Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Miles Edgeworth was a simple man. Elegant. Sharp. Strict. Some would even say attractive.

In other words, he was perfect. Simply perfect. That's how he was raised, and that's how he'll live. Perfectly. From the moment he was taken in by him, his future had already been decided. A perfect prosecutor. He would go to court, win a case (though maybe not quite as quickly as his mentor), walk off, and celebrate his victory at the Karaoke bar as always, with the man who raised him.

Or that's what he thought—until a certain man came running headfirst into his life.

Phoenix Wright. Phoenix fucking Wright. That man, in his idiotic blue suit with his idiotic haircut and his foolish nieveté, managed to take away all Edgeworth held dearest and replaced it with unnecessary feelings. Ugh. How such a simple greenhorn lawyer was able to humiliate him to such a degree escaped him. He walked into the courthouse, bluffed his way through the entire case over and over, and continued to pull out victories.

Miles was no longer elegant. Nor was he sharp, strict, or attractive. He was—for lack of a better word—disgraced. Even his mentor, whom he had valued greatly, had been exposed as a murderer who had offed his own father over a penalty and framed Miles for another one years later. Wright was behind unmasking that too. While he can't deny that the man deserved to rot in prison, there was a small part of him that still respected the man. Not even his adopted sister, Franziska, who had also toiled under Von Karma's strict guidance, seemed to have any fondness left in her heart for him. Granted, she rarely did, but it was... different now. More hollow. He wasn't family anymore.

Miles was left aimless. He had no more purpose. Everything he had built up over the course of the last 15 odd years broken down in the matter of a few months by this man. He couldn't even bring himself to hate him, either. Back in grade school, when Miles still had his original father and original childlike wonder, he had known Phoenix briefly, and found him to be a nice companion. Miles longed for those simpler days, when everybody got along.

Regardless, one thing was clear to Miles. He needed to change, and he needed to change fast. Miles wasn't perfect anymore, and with that came the realization of how hollow he really felt. Despite all the awards he had won and all the fame he had garnered, a couple nasty spots on his record were able to shatter his self-image. Miles hadn't felt truly alive in years. Hell, maybe he hadn't even felt human. So, he ran away. From everybody. Putting his career on hiatus, he booked a flight to the foreign land of Borginia, looking to find himself, and he didn't look back. All he left behind was a note to one of his most trusted (and somehow most stupid) companions, Dick Gumshoe.

It read: "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death".

___

If you could say something about Miles Edgeworth, the opposite could probably be said about Phoenix Wright. Simple? He's had the most complicated life of anyone he knows. Elegant or Sharp? Far from it! The only way he can win trials most of the time is due to extreme bullshitting and ghost magic he barely understands. Strict? He's overly compassionate to his own detriment and passes out on the couch in his office regularly. He's not attractive either. He was a blundering idiot when he was younger too, and the only woman who had ever tried to date him wanted him dead because of something he didn't even know he did.

No part of Phoenix Wright was perfect, and yet here he stood. Chasing after a perfect man because of a dream he gave him all the way back in 4th grade. Phoenix stood accused of stealing Miles' lunch money.

And yet—Miles defended him.

He stood by him when nobody else would. It really inspired Phoenix, to the point he aspired to defend people the way he was defended back then, lest they experience what had. Phoenix also had an insane crush on Miles after that, though he would never admit it.

Flash forward to university, and Miles comes back up again. He hears things, whispers. They start quiet—they always do—but they only increased in volume. "I heard he forges evidence to win." "Well I heard he bribes the judge." "Demon Prosecutor." "Liar." "Cheat." "Fraud."

This didn't sound like Miles at all to Phoenix—not one bit. He had to figure out what was wrong with him. Phoenix began to pick up law classes on the side of his current major. One chance encounter with attorney Mia Fey and a crazy girlfriend later, Phoenix figured he might actually have a chance at closure. Eventually, he swapped majors, fully moving from art student to law student. He passed the bar, and got a job at Fey and Co. Law Offices, where Mia worked.

Things weren't easy for long. Mia died. Multiple accusations were tossed, including one at Phoenix himself. After all was said and done–the culprit was caught, Phoenix took over the office, and he found a new assistant in Mia's little sister: Maya Fey.

She was a spirit medium, and had the power to channel the dead. Sometimes, she would channel Mia, and she would give him a helping hand with the case at hand. It was a nice perk, though he barely understood how it worked.

Phoenix met Miles for the first time in court then, and... well... he was different, to say the least. Phoenix barely recognized the man. But he had that fuschia suit-donning man right in his grasp, and he wasn't about to give up on him now.

A couple cases later, Phoenix found himself face to face with Miles' mentor, who had a 40-year undefeated win record, in a case having to defend Miles himself.

It all made sense now—Miles' mannerisms, the rumors, how he refused to acknowledge their past, everything really. If this man was the cause, if Manfred von Karma was the cause, it was a perfect explanation.

He was everything Phoenix hated about lawyers—everything they accused Miles of. Everything Phoenix knew he didn't do.

Throughout this case, Phoenix would come to learn of the tragedy of the DL–6 incident. Of what happened to Miles—and his father. Maya's family was tied up in it as well through her missing mother, Misty Fey. There was loads of interpersonal drama, and after that win, Maya elected to go back to her village to train her spirit channeling powers for a while.

Phoenix would have one more high-profile case in which he met with Miles, but after that—the trail went cold.

With no sign of Miles anywhere and Maya out of town, the newly-named Wright and Co. Law Offices was doing quite badly. Phoenix was one man still trying to pay rent on this building he stupidly decided to inherit. He didn't have the cash to hire other people nor to advertise very often, and with his name out of the papers since Miles left and their so-called "rivalry" ended, he wasn't getting many clients to keep the cash coming.

He kept correspondence with Maya, and occasionally went to dinner with his favorite detective—Dick Gumshoe— but that was about it. For all intents and purposes, he was washed up. To add onto that, even when he did get cases, they'd always go terribly for him, regardless of if he won or not. Hell, just a couple weeks ago, a desperate culprit conked him on the head with a fire hydrant in the hopes of giving him a concussion to throw Phoenix off his game and give himself a higher chance at getting away.

Phoenix got amnesia.

Or well—temporarily, anyway. His memories slowly came back to him as the case dragged on, until he was back to his old self and caught the perpetrator. Maya did say in her letters that she was almost done with training though, so Phoenix hoped she would come back soon.

Gumshoe—on the contrary—was doing much better for himself. With Edgeworth missing, the standards at the precinct dropped heavily, and his salary wasn't getting cut anymore. In fact, he'd even get the occasional raise. He'd found himself a girlfriend in the wonderful—if unlucky— Maggey Byrde, and he stopped being limited to a diet of instant noodles. However, there was one thing always nagging at the back of his mind. That note. The one Edgeworth had left him before he dropped off the face of the Earth. "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death." Gumshoe never had the heart to tell Phoenix what it said. It became incredibly obvious whenever Phoenix got a little too drunk at the bar that he still had a massive crush on the guy, so he didn't want to crush the spiky-haired man's dreams. Phoenix kept abreast of legal news in search of his name, and by now Gumshoe knew this. It wasn't just Phoenix he couldn't tell. He couldn't tell anyone.

And it ate away at him. More than he'd like to admit. Maggey knew, and that was about it. It was June 12th—he remembered the day well—when he walked in on Phoenix alone in his office yet again, this time praying for Edgeworth or Maya to return. He felt bad for the guy, this was just desperate. Gumshoe knew Phoenix as many things, and religious wasn't one of them. Gumshoe could've sworn he noticed a single tear bead up at the edge of the man's eye.

Gumshoe walked closer and knelt down to Phoenix. "Hey pal. I... I have some bad news. I got this by mail. A couple days ago. No return address. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Gumshoe speaks, sliding Phoenix the note. Phoenix was scared to even touch the thing. "I just didn't know how you'd take it. I wouldn't want you to be inconsolable, quit your job or something. You're still doing great work out there."

Phoenix reads the note. "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death."  Death. Death. Death. The word rang out in his head again and again like a church bell. Miles Edgeworth was... dead. Phoenix would never get to see him again. After all Phoenix had done for him, all he had powered through, he went and killed himself.

"There, there, Pal. I'm depressed about it too. What do you say we go drink our sorrows away, just this once?" Gumshoe said apologetically. They both knew it was not the first—and would not be the last time such a thing happened.

"No. not today," Phoenix stated solemnly. "I need a moment to myself." Gumshoe said nothing, stood up quietly, and left. Phoenix's thoughts were a hurricane inside his head.

"Miles wouldn't just go and die like that. That isn't him." "But didn't you see how he acts in court? He's not the same anymore." "But he was so thankful after we cleared his name! He has no reason!" "You can't know that for sure!" "But my heart knows! And it knows he wouldn't do this!" "Yeah, sure. Keep being sentimental. See where it gets you."

All of these were thoughts zipping through Phoenix's head at top speeds. But at the eye of that hurricane within his head, one of those thoughts stood above the rest.

"I will come find you, Miles—no matter what it takes. No matter where I have to go or what I have to do, I will see you again."

Luckily for Phoenix, he didn't have to wait long to know for a fact if Miles was actually dead or not. Just 2 days later, he received a knock at the door.

"Hello there, sir. My name is Dr. Turner Grey. I need to speak with your associate, Maya Fey."

Chapter Text

Ever since Maya Fey had lost her sister and met Phoenix Wright, he's been a treasured companion to her. So, when he sent her a letter saying he was coming to see her in a few days with somebody that was seeking her guidance, she couldn't have been more ecstatic. She'd been stuck by herself in Kurain Village for a while now, and she could use some company. Yes—there were other people in the village—but they weren't exactly good company. Most of them were really old, for one, and not keen on chatting with Maya about what she's currently obsessed with. There are usually a couple people staying at the Fey estate to learn about channeling and the like, but more often than not they're a ton of whack jobs obsessed with crystals and zodiac signs. Not Maya's thing. Her aunt, Morgan, has never liked her all that much, and her dear little cousin Pearl was nice, probably her favorite, but took a lot of patience because Morgan tended to shelter her a lot. 

"Pearls! Pearls!," Maya shouted, running down the hall. "Nick sent a letter! He'll be here in three days! You'll finally get to meet him! Aren't you excited?"

Pearl, still a young eight-year-old at heart despite how mature she often was, blushed and placed her hands up to her face. "Oh, you mean I'll finally get to meet your special someone! I can't wait!," Pearl blurted out as she proceeded to adopt a pouty face and put her hands on her hips. "Don't worry. If Mr. Nick decides to be mean to you, I'll beat him up! I got your back!"

Maya chuckled a bit at Pearl, both because of her insistence that they were a couple (they were not) and her thinking that she would be able to do any damage to Phoenix Wright, of all people. Phoenix hasn't told her his whole story yet, but from what she knows he's been through a lot. A couple scratches from a small child won't do shit to him. 

Maya put on a similar pouty expression and crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks. "We are NOT dating! And you would totally lose to Nick in a fight anyway," Maya huffed out. "It would be like putting a rabbit up against the Steel Samurai. Nick would obviously win, but he'd never hurt you. You're just too cute," Maya says as she pinches Pearl's cheeks.

"Hey!," Pearl shouts.

Before Pearl can move to tackle Maya, an intimidating voice fills the air between the two of them. "Girls. Calm down." It was Morgan Fey, who may as well have been the Fey household head, even if she technically isn't. Maya's mother is supposed to be the real master of the Kurain channeling technique and her village, but she went missing a number of years ago following the case in which Edgeworth's father died and Von Karma framed him for murder. She never got along with Maya. She was never abusive, per se, but it was clear Pearls was the favorite and would've been the next master of the family if it was actually her call. "Maya, go to your room. We have guests! You need to be working on your channeling if you want to be the next master," Morgan asserts with a resentful look in her eyes that could put the fear of god in just about anyone. Suddenly, they softened as she turned around to face Pearl. "My dear sweet Pearl, come with me," she says as the two of them walk off to the main chamber.

Maya now sat alone in her room, thinking about the encounter she just had. The room is somewhat dark, with the one window being closed and it being lit only by a single lamp. Incense was burning, and the room was safe, making it an optimal environment for practicing her spirit channeling. "Practice, Practice, Practice. That's all it is with her," Maya mumbles to herself. "Anytime I try to take a break and have fun it's right back to the isolation chamber with me. I don't see what the rush is. I have a whole year before I'm even eligible to be master, and I'm almost there! Surely slowing the pace a bit couldn't hurt, right?" 

Maya wonders what Morgan and Pearl could be doing. Morgan would absolutely go easy on her, but she'd still give her some kind of talking to for sure. It was almost lunchtime though—and while Maya would surely miss it all cooped up in her room—it was still going to happen. This wouldn't be the first time Maya missed lunch locked up in her room, and it probably wouldn't be the last either. Right on cue, her stomach grumbled. She found herself craving burgers again, it having been a while since she's had one. Usually she'd be the one to entertain the crazy guests, but Morgan does it for her on days when she's busy channeling. She can see it in the way the guests act though—that the atmosphere's never quite as fun around Morgan.

They've only got two guests right now (soon to be four with Nick and Mystery Man), but they're both totally crazies. Some super weird photographer lady with a really obnoxious southern accent who's obsessed with cryptids and some girl studying spirit channeling as part of her university major who couldn't stop saying the word "like" every two seconds. Maya would probably learn their names in time—they had only arrived a couple days ago—but for now, they were too much of a headache (both physically and mentally with all the talking they did) to care about that right now.

Before she sits down to practice, she writes about some of her encounter in her diary to vent her feelings, along with her excitement at seeing Phoenix again. She shares one with Mia, actually. Mia doesn't mind being channeled from the beyond as practice for Maya, and they both enjoy the activity. Mia can even challenge Maya with her channeling work if need be so things won't get stale. It's almost like they're still together. Maya will write what she wants to talk about on the left page—and Mia will respond on the right one. They go back and forth like pen pals frequently. She sits down, focuses, and begins to await a reply from Mia.

___

Phoenix has been busy over the past few days scrambling to get everything ready to visit Maya. Phoenix had no idea how long he'd be gone, so he had to grab somebody to take care of the office. Larry Butz—his other childhood friend—was his first thought, but knowing that idiot, he'd find a way to burn the place down while trying to water the last plant Mia left in the building before she died. Detective Gumshoe was unfortunately busy, and Phoenix wasn't so sure he wanted to see the man right now anyway after their previous encounter.

So, he called in a favor from a person who he knew owed him one. After searching his desk for his contact information Phoenix had gotten in a case forever ago, he'd found it. Will Powers. Former actor of the Steel Samurai himself. Phoenix had represented him in a case a while back, and Will had always said he owed Wright a favor. Shame to waste it on this, but it's really his only option right now. Yet, thinking about that case also brought back memories. Memories of him. Edgeworth. That case had really been the one to humiliate him. Maybe that's what... No. Phoenix didn't want to think about that right now. He couldn't think about it right now. So, he dialed Will's number. After a few seconds of ringing, he picked up.

"Hello, this is Will Powers. Who is this?" A gruff voice on the other end of the line called out.

"Hey, this is Wright. Phoenix Wright. I was your lawyer that one time. I'm calling about a fav-"

"HEY! MR. WRIGHT! Great to see you man, it's been forever! How are things?" Powers erupted with a hearty laugh. "How's Maya? How's Gumshoe? How's that Edgeworth guy?"

"Oh... Edgeworth..." Phoenix mumbles as his voice quiets. 

"Huh? Did something happen with Mr. Edgeworth?" Powers questions. "Is he alright?" 

This wasn't Will's issue to tackle, and Phoenix knew it. Sure, Will was a nice guy, he'd understand Phoenix if he needed to talk about it, but it still wasn't his fight. Besides, a small part of Phoenix still didn't want to acknowledge that Edgeworth wasn't with them anymore. "Oh, it's nothing, really. He's just been going through a lot lately. I'm sure you saw his case on the news. It's been rough for him," Phoenix calmly assures. "Anyway, I'm here to call about that favor you owe me. I need you to look after the office for me. I'm going away for a little bit, I don't know how long I'll be gone though. I'm going to visit Maya, catch up with her now that she's out of town. Should be fun. Anyway I just need you to come in once a day, make sure everything's in order, yknow, make sure we haven't been robbed, grab the mail, and water the plants. I'll give you the address and I've got a copy of the key here for you. You good to do that?" 

"Oh yeah, totally Mr. Wright!" Powers exclaimed. "Here I was thinking your favor would be a little tougher. I just wrapped up filming for a batch of episodes, actually, so I should have tons of free time! I can totally do that! Shame what's going on with Edgeworth though, send him my best wishes. Anyway, yeah! Drop the address and I'll be right over!" Will finished.

Phoenix gave Powers the address—32 Maplebush Lane—and hung up the phone. There was one more call he had to make, though. Just to clarify things.

"Dr. Grey? It's Phoenix Wright," Phoenix started. "I'm just calling ab-"

"What do you need, Wright?! Hurry it up, I'm very busy," Grey spits out hastily. "The clinic isn't going to run itself!" 

"I just wanted to make sure you remembered the plan one last time." Phoenix said, now a little ticked off.

"Yes, it's simple! I show up at 8 tomorrow, we leave together for the train station, train leaves at 11, we arrive at night with our stuff, and properly unpack next morning. Is that all?" Turner grunts. 

Phoenix audibly sighs. "Yeah, I'll let you get back to work no-" Phoenix can't even finish his sentence before Grey hangs up the phone. 

