Author's Note: So, this is kind of a song fic (For Imagine Dragons' Demons) and kind of not. There were a lot of other influences, but that was certainly a huge one. :)
I suppose there's not much to say for this story, but I'm wondering if anyone will catch on to my symbolism... ;)
Anyway, I don't own Ace Attorney, and constructive reviews are very welcome. :)
"You've got another visitor." Miles Edgeworth looked up at the Detention Center guard that had just spoken.
"But all the defense attorneys I requested have already come…" The prosecutor's wrinkled brow gave away his confusion as he stood up to leave his dark cell.
"This guy wasn't on your list." The officer rolled his eyes, impatiently unlocking the door, and ushered Edgeworth out, ending the conversation with a sense of finality.
Who in the world would visit me? The Demon Prosecutor pondered this as they made their way to the mystery person. Von Karma isn't the sentimental type...Gumshoe is at work…wait, it couldn't be… His eyes widened. No! Not him! Anyone but him! Having run out of time to decline a meeting, he steeled himself for the worst and stepped into the room.
"I'm not sure it's something we should mention to too many people…" He heard her, the perky assistant, probably responding to her employer. Knowing who would be accompanying her and that naive, childlike voice filled him with dread, but he continued anyway.
He had almost made it to the room's sole chair before the teenager gave a small shriek of surprise. "Aah!"
I...I can't… Edgeworth turned on his heel and walked towards the door, hoping that the defense attorney waiting there would let him leave in peace.
"...Hey! Edgeworth! Come back!" That voice...It was all too familiar. The prosecutor wanted to run into the shadows, to do anything to avoid meeting him. To avoid the possibility that the man, with his deep, blue suit and ever-spikey hair, might discover the dark truth that the prosecutor wanted so desperately to hide.
He grimaced and, despite the resurfacing anxiety, turned around yet again. This time, he sat down in the chair.
"What are you doing here?" He'd hoped to hide his nervousness with his tone, but the words had come out with much more contempt than he had intended.
"Nick, I don't think he's in a very good mood." The attorney's assistant, Maya Fey, seemed to have picked up on Edgeworth's asperity.
"Well, he is in detention." The prosecutor looked up out of the corner of his eye. The sun streamed through the window, illuminating Phoenix Wright as he continued speaking. "Were you in a good mood when you were here?"
Edgeworth tried to hold his emotions in, tried to bottle everything all up, but it was too overwhelming. Glaring, he spat, "So, you've come to laugh at the fallen attorney? Then laugh, laugh!" He paused to take a breath. "Well? Why aren't you laughing?"
Maya shot Phoenix a concerned look. "Nick… Should we be laughing?"
The lawyer shook his head. "Nah. It's a trick. Laugh and he'll get mad... Or burst into tears." He turned to the prosecutor. "Edgeworth. We don't have so much free time we can spend it coming down here to laugh at you."
Hah. Don't make me laugh. "... Yes you do." There was silence for a few seconds, before Edgeworth felt pressured to speak.
"I hoped you wouldn't come. I didn't want you to see me. Not like this." That's certainly an understatement…
There was another pause before the attorney continued the conversation. "Edgeworth. Tell me what happened."
No...I-I can't… "... Why should I? What are you going to do about it?" He'd hoped to turn Wright away without directly denying his help, but it didn't look like that would work.
"Duh! We're going to help you, that's what!"
Even though the prosecutor had been expecting something of the sort, he was still shocked at the intensity of Maya's purport. Caught unawares, he went with the first reasonable, though derogatory, line of logic that came to mind.
"Help me? You? Don't be ridiculous."
Phoenix tilted his head. "Sorry…?"
The prosecutor plunged on, his soft, British accent taking a harsher edge. "You're a novice! You've only been in three trials!"
His friend seemed offended. "H-hey!" Still, though, the prosecutor continued.
"Sure, you got lucky and won all three… But your luck's bound to run out someday!" He rushed to get the next words out, to finish the conversation. "You need real skill, Wright! Experience!" He hoped the defense attorney would mistake his desperation for fervor.
Edgeworth looked up for a second. He knew his words had hurt the other; it was lingering in Wright's eyes. I'm sorry...But you can't know! I have to hide this agony! He was sure that the anguish he was so desperately trying to cover up was buried deep within his own hard countenance, but it felt ready to burst out at any second.
