I'm beginning to get a couple of theories together in my head. However, I had the worst feeling that Gant's gonna turn up...(Even though I love Ganty ) But that would just be too convenient.
I'm not gonna confirm exactly what I'm thinking at this moment in time, but I have a strange feeling that it will have something to do with Dahlia, Iris and what should have been 'Bridge to the Turnabout' in this universe

May 2nd, 11:50am
District Court
Courtroom No.2

And again the crowd was loudly chatting up in the gallery. The judge had not yet retaken his spot in the courtroom, so there was no reason for them to stop talking.

I was quite tense. Misty Fey was going to testify now… for me, this would be the first time I would hear her testimony. And this Testimony would decide whether the two people, who, according to Lilie Heatherd weren't supposed to exist, actually visited the crime scene or not. I wished I had gotten to talk to her myself in the recess, but all I had was Franziska and her witness-preparing habits…

Judging by her face, however, it didn't quite work out the way she wanted this time. Still, she seemed calm and not really worried, despite this.

"What a stubborn, stubborn witness…" She told me, without even opening her eyes. "Yet, there is one crucial problem with her testimony, which will prevent it from being of any use for the Defense."

"And that would be?" I asked knowing that this was exactly what she wanted me to say.

Franziska looked at me.

"It is meaningless."

"…?"

"The testimony…" She went on to tell me. "…won't influence the trial in the slightest.

She seemed rather sure of what she was saying.

"Our witness may have testified that no other person entered the floor in question in the relevant timeframe. Still, it is possible that she just missed this woman or ignored her. As you might have noticed, our witness displays a tendency to not pay attention to things she finds to be of no interest to her, and Miles Edgeworth's witness is a plain woman of middle age with plain black hair. She would have been easy to miss."

(Mrs. Fey was wearing a normal sweater when I saw her before… and that pearl necklace may be huge, but not striking enough to necessarily make her stand out. Really not exactly a sight that would stay on one's mind for long…)

"And the 'third' witness, she allegedly saw…" A slight smile passed across Franziska's face."…won't be found."

"Huh? Why is this?" I asked.

"Because she never saw this person's face." She explained. "And since our witness testified that she never saw this third person, it will be easy to dispel the Defense's claims. All you need to say is that the other person probably never went anywhere near the crime scene and has no connection to this case."

"And the handbag?" I asked. "If Lana Skye had nothing on her when she met the witness-"

"She left it in your Apartment during her last visit." Franziska cut me short. "Isn't this obvious?"

"Eh…" I looked at her with the most puzzled face I had in stock: "When did we find that out?"

"Never." She told me, keeping her voice rather low… I suspected that she didn't want anyone else to hear her. "I decided that this was probably how it happened. Same applies to the found rope. She set them all up in your apartment and waited for the right time to fulfill the deed. And you never even noticed, you poor, foolish fool…"

"Wait! I- I can't just go with this!" I couldn't help but shout. "I don't remember seeing Lana's handbag in the apartment, not to mention this huge rope!"

And I was quite sure that they hadn't been there. When I had aimlessly stumbled through the rooms the day before, looking for the exit, I had seen every room. And there was no handbag in the living room, let alone the bathroom. Not to mention a huge rope… Where do you even hide a huge rope in an apartment that isn't yours?

Franziska, however, glared at me.

"You probably missed them. Just like our witness missed Mrs. Fey. When Miles Edgeworth brings up the "stolen" handbag again, you will object. And this is what you will object with. Do you understand?"

"Von Karma…"

"You will not disgrace the-" She stopped a moment to think before she finished the sentence. "I mean… you will not disgrace my name with a pathetic loss caused by mere incompetence. Not as long as I am here."

I was about to call her something - something nasty, if I remember right- when, thankfully, the Judge's gavel interrupted me. This probably spared me from some more whipping.

"Court will now reconvene!" He raised his voice, as the last chatting spectators in the room fell silent. "Now, Mr. Wright, is the witness ready?"

I nodded, despite not even having seen the witness in question during the recess:

"…Yes, your Honor. Due to the Defense's request, I call the woman who claims to have seen both the previous witness and the defendant on the day of the murder to the stand."

And with those words, the courtroom doors swung open. Led by a bailiff, Misty Fey entered the room and slowly stepped up to the stand.

Everyone was quiet. It was probably the sheer calmness which she emitted that caught their attention. Like a female Buddha, content with everything and ready to accept everything that may come… this is what Misty Fey looked like when she stepped forward.

"Oh…" The judge seemed quite amazed. "Witness, excuse me if this sounds inappropriate… But I have to say… you look quite lovely for someone your age…Hm..."

"Ha Ha Ha… I thank you, Your Honor. You truly flatter me." Misty Fey stated warmly, bowing slightly as she did. "But there is no reason to praise me for what appears to be my inheritance. We women of the Fey Clan have always been gifted with a certain beauty... "

Reminded of something by that line, I turned my head towards Franziska.

"…"

She quickly noticed that I was looking at her.

"…What is it?"

"Uhm… Nothing." I quickly told her before I went on mumbling. "I just kind of expected you to say something now… 'Just like we of the Von Karma family have always been gifted with perfection!'… or something among those lines…"

"…!"

All of a sudden, there was this alarmed look in Franziska's eyes. And before I could react, she had already taken action.

*SLAP*

"OW!"

As she angrily posed with her whip, like she was threatening me to deal another strike, I just rubbed my arm.

(Note: Keep my thoughts about Franziska to myself from now on…)

Mrs. Fey carried on talking to the judge in the meantime.

"Still, Your Honor, we shouldn't forget that I am not here to receive your kind words, but to further your progress in this case. And I ensure you that I am hoping with all my heart that my testimony will help you and the two young men here in their benches to make the right decision. This trial should end with nothing but… the truth."

"I agree with the witness on this matter." Edgeworth stated. He was calm as well, yet his brand of calmness was very different from Mrs. Fey's brand of calmness, which became incredibly apparent by seeing the two of them speak right after each other…

And, I have to admit, I preferred Mrs. Fey's warm attitude quite a lot. She was somehow, almost… divine. Like a character from a fairytale.

For a moment there, I could downright see imaginary Asian Cherry Blossoms float by behind her… That's how impressive her calmness was.

After assuring myself that the witness, the judge, nor Edgeworth had anything else to add, I looked to the witness stand and said my lines.

"Please state your name and occupation, witness."

She nodded.

"My name is Misty Fey. I am a Spirit Medium in the tradition of the Kurain Channeling Technique… I also write and illustrate children's books in my spare time."

(Seems like this lady was destined to write books…) I quietly thought to myself. (…Well, since she's not the Master here, I guess she has enough spare time to do so.)

"A Medium?" The judge asked. The sense of wonder on his face couldn't be denied. "You mean… you see dead people?"

"I guess, you could express it like this, yes." Mrs. Fey confirmed.

"This is quite an… unusual occupation."

"Your Honor…" Edgeworth was talking. "The Fey family has practiced Spiritualism for many generations now. It is only natural for Mrs. Fey to pursue this lifestyle as well, so I would like to ask you not to judge her and the validity of her testimony based on this fact. As you see, she even appeared in civilian clothing before this court today."

Mrs. Fey nodded. "It appeared to be the proper thing to do for me, seeing how this is a court of law."

"Ah, I see… very thoughtful of you, Mrs. Fey." The judge agreed.

I couldn't agree more…

(It's really nice to see a halfway normal person testify once in a while. Also…Well, if Maya would ever be as thoughtful as her mother here, it surely would save us a lot of odd looks…)

I had to remember quite a few awkward situations the two of us had gotten into… And immediately regretted doing so, when a nostalgic feeling kicked in. Once again, I could feel that it was painfully wrong that the person next to me in the bench just wasn't … Maya. It was her who belonged there. Not Franziska.

Sighing, I went on to say my lines.

"Mrs. Fey, you claim to have visited the scene of the crime half an hour prior to the murder?"

A nod.

"This is true."

"Then, please, testify regarding what you saw and did there."

"I will."



"I see…" The Judge just nodded. "This sounds believable enough."

(But there's one thing that bugs me…) I thought slightly nervous. (…Why was she there in the first place? If nobody but Heatherd was at home, she couldn't have possibly been there to visit someone… could she?)

The reason why Misty Fey would visit the apartment where I, of all people, live… With my connections to the Fey family… Could this possibly be a coincidence?

(Anyway, Franziska is right. Standing like this, this testimony doesn't prove or disprove anything as long as it stands in conflict with Heatherd's. Edgeworth won't have any choice but to press her until something important transpires… Okay.) I tried to be as focused as possible. (This time, I won't just stay back and watch… Mrs. Fey is Edgeworth's witness, after all. Should he miss any contradictions, I can still try to point them out.)

"Mr. Edgeworth, you may now cross-examine the witness."

"Very well, your Honor."





"When exactly did you arrive, if I may ask?" Edgeworth started.

"16:20", she answered. "Still, ascending the stairs took me ten minutes, so I only arrived at the 20th floor ten minutes later."

"Why did you enter the building in the first place?"

"I wanted to visit someone." Mrs. Fey went on to explain.

"Visit?"

She nodded. "Yes…"

"I used the stairs to ascend to the 20th floor and arrived, but found the person I intended to visit to be absent and left again."

"So, the person you wanted to pay a visit was an occupant of the 20th floor?" Edgeworth pressed the statement, to which Mrs. Fey replied with yet another nod.

"Yes, this is true."

(Hm… This makes sense.) I thought a bit. (Heatherd claimed that everyone was absent that day…)

Edgeworth didn't leave Mrs. Fey with her statement alone, however:

"And the person you intended to visit was…?"

"…"

Mrs. Fey looked a little hesitant, but, in the end, she just nodded and said:

"The person I wanted to meet was…" She turned to the left… facing the bench of the Prosecution.

"You, Mr. Wright."

(… Heh!?)

I stared at the witness, who didn't allow her calm smile to be even the least bit disturbed by this.

I could hear the people in the gallery behind me starting to whisper to each other in utter surprise.

Edgeworth hit his desk with one hand.

"Witness! This means you were trying to access the scene of the crime just barely half an hour before! Why didn't you state this in your testimony right away?"

"Because…" Misty Fey closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded and opened them again. "I knew that you would naturally conclude that I would have had no reason to visit Mr. Wright and go on to have me explain why I wished to meet him. Knowing that a discussion about my motivations wouldn't further this trial, I tried not to mention it… After all, a young woman's life is on the line. I thought it would be better to save as much time as possible… I apologize."

However, I was more than just curious now.

And Edgeworth, for some reason, seemed satisfied.

"Mrs. Fey, as noble as your intentions may be, we need to know every detail." He told her. "Please add this statement to your testimony!"

She nodded.

"Very well."


"HO-



I had interrupted Edgeworth and thrown in my own question before he had a chance to ask his. He didn't look pleased by this, but I tried to ignore it. I just had to ask her something about this now… something that struck me as incredibly odd.

"Mrs. Fey… my doorbell has been searched for finger-prints… and yours weren't on it. Actually, there were none at all." I told her. "If you really tried to visit me, why didn't you touch the doorbell then?"

"Oh… " Mrs. Fey seemed pretty surprised by my attack on her testimony.



She put her hand to her mouth – in a manner which reminded me an awfully lot of Maya- and asked:

"So it isn't true? Your doorbell wasn't broken?..."

"…?"

I stared at her a little puzzled as she went on to explain.

"Well, I heard from Iris that it had been broken for months… " Her smile returned, albeit looking a little different from before. "I still remember what she said: 'Feenie can be so forgetful sometimes. Of course he never forgets anything regarding his work, but has kept forgetting to get someone to repair this broken bell for half a year now…'"

"S-So the bell was… broken?"

I broke out in a cold sweat. I knew what this meant. And Edgeworth knew it as well. He had crossed his arms already, waiting for his chance to talk:

"I see… so the untouched doorbell does not mean that nobody came to visit Mr. Wright…"

"Hm…" The judge listened closely. "Forgetful indeed, Mr. Wright. Had you mentioned this earlier, it would have saved us a lot of unnecessary trouble in the last cross-examination."

He glared at me from up in his seat, making me feel like the smallest, most unimportant person in the world. I gulped.

"E-Excuse me, your Honor..."

(So that stupid doorbell was nothing but a Red Herring…?...No, there was something else…)

"Wait!" I banged the desk and tried to get everyone's attention. "This means that everyone who could have visited me in the relevant time-frame knew of the doorbell!"

"And who was the likeliest person that knew of the doorbell?" Franziska suddenly raised her voice and smiled satisfied. "The owner's mentor, Lana Skye, of course! As the court can clearly see, even with the list of logically possible suspects greatly reduced, the Defendant is still on the very top!"

(Ugh!) the shock of realization hit. (That's not what I wanted to say!... Uhh… Franziska…)

I had no choice now but to go with it. After all, in the eyes of everyone else, there was no reason why this conclusion should bother me. Still, there was something else that I couldn't just let pass by, so I took my opportunity and raised my voice again.



I was glad to see that Mrs. Fey's attention was at me immediately. She tilted her head a little:

"Yes?"

"Your… Your reason!" I started. "I am the Prosecutor who got your eldest daughter a life-sentence! What reason could you possibly have to visit me?"

And right after I had said this, the gallery got loud. Some of the voices were surprised, others outraged. I, thankfully, couldn't understand a thing they were saying… Probably most of it wasn't too positive for me anyway.

The judge swung his gavel. "Order! Order in the court! …Mrs. Fey, would you please answer the Prosecution's question. I have to admit, I'm a little curious regarding this as well…"

"Hm…" She lowered her head a little. "I was afraid that you would ask this. Still… The reason for my visit was quite… unusual. I am afraid it may cast doubt on me if I reveal it."

"Mrs. Fey…" This was Edgeworth. "We need to know everything you can tell us. No matter how small and unimportant the details may seem."

"I… see…" Mrs. Fey still seemed a little hesitant, but she finally raised her head again and spoke.





Edgeworth leaned forward a little and looked straight at the witness.

"Mrs. Fey, I promise you, the court will not draw conclusions about you based on your words, and they will not influence your testimony's worth in the slightest, given that they don't contain a contradiction, of course."

Mrs. Fey nodded. "Then I will take your word for it, Mr. Edgeworth…"

She took a short break, breathed, then continued.

"As Mr. Wright mentioned before, it wasn't too long ago that my elder daughter, Mia Fey, stood right here in this witness stand, testifying for her own innocence. But her pleas were rejected. The man whose reasoning this can be accounted too… Is once again standing in the bench to the left side of this stand today."

Right on cue, the loud chatting in the courtroom started once again. The judge didn't need to swing his gavel, however, since it had stopped as soon as Misty Fey continued.

"On this day, I was present here, watching the proceedings from the gallery… and while this man spoke… spoke about what he claimed to believe had happened… that was when I saw them."

"What did you see?" Edgeworth asked.

For some reason, Mrs. Fey touched her necklace before she continued with a mysterious, unreadable expression on her face.

"The chains."

I immediately listened up:

"Ch-Chains?"

(She can't be talking about…)

"Yes…" She nodded. Her eyes slightly slanted as she did. "The chains which closed off the Prosecutor's heart tightly as he spoke, keeping it from revealing its true feelings… I saw it, Mr. Wright." She looked into my direction. "On the surface, you appeared to be confident and sure of what you were saying… but actually, you were closing yourself off, weren't you? You hid behind those chains, Mr. Wright. And I saw it."

I backed off when Misty Fey looked at me with intense eyes… Intense eyes which I believed to recognize from somewhere. I suddenly remembered the dream I had the night before…

'You're a liar, Mr. Nick.'

…That was what the Pearl Fey in that dream had told me, right? How Misty Fey looked at me…She was smiling, and yet it felt eerily similar to the merciless, accusing look Pearls had given me in that dream…

(She can see Psyche Locks…) I realized. (Probably even without an aid and within a much farther range than I can… 'I' lied and displayed Psyche Locks during that other trial and she saw them…)

I got nervous. Mrs. Fey's eyes were still on me, in a suspiciously focused way…

(D-Does she see them right now…?)

The thought that somebody may be looking into my soul right now at this very moment made me feel uneasy and unprotected… What if she was already subtly trying to break them? Right now? After all, I had no idea what kind of techniques a fully educated Spirit Medium with more than twenty years of experience could use…

"You let yourself be intimidated by an unarmed woman? What a coward you are." I heard Franziska tell me from the side before she faced towards Mrs. Fey. "Chains, you say? The only chains I believe in are those I can see and can touch, like the chains my victims leave the courtroom in! Just like the only discipline I believe in is the discipline I enforce myself! Watch and learn!"

*SLAP*

"YARGH!"

(What did I do, what did I do, what the hell did I ever do to you?)

"I am only telling you what I saw." Mrs. Fey assured us.

"… If I may ask, in what relation does this stand to the visit you attempted to pay Mr. Wright?" was the legitimate question Edgeworth then asked.

"In a very important relation." Mrs. Fey claimed. "After I saw his shut off heart in the courtroom that day, my curiosity took me over and I decided that I had to know what exactly it was that he had been trying to hide behind those chains. So I planned to see him in order to use my knowledge to undo the blockades and have him tell me the truth."

The judge stared at Mrs. Fey with big eyes.

"Excuse me, witness, but did I understand this right? You wanted to perform some kind of …'exorcism' on Mr. Wright?"

And, once again, the crowd in the gallery had started talking uncontrollably.

I just watched and sweated.

'Exorcism'…? I never look at the whole Psyche-Lock breaking deal this way, really…

(Does this make me an Exorcist-Lawyer? Well, sounds still more trustworthy than a Ghost Hunter-Plumber, I guess…)

Misty Fey had been right: This really didn't do any good for her credibility. I could see how quite a few of the people in the gallery eyed her skeptically… at the same time, however, a large number of them were also eying me in quite a similar way. No wonder, actually. Mrs. Fey had just stated that she 'felt' me lying during the last trial…

I took a look over to Edgeworth while the crowd was still rambling. His expression showed a hint of… disappointment.

"And… this was your only reason for visiting this building on that day?"

Mrs. Fey nodded. "The only reason."

Edgeworth's face read 'Well, this was sure pointless' when I saw him putting his palm to his forehead and sighing. "I see, Mrs. Fey. Please continue with your testimony."

(Well, getting useless information is a risk you have to take when pressing everything, Edgeworth.) I quietly thought.





"Blonde hair… The other witness, I assume?" Edgeworth asked, holding a photo of Lilie Heatherd between his fingers.

Mrs. Fey smiled. "Well, yes, I am quite certain that it was this girl."

"She claims she didn't see you." Edgeworth went on.

That moment, I felt Franziska's cold glare in my neck. Deciding that I had gotten enough of whips and bruises for today, I quickly raised my arm.



"Ms. Heatherd is not exactly a very attentive person, Edgeworth."

Edgeworth nodded. "…Indeed."

"So… couldn't it be that she merely missed Mrs. Fey when she passed by?"

"...!"

Edgeworth kept his cool, but I was experienced enough with him to tell that this caught him slightly off-guard. I went on.

"Well… Mrs. Fey is good-looking, but not striking. And she wouldn't exactly catch the eye of someone like our other witness. So it's entirely possible that she just walked past her. And as for that other person… We have no idea if this 'third' witness actually went anywhere near the crime scene. They could have just passed by while ascending the stairs."

"…Hm…"

A short pause followed. I saw Edgeworth closing his eyes. He stayed silent for a few seconds then.

Putting his hand to his forehead, he looked like he was thinking about something. Finally, he looked at me again. A smirk appeared on his lips.

"Ha Ha Ha…"

…Did Edgeworth just laugh?

It hit me pretty hard, so I was a little startled when I heard it. The next thing I knew was that I saw him smiling satisfied.

He raised his arm.



"I'm afraid that what you just said… is incorrect, Mr. Wright. I can prove that Ms. Heatherd should have noticed Ms. Fey… right here with the information on hand."

"…?"

As I was still trying to figure out what he meant, Edgeworth had already crossed his arms and continued speaking.

"If the court would please remember what Mrs. Fey told us just now: The very reason she visited Mr. Wright was her intention of performing a kind of… spiritual technique on him."

"Yes…?"

I probably didn't look like I was taking this serious at the moment. Probably because his bringing up Mrs. Fey's intention to break Psyche Locks on me was the last thing I expected him to do. It caused me to be dumbstruck.

(Where is he going with this? I thought we were done with that statement…)

The satisfied smile was still on Edgeworth's face.

"Now, Mr. Wright… I know for a fact that you are not a stranger to the practices of the Spiritualists of Kurain village… So tell me, in what kind of garb do the Fey Women usually perform their duties?"

"Uhm…" The mental images of Maya and Pearl came to mind, but still no clue what he was trying to tell us with this, I just went on to describe. "Well… I would call it 'traditionally Asian', I guess. They wear Kimonos, have striking hairstyles, a lot of pastel-colors… In any case, it's something you don't see every da-"

I opened my eyes wide before I had even finished the last word.

"…!"

Edgeworth apparently read my reaction. And he seemed to like it.

"I see you finally understand what I mean."

"Would you please explain it once again for the court then, Mr. Edgeworth? In detail? " The judge suddenly asked. "Because I don't really see what this is supposed to mean."

"It is actually quite simple, Your Honor: Look at Mrs. Fey before us. While it is true that she would not stand out in a normal environment the way she appears before us today, this is most likely not what she was dressed like on the day of the crime… Isn't this correct, Mrs. Fey?"

Misty Fey smiled and bowed quickly. "Yes, this is true."

"Really?" With surprised eyes, like he really hadn't expected this answer, he asked "If I might ask… what were you wearing then this day, witness?"

"…"

After a slight pause, she closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side.

"A rose Kimono and a red Obi."



This was exactly the answer Edgeworth had been hoping for. His face said it all.

"A quite unusual way to dress in our society, isn't it?"

Mrs. Fey nodded. "Probably..."

"So, as you see, your Honor…

Edgeworth raised his voice dramatically.

"…there was no way Ms. Heatherd could have possibly missed or forgotten Mrs. Fey's attempted visit if she was dressed like this!"

"Oh!" He apparently impressed the judge. "Why… This is true, Mr. Edgeworth!"

"Still, I am not surprised that she didn't see me."

"…?"

This had been surprising and sudden. The eyes of everyone in the court, including mine, were at Mrs. Fey now.

The judge blinked a few times.

"What do you mean, witness? Didn't you just state that you were dressed… in an unusual way?"

"Yes, but it is still very likely that she missed me." Mrs. Fey smiled. "After all… she was entering her apartment the moment I saw her. I only know that it was her because I saw her hair and her clothing."

Silence.

The whole courtroom was silent. The judge's eyes were wide. And Edgeworth… dumbstruck. He leaned forward and asked carefully.

"Witness, you heard Ms. Heatherd's testimony before, correct?"

Mrs. Fey nodded. "Yes, I did."

Edgeworth hit his desk. "In her testimony, she stated that she didn't leave the hallway even once! So you should be aware that this statement directly contradicts what Ms. Heatherd told us!"

Another nod. "I am also aware of this."

"Then why didn't you tell us of this right away?"

Misty Fey kept her composure despite all of this, which gave her a kind of mysterious aura.

"I thought that it was already well established that my testimony and that of the young lady stand in deep conflict, Mr. Edgeworth?" She finished. "So is it really necessary to search even more contradiction between them, when all you really need to do is find out who's lying?"

(She's right… ) I let my eyes wander around between Edgeworth and Mrs. Fey. While the former looked a little strained now, the latter had remained calm the whole time. (…No matter how many contradictions between the two testimonies Edgeworth finds, they are useless if he can't prove why those contradictions are there… I think that's where I'm supposed to step in.)

True to my promise to try to fulfill my role in the courtroom, I banged the desk and got the court's attention on me.

"Your Honor, the witness just showed us herself that what the Defense found out changes nothing about the situation!" I explained. "This is just one more way in which the two testimonies contradict each other! This is leading us nowhere!"

"Hm… yes, I'm afraid Mr. Wright is right about this." The judge shook his head. "Mr. Edgeworth, if you can't prove that your witness is the one who says the truth, I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to dismiss her and move on without her testimony."

"Your Honor, if I might make a request..." Edgeworth had a determined look on his face. "There might be a way to find out which witness is the liar."

I looked at Edgeworth. "You mean… the third witness?"

Edgeworth nodded. "Yes. If I was able to determine this person's identity, it should be possible to prove that Lilie Heatherd indeed left her spot in the hallway for several minutes, rendering her testimony untrue."

"Hm… I see." The judge nodded. "Yes, this could help… Mrs. Fey, would you please testify regarding the second person you saw?"

Mrs. Fey looked up to the judge and nodded:

"It will be a short testimony… but if it will be of help, I'll tell you what I can."

"This will not help him." Franziska whispered to me from the side. "I asked her about the third person when I questioned her in the recess…"

"And she never saw that person's face…" I remembered.

"Exactly." Franziska smiled. "Miles Edgeworth has maneuvered himself into a dead end with this question. And once he runs out of ways to win information off her testimony…"

She raised her right hand and slowly balled a fist, like she was trying to squeeze an invisible object in her palm. Her smile turned into a vicious grin. "This trial will soon be over. He only has this one witness to back up his claims, after all."

(Not if I can help it, Franzy…) I slightly narrowed my eyes, somewhat disgusted by her attitude.



"Hm… This really is a short testimony." The judge confirmed.

(Short and pretty vague…) I bit my lip. (I wonder if he can work with this…No. He has to be able to work with this. He has to.)

"Mr. Edgeworth, you can start the cross-examination now."

"Yes, Your Honor."





"Mrs. Fey, if I might ask a question out of curiosity…" Edgeworth leaned forward a bit.

Misty Fey looked into his direction. "Yes?"

Despite claiming that the question was just out of curiosity, Edgeworth looked rather tense. "You keep saying that you used the stairs to ascend the building this day… But why exactly is it that you weren't using the elevator yourself, like the person you saw? Mr. Wright's apartment is on the 20th floor, after all. This is hardly a short walk."

"Well…" Misty Fey laughed a bit. "This stems from an old promise I gave to someone."

"A promise?" Edgeworth asked further.

"It isn't really important, actually." She went on. "But a few years ago, one of my daughters had a nightmare about a person dying in an elevator. She was so shocked when she woke up from this dream that she fell into my arms and, in her panic, made me promise to never use an elevator."

"Ridiculous…" Edgeworth had crossed his arms while hearing the story. He was moving his index finger up and down again and had his eyes closed. "It was just a dream! An elevator is nothing to be afraid of!"

(Could I have that statement on tape please?) I thought to myself, baffled by the sheer, concentrated irony in those simple two lines.

Misty Fey nodded, apparently agreeing with what Edgeworth said. "Still, I always keep the promises I make… although…" She grinned. "I think that my daughter probably doesn't remember it at all anymore. After all, I saw her using an elevator herself."

"Then you might just as well do the same." Edgeworth concluded.

"Perhaps. But I will ask her beforehand." Was the response Mrs. Fey gave, along with a warm smile.

I sighed.

(And still no new information about our mysterious Phantom of the Hallway… The situation is getting tight…)





Tensely, Edgeworth banged the desk with one hand and leaned forward. "But you know that the person was female?"

"She had long, dark hair and a feminine figure. " Mrs. Fey claimed. "So, yes, I am quite sure that it was a girl."

"But you don't remember anything more… specific?"

She shook her head. "No. Nothing."

"So you have no clue regarding the identity of this third person?"

"…"

As Mrs. Fey paused a moment, I felt something…

(…Huh?...My pocket…?)

I reached inside and felt the Magatama's warm glow between my fingers. I barely had the time to look up again, when I already heard the sound of the chains. Once my eyes were at the witness stand again, I could see something I decidedly didn't expect to see… Not now.



One Psyche Lock on Misty Fey.

Surprised, I stared at her.

(…What? But… why her?)

"No." She said. "No, I have no idea who she could be."

"…"´Edgeworth over in the other bench was surprisingly silent. Like something was puzzling him greatly…

"Your Honor! This cross-examination is a mere waste of time!" I heard Franziska's voice from beside me. "Dismiss the witness now and let us continue with the facts!"

"Hm…" After thinking it over for a second, the judge nodded. "I think I have to agree with Ms. Von Karma. If there are no objections, I'll have Mrs. Fey be dismissed now."

"Oh! Dis…missed?…" The Psyche Lock still clearly visible on her, Mrs. Fey let her head sink. She seemed worried and nervous all of a sudden… like she hadn't intended it to end here.

"Yes, Mrs. Fey." The judge stated. "I am afraid that what you tell us doesn't hold any value to the trial if there's no proof that you are telling us the truth."

"I… see…" She sighed and apologetically whispered. "So my testimony was useless in the end... I am sorry that I couldn't be a greater help…"

She bowed.

" …I apologize…"

(No… No, she knows something!) I stared at the red lock on her nervously. (We can't let her leave like this... But I can't … can I?...)

The judge sighed. "It isn't your fault Mrs. Fey. You told us all you could. You may now lea-"

(Screw this!)



My finger was up. "Mrs. Fey! Your last statement was a lie!"

"Huh!"

I pointed at Misty Fey right in the face. Her reaction was that she raised her head in surprise and brought her hand to her mouth.

The judge also seemed to be quite a bit dumbfounded by what I did.

"Mr. Wright… What makes you so sure?"

"Eh… Eh…"

('A magic piece of jewelry told me, Your Honor.' Argh… Well, I can't turn back again now, I guess.)

"I… I just don't believe Mrs. Fey when she says that she doesn't know who the person she saw was!" I exclaimed, keeping my finger at Mrs. Fey. "Even if she didn't see that person's face, I'm sure she recognized who it was! She must know! I am sure!"

*SLAP*

And then, my finger was down. In pain.

"Don't listen to this foolish fool's outburst, your Honor!" Franziska shouted. "For he knows not what he is doing! He is obviously out of his mind!"

She finished the sentence and raised her arm.

(Uh Oh…)

I tried to back off, but there was a hard, hard wall behind me… No escape.

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

"OUAA!"

Pausing her whip-trip for a moment, Franziska furiously demanded. "I have never seen something like this before! I demand the Prosecutor for this trial to be replaced and this man to leave the bench this instant! "

Then, just when I was somewhat regaining my balance again, she carried right on where she had stopped.

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

(OW!)

If leaving the bench right now meant getting out of the reach of Franziska's whip, I don't think I would have actually minded taking the 'offer' and doing it. But a certain friend of mine didn't seem to share this opinion.



Edgeworth hit his desk. "Your Honor, I think it would be more appropriate to remove Ms. Von Karma from the Prosecution's bench! She clearly crossed the borders of her function now!"

*SLAP*

"GHHH!"

Edgeworth's index finger's color now matched his clothes. Not that I found that funny or anything…

I was way too busy moaning over my own bruises to laugh about someone else's anyway.

"The 'borders of my function' are for me to decide, Miles Edgeworth!" Franziska downright screamed, nervously pulling her whip. "I don't care what you want me to believe, but this man clearly doesn't have the qualification to prosecute! He 'believes' the witness was not telling the truth? Pah! The evidence! Where is the evidence? It's a fact that the witness doesn't have anything else to say and has to be dismissed!"



"You didn't even give him the chance to explain himself, Franziska von Karma!" Edgeworth stated. "If Wright noticed a flaw in my witnesses' testimony, he does indeed have the right to point it out… Even if it could be to his disadvantage."



