Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Three months after Dahlia Hawthorne went to jail, Iris realized that she was pregnant.

The first thing she did when she found out was curse herself for being so foolish.

The second thing she did was curse Phoenix Wright.

The man her sister had met in the courthouse library, where he worked for a part-time job. A freshman at the same college she was a freshman at. Her next target.

When Iris offered to take her place, she had only meant to save a life. She certainly hadn’t expected the sweet, innocent boy who was head-over-heels for her. She definitely hadn’t expected to fall in love right back.

She still couldn’t believe that she had asked him to take it to the next level, the night that he had taken her to her first party and they had both had a few drinks and she was in love, they were both young and in love. 

And look what love had gotten her. Her sister took yet another life, getting caught out for once and now locked away, no idea what Iris had done with the boy who was willing to give his life for Dahlia. Dahlia, not her. Never her.

She knew her options, of course. She hadn’t lived in Kurain long enough to absorb their strange traditions around children, instead learning from books as a child and her sister’s constant flippant remarks. Her half-teasing, if he ever tries anything s usually ended up informational enough. She also knew it was a stupid idea to have a child. She was young, too young. Her and Sister Bikini provided for themselves just fine, but a child? Would the baby even survive in the cold? No, Hazakura Temple was no place to raise a child.

She could send the child to their father- no, the thought flitted out of her mind before it could even be finished. How would that conversation even go? Hi, Phoenix Wright the art student, I’m a girl you think you don’t know but I’m having your child! You thought you were sleeping with my sister who tried to kill you but you were actually sleeping with me! 

So it was Hazakura, or nothing else. Would Bikini even be okay with this? She might kick her out, and then what would Iris do? There were so many reasons- god, there were so many reasons not to do this. 

Iris knew her options. She knew there was no shame in doing what she had to. But yet… some small part of her, despite everything, wanted to be a mother. Some part of her wanted to prove that she could do it better than her own mother had. Some part of her wanted to not push away a child the way she herself had been pushed away. Some part of her needed this, needed to care for someone when all the people she cared for were beyond her reach. This wasn’t so impossible, anyway. She thought Sister Bikini might have children somewhere, and she herself had basically been raised in these mountains. Whatever she needed to do, she would do. But no matter what, she would never abandon yet another Fey child.

And so, deciding without really deciding, Iris went to figure out how to tell Sister Bikini something she could barely tell herself. 

She was going to be a mother.

The daughter (of the lesser of the lesser daughters of the lesser daughter of the Fey clan) was born on an unusually warm December morning. Iris had been planning out names for months- something traditional, something flowery, something that didn’t start with an M. But as she looked into her baby’s eyes, Feenie’s eyes, they all disappeared. I should choose something common… But still, something different, something changed… like us. 

Iris named her child Trucy. Trucy of Hazakura Temple.

Chapter Text

And so the years went by. Iris and Bikini did their best to bring Trucy up well. There wasn’t much to do on the mountain that didn’t involve either daily needs or spiritual training, so Trucy ended up quite proficient in chores and in rituals. As she grew up, however, Iris could tell that her daughter was restless and incredibly lonely. She wasn’t sure how exactly she was supposed to find friends for her other than the mediums that would visit for training. Trucy was appointed official greeter (though she wasn’t permitted into the training for obvious reasons), but there was only so much she could get out of the older teenagers and grown-ups that came by for one night and then left. What Trucy did get from them was an intense curiosity about anything and everything to do with the outside world. She devoured magazines, newspapers, books, anything and everything. And she had an enthusiasm to her that exhausted Iris- clearly a trait she got from her father. If Trucy wanted something, Iris could say no, but that didn’t mean Trucy wouldn’t get it anyway. 

One day, not long before her eighth birthday, Trucy came to Iris with a newspaper clipping. The picture was of two men in top hats and fancy cloaks, magicians , apparently. According to the article, they were the most popular thing around- Troupe Gramarye , the article called them, some sort of performers who were very popular with children these days. They were performing the next day, and Trucy wanted to go see. So Iris got Sister Bikini’s permission, packed a day bag, and set off with her daughter to go into the city for the first time in eight years.

