Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Phoenix Wright nor any other characters, they belong to Capcom without a question.
My knight of rites.
Ema Skye, forensic investigator, had finally achieved her dream.
For years she had scrimped and clawed her way to this position, first she was an assistant for the lawyer Phoenix Wright and then she was a detective; now she had finally become what she had wished to be and she could not have been happier in this job where she could finally spread her wings and take off and soar through the fantastic field of science and forensics.
But with the perks came the downs.
She had been leashed to these people whom she had called her superiors — like that frivolous fop, Klavier Gavin. Then she worked under chief prosecutor Miles Edgeworth and that waaay better than doing the bidding of a spoilt prosecutor rockstar, the cravat-wearing prosecutor was much more bearable and even nice to her despite hiding under a mask of cold numbness...but then she was assigned to work with a man whom hailed from the kingdom of Khura'in.
His name was Nahyuta Sahdmadhi.
The forensic scientist didn't know how to feel around this guy. When he stood in court he was as hard and prickly as a cactus — he was almost unbearably unlikable, but whenever he was outside the courtroom...there was this certain charm he had; there was something mysterious and deeply locked up in the heart of that Sahdmadhi character and that was something that intrigued Ema...but she wouldn't dare tell anybody else this.
Yet one day, something in her heart shifted about him.
It was a average Saturday night.
It was cold and wintry, every single breath was a puff of ice, frost and snow clung to everything it could find on the ground — a murder had recently transpired in a deserted alleyway that had been covered in graffiti, the body of an unidentified middle-aged man had been originally discovered in a big dustbin and the circumstances behind this incident pointed to a homicide.
Forensic scientist, Ema Skye, had arrived early in the morning —earlier than everyone else— and she was going through every single area whilst she toiled busily with her trusty scientific investigation kit by her side, her hand worked away as she sprayed her prized bottle of luminol everywhere she could look while her pink lens glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose.
Why did she like doing her forensic work without back up from Los Angeles police? She just loved having some breathing work to do her favourite thing in the universe and she loved doing it without any interruptions or distractions...she just wanted a little peace to do things by herself.
She squirted luminol everywhere she could think of, hoping to get a reaction for blood, and she kept her eyes peeled even though they were burning holes through her rose-coloured glasses. She had covered every inch of the brick wall in front of her in the stuff and she was shocked when a sudden reaction revealed itself behind her pink field of vision, it was a relatively sized spot of blood that seemed to have been smeared across the wall.
Ema was excited about her find yet confused about the purpose behind the location. The victim had perished in a large dustbin and yet blood was found on a nearby brick wall, what was the reason for that and whose blood was it?
But then she felt a cold presence and a large shadow fell over her kneeling form; it was quite intimidating and she could tell that this was a stranger, and he seemed to have been standing in a most menacing posture whilst he gripped on tight to a knife which shimmered in the night.
Her breathing became erratic and she quickly turned around to face this stranger, her eyes widened in fear and her heart started to pound in her chest. The forensic investigator felt her heart plunge itself into the pit of her stomach when an arctic cold dread had overcome her senses.
The man was a mere silhouette in the darkness of the alley.
Ema swallowed a huge marble that had formed in her throat and tried to think more rationally...although a part of her knew that there was no reasoning with this man.
Her legs felt like they were trapped in a block of ice...she couldn't move!
Panic set in. Despite it being so dark, she could see the evil and vicious thoughts in this stranger's eyes as he reached down to do something, but the forensic scientist reacted quick and swiftly plucked her packet of snackoos from her lab coat pocket and proceeded to throw the little stick-like snacks at the man in self defence. The stranger didn't seem the least phased by the assault of little things and only seemed angrier.
Ema grew more desperate and she quickly used the next weapon she had; she tilted her luminol bottle upwards and sprayed the man's face, causing him to cry out in pain. She almost cringed when that yell of pain blasted through her cold ears.
"G-Get away from me!" She cried out in fear.
