted Phoenix? He knew why. He knew why his hands failed him whenever he took the phone to call him, why his feet didn’t allow him to enter within a 50 meter radius of his best friend’s previous law office, why his mouth was failing him at such a critical moment. He knew he would have to face that question, and he couldn’t get himself to answer. His true feelings were too hard to let out, especially since he himself couldn’t understand why it was so strong… what made him feel so bonded with that man, despite their everlasting distance. He couldn’t get to say it. But the truth was clear.

“I… love you.” Was all Edgeworth could mutter in his helplessness at that moment. It was so weak that not even the two spies of that scene, both hid behind a single statue of the blind angel of justice, managed to hear it. But they saw the rest of the scene quite perfectly.

“So he knew him after all… a friend from very long ago, perhaps.” Apollo commented, hiding back behind the statue and looking at Trucy, that nodded in response. “I still don’t get it, though. How did you know your father was hiding something, Trucy? My bracelet didn’t react strongly or anything…”

“Oh, it wouldn’t. But I know my father’s… nervous twitch.”

“Twitch? But I would…”

“No, he knew you would perceive it.” Trucy now stopped spying at the prosecutor and faced Apollo. “His nervous twitch is his left index finger. It stretches irregularly when he hears a contradiction. But at the time you talked to him… he hid his hands on his pockets, remember?”

“Ah, yes, I understand.” Now it was Apollo that nodded. “I feel… bad for having witnessed that.”

“Me too... let’s keep it a secret between brothers, OK?” She winked. Apollo rehearsed a smile.

“Fine. But this makes me think we should help your father retake the bar exam if possible… I’ll research if it is possible on my law books. It’s not like I found any use for them lately, anyway…”

“Great! I’ll help too! I’m your supporter, after all.” Trucy suddenly looked excited, but remembering their mission required stealth, she refrained from jumping on place or doing anything as strange.

“Alright. But then we have to go back to the agency fast, or he’ll know what we’ve done and he will have our heads.”

“True. Let’s go, Polly.” She muttered in response, and both of them left too, leaving the prosecutor behind.

October 10, 10:00 AM

District Court

Courtroom Nº 91


Oh God. That was certainly not a regular trial this was going to be. Not when the bailiffs suddenly busted in the room before the trial even started, covering the way with a giant red carpet, through which walked right behind, but at a much slower pace, a small blond girl with sea-blue eyes holding… a giant-sized yellow sword on the right hand?

The courtroom fell silent as the bailiffs made ran all the way up to the judge’s stand, where the usual and fair Udgy was not at the time. Then, when the girl finally caught up, she immediately sat and looked at the astonished faces turned to her. She cleared her throat and started.

“Hello. I am Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz, rightful heir of the Fantasinian throne, and currently present here to deliver justice to the guilty and freedom to the innocent! Oh attorneys of law, aid me in this noble and honorable quest that begins now, with the trial of Miss… huh… Meggie Byrde.”

“Sir, that’s Maggey, sir!” A very nervous Maggey by the witness stand shouted, oblivious to the unusual air of tension befalling everyone in the court towards that unexpected new judge. Yggdra blushed.

“Oh, my… my apologies, miss Byrde. Wait… I mean: know your place, criminal! Your fate will be sealed in this very room and in this very trial!”

Phoenix, already by the defense bench, looked across the room to see Edgeworth… and an apparently disturbed Edgeworth at that.

“Well, then, are both the defense and the prosecution ready?” Phoenix eyes were drawn to the judge’s direction again, where he saw her with a script in hand and reading it intently. Gosh, what kind of demented joke was that? He would have to play by those rules, apparently.

“The defense is-“ Phoenix couldn’t finish, for a cry of “Objection!” was heard in a very sexy male voice, and all heads of the courtroom turned to Edgeworth.

“This evidences, videotape, CD album and somewhat drugged witness prove the defendant’s guilt!” He blurted, showering the prosecution bench with a bunch of items in a split second, including a sleeping Ini Miney pushed to the witness stand. “Now give me candy!”

The judge immediately stood up, eyes sparkling with so much intensity it would have blinded any direct witness. “CANDY!! WHERE!?”

Her eyes scanned through the people present, spotting a Sal Manella happily getting ready to eat a petit gateau in the front row of people that watched the trial. She immediately charged against the poor soul, sword at hand, to get the tasty meal, Edgeworth right on her toes. It was by that time that an even stranger figure entered the courtroom: an armored kid with long red hair and amber eyes riding a blood-red dragon and carrying a death scythe. He searched someone there, and when his eyes set on Yggdra, that had disposed of Manella and now dueled Edgeworth for the supreme dessert, he sighed heavily.

“Who the hell allowed sugar here with SHE around?” He said loudly, eyeing another man in the second row, that was about to jump over the first and try to flee while holding two ice-creams, one in each hand. The purple-haired man shook his head furiously.

“It wasn’t me, Emperor, I swear! I don’t even know where these ice-creams came from!” He started, but when he noticed Edgeworth spotted him, he ran for his life. The newcomer didn’t bother helping, and instead flew with his dragon to the judge’s stand, which took unnecessarily long, probably because he was showing off his skills waving back and forth with the dragon.

“Alright… since the prosecutor and Yggdra are apparently getting high on candies, I’ll be the new provisory judge for no reason whatsoever. By the way, the name’s Gulcasa.”

“Is he even legal?” Phoenix rolled his eyes.

“Now for the crime, it was…” Gulcasa scanned the case files conveniently right in front of him, and tilted his head once his eyes set over what he looked for. “Wait… she only ate a barbeque?”

Someone pushed Maggey and Ini aside from the witness stand. It happened to be Larry.

“Yeah, man, that is TERRIBLE! It was for me and my girlfriend Susan, man!! I spent so much time trying to prepare it the right way!” Larry shouted, on the verge of crying.

“I’d rather have Genocide’d souls myself.” The judge commented, getting what looked like a white bun and swallowed it whole. “Now, Mr. Wright, will you plead ‘Not Guilty’ or ‘Self-Defense’?

Despite a possible penalty, Phoenix would have loved to comment on something, but seeing the size of the scythe the judge carried, he decided against it. “’Not Guilty’, Emperor.”

“Very well. Now present your evidence.”

“What the hell? We didn’t even start on the details! Without them, how can I work out the contradictions on people’s testimony and accuse a possible witness around here?