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Phoenix thinks to himself. "Guy didn't even let me finish talking."

Now, Phoenix still had a suitcase to pack, so he decided to get to that. He grabbed a few pairs of casual clothing, three sets of pajamas, a blue umbrella, his wallet, A bottle of hair gel to maintain his signature style, and his attorney's badge, just in case. Phoenix never went anywhere without his badge. Maya used to call him out for it all the time, ask him what he was trying to prove. Only this time, he'd welcome it. Wait... prove. Prove. 

Phoenix had just had an idea. An idea that could quell all of the doubts at the back of his mind. Settle everything, once and for all. An idea that could finally give him some answers to the question that's been plaguing him this past week. He made a mental note to buy Maya a burger before he left on the train tomorrow. There was somebody he was going to need her to channel.

Chapter Text

"What the hell, Wright? The train almost left without you!" Grey exclaims as Phoenix boards the train. "What could you possibly have been doing that was so Important? Huh?" 

Wright told him to shut up, and that he didn't have the energy for his antics today. He sat down next to Grey, and put his sleep mask on. What had really happened was that Phoenix was trying to grab that burger for Maya, but all of the fast food places that sold burgers were really busy with the morning rush. Phoenix, not having taken this into account before leaving, also made himself a coffee at the office. Phoenix was going to be arriving in Kurain late, and he could properly catch up with Maya the day after. If he fell asleep on this train, he'd have a hard time falling asleep later when he actually got there. To be frank, Phoenix's sleep schedule had been really inconsistent since he got that news about Edgeworth. Mourning the man you've spent your life chasing tends to do that to you.

Edgeworth. Phoenix, if nothing else, would get to put his concerns to rest about him with this trip. The plan was simple. Phoenix would find a good time to break the news to Maya, and politely ask her to channel Edgeworth, aided by the offering of a burger. That way, Phoenix could finally, finally get some answers on why he did what he did. And if—and this is a big if—Maya can't seem to find his spirit, then Edgeworth would have to be alive. And when Phoenix found him, he was going to have some very choice words for the missing man.

Dr. Grey didn't know any of this—it wasn't any of his business. Phoenix was just fine with that arrangement. Grey hadn't given him additional details on why she wanted to see Maya either. I mean, he knew it was something relating to an old nurse at the clinic, but that was about it. 

"Train is departing on the Northern Line to Sacramento. We will be making stops at Bakersfield, Springfield, the small towns of Berrysburg and Kurain, alongside Fresno," A gruff male voice—presumably the conductor's—called out. "It is advised that all passengers stay seated at this time. With that being said, enjoy your trip!"

Phoenix slouched in his seat a bit and pulled out a crossword puzzle book he'd brought with him and a mechanical pencil, flipping open to the 7th page and continuing the puzzle he'd left off on. This was going to be a long trip...

___

Dick Gumshoe sat alone at a table for two in a restaurant. He was wearing a white collared shirt, brown pants, and brown dress shoes. It was really the only nice set of clothes he had. Overall, it's still an improvement from when he didn't have any nice clothes. He missed Edgeworth, but his pay getting a raise rather than a cut was at least a silver lining. Gumshoe was, of course, awaiting his dear girlfriend: Maggey Byrde. They were on one of their rare dates, and she was running late, but Gumshoe wasn't nervous. 

Maggey had a long, long history of the worst luck Gumshoe had ever seen. From car accidents to broken limbs to being bullied almost her whole life, she's really been through it all. Gumshoe didn't care about that, though. Well—he cares that things happen to her so he can help her through them—it just didn't stop him from loving her any less. He wasn't exactly the most fortunate guy himself, and if she could make it through it all, so could he right along with her. She'd been late to dates before due to her bad luck in the 3 months they'd been together. So, when she found herself late today, Gumshoe didn't question it. 

Suddenly, he felt his phone ringing in his pocket, and picked it up.

"Gummy! I'm so sorry! Traffic has been absolutely insane today," Maggey blurted. "I know I'm running late, but I should be there in like 10 min-"

"Mags, Mags! Don't worry, it's fine," Gumshoe assured her. "If the waiter comes by and asks for drinks, what would you want? So it'll already be there by the time you get here, yknow?" 

"Just a water please! I'm honestly quite dehydrated right now." She said.

"Alright Mags, I'll see you in a few!" Gumshoe exclaims before hanging up. 

Gumshoe watched as the waiter walked over to the table and took their drink orders for the time being, before walking off. He got Maggey a water, just like she requested. He also figured it would be a good time to use the bathroom, so he wouldn't have to leave his wonderful woman later. 

It was while he was relieving himself that the detective realized he had forgotten to feed Missile, the adorable station police dog, before he left work today. He'd hoped somebody else did it. The poor guy had probably fallen asleep by now, and he gets crabby in the morning when he doesn't get his food. Maybe he'd go put out food for him after dinner with Maggey, just in case he was still up. She'd always loved the little lad, and it gave Gumshoe an excuse to spend more time with her before he dropped her home.

Gumshoe washed his hands and left the bathroom to find Maggey already sat down in a nice sweater and jeans. Her hair was done up a bit (but not a lot), and she had her green handbag with her, sporting it's signiature Steel Samurai pin. Looking around, he sees other couples in the restaurant appearing similarly. Clearly he'd overdressed a little bit. Oh well, no matter. Gumshoe walked over to her and gave her a little peck on the cheek, which she proceeded to return. He sat back down in his chair and relaxed as a massive beaming grin slowly escaped onto his face. What a lucky man he was...

"Hi Gummy! This place is so nice! I'm really glad you invited me," Maggey said with a grin. "Don't worry, I made sure to feed Missile before I left earlier today. I know you worry about things like that."

She remembered. She remembered. Gumshoe felt his heart become just that little bit lighter at the nice gesture. "Oh Mags, my sweetie, what would I do without you?"

Gumshoe just drank in the moment. He wished he could stay like this forever. A calm, nice environment with the person he loved most. He'd have to find a way to make it up to Maggey later for feeding the dog—but for now—he just wanted to enjoy the moment.

A couple minutes into the couple talking, Gumshoe hears his phone ring. "Oh, Mags, you don't mind if I take this, right? I promise I'll be quick!" He assured.

"It's only fair after I kept you waiting," she says. "You might as well give it an answer."

Gumshoe looked down at his phone. The call is from Phoenix. That's odd. He should be in Kurain by now, and he also knew Gumshoe had a date tonight. This better be important...

___

"Nick! Nick!" Maya exclaims as she runs across the village to the train stop, where Phoenix stands with his luggage. 

"Maya, could you calm down? I know you're excited, but it's nine o'clock at night," Phoenix mumbled out. "We're tired. Can this wait for tomorrow?"

"Yes, I concur," Grey said with his face set. "It's quite grating, not to mention potentially keeping up others who are actively trying to sleep right now."

Maya lowers her voice to a quiet whisper. "My apologies! I just got excited. Oh, and where are my manners? My name is Maya Fey," the girl said with an apologetic half smile. Her face then shifted to a silly, smug grin. "Spirit Channeler Extraordinaire. I take it you're in need of my services?" 

Maya makes a motion as if to lower sunglasses she was not, in fact, wearing. Perhaps this joking attitude would've been appreciated by the likes of Lotta or Ini (she had learned their names!), but Dr. Turner Grey was not one of those people. He pinched his forehead with two fingers whilst his face remained set.

"I already have a headache as is. Where's an adult who can show us the way to our rooms so we can get situated?" Grey muttered.

"Hey! I am 18 I'll have you know! That's an adult!" Maya said, overly defensive, while crossing her arms, before calming down. "But in all seriousness, my aunt Morgan is turning in for the night, so I'll show you two to your rooms and help you unpack so you can sleep. I know you've had a long day."

Maya began leading the two through the village. She wouldn't seem to stop talking, really, eager to relay more information about her village and family whenever they came up on the walk. 

"Wright, I cannot believe you're friends with this woman," Grey mumbles quietly. "Does she ever shut up?" 

Phoenix glanced at the man awkwardly before answering. "Niether do I. And no, she doesn't shut up."

Maya continues talking as they walked, though Phoenix couldn't be bothered to pick out or pay attention to most of what she was saying. He wants to say there was something about a little cousin? Maybe a vase or a sword? Phoenix couldn't care much to remember. 

Eventually, she stopped at their quarters, which were right next to each other, and went in to help Grey first. Clearly she was trying to salvage her bad first impression she had left on the man while not being overly obvious about it. Phoenix began to unpack in his own room while thinking to himself.

"Maybe I should just get it out of the way now. I mean, I wouldn't have to find a time to ask tomorrow. But then I probably won't have the energy to ask Edgeworth for a lot of answers. Whatever, I'll just ask her to look for him today, and she can channel him tomorrow. That'll work. Sure."

Any further thinking from Phoenix Wright was interrupted by Maya knocking at his door to the tune of Old McDonald Had a Farm. Who even thinks up this stuff?

"Come in." Phoenix stood up from the suitcase where he was crouching to greet Maya.

"Wow, Nick, you're already almost done in here," Maya whispered, still trying to be quiet. "You sure you need help with anything?"

Phoenix looked at her dead on. "Actually, there is one thing. I know this is a random request, but could you search for Edgeworth's spirit? Miles, not Gregory." 

"But Nick," Maya questioned with her hands folded together. "Edgeworth is alive. You know he won't show. Why bother?"

"Just... Just do it, okay?" Phoenix tiredly pleaded. "I wanna test something. It's for a legal strategy. I'll get you a burger. Alright?"  

Well, Maya couldn't say no to a good burger. She sat down on the floor, crossed her legs, closed her eyes, and put her arms out. She sat there for a while, as Phoenix continued to unpack. Occasionally, her eyebrows would crease, betraying a period of extra intense focus. Right as Phoenix finished unpacking his last suitcase with everything he was willing to actually take out tonight, Maya slowly opened her eyes and stood up. 

"Just like I told you," Maya states matter-of-factly as Phoenix turned around to face her. "He's not there." 

Phoenix stared into space, and he seemed to turn white as a sheet. "W-W... What?"

"Phoenix? What's gotten into you? Are you alright? Like really? Are you alright?" Maya considered as she walked up to him. 

"Y-Yeah... never better," Phoenix barely manages to mumble out, clearly lying. "We can... uhhhh... chat more tomorrow. Good night."

Maya didn't see any point in trying to get an answer out of Phoenix in this state, so she left his room and went off to bed on her own, full of thoughts about whar possibly could've merited such a reaction. Meanwhile, Phoenix didn't know how to feel. If his feelings were a hurricane before, now they were a category 5. Winds of anger, ecstasy, betrayal, and sadness swirled loops around a torrential rain of questions. But, just like when he first heard the man was dead, there was the eye. The calm that stood above the rest. 

"Why?"

"You don't just fake your death like that. Not without telling anyone. That's heartless. More heartless than a Von Karma. They wouldn't even do this. Fine, Miles. You won. You wanted to be so much like your dear old mentor? You were so embarrassed you lost that you decided to run off with your tail between your legs? Just to prove that you'd never need anybody else? That you're superior? Fine. You won. But after I find you, you're never going to win again. I will find you. And I'll make you regret ever winning."

Now, Phoenix knew himself well. He didn't actually want to hurt Miles. But when somebody sends a wrecking ball through your life, sometimes you want to tear down one or two of their walls. When Phoenix met him, he was probably going to yell at Edgeworth—and a lot at that—but eventually he would move past it. Try to keep things cordial. This was the man Phoenix spent his entire life going after. He wasn't going to give up now because Miles was so butthurt he made the most fucking idiotic move he's ever seen from the man. 

Wait. He had to call Gumshoe. He deserved to know too. As essentially Miles' best friend (at least that Phoenix knew of), he deserved to be aware too. The service would be really bad out here, but Phoenix didn't want to try to sneak out to the payphone right now. He dialed Gumshoe's number. It took a second for the other end to pick up.

"H*y Pal, Wha** go* *ou c*ll**g *t this hou*? Y*u re***ber I have a **te, *i*ht?" Gumshoe lagged as he spoke out from the other end of the line.

"It's Edgeworth." Phoenix said monotonally.

"He's alive."

Chapter Text

"WHAT?!" Gumshoe yelled, entirely too loud for his polite restaurant setting. "What do you mean he's not dead? That wouldn't make any sense! Why would he do that? Mr. Edgeworth never just does crazy things like this without a backup plan. Usually he'd at least tell me first. What is he doing?"

Maggey was quite confused. When Gumshoe said he he needed to take a call, she hadn't imagined it would be such a loud one. She could faintly make out a voice on the other end of the line. She recognized it as belonging to Phoenix Wright, her former attorney and a good friend of Gumshoe's. What they could possibly be up to that requires this level of volume was beyond her. People were starting to stare, and it honestly felt quite embarrassing.

"Gummy..." Maggey sighed quietly as she gestured towards him. "Maybe you should take this outside?"

"Oh... yeah." Gumshoe lowered the phone from right up to his mouth where he was holding it and looked to the multiple people staring at him in the restaurant. "My apologies, everyone! Please.. uhh... enjoy your food! Don't mind me!" Gumshoe awkwardly mumbled as he speedwalked out the door.

Maggey could still see Gumshoe looking at his phone very intently and speaking presumably loudly, but she could no longer make out any words that were being spoken. But Maggey had always been a curious girl at heart—that's another reason she ran into trouble so often—so she started thinking about what the two could've been talking about. 

"Gummy said something about Mr. Edgeworth. That's what he called Miles Edgeworth. But Miles was dead. Gumshoe showed her the suicide note. How could he possibly be 'doing' anything? Now, let's move to the other end of the line. Wright. If I remember right, Gummy said he was going to see a friend who's away recently. Wright is probably there right now. When he was at my trial, I only ever heard him mention one friend. A spirit medium girl. Now I think of it, she may have been away too. Odds are, it's her. Gummy says she's the real deal. I doubt it personally, but if a guy can mistake a yellow glove for a banana I think anything might be possible. Wright picked now of all times to call about Edgeworth, meaning the news is both recent and important seeing as we're both busy. Wait. If it's something with spirits and Edgeworth, and he's able to 'do' something, then it has to mean Phoenix learned Edgeworth is alive, which would be crazy enough to call about. Yeah, that has to be it!"

At that point, Gumshoe walked back into the restaurant from outside and calmly sat down at the table. "Mags, you're not gonna believe this. It's about Mr. Edgeworth, he's-"

"Alive?" Maggey questioned.

"Yeah! He's total-" Gumshoe stopped, his face freezing in both a confused and humorous expression. "Wait. How did you know that?"

"Just intuition, I guess," Maggey said as she shrugged. "It's really weird to think about. I just wonder what happened."

The two sat down and finished their meal. They spoke less now, both of their minds on the pressing matter of Miles Edgeworth's faked death. The waiter came with the bill—which thankfully wasn't that expensive—and the two paid it before walking off to their car that sat at the end of the restaurant's parking lot. They got in.

"Do we at least know where he is?" Maggey pleaded.

"No, we've got no idea," Gumshoe replied as he turned on the car. He slouched down in the driver's seat as he began to frown. "We can only hope that wherever he is, the force can find him, and it's not too late. Maybe he faked his death, sure, but he did seem off a little before he disappeared. He could've also tried to kill himself, but he failed, and now he's withering away in a hospital somewhere for all we know."

Gumshoe dropped off Maggey at her home before going to drive home himself. It was going to be a long night...

___

Phoenix jolted awake upon hearing an extremely loud, blaring alarm akin to a police siren from the other room. It took a minute for him to remember where he was, in Maya's village. He'd assumed the alarm belonged to Dr. Grey, as having a job at a hospital would definitely force somebody to be absolutely sure they woke up in the morning. Phoenix had thought the walls looked thin in this place, and now this annoying droning was only proving that true. At that point, Phoenix heard a voice coming from the room on his left, the side opposite the noise. 

"OH. MY GOD. Could you, like, turn that down? I'm trying to, like, um, sleep. Like, you know, a normal person? Thanks!"

Phoenix didn't recognize this voice, but it was certainly just as annoying as the alarm, if not more. He turned to the direction of the voice and spoke loudly, though not as loud as the alarm. "It's not me! It's the guy in the room after me!"

"UGH. I don't care who it is. Just, like, get him to stop for me. Okay?"

Phoenix sighed and turned over to face the loud alarm coming from Grey's room, finally standing up from the position he had been sitting in. It was still pretty dark in his room, lending to the idea that this was far too early in the morning. Though, Phoenix figured that did also make sense for somebody working at a hospital.

"Grey! Turn off the damn alarm! People are trying to sleep!" Phoenix shouted, hoping to get the doctor's attention. 

The extremely annoying noise ceased after a moment, leaving an uncomfortable silence. Around a minute passed, and Phoenix heard a knock at the door. He opened it, and there stood Turner Grey himself, still in a purple set of pajamas and a nightcap.

"Wright, if you're going to take issue with my sleeping habits, do try not to be as loud about it next time." Dr. Grey proceeded to turn around, shut the door, and walk back to his room.

"Rude. What is with this guy?" Phoenix thought, wondering who could have caused this man to become so cranky and impolite. Oh well, whatever. It was a big day today. It was time to properly get acquainted with Maya again. He'd have to explain what the massive deal was yesterday first, but after that they'd get along swimmingly. She'd do the channeling for the doctor, and after they could just relax for a bit. Maybe Phoenix would even get to meet that little cousin Maya was talking about earlier. He wondered just how young she actually was. Trying to get along with a 13 year old and an actual toddler are very different endeavors. But it didn't really matter now. Phoenix could probably still get a few hours of sleep, and that's exactly what he planned to do.