The angry shadowed form of the man quickly snatched up Ema's wrist, grabbing it tight and viciously yanking her upwards and actually somehow managing to hoist her up in midair while she struggled to get her wrist free. She clawed as best she could to get her other hand free of the man's clasp. Even her pink-tinted glasses fell off and landed to the ground with a loud "clang".
Ema didn't know what else to do, she froze. She had been in a similar situation to this...during that case with Joe Darke and Damon Gant, those horrible flashbacks...the memories of that day came back to haunt her and the images flashed before her poor light blue eyes. She remembered what happened to her big sister, Lana, and she recalled how her life had changed that day. A feeling of dread filled her heart, made her feel so cold and alone inside, and she couldn't help but shed a single tear after recalling such horrific events.
Before she even realised it, a scream had slipped from her throat.
"H-HELP!"
The next few seconds moved in fast-forward motion.
A sudden white/platinum flash had moved in front of her eyes and tackled the shadowed man and forcing him to let her go, she found herself falling to the ground and landing on her back. She could hear and feel the solid ice that had clung to the ground shattering beneath her yet she could feel a small patch of snow cushion break the momentum of her fall. While she gripped her injured hand protectively and she shuffled backwards into the wall, she saw a familiar person.
Her eyes widened in shock.
It was prosecutor Sahdmadhi!
His calm and collected turquoise pools were like steel as he stood directly in front of the strange man, using his own body to divide the mysterious assailant and the forensic detective/scientist.
The prosecutor was qui vive for any sudden movements.
The bad man now had adopted a more aggressive mannerism and he glared daggers, thus Nahyuta could now tell he dealing with a much more agile and experienced opponent. The dark glare, in fact, showed such severe aggression that it instantly told the Khura'in monk that this stranger wouldn't be persuaded to leave by mere words. He had been in enough fights with defiant dragons before now to know, from a mere glance, when a competitor was looking for a fight. It was something in those blazingly-angry yet empty eyes that clearly read, "Move, I dare you".
For a moment, the two men stood in an intense face-off.
Despite the fact that this man was plainly not going to be dissuaded by conversation, Nahyuta took a crack at it anyway. He somehow managed to control his tone of voice so he sounded incredibly calm despite the circumstances.
"You poor misbegotten soul...you honestly believe that the Holy mother would forgive you for attempting to harm such a pure heart?"
The man seemed momentarily confused and caught utterly off-guard. Despite the darkness and the fact that his breath was a cold smoke, the mysterious man's brows had furrowed to paint an expression of total confusion on his face. But he quickly wiped the look of dumb confusion on his face and once again assumed the position of a rampaging rhinoceros.
"Shut up, pretty boy! That girl is comin' with me!" The man spoke with his voice garbled and deep with a faint drunken slur blurring his words.
Then the stranger twirled the switch blade menacingly in his fingers and rushed to step around the prosecutor in order to get to the injured Detective forensic scientist, but his attempt was quickly thwarted when Nahyuta matched his step exactly and prevented him from even trying to get past him. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if he were to let that happen, he couldn't let Ema get hurt by this man.
He managed to seize hold of the man's wrist. The prosecutor gripped on to the stranger's arm and forced him to release that knife and it fell to the ground as hard as Ema's glasses did. His tone no longer retained that trademark calmness and it now sounded very serious and even quite angered.
His eyes somehow remained calm and his long white hair bristled due to the mere anger he felt towards this man.
"A filthy soul such as you should have heard that dragons don't yield!"
Prosecutor Sahdmadhi demonstrated this raw inner strength when he instantly grabbed the large bully and somehow managed to flip him into the air and he was suddenly thrown to the ground. The man seemed so disgruntled and surprised that this monk had overpowered him that he let out a pathetic little squeal of fear and he squirmed a lot. Despite the atmosphere being dark and his form being more of a shade than anything else, it was very crystal clear that he was now very fearful of this man with flowing clothes.
Finally the prosecutor leaned downwards so he could be near the fallen brute's face.
Pale green eyes were as calm as the sea after a savage storm, his long silvery plat was drooping down and brushing softly against the man's chubby and petrified unseen face.