"Ah, now I see it… Now I understand what the meaning of this is… this unbelievable, ridiculous, pathetic, outrageous farce of a trial…" Franziska hissed, before she pointed at Edgeworth angrily, screaming. "YOU set this all up, didn't you?"

Edgeworth appeared unimpressed but slightly confused.

"…I beg your pardon?"

"You think you could humiliate me like this! By burdening me with this… this miserable figure here!"

"Miserable… Figure…?" I asked, half-heartedly pointing at myself.

(And so, whatever little dignity I have left keeps shrinking and shrinking…)

"You planned all of this! Just admit it, Miles Edgeworth!" Franziska carried on. "You are too much of a coward to face me directly, so you assign me a klutz to hinder me, so you can drag my name into shame!"



"I don't accept this kind of accusation from the likes of you 'Von Karma'." Edgeworth put spiteful emphasis on the name. "Unlike certain other people, I have always led my trials honorably and without any ulterior motives!"

Franziska's eyes turned to slits.

"Are you trying to hint at anything, Miles Edgeworth?"

Edgeworth returned her the look.

"I see before me a young lady and just think she has come to resemble a certain man in too many ways. This is what I am trying to 'hint at', Franziska von Karma!"

(Uhh…Ladies and Gentlemen, the bell rings for round one! Place your bets!)

I was just waiting for Franziska to jump up and leap at Edgeworth. She looked like she was about to tear him into shreds. I was seriously wondering how in the world my innocent little emergency-objection had triggered this… family feud.

Franziska whipped the desk.

"Just like your father, you apparently don't know how to stay silent and know your place, Miles Edgeworth!"

Franziska had apparently managed to hit one of Edgeworth's nerves by mentioning this. He looked –and this isn't supposed to be some kind of pun – edgy.

"I would appreciate it, if you could refrain from dragging my father into this, Ms. Von Karma!"

"Only if you keep quiet about mine, Mr. Edgeworth!"

The courtroom was charged with static electricity and Edgeworth and Franziska were the + and the – pole respectively. It was only a matter of time until everything would discharge suddenly and explode.

Thankfully, they were stopped before it was too late.

The judge's gavel hit trice.

"Mr. Edgeworth, Ms. Von Karma, as much as I can understand the harsh feelings between the two of you, I can't tolerate this kind of discussion in my courtroom! You may sort out your personal differences after the trial. If you do not, I will have to expel both of you from the room!"

"…Ngh."

Edgeworth looked away from Franziska. "I understand, your Honor."

"Hmph."

Franziska turned to the side, now facing the door. She probably didn't want to see either of us anymore…

"In any case… Mr. Wright…"

Startled by being suddenly addressed, I looked up.

"Yes, your Honor?"

"Back to your objection from before… Why is it that you are so sure that Mrs. Fey lied regarding her recognizing the person who passed by?"

"…"

Before I could even try to grasp for a cheap excuse, I had already realized that I had long, long run out. Apparently, making an objection on basis of a Psyche Lock hadn't been a that good idea after all…

"Ehe… Well, to be honest, your Honor…" I closed my eyes to escape the angry glare of the judge. "I just… kinda… guessed?"

Closing my eyes hadn't helped either. I could still feel his aggravated eyes on me. It didn't feel good.

"Mr. Wright…" His voice sounded slightly irritated as well. "So in other words, you wasted our time for nothing?"

"Eh…Eheheheheh…"

"Just as I told you, Your Honor." Franziska said, still having her head turned away. "Hmph!"

"…" The judge looked greatly annoyed as his eyes wandered from Franziska back to me. "You know what this means, Mr. Wright?"

I carefully peeked at him.

"Uhm… Penalty?"

I could hear Edgeworth's dissatisfied voice from the other side of the courtroom.

"Well, there is at least one thing you apparently didn't forget."

(Is that your way to thank me for trying to help you?)

The judge shook his head in disbelief.

"In any case, I would now like to finally dismiss the wi-"



Simultaneously, Edgeworth, the judge, Franziska and I looked up. As we all searched the room for the source of the voice, we quickly found it in its center: The witness stand.

Misty Fey stood there, as calm as ever, her hands folded before her body.

"This won't be necessary, your Honor." She stated quickly.

The judge stared down at her and asked:

"What do you mean?"

"…"

She just smiled mysteriously and tilted her head to the side, before she finally turned it a bit… she looked at me.

"Mr. Wright…" She said. "…You can see them too… the chains, I mean. Can't you?"

"…!"

I grabbed the Magatama in my pocket.

(She noticed…)

"Ha Ha Ha…" She laughed warmly. "Who would have thought that you of all people would have this ability… You must have sharp senses, Mr. Wright. You should consider coming to Kurain to train. Who knows what kind of potential you might possess?"

After another smile, Misty Fey turned away from me once again.

"In any case… I should probably let go of my hesitation now…"

A little more serious, she looked up at a very, very dumbstruck and confused judge.

"Your Honor, what Mr. Wright said was not a mere guess. It is true. Despite not having seen her face… I… I think I know who the person who I saw boarding the elevator that afternoon was."

"Y-You do?"

While the judge was probably still trying to process the fact that my outburst had apparently not been pointless, Edgeworth had already raised his voice again and addressed Mrs. Fey.

"Witness, you are aware that lying in court is a criminal offense?"

Without showing any sign of shock, Misty Fey nodded.

"Yes, and I will immediately pay the fine once the trial is over. I apologize for the complications I probably caused... But I couldn't tell you who I believe the person I saw to be. And… to be honest… I still can't."

"Why?" Edgeworth asked.

Misty Fey closed her eyes and took a breath:

"…This other person… If her identity was to be revealed, she would be among the possible suspects, wouldn't she?"

With a nod, Edgeworth confirmed this. "It is likely that she would be."

Misty Fey listened attentively and then returned Edgeworth's nod before replying:

"As I thought. In that case… I can't tell you her name."

"Mrs. Fey!"

"I am sorry. However…

She finally opened her eyes again, looked at Edgeworth, and then at me. Then she said:

"…should you try to guess who I believe the person I saw to be, I can tell you whether your guess is correct or wrong."

('I'll take 'suspects' for 800 then, please!'… What is this, a quiz show?)

I quickly hit my desk and waited until Mrs. Fey looked into my direction before I exclaimed:

"Mrs. Fey! We don't have the time for this! Please, just tell us who it was!"

She, however, shook her head.

"Excuse me, but this is all I can do for you. There are certain… "rules" I have to follow."

"…"Rules"?"

"…"

She just remained silent and repeated her words from before, as if to say that she now officially considered them part of her testimony.





Edgeworth didn't continue talking immediately, but stayed quiet for a few seconds and just looked at Mrs. Fey. He seemed a little tense because of what was going to happen now. This made me wonder what was on his mind.

Finally, he opened his mouth again.

" 'A Fey…" He started. " … may never endanger another Fey, no matter the circumstances.' …Dahlia once told me of this rule."

Misty Fey smiled at him. "This is correct. I see, you seem to know quite a lot about our rules and traditions."

"Mrs. Fey…" Edgeworth looked directly at his witness. "The person you saw was a woman of the Fey clan… wasn't she?"

Mrs. Fey seemed to still be in doubt, but, finally, she slowly raised her head and sunk it again. A nod.

"…!"

I hadn't expected this to happen. Alarmed, I looked over to Edgeworth. To my surprise, I found him to look somewhat… satisfied. So he had suspected it. He had suspected that the third person was a Fey right away…

(But… Wait… A Fey?) A thought crossed my mind. (Weren't there the Fingerprints of a Fey woman on the doorknob to the apartment?)

I thought a moment, trying to recall the names on the list.

"…ACK!"

I almost jumped when I realized who it was and what that meant.

(N-No… I…Iris?)

As quickly as I could, I banged my desk with both hands.

"Edgeworth! You don't think that it was…"

"Heh…" He looked over to me. "I see, you realized the only possible option."

"This… This makes no sense!" I shouted. "She would have had no reason to come that day! She hates me!"

Edgeworth shrugged and shook his head. "Yes, this is what the two of you keep telling everyone… But tell me, Wright, does this really correspond to the truth?"

(Of course not…) I thought. (It's obvious that she still has feelings for me, but… she has a keycard. Calling her in would inevitably make her a suspect…And this goes too far!)

"…Edgeworth… you can't…"

"Your Honor!

Before I even had a chance to finish my sentence, Edgeworth had already looked up to the judge and spoke loudly. "Based on the received information, the Defense would like to request a new witness to be called to the stand!"

"Another one?" The judge asked confused. "Again?"

With a nod Edgeworth confirmed this:

"Yes. I request…

He raised his arm and pointed at the gallery.

"Maya Fey to testify to the court!"

"…"

(W…What?)

Once again, the gallery had started chatting, breaking the silence in the courtroom before it could even begin.

I, however, was stunned speechless.

(What… Maya? Why… Why her?)

Behind me, from up in the gallery, I could hear a surprised voice shriek in fear.

It was Maya's voice. I was sure.

Evidence:

*) Prosecutor's Badge

I never thought I'd ever hold this in my hands. The design closely resembles the police's emblem.

*) Magatama

This gem allows me to see the locks on people's hearts whenever they hide the truth from me. It was a gift from Maya and is charged with Pearls' spiritual energy.

*) Photo of Iris

A picture of me and Iris in Kurain. Apparently we were still a couple here, up until recently.
CHECK: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1896 ... feenie.png

*) Cellphone

Compared to the Cellphone I usually use, this is high tech luxury. There are messages from Ema, Lana and Gumshoe on it.
CHECK: http://img17.imageshack.us/i/cellphone.png/
EMA'S MESSAGE(1) CHECK: http://img267.imageshack.us/i/emamessagesooner.png/

EMA'S MESSAGE(2) CHECK: http://img132.imageshack.us/i/emamessage.png/

LANA'S MESSAGE CHECK: http://img121.imageshack.us/i/lanamessage.png/

GUMSHOE'S MESSAGE CHECK: http://img824.imageshack.us/i/gumshoemessage.png/

*) Suicide Note

Found near the unconscious Lana Skye. Check for details:
CHECK: http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/9123/suicidenote.png

*) Victim(?) Note

Reads "Lana" in red letters of blood.
CHECK: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/4660/victimnote.png

*) Steel Samurai Cards

Merchandise for the upcoming Steel Samurai Movie. Two of the cards had Maya and Iris respectively on them. They're now in Edgeworth's possession.

*) Snackoos Bag

Found near Ema. She was apparently eating them before she was killed. Imported from Europe.

*) Dart

A small, needle-like projectile, made for use with a tranquilizer gun. There are faint traces of blood on it. Found near the sofa.

*) Rope

Ripped. Apparently, Lana tried to hang herself with it. It was cut before it ripped.

*)Sketch

A picture of Maya, Pearls and me, drawn in my boredom. Note to self: Giving up the art studies was a good choice.
CHECK: http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/645/sketchonaboat.png

*)Autopsy Report

Victim died between 17:00 and 17:20 from massive blood loss after receiving a stab wound in the chest. The back of the head was bruised.
CHECK: http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6753/autopsyreport.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 1

CHECK: http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9230/crimescenephoto1.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 2

CHECK: http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8229/crimescenephoto2.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 3

CHECK: http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/2865/crimescenephoto3.png

*)Knife

The murder weapon. Was cleaned with soap after the crime, so there are no finger prints or bloodstains on it left. Belongs to the Defendant.

*)Fingerprint List

Lists the people who touched the door's handle.
CHECK : http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4497/fingerprintslist.png

*)Ema's Button

One of the three Badges Ema wore on her labcoat. It came off before she died. The needle is bloody and crooked.

Profiles:

*) Phoenix Wright

I have been a Defense Attorney for three years now. But now it looks like people were convinced of something else suddenly...

*) Miles Edgeworth

An old school friend of mine. Apparently, he's a renowned Defense Attorney here. The "Him" I remember, on the other hand, was an extremely talented, but arrogant Prosecutor.

*) Maya Fey

Sprite
Singing (Turnabout Sisters Song)[Hatsune Miku(Vocaloid)]
Apparently a famous pop idol known as "MAYOI". In my memory, she was a Spirit Medium and served as my assistant and co-council in many of my cases.

*) Ema Skye

A teenager, who was dreaming of becoming a forensic investigator one day and good friend of mine. Was murdered in the apartment.

*) Lana Skye

Ema's older sister. Apparently tried to commit suicide in the bathroom. Her suicide note implicates her as her sister's killer.

*) Dick Gumshoe

Still detective of the local police force. Still as underpaid as ever.

*) Mia Fey

Maya's older sister and a detective. Currently under arrest for attempted murder. I remember her being my mentor as a Defense Attorney and murdered shortly after my very first trial.

*) Dahlia Fey

Maya's and Mia's cousin and Iris's identical twinsister. Was the coldblooded killer 'Dahlia Hawthorne' in the world I remember, but declared guilty for a crime she didn't commit alongside Mia in this one. Her personality seems to have been turned upside down...

*) Klavier Gavin

Leadsinger and Guitarist of a Band called "Gavinners". Apparently also a lawyer. His name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I first met him.

*) Lilie Heatherd

Sprite
Voice: OBJECTION!
A Defence Attorney known as the "Evidence Spammer". Claims to have witnessed Ema and Lana entering the Apartment shortly before the murder.

*) Iris Fey

Singing (??? Song)
Maya and Mia's cousin, Dahlia's twin and hire to the master title of Kurain in this 'world'. Recently broke up with 'me'. Unhappy with her occupation as a Spirit Medium.

*) Franziska von Karma

Prosecutor Prodigy from Germany, who was assigned to aid me during this trial. She enjoys whipping lawyers, judges and witnesses alike and strives for absolute perfection in her trials.

*) Misty Fey

Sprite
Alternate Outfit
Talented Spirit Medium and mother to Mia and Maya Fey. Saw a third witness.

A huge "Thank you" to my Beta-Reader at this point. This chapter was written during a Writer's Block of mine and without Beta-Reader's excellent correction, this chap's quality would have suffered from it IMMENSELY. I mean it.

The chapter could still probably have been better, had it flown more easily when I wrote it. Writer's Block always seems to hit when you least need it… *sigh*

Further, I promise that the next chapter is the last part of Trial: Day 1. I need to get back out of the courtroom, so I can throw in some more characters. Nevertheless, the next chapter is going to feature one of my favorite events. *smile*

Misty Fey was harder to characterize than I thought she would be. Probably because she had, like, what, 5 sentences worth of dialogue in the game, before Capcom dropped the anvil on her. I actually had to be careful not to make her sound like Morgan. I came dangerously close to doing this a few times. I even thought about making her say "Good Sir". Seriously.

By the way, with this chapter, this thread has officially caught up with my progress in writting. From now on, updates are, unfortunately, going to be a lot slower, I fear...

Once again... BEST. CHAPTER. EVER
This is my kind of tale. I love it. I can't get enough of it. I want more. I think about it all the time. I want more. It makes me want to read on and on and on...
I WANT MORE.
You characterised Misty so perfectly. Exactly how I would have written for her. I also really liked Edgey and Franzy's little dispute, and how Franzy has become ever so slightly more humble this chapter because of Phoenix's previous comments. Ever so slightly humble, no Von Karma is ever humble.
I read on and I thought to myself "This chapter is confirming my thoughts about the future of the fic" But then that ending... Maya can't have done.. Maya can't have done it. Maya can't have done it. There's more to the story I know, but could we have already pinned down our murderer? I really think and hope not, but I can't get that nagging feeling out of the back of my head...
Also...
I really think Iris did it. I was thinking since it is like an 'opposite' universe, why not Iris the evil twin? It's highly feesable. I was scared Misty killed Ema at first... But anyway...
I'm happy you kept Misty's children's book author/illustrator ideas in there. I really liked that side of her. I also can't help but think... Does Pearl still treat her like a celebrity in every day life at the Kurain village? Just my thoughts...

... was awesome in this chapter.
Hitting on the witness... oh wow...
And his off-the-wall commentary ("You mean… you see dead people?" ...that is SO a line that would be in the game xDDD) suits him so well!!

And Franziska is still so excellently characterized.
"You will not disgrace the- ... I mean… you will not disgrace my name with a pathetic loss caused by mere incompetence. Not as long as I am here."
"Chains, you say? The only chains I believe in are those I can see and can touch, like the chains my victims leave the courtroom in!"
You do an amazing job writing her. I can't believe she almost wasn't even in this fic! She's such a great part of it!

Your characterization of Misty is wonderful, especially considering you had such little reference from the game to work with. I definitely do see her as a calm and somewhat ethereal sort of figure.

I admit I didn't understand the "Ghost Hunter-Plumber" thing at first, but I looked it up and then I laughed. xD It's very clever of you to throw in cultural references. It's one more point that makes this fic absolutely true the style of the game. Geez, you could probably be hired as an official writer for the series; you capture the style so well.

Hmm, the elevator thing was really interesting...
And everything from Phoenix's desperate objection until the end was totally edge-of-seat-worthy. I don't even know what to say. It was like a book I didn't want to put down. And then it had to end right at the good part...! No, that's a lie; it's all good parts. xD;

Maya Fey in the witness stand… Quite a familiar sight, actually, come to think of it.

She had been my client twice, after all. And unwittingly taken place there a third time when Dahlia had just abused her body to commit perjury in Iris' name.

Nervously she stepped up to the stand. She was still walking when she suddenly started adjusting her ribbon, pulling the edges of her dress up, brushing her hair down, getting rid of every wrinkle in her clothes she caught sight of…

At first I didn't understand why she did this, but one look through the room made me realize the reason: Everyone was looking at her. Not in the same way the witnesses were usually being looked upon… Of course not.

'This' Maya was a celebrity. Every one of her actions, every one of her moves, every last breath she made aroused public attention. She was walking, talking journalist bait. The fact alone that she was testifying now would probably be all over the boulevard papers tomorrow. It would probably be a disaster if anything questionable happened during her testimony, no matter how small.

Trying to imagine how much pressure there had to be on her shoulders right now, I started to feel sorry for her. Still, this only caused my curiosity about why exactly Edgeworth had called her in to increase. Edgeworth never acted without planning beforehand. He always had a good reason for everything he did. So there was something we could win off Maya's testimony… I just didn't understand what yet.

Maya wouldn't have visited me. Not the way she was now. Also, she wouldn't have had a reason to meet Ema or Lana. There was absolutely nothing that could have caused her to come to this building.

So… why was he so sure that the person Mrs. Fey saw was her?

He hadn't even asked Mrs. Fey if it was specifically Maya whom she saw. He just accepted the answer "A Fey" and moved on to requesting to cross-examine Maya.

I had agreed because I knew that everything else we could have done now was either a dead end or… Iris.

I didn't want to bring up her name. I really didn't. It was bad enough that Maya was caught up in this now, but at least she had an alibi in having been absolutely unable to open the apartment door and thus wouldn't end up as a new candidate for the killer. She had no Keycard after all. Iris, however, would have immediately been the new prime suspect, should the possibility that she was anywhere near the crime scene during the time of the murder have come up.

It would have been even quite easy to construct a motive for her… For example, one could assume that Iris blamed the Skye sisters for being responsible of how 'my' personality developed and thus wanted to take revenge for me.

…Still, no matter how plausible this may have appeared to someone who didn't know her, there was absolutely no reason to suspect Iris. She was an overly forgiving person. She probably didn't even know how to spell "revenge", not to mention how to carry it out.

Maya was right at the witness stand. Her eyes were on the floor, so it wasn't hard to tell that she was a little bit scared. Probably because she had no idea why she had been called to the stand. Well, that made two of us…

"Ehm…"

(The least I can do now is try to go easy on her...)

"…Maya, we need you to state your name and occupation, please." I told her carefully.

"…"

Her head was lowered so far now that her fringe was covering her eyes, so I couldn't tell what they looked like, but it was still very obvious that she wasn't sure what to do now.

(Poor Maya… ) I thought (She has no reason to stand here. I probably shouldn't have agreed to call her up…)

"I…"

This was the first word we heard from her. I raised an eyebrow and looked over at the stand. A few seconds of silence followed. Maya took a few deep breaths, before she finally continued.

In the end, she quickly lifted her head and revealed… a smile.

And I don't mean a half-hearted smile. I mean sunshine-bright, cheery smile.

"You asked for my name? Alright!"



As dynamically as humanly possible, she posed in the stand putting her right hand close to her forehead in a weirdly-cheerful kind of salute – A pose I recognized as ripped-off from an episode of the Pink Princess – and declared in a melodic voice:

"I am MAYOI, the dreamful voice of the night's first star! Sweet and hot, let me move your soul!"

I backed off, surprised.

(Commercial much?)

The loud sound of at least fifty people up in the gallery squealing 'MA~YO~-CHA~N!' echoed through the room with the volume rivaling that of the rock music, which I heard the day before.

Maya seemed to have decided to just avoid any kind of problems with the press by playing out the "Perky Pop Idol" card, like her fans expected her to. I knew this because – and I really can't completely explain how, since her smile looked impressively genuine – I saw that she was just faking it. Maybe I felt it because I had been working alongside her for so long that I had learned to actually distinguish between when she meant something or was just pretending. Or it was some kind of side effect of the Magatama. Or I was just guessing it, without even realizing. Wouldn't be too surprising, seeing as how we are talking about me.

In any case, Maya had now started greeting her fans up in the gallery by waving at them, while jumping up and down in the witness stand. And, before I knew it, a flower fell down to her and she caught it and bowed thankfully. I don't know why anyone would bring flowers to a trial. Actually, I don't want to know.

Everyone in the room seemed to be excited and charmed by having the opportunity to see 'MAYOI' live and for free.

Except for… the judge.

"Uhm…"

I guess trying to imagine his facial expression shouldn't be too hard.

"…What is going on here? …Witness?...

Maya didn't react since she was busy answering her fans greetings with bows and laughs.

The judge went then on to addressing his question to someone else instead:

"…Mr. Edgeworth? ...Your witness?"

"I think you will have to forgive the witness' and audience's behavior just this once, Your Honor." Edgeworth explained shrugging and sighing. There was a slight smile on his lips. "After all, it is not every day that a celebrity like her openly appears in public."

"…Celebrity?" The judge asked. "This girl?"

(Welcome to my world, Your Honor…)

"Your Honor…" I looked up to him and tried to explain. "…this is Maya Fey, the daughter of the previous witness. She's a… famous singer."

"A singer?" He repeated after me, before turning to Maya again. "So… what do you sing, witness?"

Like on cue, Maya turned her attention to the judge:

"Oh! All kinds of songs! Pop, Rock, Ballades… Do you want me to sing one for you, Your Honor?"

Maya blinked a few times up to the judge in a sugary sweet way, causing him to be visibly startled.

"Oh… Well… There was this one song I loved when I was still a young boy… back in nineteen-"

*SLAP*

"UHF!"

*SLAP*

"OW OW OW!"

Both Maya and the judge jumped in shock, as Franziska's whip hit and she exclaimed:

"Your Honor, the only thing we want this witness to 'sing' is her testimony! Understood?"

"Y-Yes… Yes, of course, Ms. Von Karma…Uhm…"

(I clearly heard him mumbling 'please don't hurt me' there…) I thought and sighed.

"Hey…Ow…" Maya stood in the stand with wet eyes, rubbing her arm. "She whipped me… in court. That hurt. Is nobody going to do something about that? Anyone…?"

*SLAP*

"KYA!"

Franziska opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly silenced by the angry mob above our heads:

'BOOOOOO!' ´The crowd went.

"W-What?" A highly irritated Franziska von Karma let her eyes wander all around the room in shock. Apparently she had never gotten that reaction before. "What is going on here? What is this uproar…?"

"I guess they are not OK with how you treat Maya. Look." I pointed at the witness stand. "You made her cry."

Maya was, indeed, standing there sniffling and whimpering teary eyed, but I knew that this was nothing serious. There was a difference between Maya crying because she was slightly upset and Maya crying because she was genuinely sad. This was obviously the former case. Not that Franziska needed to know that.

Meanwhile, the complaints from up in the gallery got louder and louder:

"Who let that girl down there into the room? What a psychopath!"

"Mommy, is the woman with the blue hair an evil witch?"

"Don't get close to that person darling! God knows what she'll do!"

"European punk! Go back to where you came from!"

And from those sentences came many more.

"Quiet! QUIET!" Franziska shouted up to the people in the gallery. "Quiet I say! Or… or…"

"Or you will whip them one by one?" I suggested.

And… she turned back towards me.

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

Sleeping was going to be a torture tonight. Seriously. There wasn't a single spot on my body that wasn't bruised.

The judge finally decided to return the courtroom back to a calmer state.

"Order!"

He had to swing the gavel quite a few times before it was finally quiet again.

"We can't possibly work like this. Mr. Wright, please keep your Co-Council under control, or I will have to penalize you. Again."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

(What? But she's the one who… I didn't… I can't… ARGH! It's a conspiracy! Everybody is trying to get me!)

"…and if anymore outbursts happen after this, I fear I will have to expel you from the room!"

"…"

I had no reply to this.

"So…" Franziska grinned. A thought that she liked seemed to have crossed her mind.

"That means if you 'fail' to keep me in check…" – And she stressed 'fail' in a pretty suspicious way. "…you will be excluded from the trial?"

She eagerly played around with her whip, as if she was just waiting for the cue to abuse it again.

"No." I answered, finally having found something I could counter her with. "This means if you keep randomly whipping people without a good reason, the judge will throw both of us out and probably declare the Defendant 'Not Guilty' by default."

And now it was my turn to grin, as I watched Franziska's own grin collapse on itself.

"…!"

Alarmed, she put her whip down, but at the same time started glaring as me in a disgusted way. Not that this would have impressed me. I knew that she wouldn't risk causing us to lose and getting a mark on her perfect record.

(Whew… Looks like I'm safe for a little while. I hope that this is going to last…)

"Eh… Your Honor?" Maya looked up to the judge, trying to get him to listen to her again. It worked and he turned towards her.

"Yes, witness?"

"You see… Actually, I don't really know what I'm doing here at all." She said. "I mean, I only came here to watch Miles defend that woman. But, you know, I never really met her before. And I have never seen her sister, so I have no idea what I should testify about. If I think about it, I don't even know where exactly the crime scene was. So…"

She folded her hands and smiled up at the judge.

"Can I go back to my seat?"

"…Hm…" The judge turned his head to the right. "Mr. Edgeworth?"

Edgeworth looked up to the judge: "Yes, Your Honor?"

"Why did you request this girl to testify again?" He asked puzzled. "Excuse me, but she doesn't seem to have any relation to this case…Does she even qualify as a 'witness'?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Maya said. "If you ask me, I probably make the most useless witness in the world… But I can sing! Do you want me to sing, your Honor?"

Maya looked very eager to fulfill this offer. And the judge looked very eager to take it…

"Hm…"

Edgeworth, however, appeared indifferent to everything Maya had just said. He shook his head and told her:

"I know that this is a little sudden, Maya, but I'm afraid you will have to stay where you are for a short while. It is important that you tell us what exactly you were doing yesterday between 16:00 and 17:00."

Maya seemed a little tense and put her hand up to her mouth:

"16:00 and 17:00… the time of the murder…"

A little reluctantly, but driven by curiosity, I turned to the right, facing Franziska.

"I'm afraid to ask…" I started mumbling. "…but… do you have any idea where Edgeworth is going with this?"

"Not exactly..." She replied, her eyes at Maya. "But I am quite sure that Miles Edgeworth has been waiting to call up this witness for a long time now."

"Huh? How come?"

"Recall the last two cross-examinations, Phoenix Wright." She told me. "I only realized this myself not too long ago… But now I am convinced that he was just searching for reasons to call Maya Fey to the stand during both of those testimonies."

"So…he had planned to question Maya? The whole time?"

"This is what I think." She nodded. "Even though I am not certain what exactly he is hoping to gain by doing so… Stay on guard, Phoenix Wright. I warn you."

(Strange…) I thought. (If Edgeworth thought that Maya knows something regarding this case, why didn't he confront her about it during the recess?)

Maya still didn't seem too happy about her current position. She looked at Edgeworth with the eyes of a kid who forgot to hand in their homework on time.

"But…! Miles… I don't know anything!"

Edgeworth shook his head. "Just testify, Maya. The truth will come out all by itself then."

"…"

Maya was still hesitating. The next thing that happened was that she turned her head into my direction… just slightly, but still enough for me to catch a glimpse of her eyes. Within a few seconds, they went from troubled to determined:

"…Alright!" She said. "I have no idea how this is gonna help... but I'll tell you what I did yesterday afternoon!"



And there was the sound of the chains again.

I didn't even need to look at her to know that the three Psyche Locks were back.

(Maya…)

I got tense. So Edgeworth was right… She knew something and she was hiding it… Maybe the Psyche Locks that I saw on her now were even somehow connected to the ones that I saw the day before?

The judge still seemed to have certain doubts regarding the usefulness of Maya's testimony. He addressed Edgeworth.

"I… assume the Defense wants to cross-examine the witness?"

"Of course, Your Honor." Edgeworth confirmed.

"Tsk..." Franziska shook her head in disbelief. "What a waste of time… There is nothing you could possibly win off this kind of testimony, Miles Edgeworth."

"But just five minutes ago, he gained pretty crucial information from a testimony with two statements." I reminded her.

"Nothing but dumb luck." She replied, clutching her sleeves and closing her eyes. "This kind of 'tactic' never works more than once in a row."

(I keep forgetting that she has no idea what my trials usually progress like…)





"What means of transport did you use to get there?" Edgeworth asked.

Maya smiled. "Well, I was walking, of course! The Coliseum isn't too far from Mom's flat… I went there to change, you know."

Edgeworth continued his line of questioning.

"Walking… Why didn't you ask you mother to drive you?"

Maya bit her lip a little nervously. "Mom wasn't at home… I guess she really went to see Mr. Wright, like she said…"

Her head had slowly lowered as she had said this sentence, but all of a sudden, she raised it again. "But I wasn't there! I swear!"

"Regarding your stay in your Mother's flat… Why did you change clothing there? There are dressing rooms at Sunshine Coliseum."

"Oh… I didn't change into my stage clothing!" Maya replied. "I dressed in plain clothing and changed my hairstyle so people wouldn't recognize me on the way down to the coliseum."

"In order to escape fans, I assume?" Edgeworth asked.

Maya became a little more subdued.

"Actually… more to make sure that I didn't accidently catch the attention of the wrong kind of people…"

"The wrong kind of people?"

"…You know… shady guys. Robbers… kidnappers… this kind of people…"

Maya shivered when she told Edgeworth of this. It wasn't hard to tell that she was terrified by the thought of ending up facing this kind of person.

"…I don't even trust cab drivers, you know." She went on to tell Edgeworth. "My sis once told me about some statistics about taxis and crimes… I haven't used a taxi ever since…"

(I don't remember Maya being that afraid of facing a criminal…) I realized. (Did something happen…?)





"About this concert…" Edgeworth started, but before he could get even further, Maya had already interrupted him.

"Oh, yeah, you were there too, weren't you? I didn't even ask you how you liked it yet! Did you have fun?"

Edgeworth shrugged. "Excuse me, Maya, but I'm afraid I had no time to go and see the concert. I was busy investigating on the crime scene."

"Oh… So that's why you didn't visit in the break…" Maya seemed a little disappointed. "That's too bad… I wanted you to try a burger too. The Gavinners' chef is awesome!"

"I personally prefer sandwiches, but thank you." Was Edgeworth's response to this. "In any case… I had a talk with Prosecutor Gavin this morning and he told me something quite curious…"

His eyes narrowed a little.