“Screw you, I’ve got a soap opera to watch starting in fifteen minutes and I’m not about to lose it because of a third-rate spiky haired attorney.” Gulcasa replied angrily. Phoenix facepalmed, vaguely distracted by Yggdra and Edgeworth spinning around with joined hands, probably in an ecstatic state after having eaten ice-cream and probably other candies from anyone around. To their side laid a KOed Sal Manella…

“TAKE THAT!” Phoenix shouted, pointing his finger to Sal Manella right across the room.

“What the heck are you doing? You’re supposed to shout that when you present evidence, Mr. Wrong.” Gulcasa commented, obviously annoyed.

“I am, Emperor. I accuse Sal Manella of eating Larry’s bun! I mean, barbeque!”

The courtroom was in chaos, which didn’t took very long to settle once Gulcasa’s pet dragon roared.

“That’s a grave accusation, Mr. Wright… but I kinda have to agree, he looks like he enjoys his meals… and others'. But how can you explain he did it?”

Phoenix slammed his hands on the table. “…Ouch.” He quickly fixed his sentence. “I mean, it’s very simple, Emperor! He disguised himself as the defendant and ate Larry’s barbeque!”

“Nick!!!” Maya suddenly appears from the shadows of the courtroom to knock some sense on the porcupine head attorney. “Are you nuts!? Manella disguised as Maggey! That’s never gonna work!

“B-But…” Phoenix started, but was stopped midsentence by a whipping attack. “Yikes!”

“That was so utterly foolish I had to whip the foolish fool who foolishly stated such a foolish sentence.” An already well-known female voice came from where the door was supposed to be, and through which we were now able to see Yggdra and Edgeworth trying to catch the Swiss Rolls that a pink-tailed jumping mermaid called Nietzche held. “And I was in Germany just now, for crying out loud!”

“Hell, we don’t know until we actually try to fit him in the costume, right!?” Phoenix searched for a way to get out of that mess, but at the same time digging his grave deeper.

“Mr. Wright, how can you possibly imply that gross thing can look like me!?” Even Maggey was now exploding on Phoenix. Gulcasa slammed his gavel (I mean, scythe) and shouted “Order!” before things got out of hand. At that time, Ini Miney was awaking from her slumber.

“Ohh… like, where am I?” She muttered, standing up slowly, and when taking notice of her surroundings, she gasped when she saw the fallen Manella. “Oh my gawd, Maggey! I was, like, looking ALL OVER for you, sweetie!” She ran towards him and started to shake him frenetically. “Like, wake up, wake up! I was like, so lonely without you!”

The whole courtroom was struck speechless. Even Yggdra and Edgeworth dropped their jaw when they glanced at that scene. Gulcasa recovered first. “Witness, are you high?”

She seemed to have listened to him, since she shook her head. “Like, not today, sugar.”

“SUGAR! WHERE!?” Yggdra and Edgeworth shout in unison, and Gulcasa facepalmed.

“Phoenix Wright, you are so lucky. You win.”

“…Wait, what?” Phoenix didn’t take notice of what the sentence meant until some seconds later.

“She’s the only witness we got. And though she’s on a very crazy trip on acid, we have no one to contest her words. And she proved you’re right.”

“…Oh.” Was all that Phoenix could say.

“I see no reason to further prolong this trial.” Gulcasa finished, solemn. “This court finds the defendant, Maggey Byrde…

NOT GUILTY

January 22, 11:00 AM

District Court

Courtroom Nº 91

“The court shall begin the trial of Mr. Raguna… err, Raguna.” Once again, the court gathered and the judge expected to make a fine first statement after slamming his gavel. However, the defendant’s lack of surname was obviously making him uneasy. When he looked over to both the defense and prosecution benches, though, none of the attorneys seemed to bother with that fact.

“The defense is ready, Your Honor,” announced a spiky haired lawyer in a navy blue suit, the one and only Phoenix Wright. He glared over to his opponent, who couldn’t respond to the glare, for its eyes were hidden behind a weird mask with three red horizontal lights.

“…” Those were Godot’s wise words before the trial started. The judge, following the saying that silence gives consent, hastened up his next line.

“Very well, the prosecution can give its opening statement.”

“Hah…! The defendant is guilty. The answer lies in front of you, simple and clear, much unlike my coffee.” A swing of his arm summoned a cup of coffee to himself, and he immediately took a sip. “However, let us look behind us to the facts that concern this case. The crime took place at 8 PM, at a hot spring complex called ‘Laga Springs’. The body of a regular customer, Nolan… Mr. Nolan, was found on one of the springs by the owner of the establishment, Ms. Melody…”

Someone rushed inside the courtroom, stomping over the bailiff in the rush. It was a young girl with light blue eyes and pink hair in pigtails, dressed in a red and white robe and hat that much resembled a magician. She looked very annoyed, and looked directly at the coffee loving prosecutor.

“Hey, why does that scruffy detective gets to testify first? I need to go first! How could someone stain my lovely bath with blood! That Raguna, he’s going to pay! No matter that he saved Trampoli and keep Whale Island flying, his crime is unforgivable!!” She hissed, all the while looking at the prosecutor. Then, apparently being aware of the coffee that the prosecutor was drinking, she also took her own cup and took a sip.

The court was engulfed in a weird silence, during which Phoenix had begun sweating and the judge had a face of utmost astonishment. “I’d like to present Ms. Melody to the court, the owner of Laga Springs.” Godot said, after finishing his first cup. The magician was suddenly much calmer after drinking the contents of her own cup, and raised her eyes to the judge.

“Oh my! I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself. Thanks, Mr. Godot.” She bowed respectfully to him. “Anyway, why is there a trial…? Poor Raguna… he couldn’t have done something like that…” Now she was almost dreamy, so ditzy it would leave Ini Miney in the dust. Phoenix looked like he was hit by a massive truck.

“If that isn’t bipolar, I don’t know what it is.” He muttered to himself, shaking his head.

“Hah…!” Godot started, facing Wright. “Such is the power of the Relax Tea.”

“Relax Tea?” Phoenix repeated, intrigued.

“Yes, Trite. It is a special herbal tea that has the most powerful body relaxing properties. It is also special in the sense that it was created in a village named Trampoli, where the murder took place.”

“Wow, Nick, Godot is pretty knowledgeable, don’t you think?” Maya commented cheerfully.

“Since when are you here!?” Phoenix almost shouted when Maya’s sudden comment surprised him. He was going to reply properly, but a huge detective in a green trench coat ran inside the courtroom (not forgetting to stomp over the bailiff), and grabbed Melody by the shoulder.