___

Borginia is a quaint place to live. It was part of the soviet territory during the Cold War, and it never quite lost some of it's Russian edge. Weather was always kind of rough there. Cold, dead, sometimes snowy. Most people there weren't exactly nice to most others, but friends who got along really got along. Most people had their basics provided for them, though the place did have a small squatting problem. Crime wasn't too common, and most of it was simple. It was a small place, so there wasn't too too much to do, but whenever it wasn't snowing the nature looked quite nice. Technology wise it was a bit behind, but not so much as to feel isolating when moving from a more highly developed country like America or Japan.

For a person who wanted to get away from it all, and take a break from his prosecuting career, a person like Miles Edgeworth, it was perfect. He lived in a flat in Tolpist, a major city in Borginia, though not the Capitol. He lived on the second floor and—unfortunately for him—his upstairs neighbor was a drunk, meaning he was often disturbed by whatever that person tended to be doing. Miles didn't know his name, and he didn't care to.

Of course, Miles still took cases here and there. He needed to make money, and—more importantly—needed to prove that he was still perfect. With his colorful suit and interesting choice of a cravat, he'd made quite a name for himself in the Borginian legal world. That still came with all the negatives of being famous too: Tabloids suspecting you of cheating, insane expectations, and plenty more. Miles could handle it, as he'd handled it before, but it was still inconvenient. Thankfully, the name he had for himself was at least a little less of one than back home. People didn't exactly pay attention to the legal world quite as much in Borginia, especially considering the small population. This was by design too. Miles wanted a smaller life. The less he was known, the better. He wouldn't have as much money, but he didn't exactly mind that. He had enough to get by comfortably and that was enough for him.

To fully dissappear, Miles had to get his name legally changed, which was the last thing he did before he disappeared to Borginia. In his heart, he would always be Miles. But to the rest of the world, his name was now Alexei Petrov. This name could give Miles an ostensibly Russian origin, which wouldn't at all be out of place in Borginia. Miles wasn't Russian in the slightest, but he figured he could at least pass decently. Almost nobody would think to connect him to his past life now, and that foolish man who insisted on giving him unnecessary feelings had little to no chance of finding him now.

Not nearly as many murders happened in Borginia, so Miles had mostly moved to civil cases. He'd still take on the occasional murder trial, but it wasn't quite as common. This did mean he was learning completely new law in a foreign country, but Miles managed to adapt. He'd already learned a decent bit of the language—he started learning in preparation before he left—so reading law books wasn't too difficult. Thankfully, Borginian law wasn't all that different from American law in retrospect, so studying wasn't as hard as it could have been. Only once Miles was entirely confident did he actually step back into the courthouse.

 He'd just settled his strangest case yet—one where somebody had claimed a ghost stole their property. In the end, it was just a burglar who knew a few good parlor tricks, but it was certainly interesting. This one burglar had apparently been doing this ghost shtick a while, since before Miles had arrived there. It was to the point it had become almost a bit of a local legend. People would occasionally come around to places it was seen and try to find the ghost. Unfortunately for Miles, choosing this case to prosecute would end up backfiring on him in a way he would never see coming.

___

"There's no way I'm letting her settle something this important to me," Grey affirmed. "Not after how she acted yesterday." 

Phoenix was listening in on a conversation with the head of the house, Morgan Fey, the sister of Misty Fey. She'd occasionally come up back when Maya was still at the office, so he knew a bit about her, but she was much more intimidating in person. She was both shorter and older than Phoenix, and yet he felt like he would have zero chance if the two were to fight.

"Doctor, sir. Really. If you want to get this channeling done, Maya is going to be your best bet," Morgan says, folding her hands and smiling so widely it couldn't be more obviously fake. "The only other channelers here are me and my daughter. I'm far weaker spiritually, and there's no way I'm letting my sweetie get anywhere near you." Morgan's expression shifted to become a little more upset at her own mention of her daughter. Phoenix figured this must be that cousin Maya was talking about.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I'm not going near that girl again. She's so disrespectful, and I don't trust her at all to handle the gravity of this situation properly. I will literally pay you to do it instead if your daughter doesn't want to do it," Grey asserted. His arms were crossed and he was the most upset Phoenix had seen him since the two met. "You don't think I did my research before coming here? I can ruin you if I want to. I could ruin your entire family more than it already has been. Don't try me."

Morgan sighed, and pinched her forehead exasperatedly. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Phoenix snooping in on the conversation from the corner of the room. She was not happy to see him, but figured he might be useful.

"You there. With the spiky hair."

Phoenix jumped, clearly surprised that he'd been seen. "Y-Yes?"

Morgan spoke very sternly, as if she didn't have time for anything Phoenix had to say. Maybe she didn't. Phoenix had no idea how busy a Fey family head was. He'd only just gotten there last night. "You're one of Maya's... friends, yes?" Morgan's voice seemed to become confused at her own question. "I know you've heard this conversation. You wouldn't want your dear Maya to be defamed, would you? I'll tell you this. If you can help Maya take care of dear Pearlie for a while for me, then I'll do the channeling and we both walk away happy. Usually I wouldn't let you near her, but these are extenuating circumstances and if the future master trusts somebody, who am I to disagree? She'll be eating lunch right now in the dining hall. You got that?"

The actual words she said were innocuous enough, but Phoenix couldn't help but feel a little scared by it all. It felt as if he'd earn the personal wrath of the Fey clan provided he disagree. "Yeah. Got that, miss," Phoenix squeaked out. "I'll go see her now." 

Phoenix walked over to the lunch hall, only to see Maya and Pearl painting rocks together. He saw plates, but they weren't finished. 

"Hey there... how you guys doin?" Phoenix awkwardly interjected. Both of the girls turned to face Phoenix. He noticed the smaller one—who he realized was cousin Pearl—quickly scurry away from him to hide behind a stool. He walked over to Maya and leaned over to whisper to her. "Is she always that timid?"

Maya whispered in reply. "Yeah, Morgan kind of shelters her a lot. She's pretty afraid of new people. Be nice and you two will get along just fine." Maya proceeded to walk over to where Pearl was hidden and squat down to her level. "Hey Pearl. It'll be fine. This is that Nick guy I told you about. You'll love him, I promise."

Pearl wiped a tear from her eye and stood up from her hiding place, staring straight up at Phoenix's face. She mumbled out an introduction that Phoenix couldn't quite hear. 

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Phoenix asked, holding his hand out with a smile. He was trying to appear as inoffensive as possible. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I'M PEARL NICE TO MEET YOU!" Shouted the girl quickly as she went to hide behind Maya. 

"Well, my name is Phoenix Wright, but you can call me Nick like your sister. Nice to meet you!" Phoenix said earnestly. "Your mother sent me to help for a while. I could paint rocks with you, if you'd like." 

Pearls slowly reached out from behind Maya to grab Phoenix's hand and shake it lightly. Phoenix couldn't help but smile a bit at how cute it was. They talked for a little bit and sat down to paint the rocks. Pearl painted a nice house with a sun, Maya painted the Steel Samurai, and Phoenix painted his Attorney's Badge. 

"Wow, Nick. That's great! When did you get so good at art?" Maya inquired.

"I was originally going to college as an art student before I switched over to law," Phoenix replied. "I could've sworn I told you."

"You might have. I'm just kind of forgetful about these things. My bad, I'm not trying to be ignorant on purpose," Maya replied. "On that note, I hope my aunt didn't give you too much trouble. I overheard that conversation and she can be... well... kind of a lot... sometimes." 

Phoenix looked at Maya and scratched the back of his head. "Is she always so..." Phoenix leaned near Maya as to whisper so Pearl wouldn't hear. "Scary?" 

"Yeah. She loves to be like that. Don't worry, you'll get used to it with time," Maya whispered back. "By the way, what were you on about with Edgeworth yesterday? You looked like you actually died."

"I didn't. But I thought he did." Phoenix pulls out the illegitimate suicide note from his pocket where he had kept it. "Gumshoe told me he'd gotten this a little while ago. I couldn't believe he would ever do it, so I had to come confirm for myself." 

Maya burst out laughing, breaking their whisper, causing Pearl to glance over. "Oh Nick! That's so you. Do you really think Edgeworth would leave that unceremoniously? It reminds me of that time where-"

Before Maya could finish her sentence, a loud knock at the door interrupted her. It was a voice Phoenix immidiately recognized. "Hey! Couldja open up? I hear this here is the place where a gal is supposed to grab some grub, and I'm hungry!" 

Phoenix heard a hearty laugh on the other side of the door, and he recognized it as Lotta Hart. They had met in a case before—the one in which Miles was accused—and hadn't met since. Phoenix's opinion of her was mixed to say the least. She was nice enough, but usually came on far too strong. To see her here was a surprise, but it really shouldn't have been. She was a paranormal photographer. Phoenix didn't know how the hell that was a real job, but it would make sense for one to come visit a village where spirit channeling was the main focus. 

Maya went to open the door. "Hey Maya!" Lotta said, coming in to view. "Hey Pearlie-kins! How you doin?" Lotta said as she turned to face Pearl. 

"I'm doing alright, miss. Thanks for asking." Pearl mutters out as she breaks eye contact with the woman.

Lotta then turned around to face Phoenix. "Well, well well. What do we got here? Is that Mr. Phoenix Wright? In the flesh? In this piddly little town? My my, I never would have guessed!" Lotta exclaimed as she walked up the man. "It's been forever. How you doing?" 

Phoenix stood awkwardly and shrugged. "It's been nice. Not too special. How about you?" 

"Much the same. There's been a real dry spell with the paranormal as of late. Things gettin' proved hoaxes left n' right. You know, you should really tell your pal to lighten up a bit. He's makin' my job harder!" Lotta laughed in a way that indicated she was joking, despite her previously serious expression.

"What ever do you mean?" Phoenix responded. There was no way she was talking about Edgeworth, right? Nobody knows anything about where he is! Why would she?? That's crazy, right?

"You know. Red suit guy. Your buddy! He was accused in that Gordie case, remember? I know I do, being a witness was real interesting for that one!" Lotta exclaimed. "Has he not told you about what he's been up to lately? Over yonder in Europe? I say ya might just need some new friends, pardner." 

"No. No he hasn't. Please tell me," Phoenix said monotonally, his posture upright. He had turned white as a sheet for the second time that week. "I would love to know."

"Jeez, pardner. You good? Need me to get you some medicine?" Lotta inquired as she handed a newspaper she was fishing out of her bag to Phoenix. "You look like you've just done seen a ghost! Maybe tell me next time, help me earn some dough!" 

Phoenix read the headline of the newspaper. It was a tabloid article, though not one written by Lotta herself. It read "THIEVING GHOST OF BORGINIA PROVEN FAKE IN COURT!" In big, bold lettering. Scanning the side of the paper, Phoenix found a picture captioned as "Alexei Petrov, the attorney responsible for discovering the truth behind the case." The different name was startling to Phoenix, as this was clearly Miles Edgeworth. He'd stared at his face more than anyone else. He would recognize it anywhere—from the eyes, to the hair, to that sharp jawline, it was Edgeworth. 100 percent. Had he really been so desperate to leave them that he changed his own name? Phoenix felt heartbroken. Betrayed. Abandoned. His mind was spiraling. How could he-

"Hey! You sure you're good, pardner? You've been staring dead eyed at the floor for the past minute," Lotta shouted as she snapped his fingers in Phoenix's face, causing him to startle. "I'm gonna go get you those meds, okay?"

Miles was in Borginia. That was a small country. Phoenix could find him. If he scanned the article, he was sure he could find more. His eyes darted across the pages until he found the name of a city. Tolpist. If Phoenix could get there, he could find Edgeworth. No, not could. Had to. He had to get there and he had to find Edgeworth. Sooner rather than later.

Maya had been staring at the article for a second now as well, curious as to what Phoenix saw to leave him in such a trance. Despite her initial laughter, she really was concerned about the note. To get a location for the man so quickly after learning he both was and then wasn't dead was really a shock to her system. Though she wasn't white like Phoenix, she was visibly surprised and concerned.

Unfortunately, their thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming down the hall that rapidly increased in both speed and volume. A woman wearing an orange sweater and a white Beret ran through the open dining hall doors, a scared expression on her face. 

"Quick! Somebody call the police!" She shrieked, still clearly frightened and panicked from whatever she'd seen. "It's that Fey lady. She's like, dead!"

Chapter Text

Lotta was with Pearl calling the police at the phone outside the village. It was determined it be better she doesn't have to bear witness to her mother's dead body at such a young age. Of course, Pearl isn't completely stupid—she knows what people dying means—so she's still sobbing at the phone booth while Lotta negotiates over the phone. Meanwhile, Phoenix, Maya, and Beret Lady were running at top speed towards the channeling chamber to check on the situation. Phoenix in particular was really worried. If this was a murder, things could turn really sour really quickly.

Upon arriving at the channeling chamber, the three stopped in their tracks upon witnessing Turner Grey hobbling out of the Channeling Chamber, clutching his left side. Red bloomed from a hole in his body, dripping out onto the edges of his hands and onto the floor. Upon seeing Phoenix and Maya, a minor look of relief flashed on his face for only a moment, though it quickly turned back to pained after.

"Maya, Beret. You've been here longer than me. Go find the bandages and try to stop the bleeding. I need to make sure the cops bring an ambulance too." Phoenix quickly uttered, in the most commanding voice he could manage. He saw the two women scrambling and looking through every drawer and cupboard they could find as he turned to run to the phone booth. 

Phoenix was running as fast as his legs could carry him. Much as Grey mildly annoyed him, Phoenix wasn't going to let him die. Not on his watch. Beads of sweat dripping down his face and a determined glint in his eye, you'd think he was actually active in his daily life. 

Phoenix left the village to see Lotta still talking on the phone with Pearl crying into her leg. Great. He wasn't too late. 

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Phoenix cried, stretching his hand out towards Lotta, hoping she'd hear him across the 50-or-so meters he still had to cross in the open field outside of town. "Send for an Ambulance! We have a situation!"

Lotta turned to him, then turned back to the phone. "And make sure yer folks send an ambulance, alright? There's a situation!"

The dispatcher on the end responded, saying they had already planned on it. The phone call concluded, and Pearl and Lotta turned to Phoenix, who had caught up to them. 

"It's Grey. The old man I've been here with. He's been shot. He was bleeding out of his side. The girls are looking for bandages now."

"M-Mr. Nick??" Pearl muttered tearily. "What does shot mean?"

This was a surprise to Phoenix. Had she really been so sheltered as to not know what getting shot was? Well, it would be a tragedy to make the poor young girl cry today. Phoenix elected to come up with a lie, in hopes of softening the blow.

"It's... uhhhh... something they give you at the doctor! To make you feel better. It's this little needle, but it hurts a lot, and it's a little bloody! He got one in his side, and now the girls are looking for band-aids to make him feel better!" Phoenix optimistically stated.

"Uhhh... yeah! Totally!" Lotta replied, catching what Phoenix was intending to do. "He'll be right as rain in no time!"

Phoenix slowly knelt down to Pearl in order to offer her a hug, which she accepted. "There there," Phoenix said. "Things will get better from here, I promise. Now, let's wait patiently until the good people get here, yeah?" 

He couldn't say it would all be okay, because it wouldn't be. All of them knew that. They'd have to hope the authorities could save Grey from here, at least.

___

This could work. This could absolutely work. Sure, it wasn't the original plan, and her coconspiritor may be dead, but she could still get her revenge on the man who ruined her life. She just needed to find those bandages. 

Or well, to be a little more accurate, she needed to find them so Maya couldn't. If she found the bandages, and she could slip them into her bag stealthily, things would work great. A coincidence. That's what the police would write it off as. An awful coincidence that they couldn't find anything to stop the bleeding and were too late to save the currently collapsed doctor on the floor. The news would similarly label it a tragedy.

Either way, not tied to her. A crime so perfect that no living person could have been said to commit it. She had to dirty her hands a bit, sure, but much less than the original plan would have required. In a way, this worked out better. She was under no obligation to save the man, on a technicality, so there's not really anything they could arrest her with. She didn't have a partner in crime left to blab, so the chances of them getting her on a murder charge were slim to none. She was safe. Right? Yes, as long as she found the bandages.

___

"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY, STEP ASIDE!" Said the booming voice of Detective Gumshoe as the authorities stepped into Fey Manor. Officers flooded the room, alongside medics rolling out a gurney for the injured Doctor. He's being transported to the Hotti Clinic, where they'll try their best to keep him alive. However, there was one woman in quite fancy dress that stood out from the crowd. She had poofy shoulders, off white hair, a black dress with yellow accents, and blue earrings. She seemed to be carrying a whip with her

"Now what is this foolish tomfoolery I'm laying my eyes on here? Do any of you know how to investigate?? We don't have all day, fools!" The woman called out. She looked over at Phoenix, and tightened her grip. "You," she called with malice in her voice. "You, Phoenix Wright, brought shame upon my family, upon my foolish father and brother, and now I shall squash you once and for all beneath my feet like the bug you are!"

"Jeez," Phoenix thought. "Whoever this lady is, she's got one hell of a grudge." He began to approach her to settle this dilemma. He certainly wasn't looking to leave today being whipped, and he had no idea why this lady was walking around like she owned the place. As he approached her and saw her gleaming prosecutor's badge, it began to click for him. 