The first thing Iris noticed was the stares. From the moment they stepped onto the train, all eyes were on her and Trucy. Being so used to spirit mediums, she hadn’t realized how unusually the two of them were dressed. Even more so, their outfits were nearly identical, and to most people Trucy looked much too old to be Iris’s kid. There was nothing about them that wasn’t strange. 

Trucy seemed completely oblivious to this as she devoured a newspaper as quickly as her sandwich. Iris had been afraid that Trucy was going to talk to the strangers on the train as eagerly as she talked to strangers at home, but to her surprise she was oddly quiet. Maybe she was shy when in a new environment. That, at least, Iris knew came from her. 

The train stopped at their destination. Trucy ran off down the street before Iris had even picked up her bag. Iris sighed. This better be worth it, she thought as she gave chase after her too-bright child. 

Iris hadn’t expected to be able to get Trucy to sit down before the show, but after, she wasn’t sure how to convince her to get up. She had never seen her daughter this starstruck before. 

Trucy gave Iris a play-by-play of the show, on repeat, the entire way home. The moment she stepped into her bedroom it was already covered in little doodles of hats, cards, and silk hats. If Bikini hadn’t stopped her from decorating the strines visitors might have thought they worshiped magicians. It was intense.

Iris was happy, though. It was nice to see her daughter excited about something. She had been afraid that growing up isolated in the mountains would dull her enthusiasm, but Trucy had always been so exuberant. And it was this boundless curiosity that would lead her daughter to start asking hard questions.

One day, mother and daughter were changing out the incense together early in the morning when Trucy asked Iris what was on her necklace. 

“It looks like one of the clasps on a Gramarye cloak! Except it’s not a card shape…”

“Oh! It’s a Magatama. Like the big one in the Main Hall. They’re conductors of spiritual energy, remember?”

“Oh right! What do you use it for, Mommy?”

“It doesn’t… actually do anything,” Iris explained, “not unless it’s charged with spiritual energy, but there’s no one here to do that for us.”

Trucy looked at her quizzically. Iris suddenly felt a small hand pulling on the end of her necklace. She laughed softly.

“Here, you can have it if you want.”

She took the necklace off and gave it to her daughter. Trucy cupped the magatama in her hands, staring at it. And then slowly but surely, a strange energy started to fill the room. Iris could feel it, real and palpable, swirling around her and towards her child. Terrifyingly, it reminded her of her childhood home. The magatama began to glow in Trucy’s hands. 

Iris was stunned. She had been so naive to assume that because she was a powerless Fey, her daughter would be too. She had been certain she could escape from her family legacy, yet here it was, looking up at her with innocent blue eyes. 

“Mommy…” Trucy nearly whispered, “do I have a daddy?”

And there it was, the question she had hoped she could avoid. Had she found it in some book? Some magazine or newspaper that had been delivered up the mountain? She was so young, she certainly couldn’t understand why exactly the answer had to be yes. 

“No, sweetheart. Not really.”

Trucy’s eyes widened and she jumped back as if she had seen a ghost. And then Iris realized that she wasn’t looking at her, but at the space in front of her. 

And then she remembered what Magatamas were said to do. 

“Are… are there chains on my heart, sweetie?”

“….yes.” Trucy’s eyes were so large, so sad and confused. 

“I’m sorry. I promise, I’ll tell you about your daddy someday, okay? I’m just… not ready yet.”

“…okay.” And just like that she was smiling again, but with nothing behind it.

Trucy slipped the necklace over her head and walked away. Iris got up to follow her, thinking the whole time, I’ve made a huge mistake.

She had to see Phoenix Wright again, one way or another. For Trucy’s sake.

Chapter Text

To Trucy of Hazakura Temple, life was a fairytale. She was the beautiful young princess, born with a secret ancestry, locked away in isolation from the world she longed to see. And someday, her past would come to save her. And she would beat the monsters that scared her mommy and took her daddy away, and she would be the heroine and reign over a happy kingdom of smiling faces. 
When she told her life story, she would tell it like a fairytale. Fate and magical legacies made her story sound mysterious. But when she got to the point when her adventure was supposed to start… 
Everything became much more real.