“Hey, pal, what do you think you’re doing, stealing my spotlight! This was supposed to be my chance of getting a raise! I’ll arrest you, pal!” He was almost handcuffing the girl, that didn’t react whatsoever, but a shout of “Hold it!” made him stop.

“Detective Gumshoe, I’d like to cross-examine this witness first!” Phoenix said with conviction. Why he said it, though, he had no clue. But he was all too accustomed with the ‘act first, think later’ modus operandi. Gumshoe looked at him, and meeting the determination in his eyes, he backed down a bit, but still hadn’t given up.

“But sir… my salary…” He muttered in grief.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Detective! Here, I hope this makes up for it…” The girl by the witness stand searched the inside of her robe and found a turnip the size of a human head in her pocket (no kidding), which she offered to Gumshoe. “Here, you can have it.”

“R-Really? I can have it? A turnip! It’s been so much time I could buy one, I forgot they were so big!” Gumshoe screamed in delight while he took the turnip in his hands. In a second, however, it had disappeared: a blond girl dressed in blue had dashed from the audience to grab it and was then happily nibbling it. “Ahhhh! My turnip! Give it BAACK!” The detective dove against the perpetrator, and a fight for the turnip ensued. However, as Melody spoke again, no one made an effort to stop the fight.

“Mr. Lawyer wants me to testify… so I’m going to testify. Is that alright, Mr. Godot? Is that alright, Mr. Judge?” She spoke slowly and sweetly. It was suddenly inconceivable that she was really a witness for the prosecution. Godot, however, had no objection, and just drank from his next cup of coffee. So she started.

“It was getting late when Raguna came to my bathouse…”

“HOLD IT!” Came the shout from the defense bench, but nothing followed. Embarrassed, Phoenix amended: “I’m sorry, miss, it’s just force of habit. B-But since you stopped, is my client a regular at Laga Springs?”

“Yes, he comes at least once a day. I only allow my customers to take one bath per day.” She answered happily, her head hanging to a side.

“Isn’t this a rather unnatural procedure to a person that is getting gold every time people bath at your establishment?” Phoenix promptly stated, but an “OBJECTION!” followed, coming from the coffee loving side of the courtroom.

“This is unrelated to the case. I demand a penalty to Trite.”

“Objection sustained. Penalty, Mr. Wright.”

“Wait, WHAT!? What did I do?” Phoenix complained, slamming his desk. “I wish they would take some of that Relax Tea so they don’t throw off penalties like that…” He then thought, before the pink-haired witness continued.

“But then, after he took his bath and left, the spring started to smell like alcohol. I thought it was Nolan drinking in the bath again. He often does. So I went there to scold him, but… I found him dead.” The words were heavy on the courtroom’s atmosphere, but she was apparently half-oblivious to that. “I thought he was sleeping, but there was no pulse. Some bottles of wine were on the water, and there was also blood… oh, the blood ruined my bath! Oh, the tragedy! He must pay, he really must! What has he done to my BATH!!” She began crying, getting on her knees before she knew it. Apparently the tea’s effect was wearing off.

“Relax Tea only has a durable and great effect if drank in great quantity.” Godot explained, as to excuse the witness of the sudden breakdown. Phoenix made a mental note of it, as useless of an information as it was going to be.

“Detective… DETECTIVE!” Phoenix shouted to get his attention, but to no avail: him and the girl were still fighting over the turnip, causing a gray fog to lift and hide (read ‘censor’) the violence from the public. “Gah, forget it. Miss Melody, what was the murder weapon?”

“The bottles, of course! Those bottles stained my beloved bath with wine and blood! You know how pissed this makes me?!” She had rose up to her feet again, and her face looked as annoyed as it was when they had first entered. Phoenix rolled his eyes.

“I meant the weapon that took Mr. Nolan’s life.”

“…Oh! Well, how should I know? My bath was ruined at the time, you know!” She hissed, as if that explained everything by itself.

“Was there any incriminating evidence that pointed to my client?”

“…There was a turnip. And Raguna’s a farmer…” Melody answered after thinking for a little while. This made Phoenix and Maya almost faint.

“You mean THAT turnip!? Do you randomly give evidence out as a present!?” Phoenix shouted in amazement.

“Hah…! A true man does not need unnecessary evidence, Trite.” Godot replied, sipping some more coffee. “If you are a real man, use what you have to find the truth for yourself.”

“Hum, I hate to interrupt…” The judge said after a while, staring at the fight in the courtroom. “But could someone do something about those two?”

Melody rolled her eyes and drew from her pocket a teapot (no kidding, again). She grabbed the girl from behind and dragged her to the stand.

“Mist, have this.” She said while forcing the girl to drain the teapot’s contents. In an instant she fell, motionless, leaving a very happy and couldn’t-care-less Gumshoe free with his loved turnip. The court felt silent.

“D-Did you… kill her?” The judge didn’t seem to be finding the words easily.

“No, I gave her Relax Tea.” She said, somewhat calmer than before. “She might sleep for some days after drinking this much, though…”

Something struck Phoenix like a baseball to the forehead. “OBJECTION!” he shouted, pointing to the witness. “Godot, I now have a firmer grasp of what happened.”

At the time, another blonde wearing light white clothes and carrying a package entered the courtroom. For the sake of tradition, she ALSO stomped the bailiff. “Special Evidence Delivery to Mr. Pheonix Wright!” She announced loud and clear.

“MAYA! How could you write my name wrong!?” Phoenix complained, turning to Maya, that was trying to hide below the bench.

“Ack, I’m sorry, Nick! It was in such a hurry that it slipped!” The newcomer had probably heard the defense party, for she ran towards them and put the package over their bench.

“Here you go. It includes a set of bottles, the body of a man by his sixties that loves baths, as well as some water.” She talked pretty fast and went to the point. “That will be 200 gold.”

“That cost me a bit, but I’ll win this case no matter what!” Phoenix thought, after the dealing had ended. He slammed his hands on the desk. “Your Honor! As the girl, Rosetta, was kind enough to examine these pieces of evidence, I’d like them to be known by the court. These bottles were certainly carrying alcoholic beverages… except for two. One was found broken, and the other was filled with… Relax Tea!”

The court went in turmoil. Except for Godot, that sipped his coffee, as usual. “You amuse me, Trite. No matter how you try to play it out, the witness stated that the body had no pulse.”

“Well, we can check that. I am sure the teapot you had, Miss Melody, had a nice quantity of Relax Tea too.” Phoenix said, now looking confident. “Would you mind taking the pulse of your turnip-loving friend there?”