"The impeccable posture. The hair color. A disgraced father and brother. That much sway among the police force. No, it couldn't be. Right?" Phoenix thought to himself.

Upon approaching the woman, he began to ask about his hypothesis. "Could you... by chance... maybe.... be... a Von Kar-"

She held out her hand. "Franziska Von Karma. Your new nightmare. Displeasure to meet you, fool."

A Von Karma. Just like Phoenix thought. Looks like the old kook had some other kids of his own back in Germany after all, and they were here for revenge. Phoenix extended his hand to shake hers as well, only to be met with a grip strength so strong he was shocked a bone didn't break. "Phoenix Wright," he squealed out. "Displeasure to meet you too."

She released her grip. "I eagerly await being able to utterly destroy you in court tomorrow."

Maya, who had been just sort of standing around awkwardly, disliking Morgan too much to truly miss her but being too attached not to feel bad about her passing, and who was frankly also very tired, finally spoke up. "Actually... um... he might not be in court tomorrow." 

Phoenix looked visibly confused at this, as if he had no idea what Maya was talking about. This is largely because he did not have any idea what Maya was talking about. "Of course I'm going to be in court tomorrow! What are you on about?"

Maya, realizing she made a plan without consulting any of the people involved—something she often does—sighed. "You wanna see your boyfriend, right?"

"Wh-He's not my boyfriend!" Phoenix said, as a blush slowly reddened his cheeks.

"Oh please. I know some guys in love when I see them. Steel Samurai fans eat that shit up. He might as well be." She nonchalantly replied.

Phoenix was, frankly, shocked at her mention of it. He hadn't exactly been closed off about his tendency to swing both ways—no, that's not what he was shocked at. He was moreso shocked that she brought it up in front of Franziska. Sure, most people around here were chill with stuff like that, but she was from Germany! Niether of them had any idea how those kinds of things were treated over there. Not to mention, she is quite literally the sister of said guy he was in love with! And she had a whip! This could go very poorly very quickly if she took it the wrong way. "Yeah, sure, whatever. I wanna see Miles." 

Franziska immidiately became angered at the mention of a potential crush on her brother. "You didn't break his heart, did you? Foolish Phoenix Wright? Did you send him off, never to be seen again?" 

"No, I didn't. But he is alive, actually, I do know where he i-"

"WHERE IS HE?!" Franziska was full on yelling now, not a care in the world regarding who might hear her. "WHERE IS MILES EDGEWORTH?" 

She was raising her whip at this point. Phoenix would be dead meat soon if nobody spoke up. And yet, with the raging storm that is Franziska Von Karma making herself at home, nobody really felt comfortable doing so. Maya, with years of experience dealing with similar outbursts from Morgan, spoke out again. "He's in Borginia."

Franziska was left in a trance at the news. "Miles Edgeworth is Borginia?" This question came not from Franziska, as one would expect, but rather from Detective Gumshoe, who had overheard the entire endeavor. "Who was gonna tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Gumshoe," Phoenix responded. "I'd only just learned right before Morgan turned up dead. I promise I was planning on it." Gumshoe looked a little saddened at this, but said no more. He went to go comfort Pearl in the corner, now that he wouldn't be chastised for it by Von Karma.

"Aaaaanyway, as I was saying before," Maya picked back up. "I called Grossberg. He said he'd take the case. Something or other about young love. He talked for way too long. I can't believe I almost got him as my lawyer all that time ago." 

"Oh!" Phoenix said, clearly taken aback by the news, and Grossberg's willingness to be so flexible. "Well, it would be a waste to not go after you've set it up for me, but this is all rather sudden, don't you think?" 

Franziska snapped out of the zoned out state she found herself in, re-assuming her refined posture. "Well, I'm not going to let some good-for-nothing, half-wit, foolish defense attorney get to my brother before I can. It seems I'll have to go too."

Phoenix was being met with... a challenge. He knew going back to the Von Karma way wouldn't be good for Miles, so he had to get there first. These certainly weren't the circumstances he'd imagine reuniting with Miles in. But if it was going to be a race, then it was going to be a race. Not much he could do about it. Phoenix didn't have the money to properly expand the law office at this time, but he was sure he'd have enough to scrounge together for a trip. Though, now that he thought about it, Franziska would almost definitely have a more efficient time searching than him. It wouldnt take her long to find the city, and then her money would surely give her the advantage.

"Maya, would you want to come?" Phoenix asked. "I could really use the help. It'll be just like old times. Kind of your first case back on the job, in a way." 

Maya really did want to come along. Phoenix was a great friend of hers, the kind she hadn't had in a while, and a vacation to explore another country for a while didn't sound bad at all, even if it was for a specific reason. She'd maybe even be able to pick up a few things channeling-wise if she looked in the right places. However, she simply couldn't bring herself to accept the offer.

"I'm sorry, Nick, but it's a no," she conceded. "I would, but... I mean..." she gestured towards Pearl and Gumshoe together in the corner. "She's so young. And it's a rough time for her. She's never been outside of town—let alone the country—so it's not exactly a great idea to take her along. She needs someone. I might have only turned 18 a little bit ago, but I can't quite see anybody else who could step up and fill the role. She's the last real family I have left. If I have to, then I'm more than ready to be that someone for Pearl."

Maya clearly felt sad and conflicted. This was natural, of course—it would be an insanely difficult choice for anyone her age to make, even if it really was the only option. Phoenix was, quite frankly, stunned at this level of maturity in Maya. It wasn't something that she showed often, but it was a really nice quality that Phoenix had come to appreciate with time. Even Franziska looked a little sorry for her, an emotion Phoenix already assumed he'd never see come out of the woman. "Wow, Maya. I don't even know what to say, to be honest, but I totally respect your decision and-"

Gumshoe, standing up, offered an alternative before Phoenix could finish. "I could do it, pal. You guys won't be gone that long, Mags has always had a soft spot for kids, and I feel for the the kid, along with your situation. If it's just a couple weeks, I don't imagine Mags would mind much. I hope not, anyway. She's always been pretty understanding, bad luck and all."

Everybody stayed silent while Gumshoe pulled out his phone, with even a lot of the investigators half-paying attention while they worked. They recognized a lot of these people, after all. He dialed her number. After a moment, she picked up. He put her on speakerphone.

"Hey Gummy!" She said. "What's up? I figured you were working right now." 

"Mags... I know this is really sudden, and I promise I'll explain in just a moment, but there's this kid, and they need help. It won't be for too long, but somebody needs to look after them. Would you be willing to help? She's kind of young, so I don't want to leave her home too long without supervisi-"

"Oh Gummy," Maggey said, sort of pleased. "I mean, that's a lot, but of course I will. I know you wouldn't just do something like this without good reason, so I'm happy to help!"

Maya rushed over to Gumshoe and hugged the large man, tears in her eyes. "Oh Gumshoe, you're a lifesaver!" 

"Oh please, Maya. I'm just helping my friends. Besides, when you get him back here, I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to see Mr. Edgeworth on the job and between salary evaluations." Gumshoe flashed a jokey smile that appeared nice to somebody like Pearl, but also made it apparent how much he missed the man. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the salary cuts either. Despite this, he also knew it wouldn't be good if Franziska got to Miles first, from what little he'd seen of her. If this is what he had to do for a while to give his friends an opportunity to save Edgeworth and bring him back to reason, he was completely fine with it.

Maggey recognized the voice on the other end of the line. "Maya? Hey Maya! How you doing? You catch the new Pink Princess episode?"

Phoenix leaned back on the wall as he listened to Maya and Maggey discuss the show they both enjoyed so much over the phone. It was a wonder things had worked out so well. There were, of course, a few things he still needed to get sorted. The trip, getting Pearls over to Gumshoe and figuring out a schedule, and people to prosecute the actual murder. Oh, he'd probably have to call Powers back about the favor to look after the plant too, extend the deadline. Let's hope he understands.

But overall, none of that really mattered to Phoenix right now. He was going to see Edgeworth. Edgeworth! The man of his dreams (who had also crushed them), and he'd finally get to demand some answers from the guy—and repair a friendship with him if Phoenix was lucky. Oh, he just couldn't wait!

Chapter Text

Miles Edgeworth was on a walk home from the courthouse. It was one of those walks. The ones where you put music in, tune out everything else going on in your life, see the beauty of nature, and ask yourself deep, personal questions. Now donning a brown suit and blue tie (his new court attire as to not stand out) with his dark blue trenchcoat, he found himself doing just that. He left his current problems for a second, and started asking himself things. Miles had come here in search of himself, after all—and he hadn't exactly been very proactive about looking for it. He'd found himself listening to a new album by a local artist, looking to try something new and support the community he was temporarily living in. 

Despite what his former appearance and demeanor may have led you to believe, Miles actually detested classical music. It was all that his sorry excuse for a foster father ever played back at his former home, and he was more than tired of it. There's only so many times you can hear the Moonlight Sonata before it's entertainment value wanes. He enjoyed a lot of music genres now, though not without shame. As much as he resented the former Von Karma, his teachings unfortunately stuck; one of which being that most popular things tended to be for the vulgar masses—and thus above Miles. 

It was just another thing he'd have to sort out about himself, it would seem. Another thing to add to the pile. Miles had always known he wasn't perfect. Nobody was. He'd known he would let down the Von Karma name eventually. Miles wasn't that young when he'd been taken in, ultimately. And yet—for reasons he'd never quite understood—a small part of him still held onto the idea that he could be. Miles had a feeling that if he wanted to turn into a person he could truly be proud of, he would have to detach himself from the Von Karma school of thought. His only issue was that he had no idea how to do that. 

These thoughts about who he was and who he wanted to be were interrupted when a loud voice managed to pierce the auditory barrier that his music created. Though muffled, he could clearly recognize it. 

"Do you know who I am, fool?" The voice said. "I can get you fired! You will help me find him!"

Franziska. This was bad. It sounded like she was looking for him too. This did make sense. Last Miles had heard, she was coming to America to face Phoenix Wright, at which point she must've found his fake note. How she deduced it was fake, though, and how she tracked Miles here was beyond him. Regardless, he needed to leave. Miles looked around to determine the source of the noise, and saw the woman in her signature outfit berating a policeman at the park. Keeping his head down, Miles turned into the nearest alleyway he could find, and kept to the back alleys until he found his way home, walking at a considerably faster pace. 

When he shut his front door, Miles let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding, and a tightness in his chest relaxed. He was safe—for now. Yet, there was still plenty to worry about. More Von Karma was exactly the opposite of what he needed in his life right now. Though he didn't mind his sister, she was much more attached to her dear father's ways—seeing as they were biologically related. He couldn't have that. Franziska found out the city he lives in, there's no telling what else she knew. Did she know about his job? His fake name? Where he lived? Hell, if she didn't already, the police would make that job trivial for her. She might wait for him outside the courthouse, so he couldn't take more cases for the time being. He was surviving on his own money. He might want to look into getting a haircut too. His style would be a dead giveaway to her. 

Miles was going to have to find himself, and now he was going to have to do it quick. If he let Franziska back into his life, things could sour quick, and he would've want to fall back on old habits. It seemed that things had just gotten a lot more complicated...

___

Dragging his suitcase through the doors like a zombie, Phoenix arrived at his hotel after a very long day. From the early rise to the airport delays to the airport security to the actual turbulent flights themselves, none of it had been enjoyable. The only things that had been keeping him going the entire time was the (probably too high) level of caffeine in his system and Maya's quips throughout the whole thing. As it turned out, she was a pretty decent travel partner. Not overly intrusive, but fun and interesting. She loved to look into things like the local culture, which would surely make for some fun facts later down the line when they had time to explore. 

But for now, she too felt like a zombie, and they really just needed some sleep right now. Niether of them got sleep on the plane ride or the layover thanks to turbulence, and they'd technically been awake for over 24 hours at this point. It astounded the both of them that there were people who traveled like this regularly.

They were staying at a place called the Damie Inn—though it honestly felt more like an expanded Airbnb than anything. There were only like 5-ish guest rooms, with a little lobby area and a kitchen. There was a deck outside too. The owners still lived there as well. It was a quaint, cozy little place. It was run by this guy named Damian and his wife Ingrid, whom Phoenix had contacted about their stay. He did have to respect the dedication to the bit with the names, plus the place actually seemed pretty nice, which is what led him to choose it to begin with. The city of Tolpist itself didn't seem cozy at all (exactly the kind of place Miles would like, as Maya had said), so it was a nice change of pace.

But all of that was to learn about tomorrow. For now, the two just wanted to sleep. They stumbled slowly into their room, which contained 2 beds (Maya was insistent on this). The two saved most of the unpacking for later, taking out only some pajamas to change into for the night so they could sleep, using the little side bathroom connected to their main room. With that all said and done, they drifted off to sleep, hoping tomorrow to feel energized enough to begin a search for Edgeworth.

___

On the other side of the world, Gumshoe and Maggey were getting accustomed to the various struggles of raising a child. Pearl was nice, but she was still also quite young. And so, of course, she did things that many young kids tended to do. Sob over things that aren't worth it, get pouty all the time, stuff like that. The two were trying to take care of her together whenever they could, but sometimes only one of them would be available. It was less hours for them both, but it was a sacrifice they were willing to make. Daycare was out of the question, seeing as they didn't really have the legal documents needed for that, so it was just them against the world.

For instance, there was that one time Pearl began getting very hangry when her lunch was taking too long, most of which could be attributed to Maggey trying to save herself from burning down the kitchen. 

She hadn't even remembered how it started, really. One second, everything was fine. Then she turned around and suddenly the egg was halfway out of the pan, the bread was burnt and on fire, and there was salt and baking powder spilled everywhere. She hadn't even recalled taking out baking powder, so that one was awfully confusing. 

Gumshoe had come running in with a fire extinguisher, freaking out; Pearl begain sobbing because she was scared of the fire; Maggey was just trying to stop it from getting worse. Overall, it was a massive shitshow. Eventually the kitchen was saved—but the same couldn't be said for lunch. They ended up just getting McDonalds, and it was Pearl's first time trying it. Though Gumshoe and Maggey were shocked at this initially, it made sense when they thought about it, considering she grew up in an isolated village.

Or there was that other time where the power went out when it was just Gumshoe to take care of her. Maggey had a late shift, and it was dark. Pearls was scared, and Gumshoe was having a hard time attempting to lighten the mood. In a desperate attempt to keep on theme but still be kind of goofy, Gumshoe turned to an overdramatic ghost story his mother had used to tell him when he was younger. 

However, it seemed Gumshoe had forgotten his target audience. Pearl, only being eight at the time, assumed the story to be real—much to Gumshoe's chagrin. Pearl was weeping again, leading a desperate Gumshoe to just have the two of them snuggle on the couch until Maggey got home. It was a small gesture, but one Pearl appreciated, and it made for an adorable sight when Maggey got home. Apparently, Morgan never did these kinds of things with her. Gumshoe gathered that her childhood wasn't the greatest, sadly.

Despite all of that, there was genuine connection among this temporary found family as well. They'd go on outings, or just genuinely try to learn more about each other, and everybody seemed to be quite happy with each other's companionship. Pearl had all sorts of cute, if naive mannerisms that would leave the two adults almost incoherent—like when you see a really cute dog and go to pet it and scratch it's tummy. Pearl loved Gumshoe's sense of humor and his attempts to share some of her interests, and she loved Maggey's similar attempts, her personality, and also her cooking. She was the de facto chef around there, seeing as Gumshoe had spent years at one point going on nothing but instant noodles.

Though their glimpse at home life was pleasant, the officer and the detective still had a case to work as well. Morgan Fey's death was no simple matter. A classic locked room mystery made it quite hard to solve the murder. It was a murder, that much had been determined. Unfortunately, Dr. Turner Grey—who would have been the most likely suspect, passed in the hospital just the day after Phoenix left. It was a sad thing, really. They'd tried to keep most of the details from Pearl, not wanting to traumatize her even more, but occasionally a detail would slip through the cracks. 

Foul play was at hand—that much was obvious. As for just how everything went down, most of that would have to be deciphered in trial tomorrow. It was going to be the final day.

A lot had happened during the course of the trial. Grossberg had started out going for total innocence, but ended up swapping to justified self defense once the facts began to reveal themselves. They couldn't exactly charge Grey considering he was dead, so one of the other 2 people who were there at the time, Lotta Hart, had become the main defendant. Winston Payne, who was on the prosecution, continued to alledge that Lotta—upon finding out that the Fey channeling magic was real, became so enraged at the concept all of her past work until now could have been entirely fake that she wanted to kill one of them. It was allegedly premeditated, and Morgan's age made her the easiest target. Lotta would have snuck in, shot Morgan, shot Grey to have kept him from blabbing, snuck out to go relax with Phoenix and the Feys, and left the airheaded Mimi Miney and her white beret to find the body. 

There were some inconsistencies, though; ones Grossberg was using to his advantage well. The trial was really anyone's game. Maggey and Gumshoe were discussing this in Gumshoe's home when Pearl, unbeknownst to them, approached the two from behind and listened in. When they had finished their conversation, Pearl decided to add in her own input.

"Hey, Mr. Scruffy Detective! If you wanna know what happened to the doctor so bad, why don't you ask him yourself?"

___

Phoenix awoke in a bed he'd forgotten he fell asleep in. He was disoriented for a moment, quickly sitting up. However, at this point, he'd remembered where he was, and slowed down. He glanced at his clock. It was 10 in the morning. It looked like Maya was still asleep. This did make sense to Phoenix, she'd drank a lot less coffee than he had on the way here. 