Standing at the front gate, Trucy took inventory of the new arrivals. There were three of them, it seemed. Leading the pack, with a run that looked almost like a skip, was a teenage girl with long dark hair, wearing a purple parka over robes and a magatama hanging around her neck. The usual type of customer, then. She seemed like she would be fun to play with. Behind her, however, was a much stranger sight: a tall man in a bright blue suit, not that unlike the businessmen in Trucy’s books and the ones she had seen in the city that day. Holding his hand was a tiny girl around her age, wearing pink robes similar to the older girl’s under a puffy blue coat. What a strange group they made. Trucy couldn’t wait to meet them. 

“Hi!” she said with a smile. “Welcome to Hazakura Temple. I’m Trucy!”

Phoenix looked down at the small girl- she must be around Pearl’s age. She hadn’t been in the magazine picture, and he really hadn’t expected to see a child out here. She wasn’t even wearing a coat- wasn’t she cold? 
Somehow, looking at her, he felt the strangest sense of deja vu. He didn’t know her, but he knew those eyes. So much like Pearl. So much like… her. Well. If she was really here…
Who could this girl be?

Later that evening, Trucy put the last of the dishes away and turned to the girl helping her. Pearl smiled at her shyly. 
“I guess it’s time to go read with Ms. Elise…”
Slowly, she headed towards the door. Trucy, for her part, was more than eager to follow. She loved reading, and she loved Mystic Elise. She had been so excited when she heard that her favorite author was coming, and was even more excited that she had gotten to read with her every night for the past week. And now Pearl was joining them! Maybe this would loosen her up. She seemed really nervous for some reason, but Trucy couldn’t say why. Actually, her mommy and Mystic Elise had seemed nervous too this morning. Ever since giving her a magatama, her mommy had been very careful with what she said to Trucy. But Trucy was sure that whatever she was hiding, it couldn’t be that bad. She might not know what it was that made her mommy seem so scared some days, but she was sure it was nothing that Trucy and Sister Bikini couldn’t protect her from. They were safe up in these mountains.
Now, Trucy looked into Pearl’s nervous eyes as she stopped at the door. She was fidgeting with her magatama and her robes even more than she had before dinner. 
“Mystic Pearl, is something wrong?”
Pearl didn’t look at her.
“No… well…”
In the corner of her eye, Trucy could see the psyche-locks starting to form. 
“Don’t lie to me, Mystic Pearl! I can see that with this necklace I got from my mommy.”
Oddly, Pearl didn’t seem surprised by this fact.
“Oh… that makes sense.”
She paused to think for a minute. The perfect little loops Pearl’s hair was twisted into seemed like they were starting to droop. Trucy wondered how she had gotten them to stay up for so long.
“Um… Miss Trucy? …Sister Trucy?”
“Just Trucy is fine! What is it?”
“Is… is the training dangerous?”
“Hmm… well, Mommy never lets me do it…”
Pearl looked around nervously yet again. Suddenly, Trucy realized what she was worried about.
“Are you worried about Mystic Maya?”
“Yes…”
“She’s with my mommy, so she’ll be okay!”
Pearl bit at her thumb. 
“I know… but…”
Trucy thought for a moment. It wasn’t like anything would happen to Pearl, right? She seemed very confident to Trucy, even though she was nervous right now. And Trucy’s mommy could definitely make Pearl feel less scared. 
“Mystic Pearl, if you want to, go check on your friend!”
“But…I told Ms. Elise I’d read with her…”
“Oh, that’s okay! I’ll tell her where you went.”
Pearl’s eyes widened like she had just realized something terrible.
“Um… Miss Trucy… can you keep a secret?”
Ooh, secrets were fun! Trucy had never really had anything to hide from anyone before, outside of the few magic tricks she had copied from books- she wondered how good she would be at it.
“Sure!”
“I… have something to do that I’m not supposed to talk about… I don’t want to get in trouble for not being where I’m supposed to be…”
“I’ll tell Mystic Elise that…” Trucy crossed her arms as she tried to think of a good lie. “That you got tired and went to sleep!”
“Thank you very much, Miss Trucy.”
Pearl bent her head in what almost seemed like a bow. Then, without another word, she raced out of the kitchen and out into the night. 
Oh well. Trucy would see her soon!