“Well, OK, but I am sure that… oh.” Melody touched the girl’s pulse, and by her expression, it certainly wasn’t what she expected.

“I see my point goes through.” Phoenix said in triumph. To his side, near Maya, were now several little phantom-like creatures called Runeys, playing the Cornered theme. “In light of this, we hold that the victim is still alive!”

“OBJECTION!” Godot’s voice sounded through the courtroom. “Despite the fact he might have drunk this tea, it doesn’t mean he is still alive. Or how would you be able to explain the blood found on the springs?”

“TAKE THAT!” Phoenix held up the broken bottle. “It is pretty logical that this bottle must have dropped accidentally. At that time, I assume no one other than the defendant and the victim were in the springs. Is that right, Melody?”

“Yes, that much is true.” Melody admitted with a nod. “There were more people on the female side, but none of them went to the male side while I was looking.”

“Good. Now, that broken bottle must have been the reason why you smelled alcohol, Miss. Anyway, the victim does not have any external wounds. How is that possible?”

“…Gah!” Godot’s mask started to fume.

“Yes, it wasn’t he that was hurt at all. It was… my client who was hurt!” Phoenix pointed forward for no reason. “The ‘victim’, grieving over hurting a friend, must have opened the bottle with Relax Tea to… well, relax. Forget it. But he drank it all too fast, and here he is, causing a huge misunderstanding.

“One moment, Trite!” Godot shouted, slamming his cup of coffee against the table. “If that is the case, then why didn’t the defendant speak up for himself to avoid this ‘huge misunderstanding’?”

Everyone looked at the defendant, which had until then passed unnoticed by most people present. He was a young man with brown hair and light blue eyes, wearing a brownish open coat over a navy shirt. He had his eyes closed, and tapped his feet impatiently. When they addressed him, he simply stated: “Simple. No one here gave me the chance!”

The court once again fell silent. The judge then shook his head. “I think this wraps it up nicely. Well done once again, Mr. Wright. This court finds the defendant, Raguna…

NOT GUILTY

December 12, 10:45 AM

District Court

Corridors

It was early for the trial yet. 15 minutes was quite a bit of time. And yet, through the corridor that leads to one of the farthest courtroom ever, two figures walk in fast pace. One, a well-built spiky haired lawyer in his usual navy blue suit, was looking a little tense. The other was his constantly present and always eager spiritual sidekick Maya Fey, using her usual training purple robe. She looked perfectly happy, in contrast with her friend.

“Chin up, Nick!” She cheered, to liven things up on that empty and otherwise creepy corridor. “You’ve been looking grim ever since we took the bus. But we’re still early for the trial!”

“Well, that’s not what is bugging me…” The one and only Phoenix Wright replied with a sigh. “Maybe the fact that some people were eyeing me on the bus as if they’re going to eat me for dinner has something to do with it. Did I do something wrong?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nick. How could someone eat you for dinner if it’s only 10:45 AM?” Maya stated, showing off her utter dominance of the meals’ usual time frame.

Phoenix was about to sarcastically reply when they reached the double doors to the courtroom number 91. As they arrived, though, a chill went down the attorney’s spine. The door itself looked a little different. However, as it happened every time, he couldn’t quite point his finger at it. Maya noticed his concern and looked at it too. Slowly, she approached the door and was about to turn the handle when Phoenix discovered what was wrong.

“Hey, Maya… were those holes there before?” He pointed his index finger to two holes above the doorknobs. They were diamond-shaped and the wood that shaped them looked lighter and clearer than the one composing the rest of the door. Maya bent forward to check them closely.

“I don’t think so. Then again, it’s not been long since we started coming to this room…”

“True. Well, let’s enter, anyway.”

At Phoenix’s command, Maya turned the doorknob, but much to her surprise, it was locked. She announced that loudly to Phoenix, that responded with a “WHAAAAAAT!?” in kind. He hastily stepped up and tried turning it too, but to no avail.

“How come? It really is locked.” Phoenix crossed his arms and tapped his foot, thoughtful.

“Maybe we arrived a bit too early?” Maya risked an explanation. Phoenix shook his head.

“It doesn’t really make sense. Courtrooms are usually open before that. Maybe there was a change in time and we did not receive the info?”

“Hum… maybe they only changed the courtroom! You know, this one might have been locked by accident, and they are in a nearby room!”

Phoenix dwelt in that idea for a moment. It sounded plausible. Though, with his luck, things would end up being more complicated than that.

“Well, then let’s check it out. The closest room is the last in the row, the number 101… huh?”

Both our heroes turned to the end of the corridors, which turned to the right a little farther on. They followed that way, but as they turned, they discovered the area was closed off by a single white tape and a sign that read “Maintenance”. Beyond the tape, a group of several janitors groaned in a zombie-like manner and were spinning around slowly with their hands given to each other.

“Ah, they’re having fun! Let’s spin too, Nick!” Maya said eagerly, but Phoenix held her shoulder before she jumped in.

“No way! Can’t you see the sign saying “Maintenance”? It means they’re working, we shouldn’t interrupt.”

“Oh, phooey.”

The creepy parade ended when a blond man wearing sunglasses and carrying a machine gun and a whip appeared and started lashing the zombie-like janitors like crazy.

“Pesky fools, get back to work!” He shouted, and the zombies fled to the inside of the opened courtroom just ahead. The man followed,
and the door closed behind him.

“Who was that, Nick?”

“No clue… though the shouting around and the whip at hand made me think of a von Karma.” Phoenix confessed, causing Maya to laugh. “Anyway… another weird thing is, I don’t remember those statues there…”

The attorney pointed to the end of the corridor, beyond the maintenance sign. Against the wall were two symmetrical gray statues,
both depicting the same figure: a man holding a torch up. On the tip of each stone torch, something shone brightly, despite the severe lack of light in that corridor.

The glowing objects quickly caught Maya’s interest, and that made a bad feeling breed in Phoenix.

“Maya, whatever you do, don’t-

He couldn’t complete the sentence, for she had already leaped over the poor excuse for a sign, and immediately headed towards the shiny objects like a dog after a Frisbee thrown to the other side of the beach. In her hurry, she ended up bumping into the statue, which was knocked over and shattered to pieces. Surely it was ridiculously fragile, but Maya only cared enough to glance at it before composing herself and going after what she wanted. Behind her, Phoenix was aghast.