Not wanting to wake her up early, Phoenix slipped out of bed as quietly as possible and grabbed his clothes to change into. They were still his usual navy blue, but it was a lot more casual. Just jeans and a sweater. He silently left the room to go get some breakfast and an early start on the search for Edgeworth. The two had brought walkie talkies with them, so that they could split up while still effectively communicating and finding each other. Whenever Edgeworth showed, they'd both know. They were faster that phones, and Edgeworth might prove to be elusive, which is why they couldn't just stick to calling. Being coordinated and cornering him might be the only way to get him to talk.

They were going to need as much time as the could get—after all. Edgeworth wasn't the type to actively greet either of them. He'd more likely try to actively avoid them, if anything. Searching an entire city wasn't going to be easy. With Franziska on the hunt too, getting to Miles first would be of the utmost importance. 

Phoenix went down the hall and checked the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. He wanted something quick and easy, so Phoenix grabbed a bagel, threw some cream cheese on it, put some blueberries on the side of his plate, scarfed it down, and ran out the door. It was going to be a long day...

Chapter Text

"So, Detective Gumshoe? I was told you had a special witness to call that could help to bring an end to the trial?" The judge asked, sitting at his table as the final day of Lotta's trial neared it's end.

"Yes, Your Honor. I'm sure we're all well aware by now the circumstances that have led up to this murder, and the ongoing theory as to how it was carried out." Gumshoe stated, projecting his voice even more than he usually does. "There's a way we can move that theory from working to verified. Why don't we just ask the victim himself?" 

The Judge audibly gasped. "Have you gone mad, Detective? The victim died!"

"Well, you see, Your Honor...." Gumshoe paused, not knowing how to phrase this. "The Feys are an... odd family. This spirit mumbo jumbo we all dismiss as fake? They can do it. They can commune with the dead. Don't ask me why and don't ask me how, because I have no idea, but they can do it! I've seen it with my own eyes, sir!"

"Well, Detective. You know I'm going to find it hard to believe unless I see it myself as well," The Judge spat out. "Besides, who would we have summon the victim on such short notice anyway?"

"...I—I will. I can do it," a timid voice spoke from behind Gumshoe, stepping outward. "I'll let you talk to the doctor, Mr. Robe Guy."

"Why, Gumshoe! Is that the first victim's daughter? You've really brought her out here for this? If she could do this, why didn't we see any of it earlier?" The Judge exclaimed. His tone then softened. "Oh, and little lady, please call me 'Your Honor', alright?"

Pearl nodded, and Gumshoe continued speaking. "I mean, Your Honor, sir, you've already seen it. You know that girl who's with Mr. Wright sometimes? She does it too. And as for why we didn't see her earlier doing this, she's of course been very hurt by the recent events. We're trying not to expose her to too much more information that could traumatize her at her young age, you know?"

"Ah, that makes sense. Go ahead, detective. Allow the young girl to summon the victim."

Pearl kneeled down, closed her eyes, folded her hands, and focused. You could see the effort in the way her eyes were slammed shut; how she remained utterly and completely still. She stayed like that, if only for a couple moments. 

Then, as if he had just popped into existence, the deceased doctor appeared in the girl's place, though without his signature glasses. "Wh—What? Wh—Where am I?" Grey said, his expression insanely panicked. "And what are these unprofessional clothes?"

The doctor did have a point—in all fairness. While the clothes had expanded to fit on his body, they still looked rather silly on a man who had made his living being stern and uptight. The pretty pinks and pastel blues were not his style in the slightest.

"Doctor, you've been summoned from the dead," The Judge slowly assured. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. We need you to testify about what happened as you were dying."

Grey calmed, tipped his head downward and pinched his forehead, and sighed, a ticked off expression apparent on his face. "Well, you're in luck. It felt like I was over there just a couple minutes ago. Ghost rules are odd, as it would seem. It's as fresh in my mind as it will ever be. Like a dream."

"Well then, Dr. Grey," The Judge started. "Do tell us what happened around the time you died."

"I was sitting in the chanelling room with the late Morgan Fey, her eyes closed and focused. Magically, she transformed into the woman I was attempting to channel before my eyes, of whom I had some final things to settle with. Upon locking eyes with me and noticing the locked door, she tackled me over and made multiple swings at me. Though I tried to evade at first, she didn't cease, so I pulled my gun out. I was only really able to evade seemingly due to the old bones of the lady who was channeling her. That's what I thought, anyway. Revealing her true agility, she ducked down to dodge any shot I might take, dashed over, and started tussling with me for the gun. I shot her in the neck, but the kickback of the gun had me drop it. She somehow summoned the strength to pick it up and shot me in the side in return. We were both laid down, me in the back corner of the room and her front and center. Upon hearing the loud noises, the defendant came into the room, seeing Ms. Fey but not me. She sent for help, and it took... I would say around 3 minutes for me to summon all the strength to stand so somebody would notice me and offer help. The details get a bit fuzzy at this point, but I was lying on the ground on the brink of unconsciousness. I believe I saw Ms. Maya Fey trying to help... alongside the woman I wanted channeled. I have no idea how that happened. I don't remember her even getting up, let alone how she would be there unwounded."

Everybody in the court lay shocked. Payne's case had laid on the idea that channeling magic was real. Grossberg's entire defense up until this point had been predicated on the idea it wasn't, leaving Lotta with no motive. The Judge was mostly leaning in favor of the defense here, seeing no way the magic was actually real. To hear that both the magic was real and that Lotta seemingly didn't do it was an insane twist nobody was expecting. 

"Well... Dr. Grey," The Judge slowly stated. "That was... certainly interesting. I can't say anybody was thinking this was the truth behind the murder. Alas, it is time for the defense to cross examine."

Grossberg wasted no time getting started on his cross examination. "So, Dr. Grey, who was this woman you were trying to channel?"

"She was an old nurse at the hospital I used to run. Ran into a nasty accident a couple years back and I never got to tell her something," He answered as he shrugged. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Not at all," Grossberg calmly assured. "Now, are you certain she and Ms. Fey were the only people outside the channeling chamber at the time?"

Grey responded affirmatively, and Grossberg got to thinking. "This correlates with what Lotta had said in her testimony, and the affidavit we got from Maya before she left on her trip where she said she was looking for bandages to wrap the wound. The channeled individual couldn't actually have been there, that would make no sense. Her body was still in the chamber when Lotta got there, and Maya would have said something. Think, Grossberg! Think! Before your hemhorroids get the better of you! How could that be possible? Wait... could it be? I mean... she was in an accident a few years ago... it's not impossible. Plus the channeled lady did harbor a ton of hatred for him. I'm kind of out of options here. I might just have to wing it."

"Dr. Grey, what was the name of the woman you were trying to channel?" Grossberg asked.

Dr. Grey responded. "Her name was Ini Miney, sir, though I struggle to see why that matters."

Grossberg was shocked he was right. He didn't look into Ms. Ini Miney, the ditzy beret-wesring girl who was on the scene as much as he should have. He figured she was just some clumsy girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He knew her sister, Mimi Miney, had been in an accident a few years ago, but that was about it. She was a nurse, so her talking to Grey, while odd, would be believable. But for the girl herself to be the one channeled? Now that just didn't make sense. You can't channel the living. Well, he supposed the only way to get answers now would be to head them from the horse's mouth herself, whether that ended up good or bad.

"The witness may leave the stand," Grossberg said matter-of-factly. "Mr. Grey, any final words for the world?"

He sighed, and a tear formed at the edge of his eye. You could tell he had pushed the idea of him being dead to the back of his mind, and now it was coming back to face him again. "Just... t—tell my wife I love her. Alright?" He whimpered, his voice breaking slightly into a sob.

With a solemn nod from The Judge, Grey sat down and departed Pearl's body, leaving her on the floor. Though she was disoriented at first, she quickly ran off to meet Gumshoe at the doors to the defendant lobby. With him gone, Grossberg could get to the real matter at hand.

"The defense would like to once again call Ini Miney to the stand!" Grossberg shouted, slamming a single fist on his desk.

"Objection!" Payne screeched. "The shared named must be coincidence, Your Honor. There's simply no other way! He just cannot call this witness over nothing!"

"Overruled," said The Judge. "I want to see where this goes." Though he didn't have any with him, the man looked like he would be snacking on some popcorn right about now. Grossberg supposed his job wasn't usually this exciting.

He had her on the stand. Whether Grossberg won or lost, everything would reveal itself now. Today, Lotta would walk away either in chains or a free woman. It all depended on what Ms. Miney said.

___

"Hey Nick, do you think this is ethical?" Maya questioned, her voice sputtering out through the walkie talkie.

"Maya, last time I checked it wasn't ethical to dissapear to a foreign country without notice and leave everyone else you knew to think you died thanks to a stupid note." Phoenix responded, his voice tainted with anger. 

Maya didn't have more to say, so she didn't respond. They'd been at this for two hours now, and turned up absolutely nothing. Tolpist was no small area, but it wasn't quite as big as LA, so the pair figured they would have gotten somewhere with 2 hours of looking. But between asking people on the streets and just people watching they've been turning up blanks left and right. At one point, Franziska locked eyes with Maya from across a street, and they stared at each other grimly. Both of them were focused on searching for Edgeworth though, so they didn't bother wasting time on actual interaction. 

The pair at this point had agreed to rendezvous at a small café in the west end of the city for some lunch, and after that they'd go back to searching. Phoenix had picked it because it seemed relatively relaxed. Anything that they said there probably wouldn't travel the streets and make it to Franziska, Miles, or some kind of cop who'd consider arresting them for stalking.

While he was walking, Phoenix kept swearing he'd see Miles. The edge of a cravat turning a corner; his signature fuschia suit, or maybe a wisp of his hair. Phoenix honestly wondered if he might be going a little mad. Why would Miles even be wearing any of this stuff if he wanted to run away? It would make no sense. Miles had well and truly invaded Phoenix's mind at this point—alongside any feelings he might have for the missing man.

Upon arriving at the café, Maya and Phoenix took a seat outside and ordered some food. It was simple bar food. Nothing special. Maya had wanted to taste how they do burgers in Borginia. Then, started talking about what strategy they should try to find Miles next. They both knew they needed one, as the current solution was coming up blank.

"Alright, how do we wanna do this?" Maya questioned, stirring her drink.

Phoenix took his time thinking. It's not like they had forever to search Tolpist, so they needed to be efficient. "Well, if we could find where he lived, then we'd be bound to run into him eventually." Phoenix took his food from the waiter, as Maya did hers. "Probably be best if we caught him when he was on the way back home."

Maya stared at him with a degree of confusion he'd seldom seen from the woman. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Nick, do you know how illegal that sounds? I don't wanna get arrested in a foreign country! And how would we find that anyway?" 

Phoenix took a bite of his burger. He hadn't really thought that far, as per usual. Additionally, Maya was right. If they weren't very careful, this could turn super illegal super fast. Phoenix didn't know Borginian law much at all, but it would be pretty safe to assume stalking was still a crime. He'd really have to focus.

"We know Miles' new name and the city he lives in. He's going by Alexei Petrov, and he's still operating as a Prosecutor. That newspaper article told us about as much. Franziska's been looking all over and hasn't seen him yet, so he probably won't be around the courtroom. That's too obvious of a place to be. If Miles had seen either her or us, he wouldn't dare go back there. So, he'd have to be somewhere relatively discreet. His place of residence could be that, but he would still have to leave occasionally. So this plan could work. But how would we get the info? You can't just wander into any old government building and ask for information on Alexei Petrov. Unless, maybe we don't need to ask. I'm not quite sure how the law works in Borginia, but at least in America most trial records and information are public. Borginia isn't too different politically from the U.S. oddly enough, so maybe they have the same kind of free information available? Hopefully if we go check the trial records of that case he was involved in, we can find Miles."

"Maya, I've got an idea," Phoenix stated, with a serious stare to accompany. "Once we're done here, just follow me, alright?"

Maya shrugged, not seeming to have any idea of what Phoenix had in mind but willing to give it a shot anyway. They finished up their food and set off. Phoenix was walking to the courthouse mentioned in the paper, Southern Tolpist District Court. If they could find Miles' info, that would be where. It had been about half an hour when Maya spoke out.

"Hey Nick! Where are we going? We've been walking for ages now..." Maya said, her voice whiny like a toddler's. 

"We're going to the courthouse that was in the newspaper. Miles might not be there, but his records may be." Phoenix made a sharp right turn down the street, and they had arrived at the building.

The courthouse stood tall above them, its imposing gleaming dome and white roman columns giving it an air of regality. Walking in, they spoke to the receptionist, who pointed them to the records room on the left. Since the case was relatively recent, and all the files were arranged nicely in alphabetical order, it wasn't difficult to find at all. Upon opening the file, the pair were met with swathes of information to pour through. This wasn't going to be as easy to find.

"I'm starting to think it might not be here," Maya said as she stood up. "We may have to come up with a new plan."

"No, Maya, we can't let these hours have gone to waste. There's still a few papers left to check. Let's just hold out a bit longer, okay?" 

Maya sighed, and the two got back to searching. Phoenix pulled out the third to last paper, and he gasped. He couldn't believe his eyes. The title of the paper read "Representation Information" and seemed to contain short details on Miles/Alexei and the Defense. If it was going to be anywhere, it would be here. 

"Maya! Maya! I found it!" Phoenix exclaimed, a little louder than he had intended to. 

Maya leaned in, and both of them scanned the paper for information. There were standard things there you would expect. Age, date of birth, name, a photo. But there—as one of the last lines of Miles' information—was his home address. 32 Roseburry Road.

Phoenix pulled out his map of the city he'd printed for the trip and scanned for Roseburry Road. He located it, just a few streets down from the courthouse. That wasn't far at all. He quickly began scrambling to clean up all of the files.

"Maya. Time," Phoenix ordered.

Maya was a little upset as his pushiness, but figured it was important seeing as he found the address. "Uhhhh..." She pulled out her phone. "It's 4:26 PM, why?"

"We have time. We can get this done today. Let's go." Phoenix was deadly serious as he slammed the file into the cabinet and started speed-walking out the records room. Maya trailed behind him.

"Nick... I'm not sure if this is a good idea. We don't even have a plan. This could go very badly," Maya worried. "He might just run off." 

"Oh, Maya, don't worry," Phoenix said as he opened the door to the courthouse. "I've been planning this since the day I learned he didn't die."

___

Miles Edgeworth was walking home from a grocery run at his local market. He didn't have much work to do today, so he took the time to relax and properly plan how not to encounter Franziska. The grocery run was just something he was saving himself the trouble for later.

He had his music in again, to keep himself in a calm headspace to focus on planning later. It made for a nice complement to the evening sun. Though he hadnt been able to plan before due to being busy, he could now. As long as he made it home, everything would be fine.

Miles being in this headspace would be precisely the reason that things would not turn out fine for him. He was about two turns away from his home, in a back alley, humming a tune to himself, when he felt somebody grip his wrist. Hard. A million thoughts were running through his head now, most about a potential abduction. Miles had never learned combat skills under Von Karma, and he didn't carry a whip like his sister. If they took him to a second location, he may well die.

Miles was terrified to turn around. As if, somehow that would stop it from being real. As long as he stayed focused forward, nothing bad could happen to him. He tried to push it off and run forward. The mysterious figure gripped his arm tighter, preventing such a thing. It was to the point that it hurt now. Miles was about to turn around and face his fear, but he didn't need to. 

The mysterious figure reached for one of his earbuds and pulled it out, speaking to him directly. Oh god. If Miles was frozen before, now he was immovable. He recognized that voice. A voice he didn't even know was here. A voice of his shame, his disgust, his pain, his failure, his unnecessary feelings, his idiocy. It was the voice of everything that Miles Edgeworth ran away from to change. It was the voice of Phoenix Wright. 

"Hello there, Miles," his voice barely disguising his fury. "It's been a while. I believe we have a lot to catch up on."

Chapter Text

Phoenix sat down in Miles' flat. The place looked nice, he had to admit. For the few months that Miles had been away, he had been able to scrape together a pretty decent flat. The decor felt decidedly Miles. Lots of fuschia, a chess set out, a couple paintings on the walls, and some nice plants in China vases. There were secret bits and bobs that betrayed some of Miles's more embarassing interests, but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you'd known him a while like Phoenix had, or you were a big fan of said interests. There was also a small, glass coffee table.

Phoenix found himself sat at that table now, a cup of Earl Grey in hand that Miles had poured for himself and his two guests. Miles sat at the other end of the table with his hands folded atop his knees, hunched over, his expression indiscernable. Maya looked visibly concerned, while Phoenix maintained the same barely disguised rage he had when he first encountered Miles outside the flat.

Miles briefly parted his hands to speak quietly. "It's been a while, Wright."

"Yes it has, Edgeworth," Phoenix responded in kind.

"Now," Miles started as he took a sip of his tea, "What do you want?"

"What do you want?" The statement echoed through Phoenix's mind as rage threatened to consume him. "All this time we thought he was dead, this time he's been nothing but an ass to everybody around him who cares, and he has the gall to not even speak to me like I know him? You know damn well what I want, you fuck. Stop pretending you don't." 

"Cut the crap, Miles. We both know why I'm here today halfway across the damn world," Phoenix said as he stood up from his chair. He began to pace around the room. "Did you really think that you could pretend to die, dissapear halfway across the world, and that neither your sister, nor your closest childhood friend who — mind you, is now close with somebody who can literally check if you're dead or not — would notice and try to track you down? I mean come on, Miles, seriously," Phoenix said, his voice breaking into a slight laugh as his eyes widened. "I thought you were better than that! Demon prosecutor? Huh? What ever happened to that? You'd think somebody so devilish could do a little better than a piss poor job at covering his tracks, but I guess 'Alexei Petrov' just doesn't cut it! Crazy, huh?" Phoenix declared, his words slowly growing in volume as he went.