After finishing the lesson, Mystic Elise had run off (why did everyone keep doing that, Trucy wondered) and Trucy had settled in to sleep in her own room.
She was awoken by a scream.
Blinking her eyes, Trucy looked around her room to figure out what was going on. Who had that been? What was happening?
Trucy jumped up and ran through the hallway and down the stairs. It had come from outside, hadn’t it? Had Pearl been right, and something had happened to Mystic Maya? 
In the front room, Trucy nearly collided with the man in the suit. He turned to her, looking as terrified and confused as she felt. Then he turned away and ran outside. 
Trucy followed as quickly as she could. But when she saw the scene outside, she wished she hadn’t followed him at all. It looked- it almost looked like Mystic Elise was-
The man turned towards her and seemed to take her in for a moment. Than his expression turned to compassion.
“Just… shut your eyes, okay?” he said gently.
Trucy obeyed, standing perfectly still as the cold night air brushed over her. She heard the man talking with Sister Bikini about something, and then the sound of him running off, his footsteps crunching in the snow and his jacket flapping in the wind. And then she felt Sister Bikini getting closer to her. The woman hugged her, tightly, in that kind way she always did. Yet when she spoke, her voice was so sad.
“Oh, Trucy.”

Trucy waited with Sister Bikini for what felt like hours. She kept her eyes shut tight and her face buried in the folds of the woman’s robes. Leaning into her soft embrace, Trucy could almost forget that something terrible was happening.
But eventually, a group of people arrived. After they exchanged a few words with Sister Bikini, it was clear they were the police. Trucy had never met a police officer before, and she really wanted to open her eyes, jump up, and talk to one. But the half-memory of what she had seen earlier kept her in her seat. 
There was lots of shuffling and shouting and noise. And then it finally quieted down.
“You can open your eyes now, Trucy,” Sister Bikini whispered into Trucy’s hair. 
Eager to finally get some understanding of what was happening, Trucy pulled herself away from the woman and looked out into the night. It was still incredibly dark, but even by the dim lamplight she could see that the statue… wasn’t how it was supposed to look. She could see the police, shuffling around just beyond it. It almost looked like… they were bringing someone over? 
As they got closer and closer, Trucy was met for the second time that night with a sight she couldn’t believe. 
They had her mommy in handcuffs.
“…Mommy?” Trucy whispered.
Iris looked exhausted. Her hair was falling out of its braids, and her eyes were sad and hollow. 
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Then, turning her face towards the woman: “Bikini… take care of Trucy, please.”
And then she turned to go, and Trucy knew a new chapter of her life was about to start.

Chapter Text

After the stress of the past twelve hours, Miles Edgeworth was at least relieved by the familiarity of his hometown. The streets were the same as always; Larry was the same as always; certainly, the concrete walls of the detention center visitor’s room were the same as always. Thus, he was very surprised to discover the anomaly taking up his field of vision: a child , perched on the ledge in front of the glass. She was wearing clothes in the style of a spirit medium-- in fact, looking between her and the woman sitting behind the glass, their outfits were nearly identical. He could see the resemblance in their faces too— the same soft, delicate features. The woman was the sort of person men who weren’t Edgeworth would find attractive; the girl was the sort of child one would call cute. As Edgeworth entered, she lifted her head to meet his eyes, staring with an intensity that reminded him of Pearl Fey. It disconcerted him. Wright hadn’t even mentioned a child— how did she play into whatever was going on here? 

“Who are you?” 

The girl said it like a challenge. 

“...Edgeworth. Miles Edgeworth.”

“Are you here to help my mommy?”

“Well— I suppose.”

She squinted at him, clutching the stone hanging from her neck. Edgeworth couldn’t help but think of the one Wright had given him, an uncanny reminder of the strange position he found himself in.

“Sister Iris?”

The woman looked up from where she sat, seemingly lost in thought.

“Oh! Trucy, sweetheart, wait out in the hallway until we’re done, okay?”

The girl shook her head, turning towards her mother. 

“I wanna stay here and help you!”

“I know. But you have to trust Mr. Edgeworth.”