“…break the statue…” He continued, completing the now useless sentence. Maya picked up the object of her interest and examined it. It was a diamond-shaped scarlet jewel, which had something of a weird glow in that darkish area of the corridor. Strangely, the spirit medium felt like everything had stopped around her as she examined that item. Maybe the glow was hypnotic or something.

“Nick, look! Isn’t this the same shape as the one we saw just now?”

“Maya, how can you even think about the trivial now!? How am I going to repay the people here for the broken statue when I barely have… oh wait, you’re right.” Phoenix had just noticed the resemblance, and for a while, had inexplicably forgotten the rest of the situation. “Does that mean it should be there?”

“I think so!” Maya readily answered, while stretching herself to try and grab the other jewel from the tip of the other statue’s torch, this time without breaking it. She was successful. “But then, why exactly are they here?”

“No clue either…” Phoenix sighed, but our two heroes started to the side from which they came. Once again in front of the 91st courtroom, Maya quickly attached the stones to their carvings on the door. They fit perfectly. A click was heard. The door seemed to be open now.

Both exchanged looks, all realizing how weird was that situation. And even so, they ventured forth. Maya went first, always the most willing for an adventure, and Phoenix right on her toes. It was then. What they found inside shocked them. Their eyes were beholding something so terrible, so foul that it had to be censored twice to get past standards of fiction censorship. It is… a creepy corridor.

“You got to be kidding me!” Maya blurted, running to the other end to check that there was yet another double wooden door before the proper courtroom, and those doors were also locked. “I don’t remember this corridor! When did they reform?

“We always went past this one rather quickly… I guess it’s normal not to notice. Both doors were always open too…” Phoenix explained as he walked after his friend. Checking his surroundings, it really was a weird corridor. It was quite dirty and it had several drawer stands and some desks to the right. Totally different than what he would have expected. When he got to Maya, she looked away from the door and directly at him.

“Well, I guess we have to find a way to unlock this one too! C’mon, Nick, let’s search for clues!”

“It’s not like there will always be a convenient way, Maya…” Phoenix began, but she wasn’t listening anymore, bestowing upon herself the task of examining the nearby drawers. With a sigh, the ace attorney agreed that he should do something as well. Since he was already facing the door, he would start from there. After all, the previous one had a peculiarity. He wondered whether a close examination or a cross examination would be more efficient in that situation.

As this happened, we see Maya snooping around the things that were around. However, in her concentration given to the task, she did not notice that the noise she made had awakened a hungry zombie stationed to one dark side of the corridor, from the way they came. This bad boy started to walk ever so slowly towards the closest victim, and Maya still hadn’t noticed him when she announced her findings to Phoenix:

“Hey, look, I found some Grenade Launcher shells! Can’t we use them to explode the door and make a grand entrance?”

Phoenix made a face.

“With all due respect, Maya, that idea will never work. I mean, c’mon! Grenade Launchers only damage enemies! They surely would be completely useless against this wooden door!”

Maya was puzzled at first, but eventually she came to realize what was wrong. “Wow, you’re right. Silly me.” She giggled at her own idea and threw the shells aside, accidentally hitting the incoming zombie and burning him to the ground. Some laughing could be heard from the janitor zombies that were spying on the room at the moment, and some even raised a sign that read “Rest in Pieces” to laugh even harder.

“Hum… anything useful?” Phoenix asked after a couple of minutes. He had put a lot of effort in cross examining the door, but he got no new information. Maya growled.

“No… last thing I found was an ink ribbon. Maybe it’s time to search inside this ridiculously big chest here.” She commented as her hands opened it almost effortlessly, but at the same time doing some sort of acute noise. “Hmm… a-ha!”

“What is it?”

“I found a small key! Maybe this will work… oops.”

“Did something happen?”

“My inventory is full.”

“Oh, please…” Phoenix shook his head and just went himself to the chest to get the key. “Let’s go, Maya. Whatever is happening, at least we need to make it to court in time!” He said with decision, and went on to unlock the door. Maya checked her cell phone.

“Wow, and just in time indeed! It’s one minute to eleven.” She announced proudly, coming next to Phoenix. In an instant, the door had been unlocked, and it opened on its own. Finally, they found themselves at the courtroom, and so glad they were to finally set foot on a better known place that they didn’t notice an army of zombie janitors swarming the corridor they were previously to clean up the ashes of their fallen comrade.

The courtroom… was just as it should be, differently from all the previous places. The judge sat proudly in his chair as if it was a throne, waiting for the action to begin. On the other side of the room, the talented and youthful prosecutor Miles Edgeworth awaited his next challenger. The spectators were silent, watching Phoenix and his sidekick with the utmost attention, waiting for his glorious presentation of what real trial and real justice were. The truth to be shown by the index finger of none other than the almighty, all-powerful attorneys that were present…

All of that was what Phoenix wanted to have seen, but…

“YOU SAY THAT AGAIN! WHO’S GUILTY NOW, BITCH!? WHO’S GUILTY!?” A female voice shouted through the whole place over and over, while a male weak raspy voice responded in kind with screams of pain. Phoenix took some time to understand what was going on. By the prosecutor’s bench, an uniformed female police officer had the hold of prosecutor Payne and was giving him a world of pain by punching him repeatedly and screaming against him. Both Phoenix and Maya’s jaws dropped. When she had noticed who entered, she stopped beating the prosecutor to a pulp and walked towards them. Phoenix recognized the defendant, Ms. Jill Valentine.

“Ah, Mr. Lawyer, I was trying to facilitate your work against the prosecutor and all… guess I got a little carried away.” She smiled
sheepishly. “You know, I’ve been itching for some action ever since the outbreak and…well… he annoyed the heck out of me.”

“Hum… yeah, I… understand, Ms. Valentine.” Phoenix heard himself speaking with difficulty. At that time, Jill took notice of Maya’s ink ribbon.

“Can I use that, lady?”

“Huh? Ah, sure, keep it if you want…”

“Mr. Wright!” The judge had finally spoken up, scaring Phoenix and Maya: upon seeing what had just happened, both had forgotten where they were. “This… extremely strong lady is your client, right?”

“Y-Yes, Your Honor…” Phoenix stuttered as he followed Jill with his eyes. She had gone over to a typewriter and seemed to be typing something up. What else would she be doing with a typewriter other than that, right?