"This is bad," Maya thought as she sat in her chair. "If Nick gives into his emotions now, we might never be able to convince Miles to come back home. I gotta find a way to calm him down."

"Now now, Nick," Maya slowly and calmly assured. "I understand being upset, but I really don't think anger is the right way to react here. To want to dissapear from the world this badly, you have to have gone through a whole lot of shit. I don't think Miles needs more right no-"

"Stop trying to defend me, Maya," Edgeworth solemnly stated. He looked defeated, and his eyes drilled holes into the ground. "I've earned this one. But even then, other than you coming all the way out here and dragging Maya with you, who cares? I've got no real friends or family left."

Phoenix slowly turned to face Edgeworth. His arms went slack at his sides. "Are you kidding me, Miles Edgeworth? Are you fucking kidding me right now? Is your mind really that deficient in every other aspect but legal? Do you not notice the impact you have on others? I've seen Gumshoe crying, Miles. He never cries. You know that. Larry — bless his soul, I didn't want to tell him for fear of how he'd take it — has asked me about how you've been doing multiple times these past few weeks. Maya came here of her own free will to see you, Mr. Powers was asking about you when I last spoke to him, hell, even Lotta Hart of all people wanted to know how you were doing! I'm sure you've seen your sister snooping around Tolpist looking for you too! People care, Miles! You can't go around pretending you killed yourself to get away from them because You. Feel. Like. Shit!"

Phoenix ran Miles as if he were about to hit him, his steps keeping in tempo with his final few words. Maya rushed out of her chair to stand between him and Miles, who had remained motionless in his chair. "WAIT!" she shouted, stunning Phoenix into silence. It was finally time for her to lay down the law.

"Nick, I don't care how much hate you harbor towards Miles for faking his suicide, this is absurd! Assault is a crime, and you can't just get away with it because you're mad! On top of that, if you ever — and I mean ever — want Miles to come back with us, you can't treat him like a piece of human garbage!"

Miles mumbled something under his breath. "Thwspstabfke."

Maya and Phoenix indicated that they had absolutely no idea what Miles said, so he sighed and elected to repeat himself. After a hesitant moment, he spoke.

"That wasn't supposed to be fake."

If silent is what you could call the room before, now you could hear a pin drop. "The suicide note. It was never supposed to be fake. I had decided – a long time ago now — that if I ever turned into something unbecoming of myself, I would travel to a foreign country, far, far away, lock myself up in a cheap apartment, set a system up to pay my rent for a few months, find a few strong drugs, and... well I'm sure you can figure out the rest. By the time anybody would have found me and identified my body, people would have had enough time to let the grief from my dissapearance subside."

Miles let a single tear from his eye drop and paint a wet splotch on the floor. Nothing more. Phoenix and Maya dared not speak. "That was supposed to happen two months ago. I'd gathered everything up, but when the time came... I just couldn't. As it turned out, I had sunken so low that I couldn't even bring myself to follow through on a plan I had concocted ages ago. The substances still sit in my bathroom cupboard. I've thought of it a lot since. A couple times, I almost tried again — but never succeeded. And now, here you are." Miles stood up to face Phoenix and Maya. His eyes were red. "I should be dead, but here I stand. In front of you two. Faces I never thought I'd have to see again." 

His voice broke a little bit at the end of that. In response to all of this, Phoenix remained slackjawed. He had no idea it was this bad. Maya said nothing; instantly moving towards Edgeworth and squeezing him into a tight hug, as if magnetized to the man. Though Miles was taken aback at first, he eventually accepted his fate. She honestly seemed more broken up about it than he did. 

After about a solid minute of nobody really moving, Maya turned back to Phoenix. "See, Nick? You really shouldn't assume things like this! Who knows what Miles could have done!"

Phoenix quickly shook himself out of his stunned state; looking embarassed. "Well... uhh... I understand that... but he still did... yknow... run away from home and all? Instead of getting help?"

"We can worry about that when he's back home safe," Maya said. "For now, just... try not to be an ass about it, alright?"

Phoenix sighed, before nodding his head. He returned to his seat and resumed drinking his tea. Miles, on the other hand, looked very alarmed. He moved back to his seat to keep drinking tea as well, but his hands shook as he brought the cup to hie mouth.

"Ms. Fey," Miles began. "What ever do you mean when you said 'back home safe'?" Despite it coming up multiple times, it had only registered now to Miles as something she and Phoenix were talking about.

Maya faced him, concern showing in her voice. "Well, obviously we mean taking you back to LA with us. It's what we want, what everybody else seems to want, and it would probably be good for you too. Right?"

Miles' voice began to shake a little bit. "No, no, no, Ms. Fey. There seems to have been a misunderstanding." Miles set down his teacup and stared at his shaking hands. "There's no going back. Not after what I told you and Mr. Wright. It was never the plan, and now it will never happen. Once they learn-" Miles paused to sniffle, seemingly on the brink of a sob. "Once they learn what I tried to do — of my disgrace, there's no way any of these people who supposedly care about me will ever want to show their faces next to me again. Nothing would change, so why even bother?" Miles stood up from his seat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a moment."

Miles stood from his chair, leaving his tea, and walked over to another room (presumably his bedroom), closing the door behind him. Maya and Phoenix could faintly hear crashing and banging sounds coming from behind it, alongside the occssional yell.

"Hey uhhh... should we check on him?" Phoenix began to suggest, a few minutes into Miles freaking out.

"Oh, so now you care," Maya scoffed, in a way that was only really half joking. "But seriously, give him time. If we want him to change his mind he needs to let his emotions out first."

"Alright," Phoenix said, "I'll shut up now then."

Around fifteen minutes later of dead silence from the pair and destruction from the runaway, Miles stepped out of the room. His hair looked frazzled and his face a little red, but nothing else about him wss physically different. The glimpse Phoenix and Maya got of the room behind him looked absolutely destroyed, though niether of them elected to comment on it.

"Thank you for waiting for a moment, you two," Miles sighed in faux relief. "Now, it's been nice, but it's getting a little late. I need to make dinner for myself, and I'm sure you two have dinner plans. I'll have to be seeing you off now."

Maya could've sworn she saw Phoenix swoon a little bit at the mention of Miles knowing how to cook, and she elbowed him to bring him back down to Earth. "Oh come on, Miles. Won't you reconsider? The people back home in America miss you!"

Miles looked at Maya with a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite discern. Something between pity and sadness, or maybe acknowledgement? Sympathy? It wasn't easy to decipher. Regardless, he walked over his home kitchen and put on his apron. He took a minute, preparing in the background, before speaking.

"Sorry, Maya. Not going to happen. Not after today. Pigs would have to fly, or hell would have to freeze over, or one of those things you like to say. I'm sorry to dissapoint you after coming all the way out here, but it won't happen."

Phoenix and Maya looked saddened, but not especially so. In those 15 minutes Miles had been shut in the room, the two of them had kind of come to terms with the idea that they weren't getting him back. At least they had tried. Maybe the trip wasn't entirely unsalvagable, though.

"Just... promise you won't hurt yourself or anything, alright?" Phoenix pleaded, the sorrow in his voice apparent.

Miles figured that since they had come all this way, he could at least do something to ease their feelings of uncertainty. He wasn't planning on trying anything anyway — at least not while his sister was still prowling. What he'd do after Franziska left was uncertain, but they didn't need to know that. "Sure, I can promise you at least that much, Phoenix. I won't do anything drastic."

And then, a resounding knock at the front door stopped the entire flat in their tracks.

Chapter Text

"Open up, fool!" Franziska shouted from the other side of the door, repeatedly banging on it. "I don't have all day!"

Maya got the door, and the little ball of fury usually known as Franziska von Karma strutted into Miles' flat, heels clacking on the hardwood floor; whip held tight in her hand.

"Who are you, foolish fool? And what have you done with my brother?" Franziska wasted no time getting in Miles' face, though her significantly shorter stature made it appear a lot less intimidating than she likely wanted it to be. "The brother I know may be a fool himself, but not enough to run away to a foreign land! With not one word to his family! Least of all would he ever willingly converse with Phoenix Wright, the fool to end all fools! To make such foolish mistakes, you truly must be a terrible imitation of Miles Edgeworth!"

Franziska backed away from Miles' face and crossed her arms, grimacing. Maya and Phoenix had taken up all of the seating space, so Franziska was left leaning on the wall upset. She opted for the one directly facing Edgeworth. Her eyes laid closed, arms crossed, head tilted downward to face the floor.

"So? Miles Edgeworth?" She snapped.

Miles was taken aback by the mention of his own name — almost as if he had forgotten it. "Franziska, what do you mean?"

"What I mean should be obvious to you, fool! Leave this foolish country and get back to your imbecilic job at the prosecutor's office!" She stated firmly, her voice raised. 

Miles let out a heavy sigh, his brows furrowed. "Look, I'll tell you what I told my other two guests," he said, gesticulating a bit with his hands. "I appreciate your effort coming out here, but I'm not going back. No way."

Franziska launched off the wall and brandished her whip at Miles, swinging at him twice. Though it crackled through the air, he dodged expertly. "You fool! You're needed elsewhere! Cease this foolishness instantly!" Franziska continued to swing wildly at the man, though he continued to dodge.

Phoenix and Maya found their mouths agape at this, seeing as this was their first time seeing Franziska use her whip so liberally, and also at how shocking it was to see Miles dodging all of it like a professional. They slowly backed away to the corner of the room, desperate to avoid being caught in the whip's crossfire. 

Miles looked over at Phoenix and Maya. "Apologies, you two. She gets like this when she's really mad. I have years of experience avoiding and calming her down. It'll be fine."

"The gall, Miles Edgeworth! The gall to not only leave, but to say something so foolish in front of me as well?" Franziska shouted, her face red as a tomato from anger. "I'll make you regret ever opening your mouth!"

This went on for about 5 more minutes. By the end, Franziska's look was disheveled, Miles remained untouched with the exception of one lucky hit on his side, and Phoenix and Maya were bored. While the two siblings were stuck in a fight, beads of sweat dripping down their faces, the medium and the defense attorney had resulted to playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to pass the time. They had tried to hold Franziska back at one point, but then she just hit them instead. Maya figured it wasn't worth risking it again, and Phoenix elected to join her.

Franziska went back to leaning on her wall, whip coiled back into her hand. She seemed a lot more despondent now; tired. "You know, fool, it's not just us who need you back home," Franziska said, staring into Miles' soul, desperate to get to him on a more professional level if personal wouldn't do it. "The Prosecutor's Office is falling apart over there without you to run a tight ship." 

Phoenix stood up at this statement. "She's right," he added. Franziska looked for a moment like she was about to stop him, grip on her whip tightening, but she released it, allowing him to continue.

"I'm not a prosecutor, so I'm not the most in the know, and I haven't had too much work since you left, but in all the cases I've taken the prosecuto has changed like... three times in the midst of proceedings. I'd bet it's a nightmare behind the scenes over there."

Franziska nodded, though she didn't bother to look in Phoenix's direction. Maya was moreso confused than anything else, since she hadn't been around for any of this and it seemed improbable to her for Phoenix and Franziska to agree on anything. Honestly, Maya was missing a good few details in general, but she figured Phoenix would explain it eventually. 

At that moment, only a few minutes after Franziska had entered, there was another knock at the door.

___

"Ms. Miney, do you know why you've been called to the stand?" Grossberg asked.

"Uhm, I think it was like.... something that doctor said, right? I was like, in the other room when he was talking about it, so I heard a lot." Ini Miney said, her annoying accent grating on ears all across the courtroom.

"Glad to see we're on the same page. I know this may be hard, but could you testify about the accident that killed your sister a few years ago?"

"OBJECTION!" Payne shrieked, his shrill voice also adding to the discomfort. "That accident has no bearing on this case, and she shouldn't need to testify about it!" 

"I'm afraid the prosecution does have a point," the Judge said. "I'm going to need some evidence on why this is relevant, otherwise I'm afraid I can't let this go through."

"Ugh, as easily swayed as always, that Judge," Grossberg thought. "At least this will be fairly easy."

"Your honor, the defense would like to submit the extensive police report on the crash into evidence at this time. If you look on page 17, it says that the only living person in the crash had to have facial reconstruction surgery because their face was unrecognizable. I believe this is vital to the case and the little identity mystery we now find ourselves saddled with," he said.

Grossberg passed the evidence to a court officer, who handed it to the judge. While he was looking it over, Grossberg couldn't help but notice that Miney has gotten much more fidgety on the stand. Grossberg saw this as a good sign; odds are he's onto something. 

"Very well, defense," the Judge said after a moment. "Ms. Miney, please testify about the crash."

She sighed, and began. "Well, it was around two years ago at this point. A little while back my sister had been involved in like, a medical malpractice incident. I still think that devilish doctor was involved, but I won't say more out of respect for the dead. Either way, she was involved, but they were still kind of like, investigating, so she wasn't under arrest yet. It was late, and she was driving home. Between the stress of the incident and the clinic still working her to the bone, she was like, really fatigued. A bit of wrong driving later and the car crashed. It like, burned up in flames too, basically exploded! I crawled out of the right side door, but my face was like, all messed up. They found my ID in the wreckage, and rebuilt it from there. I think that's like, the whole story."

Grossberg wondered to himself. "She doesn't seem the least bit saddened. That's odd. She might be a tougher nut to crack than she looks. I'll have to give this all I got!"

"Well then," the Judge affirmed. "The defense may now cross-examine." 

"So, Ms. Miney," Grossberg began. "I take it you knew your sister was tired, yes?"

"Well, like..." Mimi pondered. "I knew she was tired, but I didn't think she would like, end up dead, you know?"

"Alright. I thought as much," Grossberg stated. "Well, you said you had your ID with you. Why didn't you drive?" 

Mimi looked a bit panicked at his question. "Well, you see, like... uhh.... I didn't think it was that bad! And besides, sis was like, a total car guru! She wouldn't let me touch it if I tried!" she said, her eyes darting around the room. 

Grossberg scoffed at that. "Well, this is certainly news to me, and judging by the looks of everyone else in the courtroom, it seems to be news to them too. Could you tell us a bit more about the car?" 

Mimi took off her beret and began to stretch it in her hands to ease her stress. "Well, it was this nice sports car thing! She got it like, exported over from Japan! Nice thing, red and shiny. Shame what happened to it!" she said, her voice raising, the anxiety in it clear.

Grossberg smirked. "There's my opening. It's time to end this for good."

"Your honor, Ms. Miney has been fabricating a story this entire time!" Grossberg confidently declared, slamming his hands on the table. 

"What ever do you mean, defense?"

"To put it simply, her identity itself is a lie! Ms. Miney said she crawled out of the right side door. However, if the car really was from Japan — where they drive on the left, then that would be the seat where the steering wheel was! Under normal conditions, this would mean one of two things: either that Ms. Miney lied about not driving that night, or that who we all knew as Ini Miney was actually Mimi Miney this entire time! However, these are not normal circumstances! You'll recall, your honor, that Ms. Miney was summoned here in the first place because Dr. Grey had supposedly requested her channeling, despite her being alive. However, if it turned out Ini died, the doctor's behavior makes total sense!"

"Y–Your honor," Payne stuttered. "This is absurd! You mustn't entertain it!"

"Oh, but it isn't absurd at all, Mr. Payne." Grossberg moved from behind his bench to move to the center of the courtroom, clearing his throat in the process. 

"If the witness was, in fact, her sister, the case makes total sense! If you'll recall Mr. Wright's affidavit, he stated that Dr. Grey came here because he heard about the Fey family from somebody he knew. Considering the drama surrounding the medical malpractice, it would make total sense for the late Dr. Grey to know Mimi Miney to a decent capacity. Grey was trying to get clarity on said accident, and going to Mimi's deceased sister who died in the crash would no doubt have some knowledge of. Keep in mind, this also gives Ms. Miney here motive for the murder!"

"My my, defense," the Judge said. "Should I take this as an indictment of Ms. Miney for Dr. Grey's murder?"

"Yes, your honor, you may," he replied. "Think about it. If your sister's ID had been recovered in a fire and your face had been replaced by hers, forcing you to keep up the appearances of living an entire new life lest you be connected to an accident with mutliple fatalities, you'd be upset too, right? Well, that's exactly what happened to Mimi Miney, who is on the stand right now! No wonder she'd harbor a grudge against the doctor!" 

"Mr. Grossberg, you must understand how difficult this is to believe, right? I mean, how would she even do it?" the Judge asked.

"YES! He's mad! That man has gone insane!" Mimi shouted, presently too occupied with mangling her Beret and shoving her face in it to say any more. 

"Sorry about this, Mia. I hope you'll forgive me, wherever you are in the afterlife," Grossberg thought.