Edgeworth wasn’t sure this was the best advice, given that he had only learned he was meant to be defending her an hour ago, and it wasn’t even his job . Still, this seemed to settle the girl enough for her to jump off the ledge and step slowly towards the door. Just before leaving, she turned that terrifying gaze on him once again. He nearly shivered.

“Mr. Edgeworth? You better fix this.”

Something about this situation was making Trucy more rebellious than she’d ever been before, she thought, as she ran across the bridge she had been forbidden to cross. It was the evening of the first day of her mother’s trial, a day which Trucy had spent on a bench in the courthouse lobby, after Sister Bikini’s vehement entreaties for her not to watch the proceedings. Coming home in the afternoon, Trucy had nothing to do but sit and wait, desperate for answers and wishing for her mommy. When Iris and Mr. Edgeworth had come by, telling Bikini they were headed to the Inner Temple, Trucy couldn’t help herself. The second Bikini looked away, she slipped out the door. The woman had been too preoccupied with the lawyers to notice Trucy sprinting after her mother. Before she got as far as the bridge, however, she’d been halted by the earthquake. Of all things to happen in the past few days, this didn’t scare Trucy— they were very common in this area, after all. She figured once it stopped, it might be her chance to catch up. But the instant the ground stilled, Iris flew in front of her, not even noticing Trucy. She seemed scared and in a hurry; what could Trucy do but follow? Now, her sandals clacked against the wood of the recently-repaired bridge as she made her way to the Inner Temple. She didn’t pause as she passed through the gates or opened the door of the training hall. And there was— her mommy. Frozen, looking terrified at the Sacred Cavern entrance. Trucy could hardly catch her breath— there was something horrible in the air, she could sense it. 

“Mommy? Are you okay?”

Iris whirled around, startled. As she looked at Trucy, her face grew pale.

“Trucy! Please… go back. It’s not safe here.”

Trucy noticed movement from within the cavern, the folds of a purple robe fluttering as a woman on her knees shifted closer to the bars. This must be…! Ignoring Iris entirely, Trucy ran up to see the woman’s face. But …

“You’re not Mystic Ma—“

With an unprecedented roughness, Iris slapped her hand over Trucy’s mouth. Trucy wanted to cry. Had she done something wrong? Her mommy had never been so forceful before.

Iris looked into Trucy’s eyes, with an expression that implored her to trust her. And of course she trusted her mommy… she did, right? 

“No, Trucy, this isn’t one of our friends. She’s… a dangerous person.”

The woman rolled her eyes. Up close now, Trucy could see that, while in the usual robes, she wasn’t the visiting medium-- in fact, her face was… the same as my mommy’s!

“Oh please, Iris,” the woman said, rolling her eyes. “She’s a kid, I’m not going to hurt her.”

She looked back and forth between Trucy and Iris. Suddenly, she broke into a venomous smile.

“Well Iris… I see you’ve been busy. Or wait… how old are you?”

The woman was looking right at her. Trucy felt that she should probably answer.

“I’m eight.”

The woman laughed. It would be a pretty laugh, Trucy thought, if it didn’t seem so cruel.

“Wow… you really never listened, did you? What a mess.”

Iris tightened her body. 

“Leave us alone, Dahlia. Mr. Edgeworth and everyone else will be here any minute.” 

The woman scowled.

“Well in that case…”

Suddenly, Trucy was forcefully pulled around. Now facing Iris, she felt the strange woman’s arm grab tight around her shoulders. Trucy’s heart raced as she felt a cold sensation on her neck, looking down to see the glint of a sharpened stone pressed against her skin. What’s happening?  

Iris gasped, her face growing somehow paler than it already was. Her hands, clasped close to her chest, started to shake, but she did her best to stand tall, staring directly above Trucy’s head with an intensity in her eyes Trucy had never seen before.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

“And you said you would help me, but we both know how that turned out, don’t we?”
Iris looked at the ground. The woman pressed the rock tighter to Trucy’s throat.

“Undo this lock. Now.”

Don’t, mommy, please don’t! Trucy tried to communicate without moving at all, terrified that a single turn of the head would bring the woman’s firm hand down. This woman was scary, very scary. She had to stay locked up, no matter… no matter what happened to Trucy. Her mommy had to understand that, right?