“Despite the spanking of old Payne, she has been a helpful girl who kept a lot of weird people at bay from here.” The judge stated, confirming his own words with a nod. “And since the prosecutor doesn’t seem to be able to… err… prosecute right now, I guess I can give my verdict. This court finds the defendant, Jill Valentine…

NOT GUILTY

The night of that fateful day was filled with stars. Twinkling with energy, they beautifully decorated the skies for anyone that might be interested in seeing it. Of course, spectators were difficult to come by: Los Angeles was crawling with night workers that were far too busy with their daily chores to care for something as far off as the stars. But today wasn’t just any day. It was different, for there was one man under that sky who was fully appreciating its beauty. That man was Miles Edgeworth.

Tall, well-built, good-looking… the man had it all. His job was a good one, his mind had a sound logic and his personality was, despite the influence of a certain perfectionist on his job, actually likeable. Even so, the prosecutor wanted to forget it all for the time being, focusing his attention at the glowing points that spotted the darkish night. He wasn’t feeling all that well today. Rather, he felt unhappy. Despite having skill, looks and money, there was one thing he didn’t have: someone to love.

He had lost his mother at a rather young age. He lost his father on an unfortunate chain of events which he would rather block from his mind. Having no direct family left, and being raised by a man that demanded nothing short of “perfection” in his assignments, it was hard to have the disposition or time to go after a love interest. Edgeworth never thought much of it, but in this night, the full intensity of loneliness was upon him. He wondered: where there even any opportunities in which he could have gotten to know a woman, or even to like one?

Saying that there were never opportunities would be a lie. He had met a number of women before, but under certain circumstances which had either ruined the opportunity entirely or made it very difficult. Mia Fey, against whom he had waged war in the first trial he prosecuted, was now dead (and to make matters worse, he had prosecuted her sister). The younger sibling of Ex-Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye seemed to have taken a liking for him, but they had a considerable age difference at the time, and nowadays, even though she was back from studying abroad, she seemed to be far too busy and grumpy to care for him. And Oldbag… well, Edgeworth preferred not to think about her.
“Maybe I am fated to stand alone.” Said the prosecutor, turning his gaze from the stars to the inside of his mansion. The building was in absolute silence. No shrieks of complaint from the wooden floor, no inexplicable bumps of the windows, no voices. Just silence. It was almost depressing. At the time, even the periodical cut in Gumshoe’s salary would have enlightened Edgeworth’s mood. At least he would get to see someone…
RING! RING! RING!
“Huh…?” Miles checked his pocket. His cell phone had rang three times in rapid succession. He had just received a message. From whom? Who had remembered him in that night and cared enough to send a message? Phoenix? Edgeworth hadn’t seen him in ages. Maybe Gumshoe? He did call sometimes, although he almost never sent text messages, due to them costing an additional fee out of his dangerously low salary. Who would it be?

As it turned out, the message was anonymous. It had been forwarded for a list of 20 people, at least. It said:

Trucy Wright has a crush on Kristoph Gavin. Pass it on.

Edgeworth blinked. Wright… Wright… would that be a coincidence? Or would it be possible that it was someone related to Phoenix? In that case… was he married!? No, such a childish prank would not befit a lady. It would probably fit better for a… daughter!? Edgeworth forced his head, and remembered the prosecutor to Phoenix’s last trial. It had been a Gavin, surely. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Edgeworth passed his hand over his carefully combed hair, unsure of what to think. It seemed, though, that he had stuck himself in time. Larry had always gone after what he wanted… Phoenix now seemed to have a daughter… what about him?

Feeling even more melancholic than before, Miles looked up to the stars again. Now, he did wish to know how it was to love and be loved. Would there be time to feel it, during his life? But he wouldn’t know where to start, how to properly address a woman to a point it would lead to such a thing. He wondered, even if for an instant, if he would have the courage to ask Larry about it. He should have learned something, despite all his failed attempts. He would be a starting point… but then, who to pursue?

As that last question crossed his mind, a shooting star crossed the sky.

An intense light engulfed everything…

It shouldn’t have turned out like this. There were only two results to a trial: “Guilty” or “Not Guilty”. Whether the defendant was incarcerated or acquitted, Edgeworth knew that he would have done his best in the very first trial he prosecuted. But the trial didn’t end in any of those ways. The defendant was dead. He was gone, and the worst part of it was that he was innocent. Maybe not fully, but at least he was more innocent than the red-haired girl that now left the courtroom, with a pleased smile on her face. For some time, nobody moved. There was not much to be said, either.

Everyone was dismissed by the judge, and some officials plus the bailiff entered to retrieve Terry Fawles’ body. A sad ending for the man. People say that love makes the world a happy place, but in his case, it just made him get involved in a criminal ploy and die early. Edgeworth contemplated what he would do about the trial. He would have to tell Karma. Would he understand? Manfred would probably scold him for not getting a guilty verdict in 3 minutes first… he wouldn’t give the fate of this man a second thought. Edgeworth wished he could do so, with this same ease.

He looked across the room to the defense bench. His opponent, Mia Fey, had fared pretty well during the entire trial, and almost cornered that “Melissa” girl: if it hadn’t been for this fateful incident, maybe the trial would have ended well. Probably because of that, Mia was with her head buried in her hands, frustrated. She didn’t take heed of the Judge’s words, and just stood there. Edgeworth wasn’t comfortable with the idea of leaving either, and stayed in place until everyone but the judge had left the courtroom.

“I’m sorry this had to happen in the first trial of you both.” When the judge spoke, his voice echoed through the silent room loudly. Mia raised her head, and Edgeworth looked up to the one speaking. “Mr. Edgeworth, Ms. Fey.”

Though gullible, the judge obviously cared for the impact such an experience would cause in rookies. Mia nodded to him, and when she spoke, there was no sign of sadness or regret in her voice.

“Thanks for the concern, Your Honor, but I’ll be just fine. Now, if you excuse me…”

She turned around and walked away rather quickly. Soon she had left the courtroom. Edgeworth used the opportunity to do the same: right now, he wasn’t in a talkative mood.

Once outside, Edgeworth noticed something. Instead of leaving the courtroom through the usual corridor, which extended from the far left of the room onwards, she had taken the opposite way, which led to the defendant lobby. Edgeworth crossed his arms, intrigued. What would she do going back to the lobby? There would be no one there, not much to gain from a visit. Would she look for something she forgot? Or maybe… look for something she hoped to find, like evidence? This last thought attracted Edgeworth, despite the fact the trial was over and finding evidence for it would appear to be useless. Making a decision, he too ignored the way that lead outside of the court house and followed the corridor of the defendant lobby.