"Maya... you arrived a little too late at the concert, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Surprised, Maya backed off a little. "W-What do you mean?"

"The original plan for the concert was that it would be arranged in four blocks, 2 A-blocks with MAYOI-songs and 2 B-blocks with Gavinners-songs, alternating. The intended order of those blocks was A-B-A-B, of course. However, your delayed arrival forced the band to rearrange the order of the blocks to B-B-A-A."

"Well, actually, I wanted it to be A-B-B-A, but Mr. Gavin said they wouldn't play the two middle blocks, because-"

"Maya, this isn't my point." Edgeworth cut her short. "I want to know what you did before you arrived at the Coliseum. The reason for you being late."

"…"

I saw Maya biting her lip, which surprised me a lot.

(He is on to something…) I thought. (Maya… What were you doing between 16:00 and 17:00… You weren't really the one your Mother saw in that elevator… were you?)

I felt even more nervous. My hands were already pretty sweaty.

(And if it was you… why? What were you doing there?)

"Eh…Eh…" Maya was still trying to find the right words to say. Finally, she raised her head.

"Burgers!"

Edgeworth seemed slightly confused. "The reason for you delay was… burgers?"

"Y-Yes!" Maya tried to defend this statement with all her might. "You know Miles, when I woke up after my nap, I was so hungry like you wouldn't believe! But I couldn't eat anything during that meeting I had and… when I got to Mom's flat, her fridge was all empty! It was terrible! A catastrophe!"

"…Yes, a truly shocking situation."

Edgeworth's face didn't match his words in the slightest.

"So, once I finished changing, I stormed towards the nearest fast food place to fill that big black hole in my stomach."

('Black Hole'… surprisingly fitting description…)

"…but there was a huge line before the counter, so I had to wait a while until I actually got something."

"And you missed an hour of the concert doing so." Edgeworth concluded… But his voice made it obvious that he didn't really buy it.

Maya bowed shamefully. "I'm sorry… I can't help it when I'm hungry…Really…"

"That reminds me…" The judge started. He took a look at his wrist, where he apparently had a watch. "It is almost 13:00… I'm afraid my lunch will be quite late today if we don't make haste."

(We had a thirty minutes break where you could have helped yourself to something, Your Honor…) Were my thoughts, which I decided not to voice.

"So, witness, please continue your testimony."

"But… I really don't know what else to tell you…" Maya said and she sounded quite upset as she did so.




"I never claimed that you knew any more about the killer's identity than everyone else here…" Edgeworth told her. "All I need you to tell me, Maya, is the truth about what you did that day."

"Miles… I'm saying the truth!" Maya stated with both of her hands balled to fists, determined to leave her testimony unchanged. "I'm telling you!"





"Maya…" Edgeworth seemed to be searching for the right words to say what he was trying to tell her "I am not quite sure if I can believe this."

"Huh?" Apparently not understanding what he meant, Maya blinked a few times, until Edgeworth continued.

"I think you would have a wide variety of possible reasons to visit this building. For example, I think it has been well established by now that the crime scene was Mr. Wright's Apartment. We also know that your sister, whom you are very close to, owes her incarceration to this man. Ergo, just like your Mother, you would have had a very good reason to pay Mr. Wright a visit in order to gain clarity."

"H-Hey! Hold it!" Maya exclaimed. "My spiritual powers are much weaker than my Mother's, so I felt absolutely nothing special during that other trial! And even if I did, I would have never… NEVER gone anywhere close to that guy just because of this!"

"Not even to question him regarding his actions?" Edgeworth asked.

"No, not even for this!" Maya shook her head wildly. "I don't want to have anything to do with him! Nothing! I mean… he's low! Lower than low! The bottom of the bottom! He isn't even worth the anger!"

(Then save it…) I thought, staring at Maya's tomato-red face, which kind of fascinated me. (You look like you were gonna explode any second.)

The judge looked a little shocked by Maya's sudden outburst: "Ehm… Witness… Mr. Wright is right here and hearing every word."

"Good!"

"…"

After an annoyed grunt, Maya let her eyes of the judge turned towards Edgeworth again:

"In any case…




"…Maya."

"…Y-Yes?" Maya shivered a little. "Eh… I don't like the way you're looking at me, Miles…"

Edgeworth had a glare in his eyes that made it apparent that he was about to say something important. He picked up a few sheets of paper from his desk and raised his voice.

"Those are my personal notes for this trial… I jotted down as much as I could regarding any information the witnesses up till now have given us, just to make sure that I miss nothing crucial."

"Y-Yeah… so…?"

Maya looked nervous. And I had a feeling I knew why.

(She just said something…) I realized. (Something she shouldn't have known…)

"Ever since this trial started,…" Edgeworth continued. "…although the 20th floor has been mentioned numerous times, nobody has mentioned the number of Wright's Apartment yet. Not even once."

"…! …Eh…"

Maya backed off.

"No. 98… This is indeed Mr. Wright's address." Edgeworth confirmed. "So, tell me, Maya… if you have never visited him before…how did you know this?"

"…AH!"

With this, Maya stumbled back from the witness stand a few inches in shock, before somewhat regaining her balance. Then she started fighting back:

"I… I heard it!" She claimed. "Yes, somebody mentioned it to me!"

Edgeworth hit his desk:

"Nobody mentioned it during the trial! You couldn't have heard it from anyone!"

(Well, actually…)

A thought came to me that ripped a big hole in Edgeworth's reasoning.



"Actually, she could have heard it, Edgeworth." I told him.

Edgeworth let his eyes of Maya and looked at me instead.

"And where from do you suppose she heard it?"

"From Iris." I told him. "We left the two of them alone during the recess, remember? What if they spoke about the trial and she dropped the number during that talk?"

"Y-Yeah!" Maya nodded. "That's probably where I heard the number! I… I really didn't know until the recess! Please, you have to believe me!"

Edgeworth shook his head.

"Excuse me, Maya, but this sounds like nothing more than a hastily conjured excuse to me!"

"M-Miles…"

"Edgeworth!"

I banged the desk with both hands.

"Come on! Why don't you tell us all where you're trying to go, instead of asking Maya questions that she can't answer! We both know that she wouldn't have had a reason to go anywhere near me! You remember the incident with the Baseball Bat yesterday, don't you?"

The judge looked dumbstruck.

"B-Baseball Bat?"

I carried on regardless.

"Or do you think that Maya came all the way to my house just to give me another beating?"

Once again, Edgeworth shook his head and remained calm.

"No. Maya Fey is not the kind of person who relies on revenge to deal with her feelings. What she did yesterday morning was merely an impulse and nothing she would do without sudden provocation. However…" He put one of his hands down on the desk. "I am still convinced that she approached the crime scene on the day of the crime! And I have a reason to think this way!"

"A reason?"

"…"

Edgeworth looked a little hesitant. Like he wasn't sure if he should do what he was planning to do now. I saw how he glimpsed over to Maya a few times before finally picking up yet another item from his desk… This time, it was an envelope…



A pink envelope.

(What… What the hell is this?)



"Here, Wright!" Edgeworth raised his hand with the Envelope and presented it to me…

The moment he did, Maya turned pale as chalk: "Huh!"

Up to this point, she had nervously played with her fingers the whole time… Now she froze on the spot.

"Edgeworth… What's that supposed to be…?" I asked, sweating. I took a look at both, frozen solid Maya and Edgeworth with the pink letter, and finally gulped.

(I have a bad feeling about this…)

"Mr. Edgeworth…" The judge seemed, once again, confused and even slightly disturbed. "Excuse me, but you can exchange letters with Mr. Wright after the trial… Although I think you should probably reconsider the choice of color regarding the envelope… People might think that you and Mr. Wright are… well…"

Edgeworth sighed and shook his head.

"Your Honor, I assure you that all of my letters are, in fact, wrapped in normal, white envelopes and that this specific one was certainly not written by me. This is a piece of evidence, you see."

"Evidence?" The judge asked surprised. "This cute, little envelope?"

"Yes…"

Edgeworth turned his head around. He looked over to me, right into my eyes.

"This letter was found at the crime scene, Wright…" He told me. "It was stuck under the door. I presume that someone slid the envelope into the room from underneath it and that it got caught up there when we entered the apartment later. This is why we didn't notice it right away."

(What… is he trying to do?) I wondered. (That's just an envelope… But why do I have this strange feeling about it then…?...Ah… Anyway…)



"That letter could have gotten there days ago, Edgeworth." I pointed out to him "Maybe I just forgot to pick it up."

"No, Wright. Not even you are capable of missing an envelope of this color for this long!"

(True… It is shock-pink…) I thought to myself, realizing that he was right… (…Who in their mind sends a letter in a shock-pink envelope? Some kind of fangirl, maybe?)

Then again, the thought of me having fangirls was just so incredibly off that I discarded it right away.

(Hm… Maya looks really nervous) I noticed, as I watched her staring at Edgeworth with the pink letter. (I wonder why… Is there something wrong with this letter… Wait… Could it be that she…)

Edgeworth went on explaining.

"However, the true quality of interest regarding this letter isn't the time this letter arrived at your apartment… but its sender."

I listened up.

"The sender?"

I had a feeling I knew where this was going…

"The name of the sender was, sadly not given on the envelope." Edgeworth told me. "Also, I didn't open the letter, seeing as how I respect the secrecy of correspondence…"

"Secrecy of Correspondence?" I asked, turning towards Franziska with an question mark on my face.

"A letter must only be opened and read by the intended receiver." She explained.

I saw her playing around with her whip under her desk… she was nervous. Not a good sign…

(No way… That letter…) My eyes were on Maya, who was looking like she wanted to hide. Just hide somewhere. (The way she's behaving… That means that she saw that letter before. It was Maya… Maya sent it!)

Just a second later, Edgeworth said almost exactly the same thing aloud to the court, for everyone to hear:

"Still, I think that it is safe to assume that this letter was, in fact, written and delivered by our witness… Maya Fey!"

He had barely finished the sentence, when Maya was ready to start to fight off the suspicion.

"N-No!" She shouted. "That… That's not mine! I've never seen that letter before! I swear!"

"I am sorry, Maya, but I can't believe this. There is too much evidence against it." Edgeworth explained.

"B-But…"

He continued with the letter.

"I didn't have the time yet to let the handwriting on the envelope be analyzed… yet, it looks suspiciously similar to yours… Further, the name written on the envelope is quite interesting as well… It reads "To Nick"."

"…!"

I sharpened my ears, just to make sure I didn't mishear something just now.

Meanwhile, Maya started shaking her head wildly: "N-No…!"

"'Nick'?" The judge asked confused. "But I thought the letter was sent to Mr. Wright! Who is this 'Nick' we are talking about now?"

"Eh…" I timidly raised my hand, "That'd be me…"

"But isn't your first name- …Oh…!" The judge closed his eyes and thought a moment. "… Phoenix… Fee-Nick-S… I see!"

Edgeworth nodded.

"Yes, Your Honor. It is a nickname only Mr. Wright's closest friends have used for him ever since his childhood. As you can see, it's only loosely derived from his actual name and requires some imagination to be understood. I, myself, only know about it because I have known him ever since our schooldays."

"Oho! I didn't know the two of you went back such a long way…"

(And Maya was one of the few people who actually used that name for me…) I realized. (But… That still leaves the question…)

I hit my desk. "But how does the nickname on the letter connect it to Maya, Edgeworth? Where do you think she could have possibly picked up that name? And why would she use it?"

(That last question… Please answer it.) I hoped. (Please tell me Edgeworth. I beg of you…)

But, to my disappointment, Edgeworth shrugged and shook his head.

"I am afraid that I don't know this yet… However… I know that she knew of the nickname."

"N-No, I didn't!" Maya shouted. "I never heard of that nickname before! I swear!"

(Sorry Maya, but I already know that this isn't true… And Edgeworth probably knows as well.)

This suspicion of mine was about to be confirmed.

"Maya… You do remember the short nap you took in my office yesterday?" Edgeworth asked. "Well… You were sleep talking."

Maya twitched.

"S-Sleep talking…?"

"Of course, most of what you said was barely understandable… But one sentence repeated several times. …'Please answer me, Nick'."

"HUH!"

Clapping both of her hands over her mouth, Maya stepped back in shock.

"…She said this in her sleep? 'Nick'?" The judge starred down at her. "But why would the witness know of this nickname?"

"I didn't!" Maya kept claiming. "My dream… That was a different Nick! Someone else! That has nothing to do with Mr. Wright!"

"Of course, I took the possibility of the name being merely a coincidence in account. But I soon came to the conclusion that this was not the case. Among a long line of other hints, I managed to engage in a few dialogues about you, Maya, with Mr. Wright. In every single instance he was… surprisingly knowledgeable…"

Maya's eyes turned wide. She turned her head towards me.

"N-NICK?"

I didn't respond. I was busy being shocked myself. After all, it was only now that I realized the reason… The true reason that Edgeworth hadn't been acting hostile towards me the past two days.

(He… He's been examining me!) I realized. (Every single time we talked… Every time I spoke to him… He only led those dialogues with me because he wanted to know how much I actually knew about Maya! Argh…)

As quickly as I could, I stretched out my arm and yelled.



"Edgeworth, what I told you doesn't count!" I shouted. "What I remember doesn't match up with the facts! Maya was never my-"

Not allowing me to finish the sentence, Edgeworth banged the desk.

"Excuse me, Wright, but I don't believe in 'miraculously changing memories'. It is much more likely that Maya Fey and you actually had a stronger connection than everyone assumed and that this memory happened to survive despite whatever caused your confusion."

"C-Confusion?" Maya was still looking at me. "What is he talking about? N-Ni…."

"Maya…"

I couldn't help but feel guilty. She looked so miserable… So horribly miserable. And I was partly to blame. Just because I had tried to tell Edgeworth about what happened to me… This was a big part of the reason she was standing here now. He would never have suspected her of having written the letter had I not told him so much about her…

Meanwhile, the judge had failed to keep up with everything that was going on in the courtroom, as usual.

"Mr. Edgeworth! What are you trying to tell us?"

Edgeworth looked up to him.

"Your Honor… The witness not only apparently wrote a letter to this man, who she claims to hate, she also used a nickname, which suggests the letter to be of very informal nature, a style of writing one wouldn't use when addressing a complete stranger. I am thus led to believe that Mr. Wright and Ms. Fey are closer to each other than we all think…"

"N-No! Please, Miles…!" Maya pleaded. Her eyes were wet and the first tears had already dropped down her cheek. "Stop… Please…"

"I believe them to have… a kind of relationship…"

And barely had he mentioned the word 'Relationship', the chatting up in the gallery was impossible to stop any longer. Whispering and chatting came from the ranks started and turned into loud rambling and outraged shouting in a matter of seconds.

I quickly took a look around. First I noticed that poor Maya was now looking like a scared, little mouse facing a fierce cat. Next I noticed that everyone was staring at Maya and me. And only the two of us.

(ARGH! NO! Please don't tell me that they're all drawing the same conclusion!)

However, everyone was doing exactly this. Everyone. Even the judge.

"So, Mr. Edgeworth, you think that Mr. Wright… And Ms. Fey here are… in fact… a couple?"

"No!" Maya cried shocked. "No, y-you don't understand! S-Stop… Stop!"

Edgeworth ignored Maya and replied. "I can't and shouldn't make any assumptions regarding the nature of the relationship based on the evidence I have."

(But the envelope is pink, Edgeworth. FREAKIN'. PINK.) I buried my hands in my hair. (Why did it have to be PINK, Maya? Why?)

"However… I am sure that all of Maya Fey's hatred towards Mr. Wright was merely faked."

(Maya…) I thought. (Is that what you were talking about yesterday and in the recess just now? You …You and 'me' weren't really… Were we?)

Edgeworth banged on the desk again. "Admit it, Maya! You were the person your Mother saw in the elevator on the day of the murder! You were there in order to deliver the letter to Mr. Wright!"

"N-No!" She kept denying it loudly. "I don't know about this letter! I didn't write it! Stop! Please, stop, Miles!"

(He won't stop…) I bit my lip. (Edgeworth once said that the truth will be revealed no matter how painful it may be. I still remember Adrian Andrews… It was exactly the same with her. He will do anything to get Maya to admit that she was there yesterday. Anything.)

And the people up in the gallery kept chatting:

"M-MAYOI and that… that spiky guy?"

"No way!"

"He's so much older than her! That's creepy!"

"But I heard she has refused every proposal she got for years… Maybe that's the reason!"

"…But the Prosecutor had a girlfriend! I read it in the news!"

"Does that mean they had an affair?"

"And even though that guy did this to her sister!"

"I-I never thought MAYOI would…"

The assumptions were getting worse and worse…

That was when I realized it: This could be Maya's end... The end of her image as an innocent, bubbly teen idol. If it came out that she was actually the author of this letter…

Tonight, this would be all over the internet. Tomorrow morning, this would be the headline of the newspapers. And tomorrow night, it would be on TV.

And by the day after tomorrow, her image would be ruined.

Yet, Edgeworth didn't stop.

"There is no use denying it, Maya! We will analyze the handwriting!"

I couldn't just sit there and watch him go on like this:



"Edgeworth, there are two words on the envelopes, both in caps!" I told him, hoping to get Maya out of the heat this way. "That's not enough for an analysis!"

"Y-Yeah!" Maya shouted. "It won't work… So… Don't even try!"

"…In that case, I will ask the court for the permission to open the letter."

"What….?"

"This way, we can analyze the handwriting, and read the letter's contents. It would clear all open questions regarding it… The sender, its nature and probably even the date it was written. Of course, this is only necessary if you keep refusing to reveal what you actually did on the afternoon of the murder."

When Maya heard this, her knees started shaking… until she almost fell down. The only thing keeping her from collapsing in the stand were her hands, with which she pressed against the rail to keep herself up.

And she turned towards me… looked at me in a pleading way:

"…Help…" She whimpered, barely audible through the noise in the courtroom. "…Help me… Nick…"

"Maya…"

(Edgeworth has gone too far… Way, way, way too far…)

My left hand shook. What I was about to do… I never thought that I would ever do this to another attorney…

But I had to do it. In fact, I should have done it much, much sooner. Not now that it was almost too late… My hesitation had caused Maya enough trouble already. This had to end.

I stretched out my hand and yelled.



"Edgeworth… Stop badgering the witness… THIS INSTANT!"

I had shouted from the top of my lungs so loudly I had been louder than the entire crowd in the courtroom and Maya's crying combined. And with this, it was silent.

It stayed that way for a few seconds... Long enough for me to take a few, much needed deep breaths.

Maya was staring at me. I don't know if she was surprised, shocked, or moved. I have no idea, really. All I knew was that she was staring at me.

And that Edgeworth, after a short break… smirked.

In a way that said 'Well done'.

I didn't understand it… So I gave him a puzzled look. Edgeworth just turned his head away and towards the judge.

"As you see, Your Honor…" He started. "This case is much more complicated than the first investigations have proven. Not only are there several hints towards the possibility that the crime scene was set up in order to frame Lana Skye of the crime, but the testimony of the Prosecution's witness is also of questionable quality, seeing as how there is a high chance that two other people, whom she would definitely have noticed, approached the crime scene not too long before the murder. As for now, it is impossible to tell what actually happened on the afternoon of the first of May in the Apartment of Mr. Wright. But I think it is safe to say that further research and investigation is required in order to uncover the truth behind those events. I request the court to grant me one more day in order to look further into the matter."

"Hm…" The judge appeared to be over thinking what Edgeworth had just said. Finally, he nodded.

"I agree with the Defense. Giving a verdict at this point would be a naïve, hasty act. What we found out does indeed cast some doubt on the Prosecution's case… What did Ms. Heatherd actually observe that day? Was Lana Skye really lacking her handbag when she entered the building? There are too many questions unanswered. I expect both the Defense and the Prosecution to conduct additional research and look further into this matter."

I looked up to him and nodded.

"Yes, your Honor."

Edgeworth did the same.

"Thank you."

I took a look to the right in order to see what Franziska was doing. I found her standing there with her arms crossed and her eyes closed, her face indicating that she was trying hard to hide her anger. I decided that I should probably attempt to avoid her as soon as I left the room…

The judge's voice echoed through the room.

"Court is now adjourned."

The judge slammed his gavel, and the trial's first day ended.

~*~

May 2nd, 1:16pm
District Court
Courtroom No.2

"This is a disaster!"

No, I hadn't managed to escape Franziska. She didn't even give me the chance to.

As soon as I had left the bench, she caught me by my sleeve – I guess I should be thankful that it wasn't my ear – and pulled me outside to lecture me. Just two meters to our left the people from the gallery were noisily leaving the courtroom, yet I could hear the young woman before me loud and clearly. Mostly because she was screaming so deafeningly that a few people even stopped and stared at us. A mother was just dragging her little child away from the two of us when Franziska went on:

"I have never seen such a horribly ill-prepared mess of a Prosecution before! You should sink into the floor out of shame right where you stand, you foolish…"

(Oh boy…Here she goes with the 'fool's again…)

I'll spare you the rest of her speech, but it all came down to one point:

Her majesty, Franziska Von Karma, Queen of the Kingdom of Uncreative Insults, was not pleased.

"…and a disgrace to all of the world's law-enforcement!

(Are you done yet?)

"You fool!"

[i](Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about that part.)

It was a miracle that Franziska's whip was still idly resting in her hand and that she was limiting herself to verbal abuse now. Maybe she had grown tired of whipping me?

…Hey, I can dream, right?

Franziska now went on to glaring at me. Just glaring. It was quite creepy, to be honest. She kept doing this for about half a minute, before she finally raised her finger, pointed me in the face and declared:

"You! You will come to the Crime Scene. Tonight. 18:00. Then, I will show you how to conduct a real investigation. And if you fail to learn like a good student…"

She suddenly grabbed her whip, raised it and hit the floor with so much force that I could swear that I felt the ground under my feet vibrate from it. The loud, cracking noise this produced wasn't exactly pleasant either.

"..Do you understand?" she snapped at me.

"Y-Yes, Ma'am…" I uttered.

(Good thing she's a Prosecutor and not a Grade School Teacher. No child in the world should ever be forced to feel the way I feel right now… *gulp*)

On that note, had Franziska von Karma been my teacher on the day of the class-trial, I would probably be dead and buried now.

Another icy stare from Franziska followed, piercing right through my eyes, before she finally turned around and left with loud steps.

There is no word for the relief which I felt that moment. Gladly, I wiped away the sweat from my forehead and sighed:

"She's gone… She's gone, she's gone, she's gone…! She's gone, she's gone, she's gone…!"

18:00… so now I had five hours without that woman. Five hours without any whips, perfections or fools. Five hours of freedom.

I wished that I could make those five hours the best five hours of my life… But I knew that I wouldn't get the chance to do so. There were too many open questions left.

And the first two of them were red, had chains on them and blocked my view on the truth behind whatever a certain big mouthed lass had done at a certain time.

(I watched her when she left the courtroom before… She headed for the cafeteria.)

I put my hand into my pocket and enclosed the Magatama in it.

(It's Show Time, Ms. Witness…)

Just when I wanted to turn to the side and walk to the cafeteria, I heard steps behind me. They were close by and approaching quickly. I wanted to turn around and look who's there, but I didn't even get that far: Someone grabbed me by my sleeve, quickly took my hand, pressed something into it, closed it to a fist and let go again.

(…?)

By the time I had turned, all I could see was someone running down the hallway away from me, a long, black ponytail waving after her…

Of course, I recognized her.

(Maya!)

Surprised, I lifted the hand she had pressed the little object into and opened it before my eyes: The 'object' was a crumpled piece of paper from a notepad. I unfolded it as quickly as possible and read the note.



(No, Maya. I don't know the spot.)

I couldn't do much more than sigh when I read the note… The scenes that happened in the courtroom just a few minutes ago replayed in my mind.

Maya… It was so obvious that Edgeworth's deduction wasn't too far off from the truth, but…

Could she and I really have been…a…a…

(Ah… I don't know what to think anymore…)

A headache. I put my palm to my forehead.

(A relationship with… Maya… No, No, No I can't imagine that. She's just too… Maya.)

To be honest, I couldn't picture any man in this world having a relationship of this kind with Maya. Maya just wasn't the… type. There were girls you could picture being someone's girlfriend and there was… well, Maya. Just… Maya.

(Alright… I should probably focus on the content of the note… 3 o' clock, huh?)

I took a look at my wristwatch.

(And Kurain is two hours from here by train… Not to mention that Franziska wants me back at that Apartment at 6 o'clock… Two hours to Kurain, two hours back from Kurain, plus the time walking and searching for Maya's meeting place…There's no way I can make this.)

I leaned against the wall, my hand sliding down from my forehead to my face.

(I wish I had a car.)

"Hey, Pal!"

I let my hand off my face. What I saw before me then was a dirty trench coat containing a person with a great, big smile on his face.

An idea then came to me all of a sudden.

(Hm… That should work as well…)

"Uhm… Why are you looking at me like that, Pal?" The detective looked a bit intimidated. "…You're kinda creeping me out…"

"Eh- It's nothing!" I quickly said, trying to smile. "Anyway… Detective Gumshoe, could you do me a favor?"

Gumshoe nodded.

"Anything for you, Pal!"

"Great! Eh… You do have a car, don't you?"

A nervous laugh from Gumshoe followed: "Well, I guess you can call it a car… But it's not… uhm, how do you say it… the newest model…?"

(Second Hand. Like his whole life.)

"But you can still drive it, right?"

"Of course!" He confirmed. "Anywhere you want me to, Pal!"

I nodded in order to imply that I understood.

"I need you to help me get somewhere..."

Now I paused. Trying to explain where exactly I needed to get was going to be difficult… I had never used anything but the train to get there and didn't really know which route to take by car… Hopefully, the Detective had a map with him, otherwise I'd be in trouble…

"It's a place called 'Kurain'. It's a village in the mountains north of the town and…"

"Ah! The place where they're shooting the Steel Samurai movie?"

"…"

Well, this made things a lot easier.

(Thank god for publicity.)

The Detective seemed very enthusiastic.

"That's just one hour and a half from here!" He declared merrily.

(…I definitely need to get myself a car.)

I was starting to ponder what might be the quickest and, most importantly, least expensive way to get a Driver's License, when the Detective's voice attracted my attention.

"Wow, I didn't know you were such a big fan that you would drive all the way up there just to see those guys shooting!"

I jumped up.

"W-What? No, listen I'm not going there because of the mo-"

The detective laughed.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, pal! Your secret is safe with me."

"You got the wrong guy!"

But he just kept on laughing… except that the laugh somehow, in a weird way, reminded me of a giddy schoolgirl's giggle.

I decided to ignore Gumshoe's misinterpretation of my request to be brought to Kurain and focus on more important stuff again.

After all, I had just won an additional hour worth of time, just like that. I could actually feel how a lot of unnecessary weight fell off my shoulders.

Which meant that there was still time for…

"Alright, Detective… I have something to take care of in the cafeteria. Could you please get your car ready in the meantime?"

He saluted.

"OK, Pal! I'll be ready then… oh, wait, the cafeteria?" Gumshoe seemed to have remembered something: "Then, could you please give her that from me, while you're there? That'd be great!"

"Her?"

He didn't answer me, but handed me a little box… it was warm.

A lunch box.

Suddenly, I had a feeling I knew who 'her' was….

"I know, seeing how it's a cafeteria, it seems a little weird…" Detective Gumshoe told me. "But they don't sell those there and I know that she likes them the best!"

Wieners. The smell was unmistakably that of fried sausages.

Did the Courthouse Cafeteria really not have those on the menu…?

(Alright… I guess I'll bring 'her' that lunchbox then…

Come to think… while I'm at it, I could also get rid of some unnecessary stuff, right? My suitcase is getting kind of heavy…)

Evidence:

*) Prosecutor's Badge

I never thought I'd ever hold this in my hands. The design closely resembles the police's emblem.

*) Magatama

This gem allows me to see the locks on people's hearts whenever they hide the truth from me. It was a gift from Maya and is charged with Pearls' spiritual energy.

*) Photo of Iris

A picture of me and Iris in Kurain. Apparently we were still a couple here, up until recently.
CHECK: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1896 ... feenie.png

*) Cellphone

Compared to the Cellphone I usually use, this is high tech luxury. There are messages from Ema, Lana and Gumshoe on it.
CHECK: http://img17.imageshack.us/i/cellphone.png/
EMA'S MESSAGE(1) CHECK: http://img267.imageshack.us/i/emamessagesooner.png/

EMA'S MESSAGE(2) CHECK: http://img132.imageshack.us/i/emamessage.png/

LANA'S MESSAGE CHECK: http://img121.imageshack.us/i/lanamessage.png/

*) Victim(?) Note

Reads "Lana" in red letters of blood.
CHECK: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/4660/victimnote.png

*) Snackoos Bag

Found near Ema. She was apparently eating them before she was killed. Imported from Europe.

*) Dart

A small, needle-like projectile, made for use with a tranquilizer gun. There are faint traces of blood on it. Found near the sofa.

*) Rope

Ripped. Apparently, Lana tried to hang herself with it. It was cut before it ripped.

*)Sketch

A picture of Maya, Pearls and me, drawn in my boredom. Note to self: Giving up the art studies was a good choice.
CHECK: http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/645/sketchonaboat.png

*)Autopsy Report

Victim died between 17:00 and 17:20 from massive blood loss after receiving a stab wound in the chest. The back of the head was bruised.
CHECK: http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6753/autopsyreport.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 1

CHECK: http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9230/crimescenephoto1.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 2

CHECK: http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8229/crimescenephoto2.png

*)Knife

The murder weapon. Was cleaned with soap after the crime, so there are no finger prints or bloodstains on it left. Belongs to the Defendant.

*)Fingerprint List

Lists the people who touched the door's handle.
CHECK : http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4497/fingerprintslist.png

*)Ema's Button

One of the three Badges Ema wore on her labcoat. It came off before she died. The needle is bloody and crooked.

*)Wiener-Lunchbox

Gumshoe asked me to give this to "someone" in the cafeteria.

Profiles:

*) Phoenix Wright

I have been a Defense Attorney for three years now. But now it looks like people were convinced of something else suddenly...

*) Miles Edgeworth

An old school friend of mine. Apparently, he's a renowned Defense Attorney here. The "Him" I remember, on the other hand, was an extremely talented, but arrogant Prosecutor.

*) Maya Fey

Sprite
Singing (Turnabout Sisters Song)[Hatsune Miku(Vocaloid)]
Apparently a famous pop idol known as "MAYOI". In my memory, she was a Spirit Medium and served as my assistant and co-council in many of my cases.

*) Ema Skye

A teenager, who was dreaming of becoming a forensic investigator one day and good friend of mine. Was murdered in the apartment.

*) Lana Skye

Ema's older sister. Apparently tried to commit suicide in the bathroom. Her suicide note implicates her as her sister's killer.

*) Dick Gumshoe

Still detective of the local police force. Still as underpaid as ever.

*) Mia Fey

Maya's older sister and a detective. Currently under arrest for attempted murder. I remember her being my mentor as a Defense Attorney and murdered shortly after my very first trial.

*) Dahlia Fey

Maya's and Mia's cousin and Iris's identical twinsister. Was the coldblooded killer 'Dahlia Hawthorne' in the world I remember, but declared guilty for a crime she didn't commit alongside Mia in this one. Her personality seems to have been turned upside down...

*) Klavier Gavin

Leadsinger and Guitarist of a Band called "Gavinners". Apparently also a lawyer. His name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I first met him.