Yet Iris kept her gaze fixed on the rock floor of the cavern. And slowly, without a sound, she began to shuffle forward. 

Her hands turned the lock with a soft click . 

Then, several things happened all at once. The bars slid aside. Trucy felt the woman release her, and stumbled forward across the floor. The woman stood, and in a single motion shoved Iris into the place she had once been, closing the bars behind her. Trucy waited for her mother to say something, to fight back, to even try just a little to resist, to not leave her alone with this stranger… 

But Iris didn’t move a muscle, sitting solemnly on her knees. As the woman began adding on locks from the box nearby, Iris slowly retreated back into the darkness of the cavern. And the tears finally spilled out of Trucy’s eyes.

The moment was broken as she heard the sound of several people running towards the entrance of the temple. The woman dropped the rock she had been holding and stepped away from the locks as quickly as she could. The people inside all started to exclaim in confusion (“H-How can there be…”), but Trucy barely noticed, too busy wondering why a stranger wore her mother’s face, and why her mother had become a stranger.

Maybe this story didn’t have a happy ending after all.

Once again, Trucy wasn’t allowed to watch the trial. This time, though, she could barely stand to breathe a word to the men and women, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and police that ferried her around and passed by her in the lobby. They all believed that the strange woman was her mother, and she wasn’t sure how to tell them they were wrong. She wasn’t sure who her mother was now, herself. 

It was a surprise, then, when Iris appeared before her in the waiting area. As soon as she saw Trucy sitting on the bench, she ran over, starting to make a gesture that looked like a hug-- and then stopping.

“Trucy, dear… I’m so sorry. I had to protect you. I didn’t… I didn’t know what else to do.”

Trucy looked deeply into the eyes of the woman who had once been everything to her, and clutched the gem around her neck.

“Who is she?”

“...She’s your aunt. I should have told you about her. Maybe at another time. And-- your father… hopefully, when all this is over, I can finally tell you both the truth.”

Trucy hardly cared who her father was, not after everything that had happened in these past few days. She was starting to see now that being a grownup meant understanding what you could say and when-- and to who. Later, reading through the transcript of the trial, her suspicions would be confirmed even further with the full story. But for now, she needed to trust her mother, if nothing else.

“Do you promise?”
Iris smiled sadly.

“I do.”

And not a single lock appeared.

“...... For those 6 months... ...the woman that you thought was Dahlia Hawthorne... ...wasn't actually my sister. ... I hope one day you can forgive me... Feenie.”

“That was a bit strange, wasn't it? Up until that day, you two were partners in crime, and she would confer with you…”

“I think... she must have noticed.”

“Noticed what?”

“My feelings for you. If I had found out she was planning to kill you... ...I would have done whatever was necessary to stop her. Even if it meant her life... or mine.”

“I-Iris...!”

“After spending half a year by your side... ...my feelings towards you... They changed. And then…  after everything else… there was Trucy.”

“Trucy? You don’t mean…”

“Yes. She’s our daughter.”

Chapter Text

Phoenix stood in the detention center visitation room—a place that felt quite comfortable to him by now, ironically—waiting. Waiting for Iris (the mother of his child) and for Trucy (his daughter, his daughter, his daughter). So much had happened today, and he should be with Maya and Pearls, he really should, they needed him, but…

He had a kid. This child, this girl was his. His DNA in her blood. It didn’t make any sense to him. He had a feeling it was never going to. It was hard enough to process that Dahlia had been Iris all along-- or Iris had been Dahlia-- or whatever, and now it seemed his life was about to change forever. 

Phoenix was the most exhausted he had ever been in his life.

The door opened, and Iris stepped through. As she sat down in the chair, she smiled up at him in that uncanny way of hers. It was a trait all the Feys seemed to share-- the ability to unnerve you in a single glance. 

“I guess we have a lot to talk about… Feenie.”

Phoenix tried not to flinch at the memory of that nickname. They had both used it, of course-- the woman he had loved, and the one he only thought he did. Still, it would forever sound like Dahlia’s cold, mocking voice to him. 

“Yes. We do.”

“I guess I should start by saying… I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you, but…”

“You didn’t think I’d understand.”

“Would you have?”