"Well, your honor, the way the murder was carried out was simple enough," Grossberg said. "We've long since figured out that the deceased Ms. Fey had significantly more involvment in this case than it would have first appeared. Now, we know the nature of her additional involvement. She was an accessory to murder. She was the only one who could've moved that box into the chamber that got shot, among other things. Ms. Miney was in that box. Considering the late Ms. Fey wore different channeling robes in favor of her own personal ones and a hood to cover her hair, Ms. Miney could have easily donned much the same outfit. To Grey, the channeled Ini and the disguised Mimi would have basically looked the same. When they both closed their eyes for the the channeling, Morgan became Ini. Considering Ms. Fey's inferior channeling power when compared to the rest of her family, Ini's spirit grew hostile at the man she percieved as causing her death, and she went to fight him. During this fight, Mimi emerged from the box. After Morgan Fey was shot, Mimi was the one who picked up the gun and fired upon Dr. Grey. This places her in a perfect spot to 'discover' the body before everyone else. Maybe she wasn't meant to die, and Ms. Fey's motives may remain a mystery, but I believe that to be the truth of the case."

The Judge looked very suprised, as did the rest of the court. Mimi herself looked like you'd just shattered her dreams right then and there. The Judge elected to take a once-over of all the evidence. "As shocking as it sounds, I don't see anything inherently wrong with the defense's theory. Any objections, prosecution?"

"Your honor!" Payne shouted. "This, I mean this is... I—It's... you can't go through wi-"

"Just stop." Mimi said, her disposition now sorrowful, but forceful. "Don't make it any worse than it already is. I did it. He ruined my life and ended my sister's. I don't regret a second of it, he had it coming. Morgan helped too. Plan was to frame Maya so that little brat of hers could take over the family, but I offered to pay her too. So even with Maya gone, she still helped. That's all I've got to say."

"My! Do I take this to mean you're confessing to the murder?" the Judge said.

"Yes."

After a hasty arrest, Mimi Miney was taken away from the stand and behind bars, not likely to see the sun again for a long time. What happened to her was tragic, yes, but it was an avoidable one. There were so many times where if just one thing had changed, none of this would have ever happened. Grossberg looked over to Lotta. In the short time he'd known her, he's never seen her happier and more hopeful. 

"Well," the Judge said decisively, "that certainly was an interesting finale to a case. As interesting as Mr. Wright's cases, even. Regardless of all that, I can now confidently declare a verdict. This court finds the defendant, Ms. Lotta Hart, Not Guilty."

Cheers erupted across the courtroom, accompanied by Gumshoe's usual confetti. Grossberg even spotted Gumshoe letting Pearl throw some of it around with him. Then he remembered, casting a nervous glance at Lotta, though she didn't seem to realize the same thing he had.

"Wait, what are we going to do about the child? I don't think Gumshoe can keep her forever. And... Oh god. Please don't tell me she heard any of that about her mother."

___

"I'm the only one here who speaks any Borginian. I'll get it," Miles said, pacing towards the door to his flat. 

Through the little peephole, he didn't see anybody, which he found quite odd. It only made sense to Miles once he looked down at his feet, at which point he saw a neatly sealed letter that had been slid under his door. Occasionally the landlord will do this with important mail, so Miles didn't think much of it. It was only when Miles opened the letter and unfolded the paper inside that he stopped in his tracks. Miles didn't recognize every world on the page, but there was no way he was going to miss the big, bold english letters at the top of it.

"EVICTION NOTICE"

"What?" Miles thought, his blood running cold. "I thought I had more time. More money. More... anything! There has to be some kind of mistake. No way. Could he not have picked a worse time? When they're not here. If I had to go back to the States, could it at least not have been when they were determined to bring me back with them? I'll be irreversably humiliate!"

Miles' face had tensed up without him even noticing, but Franziska had. "What's the problem with the papers, foolish boy?"

Everybody else in the room left where they were camped out in the room to come closer to Miles, everybody interested in what possibly could have been on this paper. Miles hung his head low. 

"It's nothing," he said quietly, in a voice fooling nobody.

Phoenix piped up at this point. "I'll believe it when I see it, Miles. That's your 'very upset but I don't want to let people know' face. I could tell from all the way across the city if I needed to," he said, gesturing broadly to the entire space in which they were currently situated.

Miles slowly, but surely, raised up the paper foe his guests to see, refusing to even look at any of them. He felt Franziska's gloved hands take the paper from him, though he didn't see it himself. With that brief graze of hands, Miles left all dignity he still had left in him.

"Eviction Notice, huh?" Franziska said. "You're even more foolish than I thought. What happened to the months of rent you had saved?"

Maya elbowed Franziska and instantly started talking over her to shut her up. "Oh, Miles, that's terrible! I couldn't imagine getting something like that, especially with guests over! Do you want us to leave?" 

Miles mumbled something or other about it being fine, the audibility of the statement not helped by Mile's face being away from them and nearly pressed into the wall. Phoenix, in the meantime, said nothing, opting instead to placing his hand on Miles' shoulder and sharing the moment with him in silence. It was — to be frank — a quite ugly sight. Both of them hunched over like that, unable to face the women in front of them. 

Miles let out a deep sigh. Perhaps the deepest sigh he'd ever let out, as it felt like years of resentment and frustration left out of his mouth with it. After years of fighting to keep a wall up, it had weakened beyond repair. While a lot of the rubble still remained standing to fight back whatever they could, it began to crumble. Those first stones on the wall dissapeared with that sigh, never to be seen again. Maybe much the same would happen with the rest of the wall, leaving Miles a changed man. Maybe it wouldn't, and he'd be stuck with his dignity permanently damaged. Only time could tell.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this... but fine. I'll go back with you people. I've got nothing left to lose now."

And just like that, Maya and Phoenix had succeeded in their mission. Franziska had too, in a way. Not fully though, considering she wasn't quite able to turn him back to his Von Karma ways. After a lot of prep and a few booked flight tickets, Miles would be back to the U.S. in no time. Alexei Petrov would be no more. Nothing would remain the same once everybody got back home — that was for sure. But maybe, just maybe, they could make something good out of it.

Chapter Text

"Was it always this devilishly hot?" was Miles' first thought as he left the airport and properly returned to California.

As you might expect, a chilly eastern European country doesn't exactly share many commonalities with a really hot city that partly defines the United States. Despite the fact that he had lived in L.A. for a good deal of his life, Miles had a decent bit of trouble reacclimating to the city. It was much louder, brighter, and warmer than anything he'd experienced over the past couple months. It didn't help that Phoenix, Maya, and his sister would often be chittering right in front of him. They would just go on and on, and Miles really hadn't felt at peace at all since he boarded the plane.

In fact, he was uncomfortable with this entire arrangement in general. If his manner of speaking hadn't yet betrayed it to everybody else, then it would soon enough. He wasn't ready to come back to the States at all. But really, what else was he supposed to do? Catch a flight back to the states in secret just to withdraw money from his account and then come back? He certainly wasn't about to go homeless, but if he tried flying back home really quick there's a chance he could get caught. Miles couldn't risk that. Everyone else wasn't just going to pretend they didn't see that eviction notice. So, at the end of the day, it made the most sense for him to just cut his losses and go back with everyone.

But honestly, what he felt about the whole thing didn't really seem to matter much at the current moment. He was stuck here, whether he wanted to be or not, the "here" in question being Wright and Co. Law Offices. Phoenix seemed dreadfully insistent on calling every person Miles had ever interacted with to see them react to his return. Hell, Will Powers was already there — heaven knows how — and he reacted in equal parts relief and anger.

"I'm so glad you're back, sir! We were all so worried about you. Now seriously, never do that again." 

Was what he said, or at least something to a similar effect. Miles was still kind of dazed, and combined with the jet lag, left him unable to recall the exact details. However, it was pretty damn easy to recall the pat on the back Mr. Powers gave him that was definitely much rougher than really necessary. Miles expected to see that mix of joy and anger in almost everyone he saw today.

Franziska hadn't come with them to Phoenix's office, though she had promised to make a trip there later in the day. Something about "foolish paperwork" and the prosecutor's office being a total mess. Again — Miles was too much of a mess to grasp onto everything perfectly. Powers had also left, having to deal with something back at the studio.

"You wouldn't have had any trouble with this a few months ago, you dunce! If you're failing at this basic of a task, your chances of moving on in the future are all but squandered!" he chastized himself internally.

Though morale was low for the cravat-donning man, it seemed Miles' standards were as high as always. He figured he'd probably have to resume his job as a prosecutor now that he was back, but Miles wasn't quite sure he was ready for it yet. How do you atone for the crime of sending hundreds of potentially innocent people to prison? After that, how do you go on to make sure it won't happen again? It was a dire moral quandry, one Miles didn't have a solution to yet; one he couldn't return to his job without first settling. It was when Miles was thinking about this quandry that the first knock on the door came.

Maya answered the door, and as soon as she turned the lock, in stormed the massive figure of detective Dick Gumshoe — followed by Maggey Byrde. He ran straight at Edgeworth.

"Sir! It's great to see you back! You have no idea how much we've all missed you!" Gumshoe said, wrapping up the man in a hug.

Miles immidately flinched at this sudden affection from the detective. "Get off of me, you oaf! You'll be missing your salary soon enough!" 

At the mention of his salary, Gumshoe let go, but a beaming smile stayed on his face. "Now there's the Mr. Edgeworth I remember! Haven't changed near as much as I thought you'd've!"

Maggey approached from the back of the room where she entered. "Sorry about that, Mr. Edgeworth. But, you know... Gummy does get like that sometimes."

Miles turned himself to face the young woman, his expression deadpan. "Ah, Ms. Byrde," he said, taking a sip of the tea he had brewed for himself. "What brings you here? It's nice to see you, but I don't recall us having a particularly... how should I say... close working relationship."

At that point, the entire room's eye's widened, save for Miles himself. Maya even had her hand over her mouth. "Is there something I haven't been informed of?" Edgeworth asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Pal, did you forget to tell him?" Gumshoe said, clearly the slightest bit annoyed.

Phoenix raised his hands and waved them defensively, embarassed. "I'm sorry, Gumshoe! It just kinda... slipped my mind. You get it!"

"Is somebody going to fill me in on this little secret the four of you seem to know?"

"Well... uhhh..." Maya started.

"We're dating!" Maggey said chipperly. "Gummy and I, that is."

"Oh." 

This was not the news Edgeworth expected to hear today. Gumshoe? Of all people? Dating Maggey? It felt strange; weird, abnormal even. Not that he was against it — Gumshoe & Maggey were allowed to be with whoever they wanted. But something felt off about it all.

"Well, Detective, congratulations. That's great to hear. Also, apologies, Ms. Byrde. I didn't mean to upset you." He said.

"Now that we're done with that, I also wanted to say something else, Mr. Edgeworth. If you ever try to go off the map again like that, I'm comin' to find you too! Next time I might not be so nice either. We'll see what the department thinks of my salary after that!" Gumshoe said. He let out a lighthearted chuckle at the end, but he was clearly still deathly serious. 

"Yes, Detective. I acknowledge what I did was foolish, to borrow a word from my sister. I won't do it again." Miles replied.

Now, of course, the words were hollow. Gumshoe wasn't going to stop Miles from leaving if he deemed it necessary for himself to do so. But the words would please the detective — and that's all that really mattered. Having to apologize was not Miles' forte, and even just existing while pretending he cared right now was growing to be a little much for him.

Eventually, after the couple exchanged some more pleasantries with Maya and Phoenix, they left the building. Apparently Gumshoe had a scene to make it to, and he was just stopping by on the way over. Much as the green-coated man got on Miles' nerves sometimes, he did have to commend his comittment to his work ethic. After they shut the door, Miles stood, and made his way over to Maya, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Um... Ms. Fey, I hate to ask, but did something about them two as a couple strike you as... off?" 

Maya tapped her finger on her cheek, thinking. "You're going to have to give me a little more than that, Miles."

"Well, I don't really know how to describe it. I know nothing is obectively wrong with it per se, but it just seems that way. There's something almost suspicious about it that I can't quite shake."

At that point, Maya's face slowly formed a smug grin. "Wait... are you jealous? Miles Edgeworth? Jealous? I never thought I'd see the day where he'd admit it! I gotta tell Nick!" She began to shout. "Hey Nick! Edgeworth is jealous!"

Miles sighed, took a sip of his tea, and sat down. "So this is jealousy, hm? Just another unnecesary feeling. I'll have to purge it later if I am to perform my job properly," he thought.

After a moment of idle chatter between Maya and Phoenix by the window of Wright and Co., a voice spoke out that had been dialed on Phoenix's phone; one Miles recognized instantly.

"Woah! Edgey? Jealous? You sure that's not like a clone or something?"

Larry Butz. Childhood friend of Phoenix and Miles, full-time airhead, and extremely desperate to be in a relationship. If anybody were to understand a feeling of jealousy, he would certainly be one of the most familiar with it. Miles could probably get something out of interacting with him, but he wasn't quite sure it would be worth all the trouble.

"Wright, why are you on the phone with Larry?"

Phoenix lowered the phone from his ear, telling Larry to hold on a moment, before speaking to Miles. "Well, I did sort of purposefully not tell him about what happened. He deserves to be caught up too, you know? Now that we know you're okay and all. I'd be kind of a bad friend if I didn't..."

Phoenix went back to speaking on the phone with Larry whilst Miles stewed on what he'd said. Was he a bad friend too? No doubt abaout it. What he's done is not a thing good friends do. Besides, he hasn't exactly been nice to Phoenix and Larry since they were in elementary school. Now they're adults, and Miles has done nothing but neglect them. Maybe he owed Larry a chat or two.

Almost as if on cue, Phoenix walked over to Miles and handed him the phone. 

"Here, he wants to talk to you."

Miles took the phone, and the childhood friend began speaking. "I can't believe you would just run off and leave Nicky like that! Not cool, dude! I'm glad you're back... but like... still! C'mon, man!"

"Larry... I'm sorry. I didn't expect such a hostile reaction from you, especially considering you only just learned of all this. But yes, I know I should not have done it. It will not happen again."

"Yeah, it better not!" Larry said. "For all those brains you got up there, you're real lacking in the empathy department, you know? I'm still your bud, but you got a lot to learn, dude!" 

"I will... try to work on that," Miles awkwardly stated. "Look, I'll even start right now. How have you been doing personally, Larry?"

"Great start there, Miles! We love to see it!" Larry exclaimed, entirely genuine. "Well, as you know, luck with the ladies hasn't been amazing, but I think I might have finally found a career that calls to me!"

"This is the third time he's told me this in the past year and a half. What does that buffoon think he's doing?" Miles thought. "Well, I may as well humor him. Maybe it'll help with this apparent empathy problem I have."

"Well then, Larry, what's the job?"

"Listen to this! I think I might try to be a security guard! It's really cool, and I'm taking like... classes and stuff! I'll probably apply for a job soon. No idea where though. Maybe that KB place? I'll figure it out when I get there," Larry said, sort of flippantly.

"There's no way he has the qualifications for that. I don't know how much longer I can stand talking to Larry as I am right now if he's going to be this dumb. I may as well pop the question I need to and leave."

"So, I know this might be a random question, Larry, but... how does one deal with jealousy?" Miles asked.

"Ah, figured this was comin'," the goofball on the other line. "It's kind of tough, but usually I like to come up with reasons why I'm better than whoever I'm jealous of. It's a little self-serving and egotistical maybe, but everybody needs a little mood boost from time to time. Should be real easy for you, too!"

"Alright, thanks, Larry. I'll try to make use of that. I'll let you keep talking to Phoenix now."

"See ya, Edgey!"

"Bye, Larry."

Edgeworth handed the phone to Phoenix and slumped down on the couch of the law office. Maya stayed sat at the other end of it, sipping a coffee. He'd gotten to thinking about what Larry had said to him. 

"How am I better than Gumshoe and Ms. Byrde? Well, I can think of many reasons, but does that not feel a tad mean-spirited? I do not really want to hurt either of them. Besides, their bond is what makes them so enviable, rather than them individually as people. To strip them of their qualities by stating my superiority... is that not why I ran off in the first place? Being so preoccupied with my prosecution that I had never stopped to consider the humanity in people? To go back to that... well... I don't think it would be good, whatever happens."

"MILES EDGEWORTH!" shouted an enraged Franziska von Karma, bursting through the front door to Wright and Co. Law Offices. Apparently Gumshoe had forgotten to lock it when he left. "You are ze most foolish fool in the history of all fooldom!"

She brandished her whip, ready to unload a lashing upon the man slouched on the couch, her accent standing out a littke more than usual due to her anger. However, as she was walking over to deliver her punishment, Maya stood up to block her. Phoenix, noticing all of this, quickly said his goodbyes to Larry and also turned to throw his hat into the ring of this new, more pressing issue at hand.

"Not right now, Franziska!" Maya said, putting her arms out in front of Miles. "You had your time in Borginia! He might be an ass, but he hasn't earned this from you!

"Yeah!" Phoenix added, staring the pale-haired woman dead in the eyes. "Today is a good day with him back, and we don't need you ruining it!"

Franziska hesitated just a moment at their staunch defense of Miles, but not more than that. "Please move, Ms. Fey. I do not wish to dishonor my father's word by being forced to hit a woman."

Maya was stunned out of her defensive position by this for a second. "If you're gonna be violent, can you not at least abide by some outdated sexist rhetoric at the same time?"

Franziska relented. "Foolish of you to think I don't know that, Ms. Fey! But he was my father, and more importantly, he was a von Karma. I must stay loyal to his teachings, no matter how much I disagree with them! It's what a von Karma does! Now, are you going to let me deliver retribution upon this fool or not?" 

"Nuh-uh!" Phoenix shouted. "I call bullshit! The old man's locked up! What you do or don't do by his word shouldn't matter at all any more!