*) Lilie Heatherd

Sprite
Voice: OBJECTION!
A Defence Attorney known as the "Evidence Spammer". Claims to have witnessed Ema and Lana entering the Apartment shortly before the murder.

*) Iris Fey

Singing (??? Song)
Maya and Mia's cousin, Dahlia's twin and hire to the master title of Kurain in this 'world'. Recently broke up with 'me'. Unhappy with her occupation as a Spirit Medium.

*) Franziska von Karma

Prosecutor Prodigy from Germany, who was assigned to aid me during this trial. She enjoys whipping lawyers, judges and witnesses alike and strives for absolute perfection in her trials.

*) Misty Fey

Sprite
Alternate Outfit
Talented Spirit Medium and mother to Mia and Maya Fey. Saw a third witness.

And with this, the trial's first day comes to an end. Frankly, I'm quite glad. You have no idea how repetetive those Courtroom scenes got after Heatherd's testimony. -.-;

Seriously, I was SHOCKED when I saw that some people actually guessed MAYA to be the killer when Edgeworth called her to the stand! O-o;

Did I really make it look like that? I mean, of course, somebody needs to have killed Ema, but MAYA? X-x Not even I am that twisted!

I had planned the scene with the pink letter for a long, long time now. It first came to me when I listened to Justice for All's "Pursuit-Cornered" theme and suddenly wondered what Maya would look like if she was put under the same kind of pressure Adrian Adrews was put in that game. Complete with shattering hair-decors. :-D

Kinda simmilar to this:


Except, you know, in the Diva Outfit.
Oh, and while we are at customSprites: Yes, that one pose early in the chapter is based off Sailor Moon. Trust me, that's not gonna be the last Sailor Moon reference in this fanfic. Rember the Steel Samurai Movie? Oh, this going to be one merry Ani-Manga-Game Reference drinking game.....


I tried hard to write that scene as well as possible, since it's one of my personal favorites. Not only did this give Phoenix a reason to finally fight for something in this trial (thus restoring the status quo somewhat), I also could play out the emotional side of the characters a bit.

Ah, the Maya-Phoenix pairing. What a strange one. On one hand, it seems nice, on the other hand, Maya's personality makes it seem logically impossible. To be honest, I don't know know whether to support this pairing or not, but I'm somewhat more inclined to say "No". In any case, Maya and Nick make wonderful friends.

Speaking of pairings... The Mitsu-Hodo joke was the main reason I made the envelope pink. Seriously.

More fun with Phoenix' non-existent driver's license. You can look at it from any angle you want, but, face it, a car is faster than a train for several reasons.

Lastly: Weenies, Pal! ;-D

!!! MAYOI's idol pose = BEST. SPRITE. EVER. *キラッ~* ...Oh noes! After reading the author's comments, I guess I got the wrong reference! xP Fail!
The chapter title did not fail to deliver. It's absolutely adorable. x333 Especially the wink! I would so be one of those squealing fans in the gallery.
Her totally commercial-ish self-intro, though sweet and funny, did a great job of conveying that hint of forcedness that shows how she's clearly putting on a brave face, as we've seen her character do so often. I thought that was the first of many quite powerful moments in this chapter.

Oh, Udgey, you're so behind the times, as always!
But, aww, I wanted to hear what his favorite song was... or approximately how old he is...

Oh-ho! Franzy meeting her match was certainly interesting. Not even her powers of perfection and intimidation can triumph over the influence of a celebrity and her loyal fanbase! And even better than seeing her getting told off by the crowd was finally seeing her get told off by the judge (even though he did so by threatening Phoenix in her stead...). Phoenix definitely needed at least that short break from his role as her personal punching bag whipping post -- poor guy!

"Eh…Eh…" ... "Burgers!" = xD

('Black Hole'… surprisingly fitting description…) = xDDD

... "Excuse me, but you can exchange letters with Mr. Wright after the trial… Although I think you should probably reconsider the choice of color regarding the envelope… People might think that you and Mr. Wright are… well…" = xDDDDDD!!! ... You... just... that... WIN.

Of course, there were just as many wonderfully "=O!" moments as there were wonderfully "xD!" moments.

The whole tension during the accusation was great. Oh, so that's the scene you intended that breakdown sprite for! Hm, Maya really does need an outward expression for all of that trauma she tends to go through.

The complete reversal of Phoenix's and Edgeworth's legal roles is so awesome. They keep the same personalities and techniques, even though they're working toward opposite goals... and YET, they're working toward the SAME goal... It's really fascinating to keep track of.

"Then again, the thought of me having fangirls was just so incredibly off that I discarded it right away." ...Haha, you never know, Mr. Wright: prosecutors have been known to inspire frothing desire from the female masses. x3

"On that note, had Franziska von Karma been my teacher on the day of the class-trial, I would probably be dead and buried now." Ohhhh, now that's a terrifying thought. But, haha, a very clever and smoothly integrated reference!!

(Second Hand. Like his whole life.) Ouch!! But, yeah, we know it's true...
The Edgeworth&Gumshoe-esque Phoenix&Gumshoe interaction is so great. I just love real-universe Gumshoe, and alternate-universe Gumshoe hasn't lost a bit of his sweetness.
And then the weenies at the end -- you sure did a lot of ship-hinting in this chapter, pal! And it was awesome. A little bit of something for everybody~

But I'm also glad to see that you're not pushing any pairings (like Phoenix/Maya, I mean). I think it's best that way. Just lots and lots of subtext. Chalk up another point under "reasons this fic mirrors the real AA universe so perfectly." I just can't get over how you're changing everything, yet you're not really changing anyone at all. Which includes not imposing any personal character interpretations or shippings.

...And hoping Apollo is one of them! It'll be awesome to see a young version of him... and to see how the heck he's going to connect to anything in this story. I've been looking at him, Trucy, and Kay in that sig banner and can't figure out how they could possibly be integrated into this alternate universe... I must know!!!

...And it just occurred to me -- duh -- that, even if those other characters won't be appearing immediately, the next chapter is bound to at least let us meet Maggey! That sounds fun; I can't wait to see what kind of terribly unfortunate mess she gets herself into this time ...if perhaps the gods of fate in this alternate universe have shown her a bit more mercy...? *crosses fingers for her sake*

...Wait... W-we didn't technically hear a name... if Gumshoe has a different crush in this world, I...I... *Maggey/Gummy shipper + total hypocrite who just finished saying that it was a good thing not to push pairings* xD;

Best. Chapter. Ever. I love the Nick/Maya pairing! And it was the funniest chapter so far as well. Your characterization of Franzy is hilarious and so accurate.

"Her majesty, Franziska Von Karma, Queen of the Kingdom of Uncreative Insults, was not pleased."

That made me lol. I'm sure everyone at work thinks I'm crazy now. xD I never really thought about it, but her insults really are unoriginal, aren't they?

IT'S SO GOOD, IT'S CRIMINAL AND AGAINST THE LAW
... ANNDDDD, i shell leave my review here too (: Well first of all... this chapter is FULL OF WIN. It again brought me another
handful of joy and laughter ! I personally was one of those people who really dreadfully wished to teach Franzeska some piece of
her own whippy medicine... so I honestly was grinning like a foolish fool at the part when Franzy gets owned by a bunch of
squieky Maya fanpeople and the judge... THE JUDGE, AHAHA. and yet in the actual game he does no crap to stop her whippy attempt in the court

Maya/Phoenix pairing in this chapter was also an entertaining twist. I couldn't believe why she was like, trying to beat the crap out of Phoenix everytime. I guess she's a good type of 'tsundere' =D Although... Edgeworth! you were too harsh to poor fellow girl... She's not same as Adrian =3= That scene when Edgey was pressuring her to limits really DID remind me the part in PW-JFA when poor Adrian was totally being gnawed by Edgey's edgey pressing...

I'm also one of the readers who would be HELLA GLAD to see new characters performing their roles, so I really am happy the court part is finally over. NOT THAT I DIDN'T LIKE THIS 'COURT' PART, I LOVED EVERY SINGLE MICROSCOPIC INCH OF IT

Man, I'll be dying to wait what event comes next... I personally wanna see GOD- I mean, that coffee procecutor guy (: and the sparking rivalry of Manfred and Gregory... well the DL6 never happened, so they would be still alive and well, ahah. In fact, there were some parts in your fanfic that showed the conflicts of Franzesca and Edgeworth... and her mentioning his father and stuff.
I wonder if the SL6? that thing from the case RISE FROM THE ASHES, right? I wonder if it still happened... If that case is behind all this reason why Ema was killed, and Lana trying to attempt suicide... I guess it's highly unlikely though. It's just my stupid guess .

But OH GOD IF GANT APPEARS IN YOUR FANFIC, my head will explode. No hell way I'll ever forget his somewhat-hearty-creepy-laugh, and his STARE, THAT DEMONIC STARE

May 2nd, 1:26pm
District Courthouse Cafeteria

If I really have to describe my first thoughts upon entering the cafeteria, I guess they went something like this:

(What is this?)

Everybody probably knows what a cafeteria is supposed to look like, right? That plain, boring look? The look that makes you happy that you won't have to spend much more than twenty to forty minutes in it because it looks just so incredibly dull that even a bathroom seems exciting compared to it? Well, the courthouse cafeteria was usually exactly like this. Usually.

Not so today. When I first opened the door, I was about to close it again, since I was convinced that this had to be the wrong room. The sign on the door, however, after some double checking, proved me wrong.

I stepped inside.

(…)

Well… I should probably list the odd things now, shouldn't I?

Well, firstly: It was pink. The room was PINK.

The tablecloths, the chairs, décor on the walls, the curtains… In addition to everything being frilly enough to rival the clothes Maya was now wearing.

I had no idea that a single room could be that pink-

-right until the memories of a certain French restaurant came back to my mind and I quickly decided to abandon any thoughts related to the color pink, in order to keep myself from barfing at those certain memories. A hard thing to do seeing as how I was surrounded by that color…

Alright, next odd thing: Cats.

Not living ones, of course. But the whole room was decorated with cats. White, anthropomorphic cats in dresses, with balloon-sized heads, giving them an eerily similarity to the Blue Badger, at least proportion-wise. Also, they had giant black eyes. I felt I was being watched by those eyes. It was creepy.

The third thing that stroke me: The smell.

It was …sweet. Incredibly sweet, actually… Nothing like lunch was supposed to smell like. At least my lunch usually didn't smell like this. It smelt like someone had decided to cook three saucepans full of pure caramel on the stove for some reason. There was also a hint of a burnt fragrance in there… Hopefully somebody was in the kitchen to stop whatever what was cooking from setting the whole courthouse on fire.

So much for my initial impression.

(…This has to be some sort of theme week or something, I guess…) I finally concluded, after digesting the initial shock. (Although I don't remember the Courthouse Cafeteria ever having any kind of—Oh, why am I even bothering with my memory anymore?)

I took another look around.

(I just wonder what kind of 'theme' this is supposed to be… 'I'm so glad I don't have diabetes'-week? This is just...eh…)

I wanted to look to the other side of the room, but then I noticed how I wasn't able to look at the wall there any longer. Something was blocking my view now. Something –surprise, surprise – pink. And this something saluted.

"WELCOME TO OUR HUMBLE ESTABLISHMENT, MASTER!"

"WHAAAAA!"

Was my reaction.

"WHAAAAA!"

Was also pink-clad-saluting-someone's reaction to this being my reaction.

I identified "pink-clad-saluting-someone" as a young woman with short, brown hair, Maggey Byrde, just a split second before she tripped and fell to the floor. With a loud sound she landed on the tiles under our feet.

"Ow…Ow…Ow…" She rubbed her back a few times, then looked up at me with big eyes. "M-Mr. Wright, Sir! D-Don't shout like this! You scared me!"

"S…Sorry…?" I replied carefully, as I bowed down to her and helped her up. "You were the one to shout first! How do you think I felt?"

"But I had to do this!" Maggey replied and she seemed still somewhat startled. "The correct greeting is the first step to conveying the correct atmosphere…eh…Master!"

She jumped up and bowed before me, so lowly, that her nose almost touched the floor.

I backed off at this: "D-Don't call me that! I'm not your master! I'm not even your superior!"

Maggey just shook her head and stepped towards me, insisting.

"That doesn't matter! In a Maid Café, every guest is the maid's master, Mr. Wright, master!"

"M-Maid Café?" (So that's what they're calling this nightmare

"Yes!" She saluted again. "Step four in our great "The many faces of Asia"-Month: Tokyo! Emulated establishment of choice: An Akihabara-style Maid Café!"

(I have that nagging feeling that I would have liked steps one to three waaaay better…)

"And… the point is…?" I finally asked somewhat hesitantly.

Maggey was still saluting.

"To convey a pleasant, interesting atmosphere to our customers, so they might eventually decide to eat here again later, even when they're not watching one of the trials, master!"

(Interesting? Goal Achieved. Pleasant? Absolute Failure.)

Only now I finally took the time to take a closer look at what Maggey was wearing… And immediately started to think that this uniform might be part of the reason I recognized her so quickly, despite of the shock she gave me when I came: Aside from the fact that it was pink, it looked pretty similar to the uniform of the Trés Bien waitresses, which she had worn during the trial in January. It made me wonder what the point of this being an Asia-themed month was when they were going to dress the waitresses in French fashion, but… oh well. It wasn't like traditional Japanese clothes were anything special to me any longer anyway, so this was, in a certain way actually more 'interesting' to me… But not in the way they intended it to be, that's for sure.

Also, I still didn't understand the Cats. Not at all.

Just then, Maggey started twiddling her fingers a little nervously and bit her lip.

"Well… it's actually like this, Sir, you know… "She peeked up at me. "The cafeteria has been running a little low on costumers lately. People rather bring their own food or leave the courthouse to eat somewhere else… so the administration had to take action."

"And… this is the result?" I asked, wondering how a person who seriously believed this to be a nice idea could possibly have the intellectual capacities to end up handling the administration of anything.

"Yes…" Maggey nodded half-heartedly. Apparently, despite her superficial enthusiasm, she wasn't too fond of this whole Maid-Café-thing either. I couldn't blame her for it. This had to feel degrading. Being forced to act like she was every costumer's personal slave, because of this whole "Master" business…

"Hm… but wait… "Something weird about this had occurred to me. "If I remember right…Wasn't the cafeteria a self-service restaurant?"

Maggey nodded and smiled agreeing. "Yes, that's correct. You take a tablet and plate, slide it along the rail over there and just take what you feel like eating!"



"But those two concepts are contradicting each other!" I exclaimed without thinking, my finger flinging out like a bullet, right into the direction of Maggey's forehead.

"WHAAA!"

Maggey backed off in shock, tripped again and fell.

"OW! P-Please don't shout!"

"Argh! I'm sorry!"

I helped her get up again. Once back on her feet, Maggey started brushing the dust of her dress.

"Ah! Just look at this… that's not good. Those clothes were expensive. If I get those dirty, the administration will have me pay for the cleaning…"

(Knowing your luck, you'll probably end up burning them to ashes then…)

"Well… anyway…" Maggey was barely finished with her uniform when she turned at me again. She suddenly snapped back into her more energetic state, wildly moving her arms around as she exclaimed:

"What do you wish today, master? Be our guest! Would you be so kind as to honor us by taking a seat? I'll offer you tea and something to eat! Your every wish is my command!"

"Ehm…alright…" I decided to save both Maggey's and my dignity first. "On one condition, though… I'd like to ask you not to call me 'Master' anymore, alright? It's… kind of weird."

Maggey clapped her heels.

"Understood, Sir!"

(Better…)

"Alright…" I sighed. My eyes wandered up and down her uniform once more. "…So… you're working at the cafeteria now?"

"Yes, Sir!" Maggey nodded. "After losing the job at the car wash, I thought about trying as a bailiff, but when I applied, they asked me to take the spot here instead!"

(So she was fired from her last job... Ah…At least there are some things that never change.)

I shouldn't have been happy about this, but it was good to know that Maggey was still the same as I remembered. The Maggey Byrde I knew had lost two jobs in less than two years for reasons she had absolutely no influence on: Being wrongly accused of murder. Both times. And that was just part of the bad luck she had. If everything she had told me about the two times I defended her was true, I would be far from surprised if I found out that her birthday was a Friday the 13th and that she grew up surrounded by black cats.

But, in a certain, weird way, I guess Maggey could also be considered 'lucky'. I mean, who else survives a fall from the 9th floor unscathed? At age one?

"Bailiff… so you tried getting back into law enforcement?" I finally asked her.

Maggey tilted her head. She seemed a little uncomfortable: "Well… mostly to stop Detective Gumshoe from using up all his gasoline for me…"

"Huh?"

I wondered what the gasoline in Gumshoe's car could possibly have to do with Maggey's job… although I already got a slight idea, even before Maggey finally went on.

"…Well, I don't have a car anymore, do I?" She told me, sighing and letting her head sink.

(…Is that somehow related to that car-wash incident? Ah, I think I don't even want to know…)

"Now the Detective insists on driving me everywhere. I thought that working here closer to him would be the best way to make sure that his driving routes stay… uhm… reasonably short."

"There are always taxis and the public means of transport." I told her, but she just shook her head.

"Taxis are expensive and I've been avoiding the tram ever since that encounter with that one pickpocket…"

"And you don't have a bike either?"

"I haven't used it ever since the incident with-"

Seeing where this was going, I quickly raised both my hands and stopped her:

"A-Alright, I get the picture."

Maggey didn't reply anything to this, but it was obvious that this hadn't been very encouraging for her. She sighed and turned her head away:

"What would I give for one day without any catastrophes…"

"Well… There's still today!" I told her in attempt to cheer her up. "Ehm… nothing has yet happened to you today, has it?"

Raising her head a bit again, Maggey pondered, before she replied. "Well… No, nothing yet…"

She then slowly started smiling during her next words.

"… Maybe you're right, Sir! …I mean…I just gotta keep on trying! And one day… One day I will have my one lucky moment! Yes, one day I'll stand up and kiss the 'Goddess of Misfortune' goodbye!"

Her enthusiasm had returned, which was good, albeit a bit sudden.

"Yes…ehm… Just stay on the ball!" I told her, again wishing that Maya was here. I knew that my cheering didn't sound too convincing. She was much better at this than me. Still, it seemed to have helped Maggey at least.

"Whew…" Maggey sighed one last time, although it was probably more out of relief. She saluted and looked at me. "I'm feeling a lot better now! Thank you, Sir!"

"You're welcome. Oh… and speaking of Detective Gumshoe…" I got the lunchbox out and handed it to her. "He gave me this for you."

"Oh…" The moment Maggey caught sight of the box, her eyes grew wide and shone. "…Weenies!"

She took the box and inhaled a deep breath full of the smell. "Ah! You were right, Sir! This really is my lucky day!"

"…" I decided to just ask before I get even more confused."…Because of… sausages?"

"Everything we have on the menu right now is loaded with sugar!" Maggey explained to me. "I mean, I like cake and all… but there's a limit to everything! Right now…"

She smiled the biggest smile I ever remembered getting to see from her "… those weenies look like the most delicious thing in the world to me! I'm not kidding!"

(I think I can understand her…) I thought, finally getting aware of the smell in the cafeteria's air again. (If I had to spend my whole day here, I'd be that enthusiastic about normal food as well…)

"Thank you, Sir!"

Maggey saluted once again, before she hastily unwrapped and opened the lunch box and licked her lips. "Now… it's Lunch Time!"



"…!"

Maggey almost dropped her lunch from the shock when she heard that shout.

"W-What… W-Who…?"

(…It wasn't me. I swear.)

The voice had been female. I took a look around, in order to find out where it had actually come from and… found the source roughly two meters to our right.

And there she was: The blonde girl with the grumpy look… Lilie Heatherd. I should have known it was her. After all, I came to the cafeteria to talk to her in the first place.

Now, the great question: Was it a good or a bad thing that she 'found' me before I found her?

Heatherd had a large plate loaded with cakes and candy with her. She was continuously stuffing some of the contents into her mouth as if she would die of starvation the moment it wasn't filled to at least seventy five percent anymore. Finally, she stopped shoving, chewed a few times, swallowed and glared at Maggey.

"As I thought…"

She didn't honor me with a single glance from her eyes. Apparently, she even ignored that I was here. Instead, she stepped up straight to Maggey and pointed at her accusingly.

"…So, you were hiding some after all?"

"Eh…" Maggey had a big question mark on her face "Hiding? What?"

"Don't play dumb." Heatherd told her. "I'm talking about those."

She pointed at the lunchbox in Maggey's hands, causing her to exclaim. "Huh?"

"Geez, what a lousy service." Heatherd went on to say. "I clearly asked you 'Do you also have anything from the usual menu in stock today?' and you clearly answered 'No.'. And now, what is this? I find you eating the exact same sausages that I was planning on ordering! I've seen a lot, but I've never had the personnel at a restaurant lying to me before. No wonder anyone hardly ever comes here nowadays. Hmph."

"Eh…No, No, you see, that's a misunderstanding, Miss!" Maggey tried to defend herself. "Those weenies… those are my-"

"Those are not 'Weenies'." Heatherd cut Maggey short and raised an eyebrow. "'Wieners', named after the Austrian city of Vienna, are made from pork and beef, while the ones that you have here are made from pork only. Those are Frankfurter, their German equivalent. It's so obvious from the smell! Geez, you're working here and can't even tell that difference?"

(Does anyone even CARE about that "difference"?)

I touched my forehead with my fingers and shook my head in disbelief at the performance this girl was giving here.

After she finished her sausage lecture – which I strongly suspected to be completely made up, just for the sake of humiliating Maggey – Heatherd stuffed some more cake into her mouth, swallowed, started playing with her hair again and addressed Maggey with a rather rude tone.

"Waitress. I want my Frankfurters spicy. So bring some chili to my table, understood?"

"What?" Maggey seemed understandably shocked. "B-But I can't give you those! They were a gift from-"

"So…" Heatherd looked at the ceiling and tightly wrapped some of her hair around her finger "If it's like that, I'm sure your boss will love to hear how this 'maid' threatens her 'masters'… Do you already know where you'll apply next?"

"…!"

Maggey backed off. She was apparently out of counter arguments… She waited a few seconds before she threw the Lunchbox a last, longing look. Then she reluctantly held it out to Heatherd.
"H-Here…Just take it…"

"Oh?" Heatherd listened up. "What was that? Didn't sound exactly like a proper maid, if you ask me…"

"Eh…" Maggey sighed. Her face looked rather… tortured. She held out the lunchbox, bowed and stated in a monotonous voice.

"…Here… please accept this most humble gift of a simple maid… Mistress…"

"Good."

Heatherd snatched the lunchbox out of Maggey's hand, ignoring that she looked like she was on the verge of tears, and simply added it to the food on her plate. She turned around to return to her table...



This time it was me.

"Ms. Heatherd, I don't think you'll have the time to eat those!" I told her rather loudly. I hadn't thought that it would be possible for her to make me dislike her anymore than I already did, but she had gone and done it.

(Now I'll get you…)

I raised my arm and pointed at her, shouting.

"I have some questions for you and I won't take an "I don't feel like talking" for an answer!"

"Oh?"

Heatherd turned around and paid me a quick glance, before turning back around again.

"Ah…Mr. Wright… didn't notice you were there."

I frowned when I heard her seriously claiming this.

(I stood right in front of you the whole time, girl. I'm not that easy to miss…)

"Anyway… Forget it." She told me bluntly. "I already told you everything I know today and I hate repeating myself. It's not my fault that your opponent had two women with a fake testimony up his sleeve."

"No. Maya didn't even give the testimony Edgeworth wanted." I disagreed. "She fought his claim that her mother saw her till the very end."

"Oh? Really? Now that's a new one…" She said, sounding slightly interested. Emphasis on 'slightly'. "Sorry, but I didn't really pay attention to that part of the trial… I probably fell asleep somewhere along the way…"

(…'Fell Asleep'? With Franziska's whip cracking, Maya crying, and the other observers running amok?)

"Ms. Heatherd… I know that you are hiding something from us…"

My hand wandered into my pocket, reaching for the Magatama inside.

"…I wonder what this is? What are you keeping secret?"

"Nothing." She replied shortly, an angry glare in her eyes. "Geez… You know what? You're really starting to annoy me with that one question of yours. No matter how many times you ask it, the answer won't change."

(I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you, Missy…)

The two Psyche Locks had reappeared. Now all I had to do was break them. And how eager I was to break them…

"And now, excuse me. I'm hungry."

She continued her way back to her table. And given the amount of food she had loaded on her plate, it would take a while until she would leave… She wouldn't escape now. Her appetite and overconfidence would be her downfall… at least that of her Psyche Locks.

In any case, Maggey remained left behind with me, lunch-box-less and obviously a little crushed. She starred at her empty hands and sighed.

"Oh… So much for my lunch…"

A loud rumbling sound followed that statement. Probably Maggey's stomach. I felt sorry for her, but somehow we could have foreseen this… Maggey always ends up getting the short end of the stick. That's basically her job. The one nobody could fire her from …

"Hm…" I took a look over to Heatherd, who was just returning to her table, mumbling. "I could sue her for you…"

And I wasn't just joking. I seriously played with the thought of doing it.

Maggey, however, just shook her head.

"No, thank you, Sir… With my luck, I know I'd only lose that lawsuit… " She crossed her arms. The expression on her face became a little more aggressive. "You know, actually, I'm not really that upset because she took my lunch… I've had way worse things happen to me. I'm just annoyed because it was that girl who suggested that whole weird concept here in the first place! And now she's complaining about the menu…Hmph."

"That was her?" I asked surprised, causing Maggey to nod.

"Yes. The administration held a competition to decide the themes of the Asia Month and that girl… well, she entered about fifty concepts or so…"

I gasped when I heard the number.

"F-Fifty?"

Maggey smiled again.

"Yeah, pretty amazing, huh? I guess she really loves Asian Restaurants."

(Hm… Come to think of it, Heatherd mentioned that she was fond of foreign food during her testimony, didn't she? Still… fifty restaurant concepts… wow…)

"Ehm… Mr. Wright?"

"…Yes?"

I turned my attention to Maggey again as she continued.

"…thank you for trying to cheer me up, Sir…" She was still smiling, but seemed a little hesitant to speak on. "Eh…I hope this doesn't sound weird now, but… Did something happen? …Eh, something good, I mean."

"…?"

Maggey continued. "It's just that… you seem to be in such a good mood today. You never just talk to anyone like that… In such a friendly way, too… And even though the trial's not going too well…Ah!" Like she had remembered something, her head swung up, and she nervously started making corrections to what she said.

"Of course, I don't mean that you're performing badly! And it's also not like you're always in a foul mood or something… I mean… eh…"

I didn't need a Magatama to see that those two added sentence were everything but honest. Maggey suddenly started evading my eyes, like she was afraid of them… Reminding me of what everybody here believed 'me' to be like.

To her and everybody else here, 'Phoenix Wright' was a person who didn't show regret over inflicting harm on others. An egotist who cared for nobody but himself… or, like Maya put it, 'A horrible, heartless monster'…

No matter how hard it was for me to believe this, to everybody else here, this was the 'reality'. This completely different 'me' was the 'real me' to them. This was the 'Phoenix Wright' Maggey was probably used to. But just now, I had led small talk with her and tried to lift her spirit. Of course she now believed me to be in an unusually good mood… My behavior had to be completely 'Out of Character' in her eyes. But… if acting 'In Character' here, in this place, meant to hurt others without any good reason… It was the last thing I wanted to do. Even if everybody probably would come to think I had hit my head somewhere, like Edgeworth and Mia now did. I wouldn't betray all of my ideals just to avoid suspicions.

"It's alright." I finally stated to Maggey, trying to look her in the eyes. "You're right; I was horrible in court today. There's no need to gloss over how awful my prosecution was."

"Huh?"

Maggey looked surprised, but finally stopped evading my look. I continued talking.

"And… if you think that it's weird that I'm just talking to you like that, you don't need to hide that either."

This little speech earned me a few seconds of blinking from the 'maid' before me.

"Mr. Wright… Wow…" Maggey was finally really looking at me again. "…I don't think I've ever seen you that open before, Sir…" Maggey was smiling at whatever she was currently thinking back to. "That reminds me…I still remember, back when I was still in the force… What Detective Fey always said about you… "

I listened up.

"Detective Fey… Mia?"

Maggey then started talking in a different tone, like she was trying to mimic someone's voice.

"'This guy is not as stiff as he'd like everyone to believe'… That's what she always told us trainees, you know… Although she somehow stopped saying it one day, I think…"

(…Mia…)

I stared at Maggey for a short time, puzzled. What was the meaning of this…?

Just then, I heard a sound besides me. The sound of something falling flat on the floor.

It sounded exactly the same as when Maggey had tripped and fallen to the floor a few minutes back. Except that Maggey was standing safe and sound in front of me right now, so it had to be somebody else this time.

Maggey was faster and already had run past me when I turned to see who had caused this sound.

"Oh no! Are you alright?"

I saw her kneeling down to the person on the floor in order to help him up. Following her a few steps in order to catch a glance of the one who had tripped, I saw that it was a boy, probably around fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a blue baseball cap. He had apparently slipped on a wet spot on the tiles.

Maggey lent him a hand, but he quickly got up by his own, telling her:

"D-Don't worry, Ma'am! I'm fine, I just ran a little too fast!"



The boy was standing upright now, and I was able to see him from the front. He wore a plain, grey Blue Badger T-Shirt and had messy black hair, but there wasn't anything outstanding about him, to tell the truth. If there was anything that stuck out in his appearance even a little bit, it was the necklace he was wearing… It looked like a giant clover.

(Wow. I can recognize clovers.) I realized a little surprised, remembering how horrible my knowledge regarding biology trivia was. (…Ah, but a clover is not a flower, is it? Too bad, I could downright brag with that if it was… Hm?)

I took a closer look at the necklace, when I noticed in what kind of weird position it was dangling from the boy's neck.

(…It's coming loose… Did that happen when he tripped?)

"Excuse me, but I really gotta go!"

The boy had barely even finished saying 'gotta' when he had already dashed off to the door again. A 'clack!' sound just a second later confirmed at least what I suspected regarding the necklace.

(…It fell down.)

I quickly hurried over to where the boy had been just a moment ago and found the necklace lying on the tiles. Picking up the item quickly, I turned to the door and shouted.

"Hey! You lost this!"

But the boy didn't hear me and just left. The necklace stayed with me…

"…And now he's gone. " Maggey said looking at the door.

I showed her the clover.

"He lost this…"

"That's not too bad. I think I've seen him here before." Maggey told me. "I can give it back to him the next time he comes… What kind of necklace is it?"

"Hm…I think it's some kind of pendant…"

Out of curiosity, I took a look at the clover. It was made of porcelain-enamel, which was the reason its surface reflected the light like glass. It was a good thing it didn't break when it fell on the tiles.

(On closer inspection… I think that's actually a locket…) I realized, when I saw a small slit and a notch on the clover's side. That was probably where you could open the necklace in order to put a photo inside.

Just when I turned the locket around in my hand, wondering if I should try opening it or not, my right sleeve slid back a little revealing my watch under it. I caught a glance of the current time… 1:35pm.

(…!)

I remembered my 'time-limit' and jumped up, heading for my actual reason for being here… Lilie Heatherd at her table.

"Mr. Wright!" Maggey called. "Wait! You didn't tell me what you want to drink yet!"