Maya, fists clenched and elbows locked, began furiously whispering to her boss. The attorney ignored her for a moment, then refocused himself, shaking his head slightly. The sparkle that had shortly disappeared from his eyes returned, as the lawyer said, "The murder took place at Gourd Lake, correct?"
Still feeling remorseful about the insults, the prosecutor answered. "Yes... late last night."
Phoenix seemed to question this. "The lake is a long way from your offices and the court…" He tilted his head down, looking up askance. "Why were you down there?"
N-no...You can't know… "...I see no need to tell you."
Maya gasped. "M-Mr. Edgeworth! You… you didn't really…?" The look of betrayal on her face was too much, even though the prosecutor hadn't confirmed. That one expression made him want to share everything. I want to, so much...But can I really trust them?
"...Gourdy."
The assistant was taken aback by this sudden information. "Huh?"
"I went to see Gourdy." The genius prosecutor could tell that the attorney wasn't buying his panicked excuse, even before the visiting pair went back to whispering suspiciously.
The room quickly got quiet again, before Wright started fiddling with his lapel. A few moments later, the lawyer thrust his hand towards the window separating the two, cradling a small, gold object.
"Your attorney's badge…?" How do you not get it!? Please, stop pressing the issue!
"Edgeworth. Let me defend you."
Unsure how to further deter the attorney, the prosecutor went back to using his friend's lack of experience as an excuse to decline. "Hah! Hah hah!" The false laugh was accompanied by a derisive expression, which Edgeworth tried to hide behind. "Good one, Wright. But I'm not that hard up. Not yet."
"Wh-What do you mean by that?" Maya's indignant expression gave away her shock.
"Me? Trust a wet-behind-the-ears lawyer with only three trials under his belt? Never!"
"Wh-What!?" Maya glared at the prosecutor.
"My case is near hopeless, Wright." Edgeworth continued dissuasion attempts, with more zeal behind each word. "Every defense attorney I've talked to has turned me down."
"What?" A cloud passed above the sun, covering the lawyer's face with a momentary shadow.
"Simply put, they were afraid they'd lose." Appreciating the irony of the situation, a sardonic smile plastered itself to the prosecutor's face. "It occurred to me that it might be my fault they lack confidence." He turned his head to the side, bangs obscuring pained eyes. "After all, I did get every single one of their clients declared 'guilty'."
The sun returned as Phoenix's face set into a determined look. "I don't believe it!" The earnestness in his expression almost overcame the prosecutor's resolve. It took everything he had not to break down, spilling his heart to the friend sitting across from him.
However, the fluorescent light on Edgeworth's side of the glass flickered, obscuring the prosecutor in momentary darkness, and building his defenses even higher. He continued, as if uninterrupted. "Regardless, I don't want you involved in this. You in particular I cannot ask to do this." Please, Wright...Just listen to me for once.
Hoping that his friend would pick up on his vague dismissal, the prosecutor let the silence continue until it was almost unbearable.
After what felt like ages, Phoenix took a breath, staring at the ground. "Edgeworth… This is really hard for me to ask…" He met the prosecutor's eyes. "But… you didn't do it, right?" Eyes filled with desperation, he quickly added, "Right?" in a voice even more high pitched.
I don't really have any other choice now, do I?
"...Think what you will." Edgeworth ended that line of questioning with a simple, ambiguous phrase. "I have only one request."
"Huh?"
"Stay out of this case." The prosecutor accentuated his point with a glower.
"Why!?" Maya spoke after being silent for some time. "B-but Nick is trying to help you!" Her frustrated expression made Edgeworth even more determined to hide the truth, but allowed more of his emotions to escape than he had expected in his response.
"I know…!" His tone softened, but the desperation increased. "I know that!" And since you apparently can't pick up on the hint… "But I don't want your help, okay?" The more Edgeworth built up a wall around himself, the more he felt the pain escaping through his eyes, the more it built up in his heart.
"Why not?" Maya's anger had melted away, replaced by confusion and sadness.
The prosecutor tried to control the bitterness giving way to anger, but couldn't keep it all in any longer. "Look, just go away, and leave me alone!" With those last, resentful words, Edgeworth stood up to leave. As he turned, cravat swishing, the overhead light flickered once more, then burnt out.
It was with grief-filled eyes that Phoenix watched him stalk off into the darkness. Then and there, the lawyer realized how desperately he wanted to save his friend; both from the confines of the detention center, and from the dimmest corners of his own heart.