"You're correct, foolish attorney," she replied, "it shouldn't. It doesn't. As a traitor to the perfect von Karma name, he means little to me anymore. I care only for the perfection that his lessons enlightened me of, not for the foolish idiocy he insisted on sprinkling on. Von Karmas are perfect, and as such I am to follow his teachings perfectly!"

"You're not making any sense!" Maya shouted.

An argument erupted between the three regarding Franziska's steadfastness to her father despite his immorality, and yet in the ruckus, they had seldom noticed Miles slink away into the back room of Wright and Co. alone. Miles sat down by the window to think about all his friends had just done for him, to think of where to go from here, when it hit him.

"Mia Fey died here."

Miles' thoughts spiraled. The dear mentor of the man who had just stood up for him, and the sister of the woman who had done the same. She died in the very place he sat right now. In a case that he prosecuted where — if not for said man — Maya Fey would likely be behind bars for a crime she never comitted. There they were, asserting he didn't deserve something he definitely did. In his mind, Miles had earned a lot more than a lashing or two. He covered his face in his hands, unable to face the scene in front of him. This was the last thing she saw. Maya saw her corpse here; cold, lifeless. How many other people had he put away in similarly tragic circumstances? Surely not all of them were innocent, but surely not all of them were guilty either. He had been so focused on perfection — on himself, that Miles willingly and knowingly (even if on a more subconscious level) ruined multiple people's lives. It was enough to push a tear out of him. Here, where nobody could see. He could at least afford one when nobody was watching.

After a few minutes, the fighting in the other room quieted, though Miles had barely noticed until Phoenix walked into the room to talk to him, having finally noted his dissapearance.

Miles composed himself and forced back his tears as Phoenix knelt down to him — to meet Miles eye to eye.

"Wright... how do you atone for a sin that carries the weight of innumerable human lives?"

Phoenix locked eyes with Miles. "You die, Miles. Then you come back again, and again, and again. If you're truly willing to go through it all, you'll come back a better man for it."

Chapter Text

[Three days after Edgeworth's return]

"You find anyone from the village to take her yet?" Gumshoe asked.

"No, nobody yet," Maya replied with a sigh.

The "her" in question, of course, was the young Pearl Fey, who was presently playing with Phoenix in the other room of the law office. Maya could hear the two of them laughing and the creaks of the springs on the aging couch, even from the other room. Though she was nice, it was apparent to everybody that neither Gumshoe, Maggey, nor Maya had enough time to support themselves with a career and look after a young child. As such, Maya had been reaching out to people she knew in Kurain Village to see if any of them would be interested in adopting.

Unfortunately, that was proving to be rather difficult. Not many people (reasonably so) found themselves available to just adopt a new child on a whim. Even with Gumshoe and Maggey taking care of things temporarily, it had been a rough, strenuous process for the both of them. On top of that, Kurain had a good few strange traditions and customs, as one might expect. Parents were generally discouraged from taking in children of problematic guardians — a description Morgan certainly fit after what she had done. In other words, it was rough.

"Well, in that case, you have anyone else you can talk to left? We don't want her to end up in a... you know."

"Yeah, a couple," Maya said, pacing back and forth. "I'm thinking of taking a trip into town tomorrow to go ask around in person. Hoping that might work better. She won't end up in an orphanage if I have any say in it."

 "Ah, pal, good idea!" Gumshoe smiled and slapped Maya on the back, seeming not to want to dwell on the depressing potential subject matter. "Hopefully the people will be a little mo-"

"OWWWW!" errupted a sudden scream from the other room.

That had to have been Pearl. Phoenix doesn't scream like that. Maya and Gumshoe rushed into the other room. Upon entering, the two were greeted by Pearl sobbing on the floor, leaning on the couch, hands at her sides. Phoenix crouched at her side, desperately failing to help her in whatever way he could. 

"What's going on?" Maya asked frantically to Phoenix, immidiately kneeling down to Pearl. 

"I—I don't know!" Phoenix said, equally as desperate, gesticulating with his hands with his hands in front of him, his shoulders scrunched. He looked very confused. "One second we were just playing, she was bouncing on the couch, and the next second this! She didn't fall or anything!"

Pearl was trying to say something, but it was nearly impossible to make out over her sobbing and sniffling.

"Alright, where does it hurt?" Maya asked calmly, trying to reassure the child.

Pearl was still sobbing, but she pointed at her right arm with her left, which seemed to convey the point well enough. At this point, Gumshoe stepped into the fray as well.

"Alright, let's see what the issue is here," Gumshoe said, kneeling down to Pearl. "Does it hurt here?" He asked, lightly tapping both of her knees.

Pearl shook her head in the negative, her tears starting to calm a bit. Gumshoe moved over to her arms. "What about here?" he asked. Reaching out to Pearl's hands. After a moment of contact, Pearl pulled away. 

"Owwie!" she shouted.

Gumshoe stood up. "Seems like something might be up with her arms, maybe her wrists. We ought to take her to the doctor." 

Maya turned to look at Phoenix. "Nick, I swear to god, if I find out you've hurt Pearls I will not hesitate to beat your ass."

At this, Phoenix put his threw his hands up in protest. "I–I didn't do anything! I swear!"

"Let's get in the car." Maya began walking out the door, saying nothing else, her face set in a grimace. She obviously cared for her little cousin, but Phoenix hadn't quite realized just how close they were until now.

"Wow, I really hope I didn't do anything. I mean, I don't think I did? I barely touched her arm! But Maya's going to have my head if it turns out something happened. Let's hope it's not that bad," Phoenix thought.

They all left the office. Gumshoe remarked he had something to do back at work now, so he had to take his own car and leave for now. Before he could leave, Phoenix asked him something.

"Gumshoe, how did you figure out what was wrong with her?"

"When you look after someone for a few weeks, you pick up on some things," he replied. 

Gumshoe patted Pearl on the head, bidding her goodbye. From there, Phoenix drove off to the hospital, Maya and Pearl in tow.

___

"Franziska, I see where you're coming from, but I'm afraid I just can't bring myself to agree," said Miles Edgeworth, currently hunched over his desk, writing, and speaking to the woman sat in his office.

"Foolish brother! Don't you see you're disgracing the legacy of our family?" she replied.

"I'm doing no such thing. I'm just moving on from an impossible goal. Von Karmas strive for perfection. Nobody can have a perfect win record. We all fall eventually, even father. But perfect justice? That might be a little more managable."

Franziska slammed her whip on the table, prompting Miles to look up from his desk, dark circles plaguing his eyes. "That's not what dear father asked of you! You would betray the man who saved you from a terrible life? Pathetic."

Miles pinched his forehead. "Of course, I can never deny what he did for me. He saved me from being an orphan and raised me very nicely... well... besides the perfection thing. But have you ever stopped to consider how I might feel?"

Franziska took a step back. "What do you mean, fool? You stay loyal to your family, what else is there to it?"

"Of course, and that, Franziska, is precisely why I am so conflicted. You see these dark circles?" Miles asked, tracing the circles below his eyes, "They aren't from working. I can never go back to a time before Von Karma, he's done so much for me. But before he was my family, Gregory was my family too. While his optimism may have been foolish, I loved him too. Just as much as father, perhaps. And yet, one ended the other. Father got what he deserved for it, but I cannot just stop loving him for what I've only just recently learned he did. Do you see why I might be a bit conflicted?"

Franziska huffed, in an attempt to appear confident as ever, but she snuck a glance at Miles. He looked drained — exhausted even. As if he hadn't slept in months. It struck a chord with Franziska, even if she couldn't quite bring herself to admit it.

"W–Well, brother, I see your foolishness knows no bounds. To truly be a Von Karma, you must abandon your foolish sentimentalism! Did father not say as much?" Franziska declared, though her words clearly didn't have any legs to stand on.

Miles set his hands down and stood up, clearly tired of this back-and-forth they had been having. "Think about it like this, Franziska. You clearly still care about me, no? You'd have no other reason to come all this way looking to turn me back to your ways otherwise. Whether you admit it or not, you care. Imagine if things had happened differently. If father had seen me 'turning my back' on him, and killed me too. He set somebody else up for it, of course, and then he put you on prosecution. You would feel conflicted about his methods too, would you not? Put yourself in my situation!"

Franziska looked panicked. "I wouldn't, right? Surely not. I could maintain my record, and then deal with father after. Right?" she thought.

"I can see it in your face," Miles said. "You think you'd be fine, think you can push your feelings down until after the fact. Things do not tend to go that well in real life. Let's not forget, niether of us are like father. You're a dissapointment too now, you know? You lost the Fey Manor case. By clinging to that ideology of a perfect record, all you're doing is perpetuating a cycle of self-hatred and overexacting standards that are not good for anybody."

"F–Fool!" was all Franziska managed to squeak out. "I can't believe you. I'm leaving!"

"You'll believe me in time," Miles responded. "Now please do be going. I have a dossier to review. Be seeing you, dear sister."

"Be seeing you, fool." 

Fransizka stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Fractions of seconds after Miles heard the door shut, he sat back down, leaned back in his chair, and stared holes into the ceiling.

"When will she learn?" Miles thought. "I can't believe her. So rigid and stuck in her ways. Then again, I guess I was much the same way only a while ago. Maybe I should give her time."

Miles paused for a moment, about to continue working, before another thought occurred to him. "Wait. I was expressing feelings just now, was I not? I can't be doing that. Justice doesn't care about feelings. Then again, something about it felt oddly... nice? To finally speak up to Franziska, maybe? No, it feels like more than that. Are feelings... truly unnecessary?"

Franziska sat in her car, head down. She sat there for minutes, trying to find some flaw, some hole to poke in her brother's logic. Infuriatingly for her, she came up empty handed.

___

"Well," the doctor said, "seems like she's got a fracture in her wrist. Not a severe one, thankfully, so it should heal up somewhat quickly. Unfortunately, seems like it's been around a few days since it broke, so it might actually take a little longer. Make sure to leave the cast on, and look after it. 8-9 weeks might be enough, and we can follow up then."

Maya looked down at her younger cousin, now sat with a cast around her left arm. She couldn't help but feel terrible for her. Phoenix can't have done it, if the doctor's words were anything to go by. But then the question remains: how did the break happen? Pearl won't say, and nobody seems to have any ideas.

After they got the follow-up all sorted at the receptionist's desk, the pair left Nocturne Hospital, which they thought Pearl would be most familiar with seeing as it was closest to Kurain (Maya had also repeatedly insisted they didn't go to Hotti Clinic, as it gave her the creeps). By no means was the place a shining example of medical excellence, but it's not like it was shady or anything, and the pair figured Pearl would prefer some stability right now over anything.

But Pearl hadn't just been tight-lipped about how the break happened — she'd barely spoken at all. Phoenix may not have been able to tell as easily, but Maya, having known her for years, sensed something else was up. She figured maybe some food could lighten the girl up. 

"Nick, what do you say about grabbing some Mickey D's for dinner?" 

"Maya," Phoenix complained while they walked out of the building, "we just got McDonalds' not long ago. We really ought not to go back, for the sake of our health more than anything."

"Mystic Maya?" Pearl shyly asked from the backseat. "Who's Mickey D. and McDonald?"

Maya remembered, at that point, that Pearl had very rarely ever left Kurain before recently. "Oh right, she wouldn't know that," Maya thought. "Mickey D's and McDonalds' are the same thing, Pearl. It's a restaurant. They mostly sell hamburgers, I don't know if you've ever had one, but they're really good." 

Maya then turned to Phoenix. "See? We gotta grab some, for Pearl!"

Phoenix sighed. "Fine, but don't overeat this time."

After pulling into the Drive-Through, grabbing their orders, and heading back to Wright and Co., the trio cracked open their food and got to eating, Maya especially. Phoenix noticed that Pearl seemed to be going a lot slower.

"You alright, Pearls? I know it might be kind of strange to try doing it without one of your hands, but I can help, if you want," he asked, calm and genuine.

"No, I'm alright, Mr. Nick. Thanks for asking, though!" she replied.

Maya then interjected, her mouth full of food. "But Pearl is right-handed. She should be fine. Maybe take a little getting used to, but I'm sure she can eat with just her dominant hand." 

Pearl's face got red, and she looked all around the room. "Yeah, I should be fine. I'm just not hungry is all!"

To both Maya and Phoenix, she was clearly hiding something. "Pearl, are you alright?" Maya asked. 

Pearl did not say anything, but shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear calm. 

"Wait, I have an idea," Phoenix said, grabbing a pen and paper from a nearby desk. "Pearl, write something down for me, will you?"

Pearl took the pen in her right hand, ans very awkwardly moved her arm to write a simple sentence.

"No, Pearl, with your other hand," he said.

Pearl, sweating a bit now, took the pen in her casted hand. The sentence came out much better, even with limited mobility.

"That's the ticket. Pearl, you're not right-handed at all, are you? The reason you're not eating is because you can't use your dominant hand right now."

Maya's mouth was agape. "Nick, that's dumb! Do you really think I wouldn't have noticed her using the wrong hand all this time?"

"Maya, you can't deny the writing looks much better. Plus, when we were playing together, she kept leading with her left and then pulling back. I thought it wasn't much more than a little strange at the time, but now it all makes sense! Now, Pearl, only one questiom remains. Why? Why lie?"

Pearl hesitated for a minute. She seemed like she didn't want to say anything, but eventually decided to anyway. "Mommy said it was bad."

"Woah, woah, woah, back up for a second," Maya stated. "What do you mean 'Mommy said it was bad?'"

"She said it was bad luck," Pearl confessed. "Bad things would happen if I kept using it. So she told me to use the right one."

"Is she mad?" Phoenix asked, half genuinely and half in shock. "Nobody's believed that for years now!"

"Yeah, Pearl! You're fine, it's not a big deal! I wish you'd told me sooner, I could've helped out," Maya commented.

Pearl looked directly into Maya's eyes. "Sorry, Mystic Maya. She told me not to tell you too. I didn't want to disobey her."

"Pearls, you could have told me. I wouldn't have said anything. Besides, what could she do anyway?" Maya asked.

"She does a lot, Mystic Maya... she told me not to tell." 

Maya and Phoenix shared a glance. At this point, they were seriously concerned.

"Pearls, you know me. I swear on Mystic Ami's soul that I won't tell. Mommy isn't here right now. Say as much as you feel like you can, or that you're ready to."

Tears welled up in Pearl's eyes, though she managed to keep composure without completely sobbing. There was a moment of silence. She then spoke. 

"Sometimes, when she would send you away to meditate, she would have me do more practice with my hands. If I did bad, or did something else she said was bad, she would hit me. It was not fun. But she said I had to. For the family. She said I had to have 'discipline', but I don't really know what that means. She said I needed to be good, to take over for you after you stopped being the master. She had been more mad recently too. She said I would 'inheirit' the family 'legacy' soon, but I also didn't know those words. The night before Mr. Nick came, I think, she got extra mad. Something bad happened, but I don't know what. Because of the bad thing, she was really mad. She hit me extra hard, and this happened."

Pearl pointed to her cast, and she was full on sobbing at this point. Maya had long since enveloped her in a silent hug, shedding tears of her own. Phoenix brushed some of Pearl's wet tears and hair aside to join the hug.

"She always said that if–if I told you, she w–would, she w–w–would..." 

Pearl trailed off into sobs, resting her head inbetween the pair's shoulders. The food had long since been abandoned. 

"I failed her. This whole time, she's been going through twice the hell I had, and I didn't even notice. Stupid, stupid, stupid! You have to watch out for these things, Maya! Did you not learn your lesson after Mia? After mom? Some people out there are scum, and you're a fool not to have looked out for one in your own village sooner! Why can't you just learn? Thank god she can't get to Pearl anymore," Maya chastised herself.

It did not escape Maya that Pearl had just implied that Morgan planned to have her deposed as the master of the Kurain technique somehow before she died — but she elected not to worry about it at the moment. Pearl and her issues took priority right now.

Phoenix felt just as bad he hadn't caught anything sooner, weeping as well. Though, he was also thinking of how heartbroken Gumshoe and Maggey would be when they found out. That they had been so busy between taking care of her and their full-time jobs that they hadn't even noticed her issues. It was tragic for sure.

After a few more minutes of no words exchanged and a tight embrace, they pulled apart. 

"Pearl. This is important," Maya said, in the most serious voice she could muster considering her emotional state. "Was mommy alone, or did she have helpers?"

"S–Sometimes Mommy would get help. People from the village. On harder days. Like Ms. Takahashi, from down the street. They always hit harder. I–I asked why they never hit you. They said they couldn't, because you were gonna be the master." 

Pearl looked into the reddened, glassy eyes of Phoenix and Maya, immidiately pulled away.

"I shouldn't have said anything. I've been such a terrible girl."

"No, no, Pearl, you've been amazing. I'll make sure you never have to deal with any of those rotten monsters ever again!"

"N–Not all adults are like that?" 

"Oh, Pearls, god, no! Most people would never! We'll make sure you do much better from here, and that justice is served!" Phoenix said.

It was a chilly night. Though the outside world may have been cold for most, there was a little pocket of warmth. If you squinted really hard, you could find it in Los Angeles. In a small little building, down the road from the courthouse. In Wright and Co. Law Offices, Pearl Fey, for the first time in perhaps her whole life, truly felt at home. Surrounded by people that she cared about who cared about her. Phoenix and Maya were here, with Gumshoe and Maggey not far off. Though there was still a long road ahead, and Phoenix and Maya had only just agreed to take her under their wing, she didn't think it would be as bad. Not with them to help. Perhaps, she could finally, truly, be authentically herself, and happy too.