"Sorry , I don't have time for that now, tomorrow maybe!"

In my hurry, I forgot to hand her the necklace. When I was already halfway through the room, I decided that I'd give it to her on my way back outside.

Heatherd sat on the other end of the room –which was, by the way, a rather large room – and I had to worm my way through quite a lot of illogically set up tables and chairs before I reached her. Moving around here was a lot easier usually, but it seemed like the person who arranged everything for the theme month decided that they were in need for a few additional two-person tables. To think that poor Maggey had to serve in this labyrinth… By the way, the fact that this was actually supposed to be a self-service restaurant still bugged me.

And finally… I made it. I stood right before her table. Or rather, before the huge mountain of pastry, which was burying her table. First it seemed like she wasn't taking any notice of me, but just when I was about to say something to gain her attention, Heatherd looked up from her feast and threw me a glance.

"Oh. You again."

Her voice made it sound like I was a stalker. Which I was definitely not. I just wanted to get this over with. I quickly fetched myself a chair so I could be on eye-level with her without ruining my back.

"Hmph…" Heatherd was not too happy about this. She quickly swallowed and then glared at me from the side. "Did I ask you to sit down here? No I didn't."

"I don't care." I answered her, deciding to fight fire with fire.

"Go away." She told me.

"No." I replied.

"…"

Even though she didn't change her expression one bit, I could downright feel how the tension slowly built up. Still, she pretended to ignore me, and continued shoving cake into her mouth. One wonders how someone could possibly be that lean with a diet like this.

"Ms. Heatherd." My patience was finally dead and buried. "I want you to tell me the whole truth. Now."

"GEEZ!" All of a sudden, she jumped out of her chair and shouted. "What's your problem? I am eating! Eating! Can't you just scram and leave me alone for one minute? This is a free country!"

"…!"

I backed off. This was something I hadn't expected to happen. Until now, her emotional reactions had never gone much beyond a really annoyed tone in her voice and some glaring… This time, she had really snapped at me. Maybe just sitting down at her table like that had been a bit too much?

(But that means that she's more nervous than before, doesn't it?)

I realized that the way she was moving was really quite different from before. Like she was anxious because of something… Maybe because of the flaws that were found in her testimony?

I smiled.

(That should make everything a lot easier.)

I put my hand into my pocket and picked up the Magatama.

(Alright… Let's go.)

With a quick move, I pulled the gem out.



The Psyche Locks were clearly in my view now and I felt the Magatama glowing in my hand. Now, it was just a pure question of deduction to finally break Heatherd's iron resistance.



"Hm, what's that? Jade? A Lucky Charm or something?" Heatherd took an interested look at the Magatama.

I quickly enclosed it in my fist to make sure she'd focus on my face, rather than on what was in my hand, but that attempt failed. Her eyes stayed off mine. I decided to just move on, even without eye contact.

"Ms. Heatherd, you keep claiming that you saw nobody but Ema and Lana on the 20th floor around the time of the crime… But I don't believe you that those are really the only people that passed by during this time."

"Oh… I see. The witnesses the Defense brought in today, right?" Heatherd had put down her fork and started playing with her pigtails once again. "Well, they lied. Simple. I mean, they are both related to Mr. Edgeworth's girlfriend, aren't they? It would have been a piece of cake for him to manipulate their testimonies, I think."

"Apart from the fact that Edgeworth wouldn't do this, (At least not here) there are too many things that don't check out with this 'theory' of yours. For example, Mrs. Fey and Maya struggled against revealing the crucial information that Edgeworth wanted during their testimonies. This didn't look like it was set up."

"And yet it was." Heatherd insisted. "Everything was staged, isn't that obvious? A nice little show to make sure the judge would buy it. Causing confusion is always a good way to stretch a trial, don't you agree?"

(She's talking from experience, I guess…)

"Or…"

Heatherd glanced at me from the side in a suspicious way:

" …Or do you want to tell me that you and that girl actually had an affair?"

(Argh!) I almost jumped. (I thought she said that she didn't pay attention during that part of the trial?)

"No!" I quickly declared. "No, that's not what I meant! There are more things about your testimony that don't check out! For example…" I quickly focused again. "There is one contradiction in it that Edgeworth couldn't have had any influence on."

"Oh?" Heatherd listened up "And what'd that contradiction be?"

(Hm… yes, what exactly…Ah, I think I got it.)

"It's the order you saw Lana and Ema entering the apartment in. You said you saw Ema coming first and Lana coming second. Both between 4:30pm and 4:45pm. Is that right so far?"

"Yes, that's pretty much how it happened." She nodded, but I shook my head.

"No. That's not possible." I told her

"You couldn't have seen Ema enter before Lana, especially not in that timeframe. You couldn't have because…"

I gathered my thoughts, quickly went through all the facts again, and made a decision.



I showed her the phone from my pocket.

"…Your cellphone?" Heatherd eyed what I presented to her skeptically. "Nice strap…"

"I didn't want to show you that strap." I told her. (Although it really is a nice strap…) "I wanted to show you… This."

After some fumbling around, I finally managed to open the file I had wanted. I showed it to Heatherd.

"This is a text message Ema wrote to me just the morning before she died… 'Let's meet at 5 pm in your apartment'..."

"…!"

Heatherd's head flung up.

"Five… Five o' clock? Exactly...?" She whispered, in an uncharacteristically subdued manner.

"Seems like you already figured out what this means." I told her. "Ema would have had no reason to enter the Apartment that much sooner than we had arranged. Meaning that if Lana really arrived at around 4:45, Ema wouldn't have come before her! She would have come after."

The hair fell down from Heatherd's finger, as she froze in place.

The Magatama did its work… She was unable to just ignore and brush off my attack.

"D-Darn…" She whispered.

"So, do you admit that you lied regarding what you saw?"

"Ah…" She shook her head in an attempt to regain her composure, took a few deep breaths and turned her head away.

"Alright, alright, I made a mistake…I guess ..." She was already spinning her hair again. "…I must have confused them."

"Them?"

Now, I was a little confused.

"MAYOI and the victim." Heatherd claimed. She put the fingers of her free hand to her mouth, like she was thinking about something. "That girl… She always wore her hair the same way MAYOI does in the trailers for the Steel Samurai movie, right? So, let's assume MAYOI was really there that day…"

Heatherd spoke rather slowly, like she was trying to construct the scene just as she spoke.

"…then I probably saw MAYOI from behind and thought it was the girl in the lab coat. That's why I didn't notice her and why there was that small mistake in my testimony… I think that's probably the best explanation, hm?"

(Hm… Is that possible?)

"…No, it isn't." I decided.

"Hm?"

"The key lies in Maya's testimony." I explained. "Maya mentioned something important… She had re-dressed before the time of the crime in order to not stand out in public. Which means that she didn't sport any of her stage hairstyles at the time. Also, Maya's hair is much darker and longer than Ema's. You couldn't have confused them!"

And that's when Heatherd froze again. I could see that she was desperately grasping for some kind of explanation, but couldn't find any. Finally she balled her hand to fists and put them to her face. She screamed.

"ARGH!"

I heard a loud crack.

The first Psyche Lock had shattered.

(Yes!)

"Alright! Alright!"

She squinted her eyes, finally having an expression much more appropriate for her appearance of her face: That of a school child who was just caught in an act.

"I admit it! I actually didn't pay attention at all at that time that day! That's why I got the order wrong and missed those two other people passing by! Happy?"

"You didn't pay attention?" I asked.

"I was… distracted for a few minutes…" She told me, slowly regaining some calmness. She took a breath. The annoyed look returned to her face. Crossing her arms, she continued.

"But that doesn't change anything about the situation, OK? Even if somebody else came by, nobody could have opened the door! That woman was the only other person who had a keycard… She has to be the killer!"

"It doesn't change anything? No, I don't think so." I told her, holding the Magatama tightly. "What you did in court today was perjury. And as a lawyer, you are aware of how serious this is. In the worst case, you could even lose your badge…"

…

(…Huh?)

Something happened then. For a moment, I felt like I'd lose my focus on the witness' Psyche Locks. A slight dizziness overcame me and I felt the tension that I had built up wavering.

(Argh! Stay focused, Phoenix! You're too far to be set back now!)

"Hm? You got a problem?" I heard Heatherd ask me.

I quickly shook my head, both to answer her question, and to regain my concentration:

"Anyway…" I continued. "There has to be a reason why you took this risk. Probably in order to cover up something else."

"Oh… I see what you're implying…" She glared from the corners of her eyes again. "Alright, Mr. Wright. Let's get one thing straight: I am not the killer."

"Yes, probably not."

"Hm?"

My agreement appeared to surprise her a little bit. I continued.

"After all, you didn't have a keycard, and your fingerprints weren't on the doorknob. You couldn't have opened the door."

"Ah…" Heatherd raised her left hand and wrapped her hair around its pointing finger, starting to play around with it yet again. "...Seems like you finally understood that. Good."

"However…" I strengthened my concentration. "…this doesn't mean that you're not covering for someone else."

"Someone else? And who would that be?"

"It can't be Lana. And I don't think you would cover for either Mrs. Fey or her daughter…" I thought aloud. "So it has to be someone who hasn't testified to court yet."

"So it's a fourth witness?" She asked with a disbelieving tone, before she peeked at me. "Geez. You and that Edgeworth… you're really fond of just randomly making up new people for your cases at every given opportunity, aren't you?"

"Edgeworth's witnesses have proven themselves to be real." I denied. "And I think the person in my theory is real as well."

"And on what 'basis' do you build that theory? How do you plan to "link" your hypothetical fourth witness to the crime?"

There was spite in Heatherd's voice, but I just ignored it.

(Hm… what might connect an apparently unrelated person to this case? I think there's something that could do this…)

I reached into my case and got out an item from the court record…



The list with the fingerprints in my hand, I started explaining.

"I think we've already established the fact that not a lot of people were visiting me. My contacts didn't expand much beyond Iris, Ms. Skye and her sister… Yet, there were the fingerprints of someone else on the doorknob. Someone's profile wasn't registered in the court record for this case at the time."

"So?" Heatherd asked indifferently.

"What if those fingerprints… belong to the person you are covering for?"

"…"

She stopped playing with her hair again, but said nothing. I tried to press harder.

"You knew that this person had touched the doorknob. And you knew that they did it without gloves. So you decided not to bring them up in your testimony. Because the moment they would be entered to the witnesses, their fingerprint data would be in the court record. And the question mark on this list would be substituted with this person's name… effectively making them a suspect!"

"…"

I saw the sweat dropping from Heatherd's forehead and felt like I already held victory in my hands.

(That's it.) I thought. (That's why she avoided changing her testimony with all her might. It just has to be!)

"F-Forget it!" She shook her head. "What are you saying? Me? Covering for someone? Hah! Why should I risk losing my job for someone else? That's nuts! I'm not stupid, Mr. Wright."

"It's true. You wouldn't do something like this for just anyone. But maybe… there is one person you would risk this for…" I thought, wondering, if this might be it.

"H-Huh…?" Heatherd looked away. "…A person… I'd risk this for…?"

"Yes." I nodded, putting my hand to my chin and thinking hard. I was on the right track, I knew it…

"Your boyfriend, maybe?"

"…!"

I saw Heatherd clenching her teeth as I went on.

"You mentioned having one during the trial. And you got jealous when his fondness of a certain teen idol came up. Are you very attached to him?"

"…"

Heatherd crossed her arms, closed her eyes and turned her head away, holding her nose high:

"I don't… I don't have a boyfriend."

"But you mentioned him."

"I lied. It sounded fancy."

"…"

(There has to be some way to prove that she didn't make her boyfriend up… But how?)

I let my eyes sweep across Heatherd, hoping to find something that would point towards a relationship with a man… A ring, talisman, a necklace, anything….

(…A necklace…)

That's when it came to me…

"…The buttons on your clothes…"

"Hm?"

Somewhat reluctantly, Heatherd listened up again.

"Your hairclip too… And the pattern on your skirt…" I went on. "Those are all clovers, aren't they?"

"Four-leaf clovers." She emphasized. "A mutation of the common clover. They represent love, faith, hope and luck. But I mostly wear them because I like the shape. Now…Is that a crime?"

"No…

It's just that I have already seen that shape somewhere else today…"

My hand reached for the item I had picked up from the floor just a few minutes ago…



I held out the locket so Heatherd could see it well. And this was the moment that the last bit of composure she had kept finally collapsed. Her face turned pale.

"…W-Where did you get that?"

"A young boy dropped it on his way out of here. He seemed in a hurry, so I didn't get a chance to return it to him." I explained, watching how the nervousness in Heatherd's eyes grew.

I realized that I hadn't gotten to see her eyes before, since she had never looked at me directly. In fact, she wasn't even now. She was only staring at the necklace in my hand. Still, that was enough to finally tell that her eyes were bright brown…

"…"

"Ms. Heatherd… I have a feeling I know who the owner of this locket really is. Should we try to find out if I'm right?"

"…!"

Heatherd backed off. Her face was completely wet now and her hands shook. It surprised me how much fear she showed… hadn't Edgeworth told me that she was hard to intimidate? That was even more proof that the content of this locket was very personal to her… It seemed like I was really following the right trail.

(Although… That boy couldn't possibly be an adult, right? So if I am right, that would mean… Heatherd's boyfriend is just… Ungh…)

This thought was just… unsettling. But no matter how weird the idea appeared to be, there was a possibility that it was true. And as long as this possibility was there, I had to try it.

If there was any time to open this locket, it was now.

I put my fingers to the notch on the side and opened, noticing how Heatherd bit her lip as I did.

"Aha, what have we got here?"

There was a photograph inside. And it showed Lilie Heatherd and the boy who lost the locket before. Holding hands with each other in what appeared to be a Photo Booth.



"…"

I stared at the photo silently for a few seconds. Yes, I had been somewhat prepared for it. But it was still… just…

(I really wish I had been wrong. Just this once.)

"So…" I finally turned the locket around and showed it to Heatherd. "This is your boyfriend?"

(This girl and a little boy… Oh god…)

"N-No!" Heatherd wildly shook her head. "What… What are you saying? Of course that's not my b-b-boyfriend! He's… He's my little brother, OK?"

I sighed closed my eyes.

"…I really…really wish this was true, but … it isn't."

"H-How would you know?"

"It's biologically impossible."

(I don't know a thing about flowers, but at least I know basic genetics…)

"You're a blonde, his hair is black. He has blue eyes, yours are brown. Ergo: You are not related…"

"But… But… That's just not… It's really not…"

"And Maggey said that he comes here quite often… He's cheering for you during your trials, isn't he? Maybe he's even the one providing you with those snacks that you get out of nowhere. Also, didn't you mention that you went to the concert with him that evening? The two of you must have met somewhere… could that have been in your apartment?"

"That's not… You're not…I… I…"

She desperately clung to the last shards of her shattered testimony, but I was ready to annihilate those as well.

"There is no use trying to deny it any longer, Ms. Heatherd. On that day, you weren't alone. This boy, your boyfriend, was with you. That's why you were too distracted to notice that more people came by than you has expected to. And somewhere along the way… that boy's fingerprints found their way onto my door. This is how it has to have happened. The reason you lied in court is that you were covering for this boy. The whole time."

"…"

Heatherd's whole body shook reluctantly in her last few moments of resistance before she finally broke down.

"ARGHHH! GODDAMN IT!"

With this, her second Lock finally shattered into a thousand shards. The chains fell apart. And Lilie Heatherd was wide open for further questioning.



Heatherd sat there, her hands on her lap. All that composure she may have possessed before completely and utterly sucked out… I almost felt sorry for her, seeing how the reason for her lie had turned out to be the well-being of her boyfriend.

Almost.

I put the Magatama away. Finally this was moving forward.

"So, your whole testimony was a lie. For that boy."

"H-He's just a kid!" Heatherd's head rose suddenly, when she shouted at me. "He wouldn't hurt a fly! He probably doesn't even know how to spell 'murder'!"

There it was again. This sudden snapping at me… The tone in her voice and her expression were nothing like what she had behaved like before I had started attacking her Psyche Locks.

She stood up, fletched her teeth and went a step towards me:

"He's my Lanny! My angel! My prince! If you drag him into this mess… No…If you go anywhere near him, you die!"

It was obvious that she was dead serious about this, but somehow… I couldn't take her serious for some reason. There was something… something in her voice and expression that I couldn't quite pinpoint. This something made her seem ridiculous to me, rather than intimidating.

(Hm… Weird… That expression… I feel like I've seen it somewhere before…)

"…'Lanny'? Is that his name?" I finally just asked.

Heatherd looked like she was desperately trying to regain her cool. "Argh…"

She crossed her arms and turned her head away.

"…Dylan Sengage. That's his full name, if you really want to know. And yes… his prints are on the doorknob…"

She took a deep breath, before her usual expression finally returned. Like nothing had happened, she started playing with her pigtails again.

"It was… a mix up." She explained. "He confused our doors and tried to open yours by accident. Of course, his card didn't work, but he only noticed that after he had shaken the door by the knob for a few seconds. That's how his prints got on there, alright? It has nothing to do with the murder."

Heatherd peeked at me again.

"…That was all Ms. Skye. My testimony , as fake as it was, didn't hurt the truth, you see."

"And I am saying that you're wrong." I told her, shaking my head decidedly. "A lie is still a lie and will always warp the facts. You can't just go and underline what you believe to be "true" with made-up statements. That's not how it works. We have to consider everything that happened. …Including things like what we found out about your 'Lanny's' prints just now."

"Geez… A Sherlock Holmes wannabe,huh?" Heatherd appeared barely impressed. After saying this, she pushed her chair back to the table, indicating that she wasn't planning on sitting down on it again. Her movements were fast and showed that she was still quite irritated.

"Guys like you… You… that Edgeworth guy… You guys think you could do anything. Everything you think is right, and every judgment you make infallible. You just snap your fingers and everything in the world is just and fair, right? Just like a game… And every case is like a level. Of course you 're always right. You're the protagonist. You can't fail."

She threw me a short, but contempt-filled, glance "But… didn't you ever think that maybe, just maybe… you're just a fallible human too, after all? What about your mistakes? Does anybody ever judge them in your little game-world? And does anybody apply just punishment for them? You yourself, maybe? Heh. …I don't think so. The 'hero' of your game never falls, does he?"

"…"

Surprised, I looked at her. This girl was the last person I had expected to say something like that…

Was she serious about this? Or was she just trying to make me feel bad with all her might?

"Give me that."

"H-Hey!"

While I was still off-guard, Heatherd had pushed me to the side, grabbed the locket, which I still had in my hand, closed it, and went off, as I was still in the process of stumbling backwards a few steps. When I regained my balance, she was already halfway through the room, heading for Maggey. Presumably to pay that cake orgy of hers…

(Dylan Sengage… huh?) I thought. (So there was another witness to this case after all… Lilie Heatherd's boyfriend… Ugh…)

I frowned at the thought.

(She called him 'kid'… If he's as old as he looks, that would make him eight or nine years younger than her and a minor…wow. And the audience at the trial called the idea of Maya and me together 'creepy'…)

Maya… If I ever wanted to find out what the truth behind that letter that Edgeworth had found was, I had to go to Kurain and meet her. As quickly as possible.

"Hm…"

My cellphone was still in range. I picked it up and started dialing.

"Hello? Detective?...Yes, it's me. Are you ready with the car yet?"

Evidence:

*) Prosecutor's Badge

I never thought I'd ever hold this in my hands. The design closely resembles the police's emblem.

*) Magatama

This gem allows me to see the locks on people's hearts whenever they hide the truth from me. It was a gift from Maya and is charged with Pearls' spiritual energy.

*) Photo of Iris

A picture of me and Iris in Kurain. Apparently we were still a couple here, up until recently.
CHECK: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1896 ... feenie.png

*) Cellphone

Compared to the Cellphone I usually use, this is high tech luxury. There are messages from Ema, Lana and Gumshoe on it.
CHECK: http://img17.imageshack.us/i/cellphone.png/
EMA'S MESSAGE(1) CHECK: http://img267.imageshack.us/i/emamessagesooner.png/

EMA'S MESSAGE(2) CHECK: http://img132.imageshack.us/i/emamessage.png/

LANA'S MESSAGE CHECK: http://img121.imageshack.us/i/lanamessage.png/

*) Victim(?) Note

Reads "Lana" in red letters of blood.
CHECK: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/4660/victimnote.png

*) Snackoos Bag

Found near Ema. She was apparently eating them before she was killed. Imported from Europe.

*) Dart

A small, needle-like projectile, made for use with a tranquilizer gun. There are faint traces of blood on it. Found near the sofa.

*) Rope

Ripped. Apparently, Lana tried to hang herself with it. It was cut before it ripped.

*)Sketch

A picture of Maya, Pearls and me, drawn in my boredom. Note to self: Giving up the art studies was a good choice.
CHECK: http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/645/sketchonaboat.png

*)Autopsy Report

Victim died between 17:00 and 17:20 from massive blood loss after receiving a stab wound in the chest. The back of the head was bruised.
CHECK: http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6753/autopsyreport.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 1

CHECK: http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9230/crimescenephoto1.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 2

CHECK: http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8229/crimescenephoto2.png

*)Knife

The murder weapon. Was cleaned with soap after the crime, so there are no finger prints or bloodstains on it left. Belongs to the Defendant.

*)Fingerprint List

Lists the people who touched the door's handle.
CHECK : http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4497/fingerprintslist.png

*)Ema's Button

One of the three Badges Ema wore on her labcoat. It came off before she died. The needle is bloody and crooked.

( *)Locket

A necklace that a young boy dropped. It is shaped like a clover.)

Profiles:

*) Phoenix Wright

I have been a Defense Attorney for three years now. But now it looks like people were convinced of something else suddenly...

*) Miles Edgeworth

An old school friend of mine. Apparently, he's a renowned Defense Attorney here. The "Him" I remember, on the other hand, was an extremely talented, but arrogant Prosecutor.

*) Maya Fey

Sprite
Singing (Turnabout Sisters Song)[Hatsune Miku(Vocaloid)]
Apparently a famous pop idol known as "MAYOI". In my memory, she was a Spirit Medium and served as my assistant and co-council in many of my cases.

*) Ema Skye

A teenager, who was dreaming of becoming a forensic investigator one day and good friend of mine. Was murdered in the apartment.

*) Lana Skye

Ema's older sister. Apparently tried to commit suicide in the bathroom. Her suicide note implicates her as her sister's killer.

*) Dick Gumshoe

Still detective of the local police force. Still as underpaid as ever.

*) Mia Fey

Maya's older sister and a detective. Currently under arrest for attempted murder. I remember her being my mentor as a Defense Attorney and murdered shortly after my very first trial.

*) Dahlia Fey

Maya's and Mia's cousin and Iris's identical twinsister. Was the coldblooded killer 'Dahlia Hawthorne' in the world I remember, but declared guilty for a crime she didn't commit alongside Mia in this one. Her personality seems to have been turned upside down...

*) Klavier Gavin

Leadsinger and Guitarist of a Band called "Gavinners". Apparently also a lawyer. His name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I first met him.

*) Lilie Heatherd

Sprite
Voice: OBJECTION!
A Defence Attorney known as the "Evidence Spammer". Claims to have witnessed Ema and Lana entering the Apartment shortly before the murder.

*) Iris Fey

Singing (??? Song)
Maya and Mia's cousin, Dahlia's twin and hire to the master title of Kurain in this 'world'. Recently broke up with 'me'. Unhappy with her occupation as a Spirit Medium.

*) Franziska von Karma

Prosecutor Prodigy from Germany, who was assigned to aid me during this trial. She enjoys whipping lawyers, judges and witnesses alike and strives for absolute perfection in her trials.

*) Misty Fey

Sprite
Alternate Outfit
Talented Spirit Medium and mother to Mia and Maya Fey. Saw a third witness.

*) Dylan Sengage

Sprite
Lilie Heatherd's boyfriend, despite being a minor. The owner of the unidentified fingerprints.

Lilie Heatherd: Ace Pedophiliac.

Jup, my OC's boyfriend is a 15 years old boy. My 23 years old OC's boyfriend.

I only noticed how creepy it really is when I drew that locket-sketch. Which is the reason why it sucks so much, by the way. I felt dirty while drawing it. -.-;

This chapter really dragged to write. Mostly because I have to study for university as well now. But also because I feel like my writing was getting repetitive… Is my writing really getting repetitive? Is it getting repetitive? Is it, is it? T-T

I had to cut a scene from this chapter and move it back 5 chapters or so, because it just wouldn't have fit in here anymore, neither in terms of time, nor flow. It's hurting me a little bit that I had to do this, because this is postponing the appearance of one of my favorite canon characters…

I never was in a "real" Maid Café before, but I know that what they sell really tends to be overly sweet. It's a Japanese thing, I guess. Of course, I exaggerated a little here… This whole scene actually mainly served the purpose of giving Maid Maggey an appearance. Dunno. I just like Maid-Uniform Maggey. I generally like Maggey. She's an awesome character.

Look, another Original Character thrown into the cast! Because the Profile-Section wasn't already overloaded enough! -.-;

Note to self: Next time I write an Ace Attorney Fanfiction, I'll make sure that the court record isn't longer than the Great Chinese Wall. Seriously.

The chapter title is a reference to the german play "Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung" (Faith, Love, Hope) which is about a young woman who, in a combination of society-inaceptance and a streak of incredibly bad luck looses all her faith and hope, is left by her lover, manages to even mess up her own suicide and in the end dies after all from the cold, just after meeting her lover again... Oh, did I mention that that lover was a policeman?

Eh, yeah, just some literature trivia here. No hints for the story, don't worry. ;-P

So many awesome things to try to visualize.
Pink-waitress-Maggey sounds super cute~. Will there be a sprite? There's gotta be a sprite. *chanting* Sprite! Sprite! Sprite!
...And I just know that the whole maid caféteria location would be incredibly entertaining to "Examine"!


Aww, man, seriously!?!? Maggey can't even catch a lucky break in an alternate reality!? That poor girl!


"...if I found out that her birthday was a Friday the 13th..."
...Pffft, that's so going to be confirmed in canon someday! xD


"'Wieners', named after the Austrian city of Vienna, are made from pork and beef, while the ones that you have here are made from pork only. Those are Frankfurter, their German equivalent."
...Ohhh, is that so!? Ya learn something new every day. I'll make sure to distinguish them from now on; as a proud member of Team Stepladder*, I can totally understand the importance of the distinction, and wouldn't want to push the buttons of someone who may have a pet peeve for incorrectly-classified meat products~!
Anyway, Lilie's connoisseurship is awesome, haha -- although her bullying of Maggey makes me wanna cry for her. Oh, Maggey... The saddest thing is that this is such a typical thing that would happen to her. "That's basically her job. The one nobody could fire her from …" Argh, the irony!!! xD THAT = excellent line.
*"(Does anyone even CARE about that "difference"?)" ... Hey! Ph-phoenix, you hypocrite!


Heh-heh, Phoenix's flower-identification line was really cute.


...
...
...Omigosh, seriously.
Entire psyche-lock scene = so. amazingly. written. o__o!!!

Nick's moment of dizziness... Ohhhhh...
In my head, I'm imagining those moments in the style of when Apollo gets a vibe from his bracelet. Except, obviously, it's something a little different going on here~

... *ahem* *cue impression of PW-style overreaction* Wh-wh-WHAAAAAT!?!? BOYFRIEND!?
The LAST thing I would have suspected about that boy is that he was Lilie's boyfriend!! Brother, maybe (I guess I fail at genetics for assuming that xD), and some sort of witness to a crime of hers (whom she would've bribed off with a gift, ie the necklace) or accomplice (whom she would've rewarded with a gift, ie the necklace) also crossed my mind, but... Oh man... Pedo lawyer... Pedo FEMALE lawyer... Now there's something you don't see every day... Very creative twist, to say the least! Despite the slight squickiness, her seemingly sincere feelings for this boy (along with her amusing expertise about foreign cuisine -- and her apparent affinity for cats as interior decor, if she was the one who came up with the cafeteria design) is actually making her rather likable underneath all that jerk-ishness.


Hee-hee, fourth-wall-leaning. x3 Nice.PENALTY! *life bar go boom*
Why, yes. Yes they do. =PWhy, no. No he...
...
...wellllllll...

I've been waiting for this for a looong time. Finally, Phoenix gets to that little missy and her secrets.. But then there's a shock! What the hell, Heatherd, what. the. hell?!
just.. just no.
Well, that was my reaction, pretty much it. But I still... LOVE the idea :D
I laughed my lungs off at
Oh and as I was reading I imagined Edgeworth having a break, sitting there and eating peacefully.. in this cafeteria of doom! And I laughed more and more.

wow, lilie, just wow. AHAHAHA seriously, what a secret. I opened your author's note
first before I got started on reading, I didn't get why it was like 'Lilie Heatherd:Ace Pedo'
but everything came into my mind after this chapter. JUST. PURE. AWESOMENESS !
Again, you never fail to entertain us! It is worthy all the time I've been waiting =D

Sooo, if Lilie was covering for that machi-looking boy, who was actually at the apartment...
Oh my, that really makes him the prime suspect to me. Since I just can't imagine Iris
or Misty committing murder and forging crime scenes... they aren't THAT evil D:
I'm assuming he's gonna have like this huge character change like Kristoph, or Matt Engarde.
maybe future young Kristoph? or male version of Dahlia? For now I just can guess...
But I'm very sure that he's gonna turn out to be EVEEEL. I mean, who else could have committed
murder? and Lilie was covering up for him too, just because to avoid him from being one of
those suspects...
People are different than how they look (: Kay! here's my no-basis guess to future storyline :D
I already want more... D: But I too, know how university studies are such a huge pain in the butts.
I can always wait ! I mean, who CAN'T wait for this masterpiece fanfic?

I made one, actually, but I won't upload it until I have the request I am currently working on done. It's just a palette swap after all, so I think it'd be a little cheap to upload it by itself.



Actually, pointing out the difference between Wieners and Frankfurter is really, REALLY nitpicky. Especially because Austrians generally call almost ALL sausages "Frankfurter", while the reverse is true for Germans and "Wieners" (yes, it's kinda weird, but that's how it is). Not even we German speaking folks care for the difference anymore.



Hey, you're right! He really was hypocrite for a moment there! XD LAWL, I didn't even notice that myself...




It's good that you're imagining it that way, because that's exactly the way I am imagining it as well! XD




LAWL. I'm glad I'm getting all of this across the right way. Really, I am. XD
As for the cats: Those are supposed to Hello Kitty. ^^;



Heatherd's speech is supossed to show how much she loathes Wright (but for different reasons than everybody else) so her logic doesn't really check out. She just... is concinvinced that Wright has it better than he deserves. ...I won't say more now. *zips up mouth*

Don't worry, Mystery character will make is appearance regardless, so you'll find out! XD

Just the reaction I was going for. Perfect.



Edgeworth in a Maid Café... I SO NEED TO DRAW THAT! XD

Welcome to this thread! I'm glad you enjoy your stay!
My main goal is entertainment for all the fans out there. As long as I achieve this, I'm happy. ^^

Oh, and about the mass of my fanwork... I always do what comes to my mind. Since we're currently not doing TOO much in University, I can take it. I love studying Japan and Japanese, so this is taken care off in a matter of a few minutes. I then have the remaining evening left to draw, sew or write.
...I rarely ever go out, you know.

Hm... Interesting guess!

You'll see later if you're on to something or not!

Keep guessing! It's fun to read!