It wasn’t long until he reached a door, which he promptly opened, and was met with the figure of the dark-suited woman he met in court thinking deeply about something, sat over the couch. She took a while to notice she was being observed.

“…Oh? Mr. Edgeworth?” She asked, without showing much surprise. Had she expected him to come by? No, she probably just kept her cool in most situations. Edgeworth could gather that much of her personality in court.

“I apologize for interrupting your pondering,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“Ah, no, you didn’t interrupt me,” Mia replied, rehearsing a smile to the prosecutor. “I was simply thinking the case over in my mind. As much as I want to forget it… I feel that I have to retain it in my memory.”

“Indeed? Why?”

“I don’t know much since I’m a rookie, but I studied extensively.” She looked at Edgeworth in the eyes when she said so. Edgeworth didn’t fail to notice that she could convey pride in her words without losing her cool, calm expression, which was a quite a feat in itself. “Judging the nature of that woman… Melissa, as we called her most of the trial… it will not just stop there. This isn’t her last crime. You see, crime is like a snowball: you can get it rolling with a simple thing, but it was a tendency to escalate into even bigger things. I think it’s similar to how a lie works. Eventually, you have to tell more lies to cover for your first one.”

“So this is your conclusion?” Edgeworth asked, very curious about Mia Fey by this time. He would never have expected such insight from a rookie lawyer. She was something else. Maybe her point wasn’t exactly “perfect” in the von Karma standards, but it seemed to lead to the right track. “If it’s so, we will have to be ready for when she comes back.”

“Yes. Wonder how long it will take…?”

“It is not healthy to wonder about things out of our control.” Edgeworth said. He felt eager to share ideas and knowledge with someone that had just displayed such intelligence to him, and that, most importantly, would not whip him every five minutes during a conversation. Mia tried to smile again.

“You’re right, Mr. Edgeyworth. I guess I’ll just have to wait as long as I need,” she replied, though she crossed her arms as she said it. Clearly, the thought of postponing the matter would not be easy for her to swallow. Edgeworth might have said something, but he was bothered with the fact that she, of all the intelligent people he had met, was the first one to get his name wrong.

“So, why have you come to the defendant lobby? Weren’t you here before to confer with your client?” Edgeworth asked after one minute or two of silence.

“I just needed some time to think over all the facts alone. I’ll have to keep this all on a report… you know how we usually file cases and all.” She uncrossed her arms, and now played distractedly with the strand of hair right over her eyes as she spoke. “And this is my first case… I would have to file it one way or another. It’s good to keep records of what you’ve been through.”

“You speak… wisely.” Edgeworth quickly fixed his sentence. His intention was to tell Mia she spoke like someone way over her age. It might not have been taken well. She seemed to notice the intention, for she chuckled at the sentence.

“I guess. As I said, I studied a lot.” Then, with a kind smile, she looked directly to the prosecutor. “So, what are you going to do?”

“You can’t mean that question, Ms. Fey,” Edgeworth smiled slightly in response. “Of course I will be ready to go after that woman. This case affects me as much as it does to you. We’re in a pretty similar situation.”

“Oh, we are, aren’t we?” She said, cheerfully now. Edgeworth looked at her, and he could swear he had seen a playful smile on her lips right before she spoke again. “We’re both rookies involved in a trial that ended in the worst possible way.” She stopped abruptly, but kept looking at Edgeworth, which saw that as a sign that he needed to complete her idea.

“Indeed. We also have the power to enforce the law, each of us in a way. We both know how dangerous that woman really is, and hopefully will be able to put an end to her.”

“Now you’re the one who is sounding wise, or rather, older than your age.” Mia said, smiling approvingly. Edgeworth bowed in that known fashion that was peculiar to him.

“I am flattered by your words, Ms. Fey.”

“You can call me Mia.” Edgeworth raised his head, and noticed she was playing with her hair again. The sentence wasn’t very encouraging, however: Edgeworth felt much safer using people’s second name when addressing them. However, for the sake of cordiality, friendship, and even some interest, he decided to go along with it.

“Right… Mia.” He said, as if testing the name. Mia didn’t reply immediately: she seemed to be waiting for something, looking straight at Edgeworth, but he made no mention that he would say anything. Finally, the lawyer spoke again:

“Is there something else you meant to ask me by coming here?”

Edgeworth didn’t know what to say. He feared she would be disappointed to hear that he had followed her simply out of curiosity, and didn’t actually have questions for her, but what else could he say? Maybe start a different conversation?

“I’m afraid I… just came by to see you. I mean, see how you were faring after this unfortunate incident,” he said, trying his best to sound convincing. Mia nodded.

“Thanks for the concern. But as you see, I’m fine.” She then smiled to him. With that sentence, she had both asked why Edgeworth was still around and that she suspected he had another reason to come by, which she would welcome anyhow. Using few words, she could mean much. Edgeworth thought this to be quite amazing.

“I suppose I must be on my way, then,” Edgeworth said, and motioned to move to the door, but was stopped by yet another sentence from Mia:

“You can stay and chat, you know. I don’t mind.”

Had she just invited him? Edgeworth had stride towards the door, but stopped himself.

“You mean, to chat about the case?” He asked, unsure. Mia kept her smile up, tilting her head to the side.

“If you want to,” she said simply. Edgeworth couldn’t understand her motive very well, but he felt that anything would be fair game to delay the encounter with the Karmas after that trial. That, and… Mia Fey had interested him a bit. He might as well see where casual conversation would get them.

“It’s not that I want to, but other than that, what would you be willing to talk about?” He decided to ask first, for good measure, but he spun on one feet to face Mia again, showing his intention of staying. She seemed to put some thought in her question, and leaned back to the couch as she did, going into a half-sat, half-laid down position.

“It could be anything, really. Maybe that’s what we are needing, focus on something other than this fiasco of a case for the moment. We could talk about the past…”

Edgeworth felt his body contracting at the word “past”.

“My past is… not very bright and cheery, I’m afraid.” He said, solemn. Mia did not falter at this.

“You’d like to vent about it?”

“I would simply be bothering you.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

Edgeworth frowned. He forgot he was dealing with a lawyer, and a rather good one at that, despite being a rookie. He would probably not get off the hook without directly answering the question.

“I suppose… I might as well give you an idea.” Edgeworth sighed. “It’s been a while since I talked about it… or been able to.”

“Well, feel free to speak what goes through your mind. Since we’re together against Dahlia, I assume we can be friends, right?” Mia asked, cheerful, although not showing it clearly: she seemed to have a subtle way of expressing her feelings. Edgeworth could relate to that.