Nahyuta then proceeded to whisper one little thing into his ear, "Unless you wish to invoke the wrath of the holy mother and myself, then I highly advise making some serious life choices and making certain I never see you again...especially around her..."
The man seemed to have heard the message loud and clear as he leapt to his feet hurriedly before he shot off down the road like a bullet. He didn't dare look back, he didn't even seem to care that when he left he was being chased by several police officers whom were all armed with tasers and batons. At least they seemed very persistent in their pursuit and, even though the monk hoped he wouldn't see that guy's shadowy face again, he was happy that justice would catch up with him...
Nahyuta slowly and calmly then turned to face poor Ema.
She seemed totally disconnected from the real world, as though she was no longer aware of her surroundings. Her eyes were blank and her face was as pale as the lab coat she wore and the snowy climate, the poor scientist was sat up against the icy brick wall and she was gripping her wrist tight and protectively. Tears had formed in her terrified eyes, her brown hair bristled a bit as her messy ponytail was caught up in the sliver of chilly breezes that swept by.
She seemed startled by seeing the graceful Khura'inese monk prosecutor in her presence...especially after rescuing her, and then she finally blinked and some life returned to her eyes.
"O-Oh, prosecutor Sahdmadhi!"
Ema shook like the tail of a rattlesnake as she fumbled and fidgeted to correct her helpless position yet she stiffened, since it didn't take very long at all until she began to feel uncomfortable when she noticed a very hard scorn focused upon her.
Ema felt intimidated by his long and intense staring. She finally blinked her eyes and a shudder escaped her body then she started to shake but whether it were from cold or from shock was unclear.
Nahyuta just stared long and hard, his facial expression was pretty hard to read but his light turquoise eyes were locked on to her, gleaming with what appeared to have been something like surprise. The prosecutor looked long and hard at Ema and seconds ticked by into a near full minute and a half although it had felt like a full eternity had passed by.
He finally lowered himself down on his knees, meeting the forensic scientist's eyes, and spoke in a hushed and soft manner.
"Miss Skye, are you hurt?"
Ema was understandably shaken up after getting her hand hurt by a strange man, so it took her awhile to find her voice. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and her hands were trembling so she could hardly get a grip on her emotions nor her mannerisms; she had lost total control of everything but the ability to thread all her thoughts together as to keep herself from flipping out completely.
She stuttered and shivered from cold and fright.
"...Sc-Scientifically speaking...I...am...I'm..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence since a calming hand had lowered itself on her shoulder.
Nahyuta didn't say anything to her yet he had this patient and kind-hearted aura emanating from him. The Khura'inese monk prosecutor pressed his hand on the young woman's shoulder, it felt very cold under his palm and he knew that mere words wouldn't be enough to properly help her get over this experience in a hurry. His heart, for some reason, ached a bit with concern for the scientist.
His eyes hardened when he noticed Ema's wrist.
The last Rites prosecutor was quick to grab it and he studied it carefully.
Ema's hand had some visible marks as well as some small cuts that probably came from when that fool had dug his fingernails into the skin, not only that but there were also some bruising that started to come on. The forensic scientist hissed and tried to pull her hand away but Nahyuta kept a tight hold on it, wise eyes gleaming with concern.
He didn't even touch it much to cause Ema to hiss through clenched teeth and try to retract her hand. To her, it probably felt like several small knives digging deep into her hand and it was clearly painful.
Nahyuta frowned and thought to himself, (O holy mother, this looks bad, I really should take her to get those wounds disinfected...)
It didn't take him long before he came to a decision about what to do. He nodded to himself as if to confirm his very own decision and he had this proud aura emanating from him. "Miss Skye. These wounds need some medical attention and I shall take it upon myself to assist in healing you!"
He stood up and prepared to help her do the same when he decided to instead stoop down and pick her up and carrying her bridal style. Ema was shocked at first, how could she react to the fact that? The rites prosecutor was now taking it on himself to take care of her like some fragile child! She struggled and kicked in surprise at being cradled in the Khura'inese man's arms.
"Hey! Put me down! Sir, I'm fine! I don't need any help!"
But Nahyuta wasn't taking "no" as an answer.