May 2nd, 1:50pm

My wait after the call wasn't too long. Gumshoe picked me up from the courthouse steps less than five minutes later. When I saw his car, I knew right away that he hadn't been kidding when he told me that it 'wasn't the newest model'. Not only was it old, it didn't exactly look like the owner had taken good care of it either. It seemed like Gumshoe was just a tad too enthusiastic about his occupation as a 'cop', since all those dents and scratches on the lacquer hinted a Hollywood-chase-scene-like treatment of this poor, poor vehicle. But maybe this was only natural, seeing as how the detective probably had little other means of actually enjoying his job than living all the clichés for what they were worth. Thankfully, despite their looks, the seats in the car were not uncomfortable at all. Not exactly soft and fluffy, of course, but nice enough to finally just sit down and relax. Just the kind of rest I needed now. Not only because the trial had been a straining experience, but because I had gotten up rather early that morning. The use of the Magatama had left me rather exhausted as well.

To be honest, this was worrying me a bit. Of course, it was normal that I felt a little drained after breaking a set of Psyche Locks, but it usually wasn't that severe. I decided that it would probably be for the best to be especially careful when using the Magatama for the time being. Just for the sake of security.

"One and a half hour, huh?" I asked when we finally crossed the city boarders. The Detective nodded.

"Yeah, that's how long it takes at most usually, Pal. … Except when you have engine trouble, of course."

This statement was followed by Gumshoe's nervous laugh, causing me to believe that he wasn't just joking but had already experienced this exact situation on this exact road before. That thought unsettled me a little.

"Don't worry, Pal. I just had the car checked last week!" he quickly told me like he had somehow figured out what I was thinking about. I just nodded to show that I heard him, but said nothing.

The angle the car drove in steadily turned sharper now. There wasn't much in sight from the windscreen now, except for the trees, a massive rock wall that belonged to a mountain and some more trees. This made a rather boring front view. After a while, I moved my head to the right in order to look out of the window there and watch more interesting scenery pass by… But this turned out to be a bad idea of epic proportions.

(…YIKES!)

I found myself looking down a cliff on the side of the road. Spontaneously remembering my stupid fear of heights, I felt my stomach twisting painfully.

My head flung back into its previous position like a switch had been turned. Quickly, I leaned forward until I couldn't see anything but the sky from the window anymore. I probably looked stupid, like someone cowering under a table, but that was still better than suddenly getting some kind of nervous fit just because I didn't feel comfortable on this road. I knew perfectly well what I could be like when that little phobia of mine kicked in – in fact, I couldn't even ride the Ferris wheel without turning hysterical – and I really preferred to avoid showing that embarrassing side of me to anyone. Good thing the Detective was looking at the street and not at me.

"So… Did you give Maggey the Lunchbox?" he asked me just a moment later.

"Eh…"

Somewhere in the back of my head I faintly remembered the fate of the sausages, which had found their way to their rightful owner's hands, out of them again, and were then buried under a giant heap of sugar, never to see the light of day again.

All remaining parts of my mind, however, were busy processing the disturbing idea of what might happen if the steering wheel of this car now suddenly decided to just stop working. Or the breaks. Or the motor.

"Y…Yes. I gave them to… her…" I answered the Detective. Because it was true. And because I didn't want to upset him. And because I didn't exactly feel like talking, given that the main thought in my head right now was how many possible, painful ways you can die when falling off that cliff to our right. And being in a car added "burst into flames" to the list. Oh joy.

"Great!" Gumshoe had somehow managed to stay oblivious to my stuttering, my paleness and the way I was cowering on my seat. He continued talking to me like nothing special was going on. "Thanks a bunch, Pal! And how did she like them?"

"Eh… She called them… the most delicious thing in the world… I think…"

"Yes! I knew she'd love them!"

I couldn't see Gumshoe's face, since I was staring at my knees in the hope to avoid seeing even a single pebble of the cliff that way, but I imagined him grinning over both ears when he said this.

"Maggey may not look like it, but she's a real big fan of sausages, you know! That's why I always bring a box of weenies from the lunch lady down at the prosecutor's office when I drop by to see her!"

"That's… great…" I didn't really want to think about food right now. Not one bit, actually. "…just wonderful…"

"Huh?"

Seemed like Gumshoe was finally catching up with what was going on. I had the feeling like he was peeking at me at the very least. "Mr. Wright… are you not feeling well?"

"P-Please, just keep looking at the street, alright?" I told him, since I was everything but comfortable with the idea that the driver of this ride of doom was probably not watching where he was actually going.

…'Ride of Doom'… great, my overstatements were getting worse. I had to calm down again, quickly.

"…Should we stop for a sec?" Gumshoe asked me. My palm pressed to my forehead, attempting to keep it somewhat upward, I peeked over at him, avoiding a glance out of the windows at all coast. We were already late as it was; making a stop now was absolutely out of the question if I wanted to talk to Maya.

"N-No…It's alright," I told Gumshoe. "Please, Detective… just look at the street. Please look at the street."

The emphasis on that last part came from the fact that his eyes ended up being the first thing I saw when I turned my head, telling me that, no, I wasn't mistaken when I suspected that he was observing me.

"Oh! Sorry, 'scuse me, Pal!"

"Argh…" I tried to lean back and relax, wondering why I only now realized what the road to Kurain actually was like when something occurred to me. "… A tunnel…"

Gumshoe turned his head again, staring at me with big eyes:

"H-Hey! Hang in there, Pal, and whatever happens, don't go into the li-"

"A train-tunnel." I quickly corrected. "The regional express reaches Kurain through a rather complicated tunnel system… I never quite paid attention to that before, but that's probably why the driving time differs that much – Look at the street, Detective, please, for Heaven's sake."

Gumshoe's head went back into the position it was supposed to be, relieving me a great deal. I sighed. At least I had now found a sound reason not to get a Driver's license. Good. That saved me money, time, and lots and lots of practice. Plus, walking and going by bike were the much healthier variants anyway.

Trying to get my arm to stop shaking like a cup of jell-o, I managed to pay my watch a look. Barely twenty five minutes had passed yet. This left more than an hour of driving time. I decided that I should probably try to just take a nap. That way, I'd not only get some rest, I'd also be unable to be frightened of the height while asleep. I closed my eyes and leaned back, and tried to calmly lay my hands down on the armrests.

(Alright…Forget the cliff… Relax… Sleep…) I took a deep breath. (Sleep… Sleep…Sleep… Sleep…)

A few seconds then passed with me everything but asleep. In fact, my eyelids were hurting because I was pressing them together with so much force.

(Sleep…Sleep…Sleep…This is not going to work, is it? ...)

'Just taking a nap' suddenly seemed to have become an impossibly hard task. My mind was so full of all kinds of different thoughts that just clearing it of them proved to be a whole lot more difficult than it should have been. And so I not only stayed awake –albeit with closed eyes – but also nervous and tired.

(…OK…I never thought I'd ever be that desperate, but…)

With a quiet sigh, I mentally started picturing something: A fence in the middle of the meadows. Yes, I think it's obvious where this is going.

(One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep… Four Sheep… Five Sheep…)

I thought 'sheep' but what I actually 'saw' in my mind resembled formless, moving heaps of cotton more than it resembled any kind of animal. Still, the monotonous counting soon did its work. I started to drift off.

As the sounds of the car's motor got pushed more and more into the background, until I almost didn't hear them at all anymore, my formless cotton heaps slowly broke free of my control and started taking on form… One of them especially caught my attention. It grew taller and leaner and…

"3pm, alright, Nick?"

Maya grinned, after she had crossed the fence.

My head turned. I didn't even dare to look her in the eyes. I was too ashamed.

"I'm not quite sure if I can make it in time, actually…"

"No, no, no, that's not what you say, Nick!"

Dropping her grin Maya stepped up towards me:

"When I say 'Alright, Nick?', you're supposed to reply: 'I'll be there, Maya!' I mean… You'll come, won't you? Won't you?"

There was something begging in the way Maya looked at me. Something that caused me to regret what I had just said. I turned my head back towards her and looked at her face. And I tried to smile.

"A-Alright..." I tried to give her my most convincing smile. But I think I failed. "I'll be there, Maya. At 'that' spot, alright? "

"Yes exactly!" She nodded happily. "I knew you wouldn't forget!"

"O-Of course not!" I replied.

(I never would let you down, Maya…but… I just wish I knew where 'that' spot actually is…)

"No problem! I'll see you there then, alright?"

"Hee Hee! Alright!"

"He is lying, Mystic Maya."

I turned to the side.

"Pearls…?"

There she was. Staring at me.

"You are lying again, Mr. Nick." She said. Her eyes were almost expressionless. "Mr. Nick, why are you lying? Why don't you just tell them that you don't know?"

"Because…"

I looked down at Pearls and tried to explain.

"Well… Well, you see… Sometimes there are situations where you can't just say something, no matter if it's the truth or not."

"Why?"

"Because… bad things would happen."

"Are you afraid of those things?"

"Well… eh...Look, if I just told everyone what's going on, they probably wouldn't believe me and …"

"Is it because you are a coward?"

I jerked.

"A coward?"

BAWAM.

"WOAH!"

Hadn't it been for my seatbelt, I would have jumped straight through the ceiling now. The sudden movement had literally catapulted me back to reality.

"W-What was that?" I shouted out in shock, when I was still trying to regain my orientation.

"Sorry, Pal!" I heard Gumshoe reply shamefully. "There was a pot-hole… Didn't see it in time. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes…" I was still pretty startled. "I think…"

Checking on my seat belt, as well as the seat itself and even the door next to me – I wanted to make sure that nothing had taken damage – I found everything to be just the way it was supposed to and already wanted to sigh in relief, when an unexpected sound reached my ears.

"Ow…."

(…Huh?)

Turning around, I took a look behind me. What I found were my suitcase, which I had stored there, and nothing else. Of course, there was nobody on the backseat, but…

(That just now… Was that a person…?)

As I was still eyeing the seats behind me, I heard the Detective's voice again.

"Eh… What are you searching for, Pal? Did you lose something?"

I turned towards Gumshoe. "Detective, did you hear that just now?"

"'That'?"

"That sound just now. It sounded like a… voice." I explained.

The Detective shrugged. "Well, I heard nothing… You sure you didn't just imagine it?"

(Well, usually when somebody says that, one can be sure that they, in fact, did not 'just imagine' it…)

"There… couldn't be anyone in the trunk, could there?" I asked just to make sure. Gumshoe, however, shook his head decidedly: "No way, Pal! It's half loaded with baggage and I only opened it once when I picked the car up from the garage! If anybody was inside there, they would have had to sneak past me before I locked it up again!"

"Hm..."

(Maybe it's unlikely… Still…)

I decided to remind myself to ask the Detective to open the trunk once we arrived, just to be sure. Then I closed my eyes again and tried to resume my nap. I didn't get too far, however, since Gumshoe started talking to me again before I could even picture the first sheep. "…Mr. Wright?"

"Hm?" I replied, too lazy to open my mouth.

There was a short pause, before the next part of Gumshoe's speech followed.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uhm… Sure. Go ahead."

And another pause. Also, Gumshoe was actually concentrating on the street now rather than looking at me. I had the feeling that he was really hesitant about saying whatever he was trying to say now.

"Today in court… I heard some bailiffs talkin' about something… Is it true that you were going to let Mr. Edgeworth win?"

I jerked, startled. That question... of all the questions he could have asked…

(The bailiffs must have overheard us in the recess! Argh…)

"Eh…"

My nervousness was back big time. And it hadn't even remotely anything to do with our altitude anymore…

(What am I supposed to answer now? Answering 'Yes' would probably make me seem suspicious. I… I really don't want to play the role of that 'evil' me, just for the sake of avoiding this… But on the other hand, Edgeworth didn't believe me when I tried to explain it to him and neither did Mia… Argh… Playing the bad guy or acting normal and win myself a free ticket for the local asylum. The latter doesn't sound too inviting... Maybe I really should just deny it and keep the status quo up. There can't be any harm in doing that-)

"Mr. Nick, are you a coward?"

I twitched. For a moment… I had seen that image from my dream just now again. Pearl in the meadow… accusing me of lying…

A coward… Was it really cowardly to think that way? To keep what is going on to myself because nobody would believe me anyway…

Gumshoe addressed me before I could follow that thought further.

"Mr. Wright?"

"Eh-" I shook my head in order to focus again. "Well… I…"

In a time span of ten seconds, I quickly ran through my two options again and finally made a choice.

(Actually… What am I afraid of? It's just Gumshoe. It's not like he's going to ponder too much about it anyway. And I'm sure that he won't figure out much if I just tell him that I'm not planning on getting Lana declared guilty…)

This was when I finally took a breath and nodded.

"Yes…It's true. I… decided that I won't go for a guilty verdict for Ms. Skye."

"F-For real, Pal?" Despite asking the question, Gumshoe apparently hadn't expected this kind of answer. "But… why? That's just not like… like…"

(I guess he's trying to say that this is not 'like me'.)

"Why didn't you just refuse to prosecute the case then?"

I turned towards the detective and explained as calmly as possible. "It's a murder case. This kind of case isn't just dropped because of a reluctant Prosecutor. Some other Prosecutor would have taken it instead."

"But… Why are you so convinced that she didn't do it anyway, Pal? I mean, we have evidence… and… stuff!" Gumshoe didn't seem to quite believe what he heard me say. "I never heard of you dropping or screwing over a case on purpose before! Is that because she's your-"

"This has nothing to do with Lana being my mentor or anything along that line." I told Gumshoe. "It's because she is innocent. Trust me, there can be a hundred pieces of so-called 'evidence' against her, I know enough about Lana and Ema Skye to tell that they would never harm each other. Declaring Lana guilty of Ema's murder would mean punishing an innocent woman for a crime she wouldn't even have been capable of committing. Lana has already suffered enough in this case. And, more importantly… If Lana didn't do it, this means that there has to be a different culprit."

I balled my hands into fists.

"And we can't let the true murderer walk away unscathed. At no cost. I won't allow that."

I saw that Gumshoe was resisting the urge to let his eyes off the street and look at me instead. He looked to be quite impressed.

"Wooow… For a moment there, you sounded a little bit like Mr. Edgeworth, Pal!"

"Really?" Interested, I turned my head a bit. The tension in my body that had built up when I had been talking was now lessening again. Meanwhile, Gumshoe nodded.

"Yes! Well, not all of it, actually. But some of it really sounded like stuff he'd say…"

"Hm…" I turned my head back forward and mumbled to myself. "Not too surprising, actually…"

(This Edgeworth is a Defense Attorney, after all…)

"So… it's true?"

"Hm?"

I looked over to Gumshoe once again, as he continued. "You know… That thing about you and Mr. Edgeworth being old friends…" He seemed puzzled. "I was really surprised when he mentioned this during the trial."

"We were in the same class for a year when we were in grade school." I explained with a nod. "But… I don't really remember what happened after that."

(Understatement of the year.)

"I would never have guessed, Pal." Gumshoe told me. "I mean, I knew that your girlfriends were twins, but that the two of you also have known each other for so long… Wow, it's a small world after all, isn't it?"

"Yes… I guess so." (That, or the Fey Clan is magnetically attracting lawyers.) "And to be honest…" I watched a pair of plush dices which were dangling from the rear view mirror alongside a tiny Blue Badger bounce up and down from the uneven movement of the car. "…I'm glad that Edgeworth is on the case. If there's anyone who can get Lana off the hook without a miracle, it's him."

"So… That's why you asked me to help him with his investigations?"

"Getting their hands on the needed evidence can be incredibly difficult for a Defense Attorney since they are usually not allowed on the crime scene." I explained. Nobody knew that better than me. "I figured that the best way to solve this case as quickly as possibly was to give Edgeworth everything he'd need right away... And I think that worked out quite well, didn't it?"

"Well, Mr. Edgeworth really did drop some rather big bombs today." Gumshoe chuckled nervously. "A setup crime scene… a fake suicide note… Wow, I would never have guessed that."

(Of course you wouldn't. If you had, Lana wouldn't have ended up being the defendant...Ah, I better keep that one to myself.)

"And then there's that thing about you and that singer secretly being a couple…"

My alarm bells went off.

"W-We're not a couple!" I shouted quickly. "I mean, she's not… we're not… That's all a huge misunderstanding!"

"Huh?" Gumshoe obviously didn't buy it. "And that love letter?"

"That's not a love letter! That's just a-" I attempted to end the sentence in my mind, in order to find the most believable way to finish it, but no ending I could come up with sounded believable. Gumshoe was right, that color just screamed 'Love Letter'.

(Maya, what were you thinking?)

"It's a- a… a random letter that just… happened to be… pink…Yeah…"

"Are you sure, Pal?" He still didn't take my argument very seriously. "I mean… I never saw anyone just send a letter in a pink envelope for no reason before…"

"…"

(And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what happens when you try to apply common sense to Maya's logic. …Except if she actually intended that letter to be…. Uh… No! Abort thought! ABORT THOUGHT!)

The moment this whole implication turned out to be true, I would just do like the first PC I ever handled and suddenly shut down, accompanied by a weird, blue screen telling everyone that I 'encountered a problem'. A massive problem. That was all just too much.

"But, in the end, I guess Mr. Edgeworth was a bit harsh on the girl…" Gumshoe voiced his opinion hesitantly. "I mean, he really didn't show much mercy when she kept denying everything..."

"He overdid it. A lot." I agreed and closed my eyes, trying not to remember how horrible Maya had looked over there in the witness stand. Edgeworth had clearly crossed the line between 'pressure' and 'torture' back there.

"But he had a reason, I guess…if Maya really was there that day, it would mean that we need to hear her testimony of what she observed as well. We can't just let her refuse to say anything. Since most of the evidence is apparently fake, testimonies is all we have to get to the bottom of this case. Plus, I barely investigated when we first found the body and missed almost all of the contradictions in the evidence on the evening of the crime. That was stupid and caused quite a lot of problems… Hadn't it been for Edgeworth, this trial would be over now and Lana sentenced to death…"

I made a short pause. There was something else I realized as I talked about all of this. Something that hadn't really occurred to me before for some reason.

"And…Edgeworth would have never been able to make that much progress, hadn't you given him access to the crime scene and the results of the forensic investigations…" I turned towards Gumshoe again. "…that wouldn't have been possible if you had refused to help him. Most of all, we wouldn't have gotten that list of the fingerprints. And that thing has proven itself to be a lot more useful than I would have thought. …Thank you, Detective."

He turned his head away.

"Well… I just did my job…"

"No, that's not true. You weren't supposed to give out information just like that. Not to the Defense Attorney. You could have been fired and you still did it." I got an idea. A slightly weird-sounding one… But I decided to just voice it regardless. "So…How about if I ...raise your salary?"

(Wow… to think that I can actually do that…) I thought to myself, watching how the Detective jerked up in surprise at the sound of the word 'raise'. (But if I really can do that… I probably should. He deserves it. Sure, he may not be the brightest bulb in the house, but he's really trying to do his best. And all those instant noodles can't be healthy…)

"…" Gumshoe seemed a little embarrassed. After a few awkward head movements, he finally just focused on the street and sighed. "Thanks…but I can't accept that, Mr. Wright."

"What?"

To say that his answer 'struck me as a surprise' would be like saying that a glacier is 'a little cold'. I didn't understand it. For years, the Detective hadn't been talking about much else than his meager income and now… this?

"To be honest, Pal…" He continued as I tried to wrap my mind around his response. "…I would have helped Mr. Edgeworth even if you hadn't asked me to."

"Heh?"

Gumshoe bended a bit, like he was afraid of getting scolded by me any second. Of course, this scolding never came. So he finally got around to continue talking.

"I… I've been helping Mr. Edgeworth all the time, Pal. Ever since I've first been promoted to Detective…"

"But…" This didn't match up. "Why did Edgeworth even know then that I allowed him on the crime scene when we spoke about it the next morning then?"

"I told him about it when I gave him your keycard." Gumshoe shook his head. "He thought that I had taken it without your permission and wanted me to return it. That's when I explained to him what you told me to do."

"I-I see…"

Now that I thought about it… That made sense, actually. Why Gumshoe referred to Edgeworth as 'Sir'… Why he was so apologetic during his testimony… Why he seemed to know so much about him and his personality...

"Mr. Edgeworth…" Gumshoe started talking again. "…I owe him. Big time."

"Hm?"

The Detective had rarely ever sounded as serious as he sounded right now. "He saved my life, Pal. Twice, actually."

"Twice?" My ears perked and I listened interested, as he started explaining.

"The first time was when I had barely been a Detective for a few days. There was a rather big case and I was assigned to guard the Defendant Lobby."

"What happened?"

"The Defendant and a Prosecutor were killed while I was on duty, Pal." The memory alone apparently made him feel rather disheartened, as his body-language clearly showed. "First they thought they had somehow killed each other, but… You know Ms. Von Karma, Pal? She somehow ended up believing that it was me instead and persuaded everybody else of it…"

"You mean… Franziska von Karma? The same one as in today's trial?" I asked surprised. "So… she prosecuted against you back then?"

"No, no, of course not… She didn't have her badge back then. She was thirteen, you know."

"Oh."

(Well, that's Franziska von Karma for you. Thirteen and no badge, yet already trying to do the grown up's work...I wonder… Did she already have her whip back then?)

"…Her father was prosecuting…"

"M-Manfred von Karma?"

I stared at Gumshoe like he was running around with a sign saying 'I survived a T-Rex attack'. I couldn't help but gulp, since I knew that Gumshoe's emphasis on the word 'father' had been more than justified.

"I really thought I was done for, Pal." He almost literally shrunk away, making me afraid that he might soon be unable to look across the cockpit. "The prosecution was awfully solid… There was more evidence against me in that trial than I could count. It seriously made me wanna weep."

"And the Defense Attorney…?" I asked carefully.

"Gregory Edgeworth. Mr. Edgeworth's father." Gumshoe said, confirming my suspicion.

(Of course… if Franziska was thirteen, Edgeworth couldn't possibly already have passed the bar by then… Well, OK, it is possible, but unlikely…especially for a normal Defense Attorney. So it was Gregory Edgeworth VS. Manfred von Karma…)

"I was really lucky that someone like him picked up my case… But even then, things still looked dire." Gumshoe continued his story. "They would have given me the death sentence, Pal, hadn't it been for that little girl… eh… what was her name again… Kathy… Kaitlin… something like that…"

"…Hmpf!…"

(Huh?)

I turned around again. There was that voice again. There was one! I was certain! But no matter how hard I looked, there was nobody on the back seat or on the floor.

(The trunk! There has to be someone in the trunk!)

"…Anyway, she was the daughter of one of the victims, I think. Barged in and demanded to testify for me before the judge could hand down the verdict."

I turned my attention back to Gumshoe. "And… Gregory Edgeworth was able to use her testimony to turn the case around?" I guessed.

Gumshoe laughed. "Not Gregory Edgeworth, Pal! Miles Edgeworth."

"Huh?"

"I told you that I owe him, didn't I?" There was a grin on Gumshoe's face all of a sudden. "He stood beside his father during the trial. For practice, I think. While his dad was still in the dark, Mr. Edgeworth had already figured out what happened and exposed the real killer right where she sat. That's how they got me off the hook! …And that all thanks to a half-eaten Swiss Roll, Pal!"

A lot more upbeat once again, probably because he was remembering the victory-celebration now, Gumshoe chuckled. I nodded to show that I had understood what he told me.

(I don't quite get the part about the Swiss Roll, but, OK…)

"That was Manfred von Karma's first loss ever… I'm actually quite surprised you didn't know about it, Pal!"

"Eh… Well, I didn't know you and Edgeworth were involved! Ehe…" I talked myself out of it. "Edgeworth's father must have been quite proud of him that day."

Gumshoe confirmed this for me right away. "Oh, he was, Pal, he was! Of course, he never bragged with his son or something… but, believe me, there were quite a lot of times where it was obvious that he was tempted to do so!"

"I can imagine that…" I agreed, scratching my chin. "I guess everyone would want to brag with a son like that. But there's something I still don't understand… If you were on trial for murder once, how come you're still a Detective? I've heard of Policemen being demoted because of much less severe incidences…"

"That's all thanks to Detective Fey, Pal!"

(Mia…)

There was a certain sense of awe on Gumshoe's face as he went on to explain. "That woman was just amazing! From her first day as a Detective onwards, she always kept an eye on everything and made sure that there's no unfair treatment in the force."

"She had that much power as a Detective?" I asked surprised.

"Well, she always had solid arguments and some good connections to a few higher ups… But I guess she didn't really have influence on everything in the end. It was a little bit of a trial and error thing whether her requests regarding the treatment of the other members of the force actually got through or not. But I heard that quite a few higher ups and even prosecutors had all agreed to keep me on the force back then. I guess she persuaded them that firing innocent bystanders wasn't how the police should deal with their problems, you know?... Too bad she couldn't do the same for Maggey later…"

"Maggey was on trial for murder too… I guess?" I asked hesitantly, just to make sure that this was correct. Gumshoe nodded. "And Ms. Fey really tried her best to keep the chief from firing her. But poor Maggey already had quite a few marks on her record for losing files, coming too late, crossing red traffic lights… the works, you know. I think those guys were actually glad to find a reason to get rid of her. Not even Ms. Fey could help her there."

"I think it's amazing that she still tried…" I said, realizing that nothing about Mia had changed, except her occupation. "I guess everyone on the force really looked up to her, right?"

"Of course we did, Pal! She was everyone's idol! Ah…" The next thing he did was sigh. His face fell. "It's really horrible what happened to her… Detective Fey, I mean. I still can't quite believe that she actually did that…"

"…"

I nervously turned away. Of course she didn't do it. Of course… If there just was a way I could get her out of this mess again. Then I remembered something. Edgeworth had told me that Gumshoe was the Detective who was in charge of the investigations in Mia's case, right? That means all the evidence 'I' used against her in this trial was found by him…

Gumshoe went on.

"Now that I think about it, you seemed really nervous before the trial, Pal. Well, prosecuting against the Detective who had handled more than half of your cases for years… that must have been hard."

"…!"

This sentence hit me pretty severely.

(Mia… Mia was the one who investigated in the majority of 'my' cases?) I realized. (So… 'I' worked together with her?)

My first thought was how incredibly true Gumshoe's 'small world' statement from before was.

My second thought was… anger. Incredible anger…

(How… How could I… How could he do that?)

I pressed my hands to my lap with enough force to hurt. Not that I would have cared about that at the moment.

(So he knew her… He had worked alongside her! He knew exactly what kind of a woman she was! And still, he did that to her? What… What…)

"What happened?" I said out aloud accidentally. I shook my head. "What, what? How could he… I…Why… Mia…"

"It was a huge shock for us all, Pal." Gumshoe said, obviously misinterpreting my out-of-context rambling. "I knew that Ms. Fey would do a lot to help others, especially her friends, but that she'd go that far…"

I listened up.

"Help…?"

"And I wouldn't have thought that the District Chief of Police would turn out to be such a…" The detective shivered. "Well, I always knew that he was kind of scary, but not like that, Pal. That will probably sound horrible if I say it now, but I'm actually kinda glad that he's gone, now that we all know what he was doing all this time…"

(Mia… a friend of hers… The District Chief…)

It clicked in my head and I finally understood what that case had been about. What Mia had really been accused of…

"Damon Gant…" I whispered to myself in realization.

(The victim of that attempted murder… that was Damon Gant!)

That's what Mia and Dahlia were being accused of? Poisoning Damon Gant to save Lana?

Of course, that's how it had to be. That's what made sense. Mia had mentioned that Lana finally had no reason to hide her personality no longer. And what Edgeworth alluded to when he mentioned something 'I' uncovered during the trial a few days ago... That must have been SL-9.

It made sense.

It confused me.

Good thing I was already sitting. Otherwise I might have felt insecure on my feet right now.

(So… The Prosecution's claims must have basically been like this: Mia figured out about SL-9 and wanted to restore Lana to how she used to be, so she made Dahlia her accomplice and tried to kill Gant… It's still a stupid claim when you know enough about Mia, but at least I now know what stupid claim the prosecution in this case was built upon…)

I thought a bit more about this.

(And now, Ema was found dead just a few days later… Lana, Ema and Damon Gant… Three important figures in SL-9. That can't be a coincidence! There has to be some kind of connection between the cases! But how do they connect? And where do I come in…? What is my… this other guy's role in this?)

When I was still wondering where all the loose strings might meet, Gumshoe had already resumed talking.

"Detective Fey, Ms. Skye, Ema, District Chief Gant… Even Mr. Edgeworth's secretary and girlfriend… Lots of familiar faces that I've gotten used to seeing at work are now gone, you know?" The Detective sighed disheartened. "It's… scary, Pal. I almost feel like I could be next. Like I could be murdered… or end up on trial a third time…"

I turned my head toward him again. "A third time…?"

"Well, I told you, didn't I, Pal? Mr. Edgeworth saved me twice!" Gumshoe replied.

(Oh, right… He said that.)

"So you really don't remember that either." Gumshoe chuckled. "Mr. Wright, that was the one case you couldn't prosecute!"

I listened up once again.

" 'Couldn't'…?"

"You had a broken leg, remember?"

"O-Oh… Yes… Of course…"

(So there was a case involving both Edgeworth and Gumshoe, which this guy couldn't prosecute because he got injured prior to it…)

I really started to wish I had a notepad on hand. An incredible amount of information was coming up in this conversation… I was afraid I wouldn't be able to memorize all of it. All those details about Gumshoe, Edgeworth, Mia, Lana…

"Mr. Edgeworth was really disappointed that you didn't show up back then, Pal!" Gumshoe laughed "He frowned when he saw the replacement prosecutor… If eyes could kill, it would have looked dire in even more ways for Mr. Payne! Hehehe…"

"Edgeworth was really that eager to face off against me in court?" I asked a little surprised and Gumshoe shrugged.

"Well, it would have been your first time going up against each other. I didn't understand why that was so special for him back then either… But you were old friends all along, so I guess it makes sense."

(Yeah, probably… It just feels weird for me because the Edgeworth I remember had avoided me for years… And I had been the one trying to finally get a chance to meet him in court.)

Simplifying the situation a lot, one could say that our roles were 'switched', but it wasn't really that easy. Because Edgeworth just wasn't me. Defense Attorney or not, Edgeworth was Edgeworth at the core and would always be it. He thought differently than me, he expressed himself differently than me… It was impossible to just 'switch' us. That's not how people work. A personality is more complex than that…

…I was starting to wonder about my personality. Had I really been able to develop into such a horrible person as everyone claimed? Really?

"Mr. Edgeworth is really something special. He's takes after his father alright… Did you have any Lawyers in your family, Mr. Wright?"

I shook my head: "Nope. None. I'm the first and only, as far as I know."

(My parents were surprised when I went up to them and told them that I was going to study law. Now that I think about it… I guess they didn't think I could do it. Maybe I didn't think I could do it myself either. And yet, here I am…)

Just a second ago, I had been thinking about unlikely personality changes… But only now did I realize how much my personality actually had changed over the years. That little boy back in grade school… if I thought about it now, I barely couldn't even recognize him as myself anymore. And the young man back in university, who knew no shame and had way more naivety than necessary… That wasn't me anymore either.

Maybe my personality really could change that easily. And that thought... Frightened me. Could I have really just turned out like… that? A ruthless jerk who doesn't care about anyone's wellbeing?