“If you insist. Do you know about the DL-6 incident?” Edgeworth asked, deciding to start slowly. This, however, produced a remarkable sensation on the lawyer. She stopped smiling, and was thrown in that same stance of thought as she had used before.

“Of course. In fact… it is why I became a defense attorney. My mother was involved in that case.”

“…W-What!?” Edgeworth jumped back, thunderstruck. “Your mother? Do you mean… Ahhh!” He had just noticed something. How could he have been so blind? He never made that relation. “Misty Fey… the spirit medium that called… my father… it was your mother?”

“Yes,” she responded, and although she didn’t lose her cool, she did sit down straight to look at him in wonder. “So you’re related to the man… Edgeyworth. I should have guessed. The name is difficult to come by.”

“That’s ‘Edgeworth’, Ms. Fey.” He corrected Mia after some of the surprise’s effect had worn off. “And I can’t believe it… so you want to know more of that case, and became a lawyer?”

“I want to know exactly what is behind my mother disappearance.” She replied, standing up now. They were pretty close to one another: she was a tad smaller than Edgeworth. “Though there are other reasons involved... that is one of them.”

“…I’m afraid I don’t have much to tell you about that side of the case,” Edgeworth said, sincerely. “What concerned me most about the case was my… father’s death. And how his… killer… just got away with a plead of insanity. That was unacceptable. It was my main inclination to become a prosecutor and never let a guilty man or woman escape from justice ever again. However… we can meet at another occasion to discuss the matter.”

Mia looked at him, smiling softly.

“I’d like that. Maybe I’ll get to know something which I don’t right now. Can I have your number?”

They exchanged contact details. Mia’s cell phone was intriguing: completely black, had a sliding keyboard, and each bottom glowed in a ghostly pink color. The wallpaper was her younger self and another girl, even younger in appearance, trying to fix an urn. Edgeworth wasn’t sure why he noticed this, as it seemed irrelevant, but he couldn’t help but want to know more of the woman in front of him.

“Done. Though we might have some trouble to find the time to meet up,” Edgeworth warned her, as he finished typing in her cell phone number in his own phone. “We’ve started our careers just now, after all. I hear it can get rather busy.”

“I heard the same.” Mia nodded to confirm her own statement. “Though let’s not think about that for now. Worrying about things out of our control is not healthy, isn’t it?”

Edgeworth honestly smiled to her at this.

“Indeed. Let’s keep in contact. Now, let us depart.”

“Wait a minute.”

The prosecutor had been about to turn around again, but Mia stopped him. She had stepped forward: now they were even closer than before.

“Your mentor is Manfred von Karma. He’s surely well-known because of his career. Perfect record. Hasn’t lost in years, and has only taken one vacation so far. But there’s always been… rumors around his methods. I’m sure they are all false, right?”

“…Yes, of course,” Edgeworth replied, serious, thought he couldn’t see the point of that line of questioning. “My mentor strives for perfection, and only that. A victory through forged evidence and other means would surely not be a perfect victory to his standards.” He wagged his finger. He would have stretched his hand to do so, but Mia was still very close, so he did it next to him, at his nose’s height.

“I’m sure it would.” Mia said, not as serious as Edgeworth. The prosecutor thought he had seen a slight smile again. Was he imagining things? “I hope you’re not subjected to similar rumors. But now, speaking about me, and since we’re together in both this recent case and the DL-6, I’d feel much safer if the one who is on my side would vow to work together and aid me. I’m rather insecure, after all.”

Insecure? Edgeworth highly doubted it. She had wisdom becoming of an accomplished woman: it was hard to think of her as in need of any moral support. But the part that bothered Edgeworth more was the vow. He crossed his arms.

“You doubt me, Mia?” He asked, accidentally using Mia’s first name.

“Not in the slightest, Edgeworth” she said, tilting her head again. It was so spontaneous (even his name came out right this time) that Edgeworth believed it to be true. If that was so, why a vow? Did she intend something else?

“You want any sort of vow other than my word?” The prosecutor asked, looking straight at her. She gazed back at him in the same fashion.

“If your word is enough, then it is enough. But if you have anything else…” She stopped on purpose, and looked away, although her smile remained. Edgeworth blinked. The woman was sometimes mysterious and hard to interpret. He felt like he was playing mental Chess with an extremely position-oriented player, but that invited an attack at the same time. He began to think over what he had listened up to this point… what was Mia getting to?

This felt like some sort of test. She was holding off the vital information to let him figure out her intentions. That’s something a mentor would do, except the situation wasn’t the most normal for him to ponder over the “facts”. The only thing he had were her words, no?

She had acted rather strangely through the conversation. She had beckoned him to stay around, when there wasn’t much more to discuss. She called herself “insecure” when she obviously wasn’t. She asked for a pledge, when she obviously didn’t need it. Was all of that supposed to mean something?

Luckily, his logic came through to him this time around.

“I suppose I have something that could assure you.” He said, uncrossing his arms. It took some effort for him to voice that. His nervousness scale had just raised several meters. Well, at least they seemed to match each other nicely.

“You do? Alright, then, what is it?” Mia inquired, apparently interested. She was still playing along. Maybe she was amused by this all. Edgeworth took a deep breath, then did what he thought she expected of him: he kissed her.

It wasn’t a simple act of kissing. Edgeworth carried the heavy burden of never ever getting close to a girl since grade school. He didn’t really know how to act, and the very thought made him blush. This was his first kiss, and he was at a complete loss of what to do after the lean in and touch of lips. Mia, however, didn’t take the lead when he showed to be lost. Impossible to know what her expression was at the time, for Edgeworth. As a result, the kiss was pretty short, and as Miles withdrew his head, Mia smiled to him.

“Oh my. I guess you do mean it.” She said. Edgeworth couldn’t reply at the moment, as he was a good deal shocked at what he had ended up doing, and disappointed that he couldn’t even do it right. “Well, then, that settles it. We can always talk more later. Goodbye, Edgeworth.” And with that farewell, she walked past him, and exited the lobby.

Miles still couldn’t think straight. How exactly did she react? Was that disappointment? Maybe some pity, understanding, sympathy? Had he finished his chances entirely, or would the next encounters prove his thoughts wrong? It was really difficult to determine. Mia Fey was a hard book for him to read. And yet she was surely a book, over most of the ones he knew, that he would love to read.

“Ngh… women are complicated.” He concluded, passing his hand through his hair in frustration.