He carried the forensic investigator —though she was kicking and writhing with everything she had and flailed her arms madly about— he then proceeded to sternly scowl down into her equally angry face. Despite the threat he was making, his voice was as chilled as a cat laying lazily about in the Summer sun.
"Detective Skye, if you don't cease struggling and let me assist you this instant then you shall incur the wrath of the Holy mother and force me to read you some of the script from the Holy mother for several hours..."
That made Ema stop and calm down a bit. She didn't want to have her salary docked and there was also the fact that the monk had a thing for listening to his sermons for hours on end as punishments. She didn't want to have to go through that, although she hated that she was now being treated like a small child. She simply folded her arms and glared in protest, much like a five-year-old having a tantrum.
The last rites prosecutor ignored this childish behaviour. He knew it wouldn't do to dwell on this, especially since he was beginning to notice that the forensic detective was now looking pretty disoriented and dizzy; he guessed that she needed a lie down in front of a warm fireplace to recover from the trauma and shock.
He turned on his heels and started to exit the alleyway, holding Ema quite delicately whilst he carried her out of the dark alley and into the open air.
It was freezing cold but the silver-haired prosecutor was used to it by now. Khura'inese tradition required one to pray in a freezing cold mountain, so he was able to withstand these sub-zero temperatures easily enough. He felt the chilly winds caress his face and he heard the gentle high-pitched whistle brush up against his ear. Even his flowing Mitamah scarf stiffened at the breeze.
While he carried Ema, he also requested to a police officer whom had stood guard nearby, Nahyuta supposed his name was Meekins or something, and requested that he gather up all of Ema's forensic kit and glasses with great care; he knew how much she liked her items of craft and he wouldn't wish to upset her more than she already was.
In the meantime, Ema seemed to finally relent for the most part as she curled up in prosecutor Sahdmadhi's arms. She gripped on tight to his chest and she was beginning to struggle to keep her eyes open while she weakly insisted to him, "I'm fine...r-really, you don't have to..."
Nahyuta felt something right then.
He could hardly explain this odd brewing in his chest. It was a foreign sensation and one that somewhat intrigued him and it actually felt so warm and vibrant -like a freshly lit candle. This feeling could be compared to naught else, and it made a little grin appear on his lips. He had to wonder if this feeling came from carrying Ms. Skye like this? He just knew he liked this new feeling!
He announced, still carrying Ema as though she were the most frail thing alive; "Come along, Detective Skye, let's get you bandaged up and then some rest."
Ema seemed too wiped out to care. She simply just let out a noise of disagreement as she lain in Nahyuta's protective embrace, she absolutely hated being treated like a feeble child right now but it was somewhat comforting at the same time to know that he seemed to care that much for her...it reminded her of when she was small and Lana would treat her exactly the same way. The events of tonight were certainly to stay with her for awhile, nobody could forget an incident like this in a hurry. But she felt safe with him, and she knew she could trust him somehow.
Although she was still mad at being carried off like this without having any say in the matter.
The last rites prosecutor wore a very gentle smile on his face and his eyes were filled with compassion, the same compassion he felt for certain "other" people in his life. There was nothing but silence —with the exception of the cold winter breeze whistling softly in the air— between the two for a minute but then that very same silence was broken he heard Ema's weak and tired voice finally respond with a request.
"Since I'm going to be held prisoner against my will for awhile, can I at least have some snackoos?"
"...If that's all it takes to keep you content, milady, then of course."
A/N: Here is a new one-shot after I've played AA 6, and I'm proud of how it turned out.
I'm sorry if Nahyuta and Ema are out of character in this, I hope I portrayed them both right; this one-shot also is supposed to just take place just after "Magical Turnabout" (spoilers) and this is my first AA one-shot in awhile. Anyways I hope you enjoy this and its only a few days until the new AA 6 case is out and I'm excited about that! I also tried to keep out as many spoilers as I could.
But sorry I haven't been very active, I really am sorry.
I think Nahyuta and Ema are a cute couple and, again, I hope you guys enjoy this.
Reviews and faves please! :)
-Chloemcg