And… if I were to change again…how would my personality turn out? Would the new 'me' be a 'me' the current 'me' would approve of? I hated the possibility that the answer to this question could be 'no'…

Thankfully, Gumshoe continued talking and gave me a reason to stop pursuing this scary train of thought.

"Mr. Edgeworth and his father really made an awesome team. There was absolutely no detail that went past them, I tell you, Pal!"

I was so glad that this topic had nothing to do with me whatsoever.

"Edgeworth is a quick and strategic thinker. If his father is anywhere close to his level, I pity every Prosecutor who had to go up against the two of them."

(Facing off against two Edgeworths at once… Yeah, that person is definitely screwed.)

"It's true! Not even Mr. Von Karma stood a chance against the two of them together, Pal! I think calling that duo 'invincible' wouldn't be too far off the mark. Too bad that that's over…"

Only once the sentence had somewhat sunk in, I understood what it actually meant. Not to mention that I finally realized that Gumshoe had been talking in past tense. I jerked up.

"W-Wait! What do you mean by 'over'?"

BAWAM.

Pot Holes.

They are always conveniently placed in inconvenient places you don't need them. Like here, exactly at that part of the conversation. Gumshoe had no time to reply to my question. He was busy saving us by regaining control over the car, which had started going anywhere but the direction he wanted it to go. Meanwhile, I remembered that we were driving along a – oh yes – cliff and felt how every muscle I had cramped and hurt, especially in my stomach region and how I started to feel sick and sicker. I was about to scream something – I'm not quite sure what it was, although it's pretty likely that it would have been the word 'Objection' – when my attention was caught by something else.

"KYAAAA!"

That voice again. That voice.

(It's a girl!) I realized. (I'm not imagining that! There's a girl in this car! We have a stowaway!)

Gumshoe finally just hit the breaks with all his force. I know enough about driving to know that this would usually only make things worse, but, for some miraculous reason, it worked. The car finally came to a halt on the middle on the road. And Gumshoe and I, Gumshoe especially, sat in our seats, wet from our sweat, breathing heavily.

"This street… Horrible… Please… Never again… Pal… OK?" He stuttered slowly, leaning against the cockpit in exhaustion. I would have agreed with a loud 'Yes!', hadn't I been preoccupied with something else. Wordless, I removed my seatbelt, opened the door to my right and left the car.

"Hm?" Gumshoe looked up to me. "Mr. Wright?"

"The key." I said.

"…Hm?"

"I need the key for the trunk, please." I told him.

Gumshoe looked quite puzzled.

"But your suitcase is on the backseat, isn't it?

"That's not it. You heard that voice just now too, didn't you?" I pulled down my eyebrows, just to make sure he wouldn't think that I was kidding. "Detective, there is someone in the trunk. And I'm going to get that someone out of there."

Wordless, but apparently understanding – I suspected that he had actually heard it too, but discarded it as his imagination – the Detective reached to the steering wheel and pulled the car's keys off their place, handing them to me. I took them, nodded, and left for the backside of the vehicle. Gumshoe quickly unfastened his own seatbelt and followed me. The curiosity on his face was pretty obvious. I inserted the key into the lock of the trunk as soon as it was in reach. It took me a few tries until it actually spun around. Then, finally, with a quiet 'click', the trunk door unlocked. I pulled it up and…

And what I saw… was pink.

Well, pink and black. Or, rather 'she' was pink and black, because that's what it was: A she.

(What is it with the pink today? -No, No, No, much more important: Who is that?)

It was a girl, apparently not even Maya's age, black hair in a ponytail, wearing a pink shirt, a black skirt and scarf and boots of the same color. Also, she had a huge, golden hairstick in the shape of a key.

I had seen that scarf somewhere before. That's what I seemed to recall, but that was about it. It was the only thing about that girl that seemed familiar to me in any way. Otherwise, I was entirely sure that I had never met her before.

Rolled up in the trunk like a sleeping kitten, she stared up at me, open mouthed. Her eyes were wide open, almost making up a quarter of her face at that, and she blinked a few times like she was expecting me to tap her and say 'You're it!' any second.

Meanwhile. Gumshoe beside me was just as speechless as that girl and I. Not surprising, considering that he had actually been the one who had tried to ensure me that, no, there is in fact nobody in the trunk. He couldn't have been much more wrong about this.

The three of us kept staring at each other, word- and move-less, until one of us finally snapped out of it and said something. For the record, that was me.

"Just… Who are you?" I asked.

"Eh…Eh… Eh…" She uttered at me for a reply.

(Translation to English: 'This didn't go as planned.')

The girl remained 'Eh'-ing for a few more moments, before she finally closed her mouth. And then, she quickly sat up from her curled position. And then she jumped out of the car. Without bumping her head anywhere, mind you. And then, she landed on my toes. It was painful.

(YARGH!)

I stumbled back three steps and jumped on one foot a few times, as the girl started posing before us:

"Well…eh…Ahem!"

Whatever this girl was going to do now, she apparently wanted our attention for it.

(She looks like she was going to hold a spee-)

"Even in the depths of night, when no other bird dares to take flight…"

(Never mind.)

"…one alone soars to shine the light of righteousness on the world's blight! And that one is me! For I am…"

(A girl with a fetish for poems?)

The girl took a deep, deep breath, as if to make her finish especially epic.

"…Totally out of here! See ya!"

Or not.

Gumshoe and I just watched as the girl sprinted off down the road while we were still stunned from an amazingly… weird performance. I was actually surprised that she didn't try to jump off that cliff and fly after the speech she just gave.

And so, leaving a cloud of dust behind her, she disappeared around the next turn, not to be seen again. Apparently, she was planning to run all the way back to LA. I knew that it was possible… But I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

So much for the 'bird of righteousness', or whatever she called herself.

Well, in conclusion, we had been stalked. By a high school-ninja-girl with keys in her hair who calls herself a 'bird' for some reason, likes being locked in a cramped trunk for hours, and gives a great, amazing speech, only to run off without any real introduction. Oh, not to mention that she epically failed at stealth with her pink shirt and hairdo. That 'ponytail' looked anything but normal. Trying to sneak around in that attire is worse than trying to sneak around in Maya's attire. And that's saying something. Actually that's saying a lot.

"What. Was. That." Were my first words upon regaining my ability to speak, with this exact intonation.

"Dunno…" Gumshoe answered me on half his usual volume. "…'Weird', maybe?"

('Pointless' is probably the better word…) I thought to myself. [/i](A singing reptile would have made more sense than that…)[/i]

As if my poor brain didn't already have enough stuff to comprehend, now this just had to come out of the blue… No, I was definitely not trying to make sense out of what just happened. Not today. Sorry, there were just no more unoccupied spots left in the 'Mess with Phoenix's perception of reality'-Festival.

I put my hands to my face and sighed. "Please, let's just drive on. And forget that this ever happened."

Gumshoe was still staring at the corner around which that girl had just made her exit when he slowly nodded and mumbled.

"… Agreed, Pal…"

Evidence:

*) Prosecutor's Badge

I never thought I'd ever hold this in my hands. The design closely resembles the police's emblem.

*) Magatama

This gem allows me to see the locks on people's hearts whenever they hide the truth from me. It was a gift from Maya and is charged with Pearls' spiritual energy.

*) Photo of Iris

A picture of me and Iris in Kurain. Apparently we were still a couple here, up until recently.
CHECK: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1896 ... feenie.png

*) Victim(?) Note

Reads "Lana" in red letters of blood.
CHECK: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/4660/victimnote.png

*) Snackoos Bag

Found near Ema. She was apparently eating them before she was killed. Imported from Europe.

*) Dart

A small, needle-like projectile, made for use with a tranquilizer gun. There are faint traces of blood on it. Found near the sofa.

*) Rope

Ripped. Apparently, Lana tried to hang herself with it. It was cut before it ripped.

*)Sketch

A picture of Maya, Pearls and me, drawn in my boredom. Note to self: Giving up the art studies was a good choice.
CHECK: http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/645/sketchonaboat.png

*)Autopsy Report

Victim died between 17:00 and 17:20 from massive blood loss after receiving a stab wound in the chest. The back of the head was bruised.
CHECK: http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6753/autopsyreport.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 1

CHECK: http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9230/crimescenephoto1.png

*)Crime Scene Photo 2

CHECK: http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8229/crimescenephoto2.png

*)Knife

The murder weapon. Was cleaned with soap after the crime, so there are no finger prints or bloodstains on it left. Belongs to the Defendant.

*)Fingerprint List

Lists the people who touched the door's handle.
CHECK : http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4497/fingerprintslist.png

*)Ema's Button

One of the three Badges Ema wore on her labcoat. It came off before she died. The needle is bloody and crooked.

Profiles:

*) Phoenix Wright

I have been a Defense Attorney for three years now. But now it looks like people were convinced of something else suddenly...

*) Miles Edgeworth

An old school friend of mine. Apparently, he's a renowned Defense Attorney here. The "Him" I remember, on the other hand, was an extremely talented, but arrogant Prosecutor.

*) Maya Fey

Sprite
Singing (Turnabout Sisters Song)[Hatsune Miku(Vocaloid)]
Apparently a famous pop idol known as "MAYOI". In my memory, she was a Spirit Medium and served as my assistant and co-council in many of my cases.

*) Ema Skye

A teenager, who was dreaming of becoming a forensic investigator one day and good friend of mine. Was murdered in the apartment.

*) Lana Skye

Ema's older sister. Apparently tried to commit suicide in the bathroom. Her suicide note implicates her as her sister's killer.

*) Dick Gumshoe

Still detective of the local police force. Still as underpaid as ever.

*) Mia Fey

Maya's older sister and a detective. Currently under arrest for attempted murder. I remember her being my mentor as a Defense Attorney and murdered shortly after my very first trial.

*) Dahlia Fey
Leitmotif

Maya's and Mia's cousin and Iris's identical twinsister. Was the coldblooded killer 'Dahlia Hawthorne' in the world I remember, but declared guilty for a crime she didn't commit alongside Mia in this one. Her personality seems to have been turned upside down...

*) Klavier Gavin

Leadsinger and Guitarist of a Band called "Gavinners". Apparently also a lawyer. His name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I first met him.

*) Lilie Heatherd

Leitmotif
Sprite
Voice: OBJECTION!
A Defence Attorney known as the "Evidence Spammer". Claims to have witnessed Ema and Lana entering the Apartment shortly before the murder.

*) Iris Fey

Leitmotif
Singing (??? Song)
Maya and Mia's cousin, Dahlia's twin and hire to the master title of Kurain in this 'world'. Recently broke up with 'me'. Unhappy with her occupation as a Spirit Medium.

*) Franziska von Karma

Prosecutor Prodigy from Germany, who was assigned to aid me during this trial. She enjoys whipping lawyers, judges and witnesses alike and strives for absolute perfection in her trials.

*) Misty Fey

Sprite
Alternate Outfit
Talented Spirit Medium and mother to Mia and Maya Fey. Saw a third witness.

*) Dylan Sengage

Sprite
Lilie Heatherd's boyfriend, despite being a minor. The owner of the unidentified fingerprints.

*) ???

A girl. With keys in her hair... Just what was that about?!

Bonus:
Music: BGM of the Dream Sequences

Artwork: Lilie Heatherd

THIS.

Well, not really, actually. I mean, she does have some bearing on the plot… I think. It's just that I wrote this scene and realized how incredibly weird her sudden appearance was, when they had just been talking about epic Defence Attorneys, Brutal Murderers and the likes a second ago.

By the way, I did some character theme remixes and an original Leitmotif for Heatherd. They're listed with their profiles in the court-record now. Also, there is now a BGM for the Dream scenes (YEAY), which I composed and arranged. Also listed in the Record.

Oh, some people in the previous chapter didn't get what the white cats in the Maid Café were about. Well, two words: Hello Kitty.

I guess that should explain everything.

Back to this chapter:

So, yes, so information about Alt!Edgeworth, Alt!Gumshoe and Alt!Mia. Better give it out now than trying to cram it in somewhere else latter.

Also, we have yet another DUM DUM DUM creepy dream.

There's Pearly, there's flowers. Starting to notice a patter in my concept of 'creepy'? Well, we can probably attribute me finding flowers to be creepy to good ol' Dahlia… -_-; Dunno why I find little, cute girls that creepy… maybe because of 'Higurashi no naku koro ni' or something…

These dreams even have their own BGM now. Yes, just to cement the fact that I have really NO life whatsoever, I actually composed a BGM for those dreams. I added a link to it in the courtrecord. It turned out pretty decent in my opinion. And if you've been following the of the court-record closely, you might even notice that the melody is… familiar.

I always found it funny how every single Protagonist in Ace Attorney is afraid of heights… Even Edgeworth, who already has, like, a dozen other phobias to boot. (Sheesh, give the guy a break, Capcom!) I laughed loudly when Trucy told Apollo of Phoenix' Ferris Wheel Freakout in case 4-3. So I just had to put that in.

Finally, some AAI. Needed to explain what exactly Bratsworth's absence from the investigations in the second KG-8 changed. Although this moment probably made it painfully obvious who's hiding in the trunk…

Painting Mia as awesome because Mia is awesome. There is no denying this fact. If one could be prosecuted for awesomeness, Mia would have been trouble because of that in 1-2, not Bluecorp, I swear.

So many posts in this thread… You. Are. AWESOME. ^^

Since I need my daily dose of fanwork-reviews to normally function, you guys are literally keeping alive! Thank you! XD

Please, don't be shy to comment, whether it is praise, critisicm, a joke, a guess, or anything similar!^^ I'm always happy to hear opinions! I can only get better if I know what's fine and what I should work on. ^^

Kaitlin... Who is the mysterious being in the trunk.
Do i know a mysterious high-school quirky ninja girl with black hair with a giant key poked through it? Hmmm.... /Sarcasm
Not that the mystery wasn't built up well. I loved it. It sort of that family friendly tension wherein you know what's gonna happen, you just have to see it happen, unlike what I like to call sixth sense tension where everything is completely and utterly blown out of the water.
Yayay KG8 is one of my favorite background cases and i was happy to see a large reference to it.
Daddy rivalry was also well built up in this chapter. And the Edgeworth double team! Wasn't expecting that one... can't wait to find out more.
And I'm still anticipating the Kurain scene between Nick and Maya! I just can't wait for it to happen!
If every chapter is this good, I don't care how long it takes!

SQUEE.. Ich bin beeindruckt! Endlich wieder eine(r), die/der Deutsch kann - ich hab schon ein paar kennengelernt, die Deutsch können, deshalb die Mehrzahl.
Und es macht überhaupt nichts, dass du nicht auf Deutsch schreiben kannst - wenn man halt zu viel um die Ohren hat. xD Ich versteh es auch so.
Wegen deiner Cosplay-Idee: Ich find das gut, aber ich bin erst 15 und weiß nicht, ob ich da überhaupt mitmachen darf, aber ich überleg's mir mal. Ich übersetze das Obenstehende (vor dem Spoiler) noch mal: Der Thread ging nicht. Er ist einfach abgestürzt und ich weiß nicht, wieso. Deshalb tut es mir schrecklich Leid, dass ich nicht eher zurückschreiben konnte..
Zu der Fortsetzung: Wieder einmal wunderbar geschrieben :D Ich bin beeindruckt!
Noch mal ein fettes 'Sorry' und schöne Grüße :)

Ooh, continuity! I think we're all aching to know how those two cases happened in this universe.

Kay in the trunk? And making a break for it at the climax of her intro? Yeah, I think I had the same reaction that Phoenix and Gumshoe did. x_x

As one of the few people who actually likes , I was super excited when she showed up. But what was she doing there? What daring truth is Yagatarasu II stealing this time? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Dass du 15 bist macht gar nichts! Cosplayn kann man mit jedem Alter! Ist besonders praktisch, um auch Charaktere, die von älteren Personen nicht gut machbar wären, zu kriegen, wie Pearl Fey...

Freut mich, dass dir die Story gefällt! Ich gebe mir auch echt Mühe, der Serie Gerechtigkeit und Ehre zu erweisen!

Good idea with the notepad, especially considering that even I have a hard time not loosing the overview with all the stuff I planned out. I'm seriously thinking about turning some plottreads that would be hard to squeeze in into Ace-Attorney-Online "Mini-Cases" (With, like, 10 minutes of content or something), just in order to make the Fanfic less crammed...

You win the Mary Poppins award 2010.

Thank you a lot for your feetback. ^^

And I 100% agree with you about Maya.

May 2nd, 3:05pm
Kurain Village

The remaining part of the trip progressed uneventful. We soon let the truly shabby part of the street behind us, after which everything went by a whole lot more smoothly. As for the horrendous cliff of horror right next to us, I found a way to distract myself from that one: Keeping myself busy with trying to figure out how to a) find Maya's meeting place b) approach her c) make her aware of what was going on with me.

I had decided that I was going to tell Maya about everything and that decision was final. I just couldn't keep that charade up any longer. It was driving me nuts. I needed my trusty, hyperactive assistant back; otherwise I wouldn't have a moment of peace. Which was ironic, since ruining moments of peace was pretty much Maya's specialty. But I didn't care much about logic at the moment anyway. I just didn't want to feel so… lonely anymore.

Not 'lonely' in the sense of being 'the only one around', of course. 'Lonely' in the sense of having nobody to talk to without having to think about it twice or trice. Every time I started talking, it felt stiff and preplanned. I wanted to be able to relax a bit again. Maybe even, I don't know, have a little bit of fun.

Of course, this was all wishful thinking. Chances were that Maya wouldn't just suddenly decide that we were BFFs and follow me around like I was used to it. And even if she did, who says that it'd be the same? This Maya was different from the one I had worked with in past years, no matter how similar they looked, talked and behaved. Still, I hoped that I'd at least finally be able to lead a normal conversation with her. And maybe, if I was lucky, that one moment would feel… 'normal'. Like everything had gone back to the way I was used to it. Like we were friends again.

If Maya wouldn't believe me, nobody would. She was my last and only hope.

(The area around Kurain is quite huge,) I realized while we were still driving. (There are millions of places where Maya could be… There's no way I'm going to find her by just walking around and searching. And I'll be late anyway. I need some kind of hint…)

'You are looking at it the wrong way,' Mia would have said. 'The question shouldn't be 'Where could Maya be.' but 'Why could the place where Maya wants to meet you be special for the two of you?'

I could picture Mia before me, telling me exactly those words with her usual, calm smile on her lips.

(Exactly, that's how I have to think about it.) I nodded, (Maya explicitly pointed out a 'special' place… So I have to come up with what kind of place could be so 'special'. Hm…)

But this is where I encountered a problem: I knew nothing about this Maya. How was I supposed to know what is 'special' to both of 'us' if I didn't even know what kind of connection there was between her and the other Phoenix? So in the end, I stayed as clueless as I had been before.

"We're here!"

I perked up when I heard the Detective proclaiming this. A look out of the window and I saw that he was right: The distinctly Asian-looking buildings of Kurain village were passing by as we approached the small bus station near the Fey Manor. Kurain: where Spirit Mediums live, the Far East and its religions and culture are closer than anywhere else in America, and where cell phones have no reception.

Good. So I didn't have to turn off mine before meeting Maya. This saved time. Especially because I hadn't figured out where the 'Off'-button was yet anyway. For some stupid reason, it apparently wasn't the same as the 'On'-button.

Telling the Detective to wait for me, I thanked him, pressed a few bills of money into his hand –the more I waste of this other Phoenix' unrightfully earned wealth, the better – and, before Gumshoe could argue with me, left to find Maya.

Or her mother. Or one of her cousins. Even her aunt would have been alright with me at the moment.

I just needed someone to tell me where Maya was.

But the Fey Manor seemed to be empty since nobody came when I rung the bell. When I attempted to search at different places, I found not a living soul in the village, making me feel like I was wandering through an actual, literal ghost town. However, what I did stumble across on my way was a van with the Global Studios logo on it. I remembered what Kurain currently was: The shooting place for a children's movie.

(Maybe everybody is off to watch a rehearsal somewhere outside the village?)

This didn't seem too far-fetched, assuming that there were more Steel Samurai fangirls in that village, aside from Maya and Pearl. And if those young girls all dragged their mothers along to watch, this would explain why this place seemed even more deserted than usually right now.

I heard sounds that told me that they were apparently shooting a scene in the forest at the moment. This over-the-top yelling just couldn't stem from anything else than Sal Manella's scripts and Will Powers' acting. Several other screams filled the air as well. They were probably filming a battle scene.

(I should probably go down there and ask somebody,) I decided. (Even if there's a huge chance that I'll be randomly attacked by MAYOI-fans again… For now it's more important that I find Maya before she comes to think that I forgot about her…or worse.)

I ran down the road into the forest trying to make sure that I wouldn't get out of breath by going at fairly high, but constant, speed. I still needed the air in my lungs to talk to Maya once I found her. Following the sounds of the rehearsal, I initially kept my way straight down the road… But then, a completely different sound caught my attention.

(Hm? What was that?)

I stopped mid-run, wondering what I had just heard, but it wasn't so easy to figure this out. Only after I closed my eyes and listened as closely as I could while trying to tune out the faraway echoes of the Samurai-actors' yelling, I finally recognized the other sound as being a human voice as well. However, a much calmer, more quiet voice.

There was someone singing…. I sharpened my ears and tried to look around to find the source of the melody.

(Maya? No, that's not her. The pitch is too high…) I thought about it. (But still… that voice seems familiar.)

Finally, realizing that the mysterious singer couldn't be too far away even though I couldn't see her, I formed a funnel with my hands, held it to my mouth and shouted.

"Hello? Is there anybody?"

I took a closer look around and repeated my call. Abandoning the trail of the Samurai-yells, I finally just followed the song, looking around closely everywhere. I followed the direction the song came from for a few seconds until I finally spotted someone sitting on a tree stump.

It was a young girl and, judging by her clothes, she was a Spirit Medium. It was obvious from her movements that she was the one who was singing.

A suspicion regarding that girl's identity built up in my mind and was quickly confirmed when I approached her a few more steps: Short, lean built, round face, lowly placed big eyes and, finally, braided hair in two rings, forming a kind of pretzel.

"Ah! Pearls!"

Perfect. This was the best thing that could have happened. If anyone knew where Maya was, it was her little cousin here. I ran over to her and kept calling her name.

"Hey! Pearls! Pearls, look over here!"

She didn't react right away. Only when I was ten meters away, maybe less, she finally noticed that I was running towards her. Her head then rose and she abruptly stopped singing, just when I reached her and stopped running.

"…Hello, Pearls!" I told her smiling, slightly out of breath. "How are you doing?"

"…"

She turned her head towards me. Then she got up from the stump.

(Why isn't she saying anything?)

Instead of answering my greeting, she stared up at me in an actually quite scary way. I backed off a little.

"…Pearls?"

"…"

The little girl was looking at me with her big eyes, silently, not losing even a single word. I was starting to get nervous.

(Maybe I frightened her, appearing out of nowhere all of a sudden…?) I wondered. In an attempt to make up for this, I bent down, trying to get as close to her eye level as possible.

"Uhm… Say Pearls… Could you tell me where Maya is? I can't find her."

"…"

She raised her head a little, probably because I still wasn't quite as low down as I should have been. She didn't talk, didn't blink, didn't even move. In fact, I couldn't even tell if she was breathing.

That unnerving stare seemed creepily familiar too me. Soon I remembered from where: Our first meeting, of course.

(Ah, that's right… She doesn't know me, does she?)

Pearls' mother, Morgan, had taught her to be wary of 'suspicious' strangers. Which apparently included lawyers with unconventional hairstyles and meant that she'd probably escape as soon as I made a wrong move. I had to be careful.

"Ehm…well…"

"…"

She kept staring at me from below, observing me closely as she did.

"I mean…Hello." I tried to restart the conversation. "So…You are Pearl Fey, right?"

"…"

"I am Phoenix Wright. I'm a… friend of Mystic Maya. Could you tell me where she is right now?"

"Mystic Maya…"

(She said something!)

This little success made my hope for getting any information from this girl rise. Pearls raised her head slightly and kept looking at me.

"Mystic Maya is waiting…"

"Yes, exactly!" I pointed at myself. "She's waiting for me! So, could you please tell me where she's waiting? I kinda… forgot it."

"…"

Pearl was still staring at me. I didn't know how to react to this, so I stayed patient and waited. I didn't want to risk accidently scaring her. It took quite a few seconds, maybe even more than a minute, until she finally made a movement again. She… turned.

(Arghh! No! Don't run away!)

Too late. Pearl was now running in the opposite direction of the one I came from, deeper into the forest.

"Hey! W-Wait!"

Not knowing what else to do, I chased after her. This proved to be difficult, as she took many turns and was incredibly quick. It wasn't surprising, actually. This was the girl who could run from Kurain to L.A. in less than half a day after all.

(*Pant*… *Pant*… *Pant*… *Pant*… I can't let her lose me! She's the only hint regarding Maya's whereabouts that I've got! Not to mention that I'll probably never find my way out of this forest on my own if I get lost here…)

I tried calling for her again, but she wouldn't stop and she wouldn't slow down. I started to worry, not about myself, but about her. We were pretty deep into the forest by now… Morgan would surely spank her if she found out that Pearl ran all the way down here all alone. I didn't want her to get into trouble because of me. But what was she doing here in the first place? Did she have some kind of secret hideout out here or something?

I only figured out the answer when the trees around me grew more and more sparse…

(She's leading us out of the forest,) I realized. (But… where to?)

Finally leaving the last two trees behind me, I ended up finding myself in a radically different environment than before:

A meadow. That's where Pearls had led me. A huge area with nothing but grass and flowers.

(This seems… familiar…)

I spotted Pearls thirty meters or so away from me in the midst of flowers, still running. I kept pursuing her, but couldn't shake off that weird feeling I had…

(That whole chase… I think, I've done that before…,) I realized. (Yes… Pearl stands before me, says a few words and runs off. I chase after her, across a meadow… This meadow… I've been here before! …Where does this sense of Déjà vu come from…?)

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember. Maybe because there was nothing to remember. Maybe this was really just a Déjà vu and nothing else? But still, the feeling was persistent. During every single step, I felt like re-watching an old movie that I hadn't seen in years.

There was a river on the other side of the meadow, down the hill. It wasn't too broad, but looked rather deep to make up for it. And the current seemed rather respectable as well. Remembering my previous experiences with rivers, I decided not to come too close to it…

I chased Pearls across the Riverbank – holding a respectable distance from the actual river – and tried calling her name again.

"Pearl! Wait up, please, Pearl!"

She didn't listen and so I had no choice but to keep running after her. It took quite a while before she finally started to slow down. Had she run out of breath? No, I didn't think so. This wasn't even close to the distance between L.A. and Kurain yet… Pearl could definitely take more than that. So why was she getting slower? It looked like she was about to halt.

She didn't leave the riverbank anymore from then on and led me down it, on and on, right towards a single tree that was planted close to the river. A tree that was blooming…pink.

(…No, I am not even commenting on that anymore…)

That reaction probably had something to do with the fact that chasing Pearl had left me exhausted. Exhausted enough that just stopping and sitting down seemed like an incredibly tempting idea. I could downright hear the angels sing their Hallelujah when I saw how the little girl actually stopped by the tree.

…Listening closer, however, it wasn't angels. It was Pearls who had started to sing again as soon as she had reached the tree. God sure blessed that girl with incredible lungs.

When I reached her, I slowed down. I absolved the last few steps in normal speed and heard how Pearl stopped singing again. She remained looking at the tree. I had almost reached her, when I heard her say something.

"The cherries are still blooming…"

"So, those are cherries…?" I took my last two steps towards her from behind, then turned my head towards the blossoms up in the tree, which Pearl was watching. "They're really pretty…"

"But the cherries have to wilt, Mr. Nick."

"Huh?"

Confused, I turned my head down and looked at the little girl before me. It wasn't just that she just started talking about the flowers wilting all of a sudden, it was also the fact that she had called me by my nickname…

How could this Pearl even know my name? I thought we had never met before?

"Mr. Nick…

Lowering her head a little, Pearls continued to talk.

"They have bloomed for so long… And they are so beautiful… But the cherries will wilt, Mr. Nick, no matter how long you can make them bloom. And once that's happened, you can't make them come alive again. Even when the new cherry blossoms come the year after…They will never be the same again."

That was when she finally turned around and looked at me.

"Do you understand?"

There was nothing I could have said. Just 'No' wouldn't have done this speech justice, but… I couldn't answer anything else to this. I had no idea what she was trying to tell me… not the slightest idea. In the end, I slowly shook my head, staring down at her in confusion.

And she stared back at me.

We stayed like that for a few moments. There was a slight warm breeze. Of course, it was early May after all.

April was over. The last traces of winter had disappeared. Those were the days where spring slowly started to cross over into summer. So all those flowers at Pearls' feet… were those spring flowers or summer flowers? I couldn't tell. I had never learned the difference. And what was so special about those blossoms on the tree? Why did Pearl point out how short-lived they were to me like this?

So many things I didn't understand…

I felt like the most ignorant person in the world right now.

"Mystic Maya is waiting, Mr. Nick," Pearls suddenly told me. "She has been waiting for an answer for so long. She's grown tired of waiting. She thinks you may have forgotten, Mr. Nick."

"Forgotten?" I asked.

"Forgotten about too many things. Just because you're a coward and liar."

And that was when it hit me. That was when I remembered what this whole thing was reminding me of. I raised my head, shocked, startled, and stared at Pearls' big, brown eyes in disbelief.

"No way…how did you…"

It was a weird moment. What Pearl was saying and how she was looking at me gave me the chills and made me want to increase the distance between us.

(This is off,) I heard my inner voice tell me over and over. (This is absolutely off and shouldn't be happening.) I had no idea what was going on. But for a second, just a second, I actually came to wonderif the person I saw before me was actually the cute, little Pearl Fey that I knew…

And I would have probably thought about this for a little longer hadn't it been for someone addressing me just then.

"Well, who do we have here?"

I jerked.

(That voice…)

My curiosity about whoever had just said this was big enough for me to make me take my eyes off Pearl and the tree and turn around. I saw that there was someone sitting on a rock by the river's shore. I hadn't noticed this person before, but he didn't look like he had sat there only recently. It seemed like I ran right past him, when I came.

It was a man with black hair and rather tanned skin, facing the river. I couldn't see his face, but it looked like he was sipping on something… there was an intense scent in the air around him.

(Wait… that smell seems familiar…)

"You lost your way… Trite?"

"…!"

Even though this was when it dawned on me who the person sitting there had to be, I probably wouldn't have even needed to hear him calling me that. I would have figured out from the voice and smell alone just a few seconds later. Especially from the fragrance.

I saw the man lowering his head a little.

"Or… are you waiting for someone here?" He then changed his voice's pitch a little. "Let's go. We can't. Why not? We're waiting..."

I took a step closer towards the man.

"G…Godot…"

"Ha."

Godot… no… Diego Armando stood up from his place and turned around, finally facing me. An aloof smile was on his lips:

"Seems like you've got at least some kind of trivial knowledge under that spiky skull of yours."

Somehow, the second half of this sentence killed off the atmosphere for me, being as wrong as it was. Just because my hair was shaped like this, it didn't mean my skull was as well …

Armando ignored the offended look on my face and just took a sip from the coffee mug in his hand – one wonders how it was still as hot as the steam made it look, when he had brought it with him all the way down here from Kurain – and continued to talk to me.

"Yes, 'Waiting for Godot'… A good play, don't you think?"

"A…play…?"