Phoenix thought of himself at 18, idealistic and heartbroken. Hopeless and pathetic, really. Just a kid.

“No. And I don’t think I could’ve taken care of a child, either.”

“So you understand why I had to do what I did.”

Phoenix shook his head.

“But… this plan. You were supposed to take the fall…”

“I’m a terrible mother,” she said softly, her eyes unable to meet Phoenix’s. “I should have never gone along with any of this.”

“I’m glad you did. Because of you and Mr. Armando, Maya and Pearls are… okay.”

Iris looked up again, her eyes wide.

“No. Because of me… because of all this… Mystic Elise is dead. And Mystic Maya and Mystic Pearl… and Trucy… had to go through so much. It wasn’t fair to them.”

“Maybe not. But we can’t change the past, Iris.” Phoenix hoped she would understand what he was saying. He wasn’t sure he could say, clearly, I forgive you. He wasn’t sure he could mean it. But he could try to start.

“What’s going to happen to Trucy now?”

“Well… she’ll go back with Bikini, as I planned. But… please, could you visit her? She was always so lonely on the mountain…”

“I’ll take her.” Phoenix hadn’t meant to say it so firmly, or to slam his hand on the countertop. Force of habit. Still… he thought he could do it. He wanted to.

“Are… are you sure?”
“I’ve practically been raising Pearls already, so…” Phoenix laughed, halfheartedly. 

“I will, though. I promise I’ll take care of her. She’s my daughter, after all.”

Iris smiled.

“I’m so glad.”

Phoenix knelt down to meet the eyes of the girl. They were still exactly like Iris’.

“Hi, Trucy. I guess, uh, your mom’s already told you…?”

“Yeah. You’re my daddy.”

It felt strange, seeing that word directed towards him. He still couldn’t quite believe it was true. 

“Um, Iris told me that you don’t really like it on the mountain. Is that true?”

“Well…. I liked it when we went to the city.”

“I was thinking… you could stay with me, if you wanted to. Just… for as long as you want. If you’d like that.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Suddenly, she burst into a dazzling smile. She was an adorable little kid-- Phoenix felt proud of it. Something about her seemed to have lit up. 

“I’d love to stay with you, Mr. Wright!” 

Phoenix winced.

“Oh, uh, you can call me… Nick, if you want. Or…”

“Daddy!” she exclaimed, twirling the word about like a colorful ribbon. “Oh, I can’t wait to go to the city! All the people… and the shows… oh!”

“What is it, Trucy?”

She paused her enthusiastic skips just for a moment. And this girl, who had watched the Fey family fall apart, who had plenty of reason to never want to think about anything supernatural again, whose mother was in jail and whose father had just found out she existed, looked up into his eyes and declared her own future.

“Daddy? I want to be a magician.”

Seven years later

Apollo couldn’t quite believe how this day seemed to be going. He wasn’t sure things could get any worse, though he had a nagging feeling that they were only getting started. 

He was startled out of his rumination by a girl’s voice: “...May I?”

“Huh? What?” Apollo turned his head to see a girl in her early teens, not much shorter than him. She was dressed in a strange costume— a black dress with buttons of an odd, bent jewel shape covered by a purple cape, accessorized with a necklace and earring, both larger forms of the strange stone, and a top hat, of all things. She looked like some sort of… spiritual magician, Apollo thought. Her next words confirmed this impression.

“Hello, sir. Please, pick a card.”

He awkwardly grabbed at one of the cards she had fanned out in her palm.

“Uh... Is this one OK?”

“...Excellent. I have a message for you. ‘The last hand is about to be played. You'll need a trump card to make it.’”

“A trump card...?”

“‘The card you have chosen is magical. Use it wisely, and the game is yours.’ That's all. You have your trump card. Now it's up to you.”

Her eyes were… disconcerting. She was serious, strange, and somehow otherworldly, and Apollo couldn’t help but be intimidated.

“My father's fate is in your hands. I know you can do it!”

And with that, the girl slipped away in an instant, leaving Apollo to put together the pieces of it all. 

Trucy had got what she wanted out of life, even if it hadn’t come in the way she’d expected. She’d learned the powers of deception and secrecy and illusion, one way or another. And now, she would do all she could to make things right once again.