I perhaps shouldn't have said that out loud. Armando looked like he had just internally revised his statement about me and 'trivial knowledge'. And, to be honest, I didn't feel exactly educated at the moment either. He had made it sound like this play was something one just had to know about…

There was no doubt that this was him. Diego Armando... A.K.A 'Prosecutor Godot', the man whom I had faced in my last three trials before this whole mess had started. Still, it was impressive how different he looked. I tried hard not to stare at him, but this was quite a task.

( I see… This is the 'true' Diego Armando,) I realized. (Of course. With both Mia's and Dahlia's roles changed like this, he was spared the poisoning. So that's what he really looks like…)

Not only was the difference of his change in hair color quite striking – he really looked a whole lot more youthful like this – this was also the first time I actually saw his eyes. Still, it was obviously the same person. There was even that same smug expression on his face, which, despite the lack of the visor, didn't look even the slightest tad different.

(…But what is he doing down here?)

"A pair of men. " Armando said, as he took another sip of his coffee. "Waiting for someone who will never arrive. They know that it is hopeless and still they keep waiting and waiting, unable to move on."

The expression on his face changed a little and became slightly bitterer. "Right now, I feel like I could identify with them... After all…" He turned towards the river again. "My kitten won't just float down this river in a basket and come back, will she? So… I wonder what I am still waiting for here."

As he looked out to the river, I stayed silent behind him. I couldn't say anything. For probably the first time since I first met this man, I knew exactly what and who he was talking about.

This was a valley near Kurain. And he was Diego Armando, the lawyer who had fallen in love with Mia Fey in the 'world' I remembered. He was here and Mia Fey was alive…

So it needed no genius to figure out who his 'kitten' was.

There were many things that had changed. But just like Iris and I still had somehow become a couple… so had apparently Armando and Mia. I stood there and looked at the river behind this man.

(Yes, if the solution to all our problems would just float by on a river… We would just have to wait for it and then pick it up here. But problems are never just solved like that. That would be too easy…)

"And what about you, Trite?"

I turned my attention back at Armando, who had turned around again. "What are you doing here? What are you waiting for?"

"…"

I took a short look around. There was no trace of Maya anywhere here… What was I doing standing around here then? I should continue to try and find her. Then again, it was 3:30pm, as my watch told me. Half an hour past our meeting time… Would she still be waiting for me if I found her? Probably not…

So would it even make difference if I went back and tried to find her now? I already disappointed her again. Maybe she didn't even want to talk to me…

But just standing here and waiting wouldn't do me any good either. I had to act… right?

Hesitantly, I opened my mouth and spoke.

"Mr. Armando…I'm searching for Maya Fey. "

When Armando only gave me an unimpressed smirk, I went on.

"We were supposed to meet but… I can't seem to find her anyw-"

"Did I ask you about that, Trite?" Armando put his coffee mug down on the ground and came closer to me. "I didn't ask you who you are searching for. I asked what you are waiting for."

Confused, I raised my head, as he approached me.

"There's a lot you could be doing, Trite. You could be at home, drinking a nice mug of coffee. You could be working, thinking about how to get your latest case over in the fastest way. You could also be taking a little time to think about what way you are going and if you really want to sink with that shabby ship you built."

I stood there and listened, feeling how my hands clutched to fists again. It didn't feel good to know that his last metaphor was absolutely justified…

"But instead, you are here, of all places you could possibly be. You are out here, doing nothing with your life, while she, who worked twenty-four hours a day to make sure that all the black sheep on mankind's meadow are found out and that lost lambs are safely guided home, was cast into a dark hole and locked away. So much for 'Justice'. Ha."

I hadn't paid attention, just for a moment, that's when Armando had grabbed me by my collar and pulled me over.

(…!)

I suddenly found myself dangling above the river, unable to get free from Armando's grip. And even if I had managed to free myself, I would most likely just have ended up slipping into the water if I did.

(W-What's this about? He isn't going to drop me in there… is he?)

I became incredibly nervous when I realized how well I could imagine this man doing just that. Especially knowing that he would have a pretty strong motivation to act like this. And what he went on to tell me while I was facing the current beneath me didn't make me feel any better.

"Do you know about the stories the Spirit Mediums here tell about this river, Trite?" I heard Armando ask. "It's the Seishigawa river. It may not look it, but its nine meters deep and incredibly cold. To the mediums here, it's a spiritual place. Couples and Friends often swear their oaths down here to make sure they will be able to keep them. On the other hand, they also say that every liar who falls into this river is pulled to the bottom by the weight of their own sins and drowns pitifully. It's a fate no amount of dumb luck can avert."

(*gulp*)

"So tell me, Trite…"

As if to strengthen the impression of what he just said, Armando made me bow lower above the river, so that I was literally on the edge. I suddenly became a lot more aware of the water's murmuring, so that it became almost as loud as Armando's voice to me.

"…if I was to let go of your collar right now, would you drown and die?" He finished his question.

I watched the water under me rush past. Of course, there were a few things the women of Kurain believed in that had absolutely no basis in reality, like the whole myth revolving around Ami Fey's sacred urn, for example. The urn had been broken trice in succession and the channeling power of the Fey family had suffered no ill-effects whatsoever. Still… whether this new myth here was true… I really didn't want to be the one to find out.

'Every liar who falls into this river is pulled down and dies.' I was reminded of what Pearl had told me just a few minutes ago. That I was a coward and a liar. Was this a coincidence? Maybe she brought me here on purpose.

When she called me a 'liar', maybe she had been right in a certain way. And so was Armando. I've been telling quite a few lies ever since I first arrived here. After all, why was I so alone at the moment? Because I hadn't told anybody the whole truth yet. Even when I faced Mia, I had only given her the basic outline, before backing off again. I had been too scared of the probable reaction. Wasn't that the most logical way to act in my situation, after all? Yet a lie is still a lie. No matter how justified it might be. There was no denying this.

And then, there was another thing. One that was much more important. This other 'Phoenix Wright'… No matter how horrible I found everything I had heard about him. No matter how much I wanted to disassociate myself from that person…

If everything that was different now really only changed for the sole reason that DL-6, that one single December day back when Edgeworth and I were nine years old, had somehow changed and lost its significance… This means that up to this year, this other Phoenix and I were identical. Absolutely one and the same. I could have turned out that very same way. I was capable of doing everything he did. Including whatever lies he used to win his cases.

"I…"Feeling how my tie and collar almost strangled me in the position they were in right now, I closed my eyes, as I coughed out the answer to Armando's question. "I would… probably… drown…"

"Ha. At least you admit it."

"Hngh…"

I was pulled back. Then, with enough force to throw a hammer, Armando flung me away, at the Tree behind us. The impact was unpleasant to say the least and I was greeted by a rain of pink blossoms falling into my lap when I opened my eyes again and attempted to not make a face because of my hurting back.

"But admitting won't undo your wrongs, Trite," I heard Armando tell me. "Just like trying to filter the sugar back out of a mug of coffee that turned out too sweet will never work. If you don't want the beans to go to waste, you'll have no other choice but to drink it."

Armando picked up the mug he had previously put down. He took another deep sip, looking like he was trying to empty the mug as quickly as possible. When he was finished, he wiped his mouth.

"You'd better remember that."

He left when he was finished saying this. I watched him walk down the riverbank, not paying me a single second of attention more, as I slowly attempted to get up onto my feet again. When I managed to, Armando had long become a tiny dot on the horizon, too far away to possibly hear any sound I made. Good.

"Argh… Ow…"

I put my hands to my head. It hurt. My back hurt, my neck hurt, my legs hurt… I was starting to wonder if there was any part of my body that didn't hurt at the moment. It was hard to tell with the pain pulsing everywhere. Hadn't I taken enough abuse for the day already, after spending a whole three hours next to Franziska von Karma?

(Of all the people I could have possibly stumbled across, it just had to be him, right? Well, I guess I can consider myself lucky that he didn't actually drop me in the river… And now, Pearls is gone. Great.) A look around revealed to me that I had stayed behind alone. (I guess she must have run away when I was busy with Armando. How am I going to find the way back to the village now?)

In an attempt to maybe, just maybe, find Pearls again – seeing how she was my only way to not end up running through the woods in circles – I called out her name.

"Pearl!

And, just because I was desperate enough, I did it once again.

"Pearl! Pearl, where are you? Pearl!"

(Apparently, she went back home…)

"Pearl?... Who are you talking to?"

My ears perked. There was a girl's voice right behind me.

I turned around and saw a familiar face clad in pink and purple Medium garb, blinking at me in a confused manner. It wasn't Pearls, in case you were wondering.

I was more than surprised to realize that it was Maya.

And she was looking at me in a half-confused, half-insecure manner.

So there she was. Here I was. Almost forty minutes past our meeting time. Great. I wondered what was currently going through her head now, but I could at least be certain that she surely wasn't too glad that she had to search for me for half and a quarter hour. Still, I was incredibly relieved to finally be facing her again.

A part of me wanted to just run over to her and blurt out everything I wanted to tell her. The remaining ninety percent of my brain, however, kept that part hostage and repeatedly smacked it for being so incredibly stupid. There was no way I could just do that. I had to start off slow… no…slower…

But, for some reason, 'slow' seemed to have recently become a synonym for 'awkwardly'.

"…Hello… Maya," I finally managed to get out.

Maya slightly raised her head. For a moment there, it looked like she was going to open it and say something, but then she let her head sink again without having made a sound.

And a mute Maya wasn't a good thing. Never. I had to break this silence as quickly as possible.

It was frustrating when I found myself unable to make the first step. Like my feet were glued to this spot. My mind was systematically crossing out every single new method I came up with for approaching her, one after another. I just didn't know how to talk to her. After all, I didn't know what she would do, how she would react… And that when every negative reaction on her part would have been absolutely justified too.

Thankfully Maya, unlike me, was eventually able to decide what to do. She raised her head again.

"Nick…" I heard her whisper.

(There she goes, calling me Nick again…)

She timidly looked up at me.

"…I… I'm sorry for being late… the rehearsal's break was delayed…"

(Ah…That's right. I heard those rehearsals when I came,) I realized, causing me to sigh relieved. (I should have known that she had to be present there. So Maya was late for our meeting as well… That's good to know.)

"…So I…" For some reason, Maya couldn't do much more than stutter. "Why I… asked you to come here… well… I…"

"Maya…?" I carefully approached her. "Is everything… alright?"

"I…" She raised her head, "I just wanted… to tell you that I… Nick…"

That was when her expression started to change. Her eyes suddenly started to get wet. It looked like an attempt of hers to not to cry was just failing horribly.

Before I could understand what was going on, she had already burst into tears and leapt right at me, grabbing my jacket with both her hands.

"Nick… Nick, I...Th-Thank you for helping me in court today, Nick!"

"…H-Hey!"

She started wiping off her tears with my tie, as I was still trying not to fall over from the sudden change of balance.

"Back in there, I didn't know what to do anymore!" she told me, still not letting go off my jacket. "Hadn't you stopped Miles, he'd have… he'd… I'm so sorry I was such a jerk to you! But after what happened… I thought you had… I was just so… Nick!"

Maya looked up at me in a pleading way.

"P-Please don't let us fight anymore. I don't want that. Just tell me what… what's going on and… We'll fix everything! Alright?"

"What…"

I didn't understand anything anymore, when I saw Maya's wet eyes looking at me like that. This was not 'my friend Maya', right? This was the Maya who had tried to brutally beat me up just a day prior. She was supposed to hate me and supposed to be furious at me. She had every reason to. But now there she was, asking me to forgive her. That was wrong. After what she had to go through… that was just wrong.

Puzzled by what was happening, I shook my head. "What… are you talking about? Maya!"

I took her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You being a jerk to me? Maya, I got Mia convicted! Mia! Your sister! If there's anyone here who was acting like a jerk, it's me!"

"No…" She shook her head wildly. "…No, that's got to be wrong, something about that can't be right! Because I know that can't be…You wouldn't do that! Not you!"

"Maya…"

"It just can't be what happened…" Maya turned her head away. "… In that trial… that couldn't have been you! The real Nick isn't like that! Something must have been wrong, you're not like this! You're…"

"Maya, calm down." I told her when her speech was getting faster again. She had been made miserable enough already over the course of those events, I didn't want herself to put any kind of blame on herself. "You had – and still have – every right to be angry at me, alright? You shouldn't be apologizing for anything! So please… please stop it. And don't cry."

"…" Maya slowly looked up to me. "…You… you're really being serious now, right? You're not just making fun of me, are you? …Please tell me that you're not."

"I am not." I told her, shaking my head. "And I am sorry for what happened. For everything… I know that apologizing isn't even close to do any good in that situation, but please… don't cry, alright? Especially not because of me."

"…A…Alright…"

She finally stopped crying. She turned her head to the side and fell silent for a few moments.

"…"

"…Maya?"

"Nick…" Maya wiped off a few stray tears, before she carefully peaked up, telling me. "…I've just… decided something…"

"Decided?"

She looked up at me. That's when her eyes suddenly turned a whole lot more determined. She balled her hands to fists.

"…There have to be two Nicks!"

"W…What?"

I blinked a few times to show my opinion that this wasn't exactly something she could just 'decide'. Not that she cared.

"Yes, that's the only possible explanation!" There was something in her voice coming dangerously close to enthusiasm as she said the following. "You have an evil double that runs around messing up stuff in order to make everyone's life miserable! That's how it has to be."

(Ah, good, ol' Maya.)

"Been there, done that." I told her, just for the sake of mentioning it. "If you want details, he has a bad sunburn and a Brooklyn Accent..."

"I knew it!," Maya exclaimed victoriously, before noticing that something was off. "…Wait, Brooklyn Accent?"

"…And nothing to do with all of this whatsoever," I finished my sentence.

"Oh…" Maya looked disappointed. "And I was so sure…"

Pouting, she turned her eyes to the ground and went on to sulk a little. I don't know if I have some weird mindset, but when I saw her doing this in this way, in those clothes, something inside me just rejoiced and shouted, "Welcome home! Sit down and relax to the sound of normal normality!" I felt incredibly calmed and comfortable all of a sudden.

I was so glad to see Maya like that. Not that I enjoyed watching her sulk, but it was just great to have her here, right in front of me, just being…

"I would have even had a name for the guy! Xin Eohp! Sounds neat, doesn't it?"

…Maya.

(Apparently, Edgeworth was right.) I realized. (Maya didn't really hate me, did she? It was all just show... And a pretty convincing one as well. But now she seems to view me pretty much the same like 'before. Just like the 'original' Maya. I don't understand how, but somehow, it looks like her and the other Phoenix are… or were at some point… friends. Even though that doesn't fit into the pattern at all… I mean, Maya being friends with a corrupt prosecutor?)

"Are you happy about something, Nick?" She asked me. "You look like you just won the lottery!"

"Oh… Eh… I'm just glad to see you, Maya." I told her in all honesty.

"Me too! Whew, I'm really relieved you actually came! I wondered if you'd take my note seriously after all that's happened. Or, even worse, that a fake Nick would come to see me!" She folded her hands and smiled. "Well, at least I know that you're the real Nick for sure! You have that great, big smile on your face that that no evil twin could ever copy! That's the real deal!"

(Oh, the irony.)

"Eh, yeah… about that…" This was where it would get difficult, so I bit my lip.

I had to try to get this across very, very carefully.

"…I wouldn't be too fast calling me the 'real deal'," I told her. "Especially not from your point of view."

"Huh?" Maya looked so clueless and upbeat right now, it almost hurt. "What 'cha talking about, Nick?"

I had several possible answers to this question to pick from. All of them were stupid. Might as well just randomly take one.

(This is going to be many, many levels of awkward…)

"OK, Maya...," I started off, talking slow and clearly. "Let's assume, just assume, that the guy who prosecuted the case against your sister and was being a, well, all-around jerk, really wasn't me."

"Alright! Assumed!" Maya looked just all too happy about hearing this. Too bad I had to disillusion her.

I decided to quickly go on, before I gave her wrong ideas. "And now let's assume that the 'Phoenix Wright' you apparently met before wasn't me either."

"Uhm… yes?," she already looked a little more disheartened, not to mention confused. "…Nick?...Where are you going with this…?"

"…And then, assume that I'm also not the one you think you know. And the one your sister knows. And the one you probably heard about in the media… Eh… Well… Let's just assume that no 'Phoenix Wright' you ever heard of before is actually me, alright?"

"…"

Maya stared at me for a few seconds, assuring herself that I actually was serious about this. She then actually took a step back.

"…Who are you then?!"

"I am Phoenix Wright," I answered, knowing how incredibly idiotic that must sound right after the speech I just delivered.

Maya jumped. "How many 'Phoenix Wright's' are there?"

"At the very least, one too many for my taste…"

~*~

Once I had established to Maya that I, somehow, was a Defense Attorney from some kind of 'Parallel Universe' where the lives of everyone went differently from how they went here – and I'm really lucky I'm used to stating off-the-wall theories by now, since otherwise this might have cost me my last shred of dignity – things went surprisingly smoothly. It, of course, helped how incredibly open she soon became to everything I told her. It was actually quite amazing how fast she opened up to my story, even for Maya. Almost like she had been prepared to hear something like this. Or maybe, even hoped it. Of course, considering that she really seemed to like the idea that I was, in fact, not a jerk, combined with the kind of mindset she had, this was probably not too far-fetched. I first tried to keep the explanations as short and compact as possible, but, after getting over the initial shock, Maya would often stop me and ask questions. Especially my life as a Defense Attorney seemed to intrigue her a lot. Questions like "Were you good? How many cases did you have?" or "And me? Did I get to wear a cool suit too?" would pop up over and over again and so, what I had planned to be a ten minute explanation, quickly turned into a twenty minute mini-documentary about the life and hardships of an Attorney and his trusty Sidekick. The fact that I was slowly starting to enjoy retelling everything to Maya, like I was the protagonist of a mystery novel didn't help much. I started mentioning more unnecessary details as the time passed by, and Maya started asking more unnecessary questions. It was almost like a vicious circle. Inevitably, however, questions like Mia's whereabouts or that of their mother came up as well. My answers to this were proof at how horribly I could fail at being sensible in the right situation. Maya didn't seem to mind too much, however. Interested and with a certain sense of awe on her face, she kept listening and asking her questions.

"…and that's, well, pretty much how I ended up here. And I somehow can't seem to get back home." I finally ended my explanation, putting my hands down into my lap. Maya and I had sat down under the Cherry Tree when standing had turned to tiring.

"Wow!" Maya didn't restrain her amazement the least bit. "That's awesome!"

"Well, actually, I think the situation is a bit of a mess…"

"No, no, no, not that! The stuff before that!" Maya gestured with her arms. "I love it! That story has everything! Everything, I tell you! Drama, lots and lots of fun parts, great characters, complicated relationships, incredibly cool back-stories, action, over-the-top gestures, yelling, people crashing through ten tons of heavy doors, explosions…"

(Huh… I guess I overdid it a little somewhere along the way…)

"…and, not to forget, a cute, pretty, clever, loveable assistant!" Maya grinned in a not-so-subtle attempt to hint at something. "You should write that down and hand it in as a script at the studios! It would glue the people to their TV sets!"

"T-That's not just some story I made up, Maya!" I quickly reminded her. "And, besides, I don't think the people would really want to watch two lawyers in court flinging insults at each other for twenty five minutes straight. It would get silly."

"I would watch it!" She told me happily.

"And that's why you're not 'the people'."

"Maybe, they'd like to play it then?" Maya wondered aloud. "You know… Like an interactive book, where you choose the answers to questions in order to make the hero progress! We could sell it on Portable Video Game systems!"

"Now you're getting silly," I told her. "Listen Maya, my problem now is not how my life would sell better than that of any other attorney, my problem is that I am stuck here, barely knowing anything about everything that's going on here. And, on top of that, there was an innocent girl murdered in my apartment. I need help, or I'm going to go down. Or snap."

"Hm… You know, if you told anyone else about what you just told me, they'd probably tell you that you already did snap!" She grinned at me over both ears. The bad part about it was that she was absolutely right.

"…But you believe me, don't you?"

"Well, it does really sound a little strange…" She told me, looking up in the air. "But it does explain a lot. Like…for example…"

"…why I'm not being a giant douche to everyone who crosses my path?" I guessed.

Maya turned her head back to me and smiled.

"Yeah, that too!"

( 'Too'? What else did you want to bring up?)

"Say… if you're not 'our' Nick, that makes me wonder…" Maya came up with a question "Where did 'our' Nick go then?"

"Well, I guess he-" And that's where I stopped. "-ARGH!"

A horrible, horrible thought had crossed my mind.

(P-Please don't tell me that back at home this guy is… Oh… No. No, No, No…)

"But, in any case, this is great!" I heard Maya say and turned my attention back to her. "Not really what I hoped, but still great! With you here now, we can fix everything!"

"What do you mean by 'fix everything'?" I asked Maya.

She folded her hands again and spoke enthusiastically. "They all think you were a Prosecutor, right? So, first of all, we'll get Mia and Dahlia out of jail! Then, we'll go through all of the Dark Nick's cases and see where else he screwed up, so we can set that right too!"

I only had one thing to say about this.

"…'Dark' Nick?"

"Well, he's not a twin or double, is he? So a backwards name won't do it." Maya explained. "I thought about calling him 'Anti-Nick', but since you're technically the 'other' one, that would make you 'Anti-Nick'. And that wouldn't sound… nice."

"No… It wouldn't," I agreed.

"See? Now, you just have to decide what name you like better for yourself! 'Light Nick' or 'Bright Nick'?"

Maya. Maya in the flesh.

"…I'd like to keep my current name, thank you."

"But I can still call you 'Nick', right?" Maya asked, "I like the sound of that name."

And I was glad that she knew of the nickname. Even though I still didn't know how or when she learned it, I was just glad she wanted to call me that. So I smiled and nodded.

"Yes. 'Nick' is fine."

"And I'm Maya!" She told me and suddenly held her hand out to me, causing me to look puzzled.

"…?"

She apparently understood what this look meant. "Well, I realized… if you're not him, I haven't really introduced myself to you yet, right? So, here I go: I'm Maya Fey! Or MAYOI, if you need my stage-name! But you can call me Maya!"

I took her hand and decided to just go with it.

"Alright… 'Nice to meet you' then, Maya."

"Great!" Maya grinned, "And now, that we got that out of the way…Let's go get me my sis back!"

"Uhm… "She obviously believed this to be a lot easier than it really was. "Not that I wouldn't want to go with that plan, but I'm already busy with a case for now, remember?"

"Oh, right…" Maya became a little calmer again and started to ponder a bit. "You guys still haven't figured out who really killed that girl, right? Ema…"

"Did you know her?" I asked Maya, just to be sure. She did appear a little hesitant to answer.

"Just a little bit," she said. "I met her once or twice. But I know that she was a nice person!"

(Hm…I can really imagine the two of them getting along very well.)

Maya looked at me determined. "Nobody would have had a reason to do that to her!"

"Still, somebody did. And in 'my' apartment."

"Hm…" Maya tapped her cheek with her fingers as she was thinking. "And it couldn't have been her sister, right? I mean, her sister is a friend of my sister!"

(So people who like Mia can't possibly cause any harm? I don't think the judge would let that count as a valid argument.)

"More importantly, there's also the relationship between Lana and Ema." I explained, "Lana loved Ema just as much as Mia loves you. She would have done literally everything to protect her. An alien invasion from Mars is more likely than her being Ema's killer."

Taking that new information into account, Maya started thinking again.

"So, if Ms. Skye is obviously 'Not Guilty' and if nobody else had a reason to hate Ema either… what if the killer didn't murder her because she was Ema… but because of something she knew?"

"Because of something 'she knew'?" I asked.

"You know! Like in those old spy movies!" Maya explained excitedly, "An agent investigates, gathers vital information and then… BAM! They are silenced by the bad guys!"

(Somehow, this sounds a lot more plausible than it should sound.)

"Well, Ema really wanted to meet with me to discuss something that evening…" I remembered. "She wrote about having found 'scientific proof'. And before she died, she mentioned someone taking something from her."

(Her handbag was missing at the crime scene. She never went anywhere without it and her equipment.)

Could this have been what happened? That Ema had investigated a case for me and was killed because someone wanted to get rid of the evidence she discovered? But what could she possibly have found that someone believed it to be enough of a reason to commit a murder?

There were still too many holes in my knowledge of the case to say this for sure, but this seemed to be suspiciously likely. And, apropos knowledge-holes…

"Maya…Because of your testimony today…" I looked straight at her. "You really were there at that apartment yesterday, weren't you?"

"…"

Falling silent, she looked away from me.

"Please, I need you to tell me. What did you see there?" I asked.

"I… I'm not really sure." Maya said. She looked up to me again. "I tried to attract nobody's attention, so I didn't look at anyone. I don't even know if I came across that blonde girl when I was there."

"I see…" (So she really was the one who brought this letter…)

"But," she pondered something. "I think that there was something that struck me as... odd when I slid the envelope in."

"Odd?" I asked. "And what was that?"

"I don't remember," She answered. "I just had this nagging feeling that something was a little off there. I probably don't know anymore because I didn't think too much about it."

Every detail I could find out was important, so Maya forgetting where her weird feeling about that moment stemmed from was not exactly a welcome occurrence. This took a lot of usefulness away from her testimony.

"I'm sorry I can't help more… I should have paid more attention." I heard her tell me shamefully, but I shook my head.

"You had no way of knowing what was going to happen."

"So… what are you going to do now, Nick?" Maya asked me.

"Well…" I tried to think everything through. "There's one witness I still haven't talked to yet…"

Maya nodded. "That blonde girl's boyfriend, right? Yeah, maybe he knows something. But you'd need to find him first…"

"And then there's Edgeworth," I said.

"Miles?"

"Yes," I nodded. "He's done more investigating at the crime scene than me, so I'm sure he found even more evidence I don't know about yet. Maybe I can persuade him to work together with me to put an end to this case…"

Maya appeared turned a little more reserved and nervous.

"…To be honest… I'd rather not face him anytime soon…," she mumbled.

"Because of what happened in court today, right?"

"…"

Nervously playing with her fingers, Maya turned her head away and sighed. "I know, he was only trying to find out what really happened, but… I was just so scared! I didn't know what to do and… and had he really opened the letter, it would have been all over…"

(…'Over'? It wasn't really a love letter, was it?)

What I had heard from Maya didn't make it sound like her relationship with the other Phoenix had been even the least bit romantic. It seemed to me more like they had been good friends. Just like 'my' Maya and me. So why was she so desperate to make sure that nobody found out about this letter's contents?

"I've been trying to avoid Miles the whole afternoon now, ever since we got back here." Maya sighed. "But it's really not easy, seeing how he always sticks so closely to the shooting location."

I listened up. "You mean… Edgeworth is here? In Kurain?"

Maya nodded. "He drove here right after the trial. I think he wanted to talk to Iris and my mother about something."

(But couldn't he have done that right after the trial? Why do I have the feeling that he has a slightly different reason for being here as well? ...Oh. She said he was sticking close to the shooting location, didn't she?)

Edgeworth's – to put it mildly – weird behavior upon finding that I had the cards with Maya's and Iris' pictures on them in the recess sprung into my mind. I wanted to get rid of that slightly disturbing memory, but that was pretty much impossible, given what kind of strong impression it had left on my poor, poor mind.

"Nick?" Maya looked over to me. "Will Miles demand me to testify again tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Probably. Given that your testimony wasn't truthful to what you really did, he'll probably want another cross-examination from you."

"But I really can't remember anything important!" She assured me. "If I could, I would have told him right away!"

"He'll simply press you until you recall details then." I told her. "That's the most effective method for a Defense Attorney to get information out of a testimony without any contradictions."

"But there is nothing more! My head is empty! Empty, I tell you!"

(I wouldn't go around saying that if I were you.)

I sighed and turned a little. "Still, you gave Edgeworth a good reason to doubt you, so he'll surely not miss out on getting another testimony."

"Huh?"

"The letter," I told her. "You lied regarding it. Several times in a row. That made you look pretty suspicious."

"Oh… that…"

Thinking about the letter was obviously very unpleasant to her. The way she turned her head when I mentioned it was a dead giveaway that she was still incredibly upset that Edgeworth had found and threatened to open it. There had to be a story behind it…

"Maya. I don't know how relevant this really is, but… what did the letter say?" I asked her carefully.

She hesitated to answer, nervously staring at the grass at our feet before she spoke.

"…You're really not 'him'... Are you?"

I shook my head.

"No, I don't think so."

"I… see…"

Something happened that I hadn't expected to happen. Not now. As Maya slightly raised her head again to look at me... Her Psyche Locks reappeared before my eyes. It was the same three Psyche Locks that I had seen on her twice before.

"Maya…"

"If it's like that… I really can't tell you what the letter says. I'm sorry."

"You can't?"

"That letter is between… Mr. Wright… and me," she told me slowly, before quickly raising her head. "Y-You wouldn't want to read it anyway! It's full of nasty insults!"

(Insults, huh? Sorry, I won't buy that.)

She was trying to make it look again like she was having a vendetta with that 'other' Phoenix, but I knew better now. She had given away too much to fool me any longer with this act.

(I just wonder why she doesn't want me to know what the letter says… Hm… Maybe I can figure out if I try to get behind her Psyche Locks?)

I decided that I would try to ask her about it again at a given opportunity, once I got enough hints together to get behind her blockades. But for now, it was obvious that such an attempt wouldn't get me far… I had to wait until I figured out a little more.

"So, anyway. What do you think we should do next, Ma-"

"AHHHHH!"

Maya's sudden scream caused me to jump up in panic. "What? What happened?"

I found that Maya was staring at my wrist. My sleeve had slid back enough to reveal my watch. Apparently, that's what caused her the shock.

"I'm late!" She told me frantically. "The recess has been over for almost fifteen minutes! That's bad! Really bad!"

"Eh… maybe they didn't notice that you're missing!" I tried to calm her down. "What scene are you filming? A small one?"

"No! The climax!" was her loud answer. "With my character as the scene's focus!

(OK, that's really bad.)

"They can't film that scene without me!"

"Let's get back to the village quickly then," I told her. "Y-You know the way, right?"

"Of course!" Maya jumped up from where she had sat and sprinted off. "Alright! Let's go Nick!"

"Wait! Maya…"

Maya stopped when I called her. She turned around to me.

"Maya…Are you sure that it's OK if I show up there with you?" I looked at her. "I mean, after all that's happened…"

"Why? You're not the one who did it, are you?"

"…!"

I stared at Maya a little baffled, as she grinned and explained. "That other Mr. Wright who did all those awful things… that wasn't you, right?"

"But we're the only ones who know that!" I told her. (…And believe it.)

"So what?" was Maya's answer. "I know! That's enough for me! And, besides, leaving you alone now wouldn't be fair! You'd be hopelessly lost again, wouldn't you?"

"Maya…"

"Now, come on, Nick! We've got to hurry!"

"Ah! R-Right behind you!"

I learned something that afternoon: 'Wishful thinking' doesn't mean that the wish won't eventually turn out to come true. Maybe I should try wishing for more next time? All the evidence I'd ever need would be pretty nice, for example.

With Maya back on my side, I felt like the pressure on me had already lost half of its weight. There were still a lot of unanswered questions left and many things unexplained. Maybe even more than before. But I wasn't alone in this any longer. And that's what mattered.

Even though it was obsolete, since her wallet was probably just as stuffed as mine right now, I promised myself to buy Maya a giant Cheeseburger somewhere along the way.

Just because I felt like it.