Full summary: When Maya Fey starts to have strange nightmares, everybody thinks its nothing major, just a normal occurrence. However, when she begins to get physically injured from said nightmares, defense attorney Phoenix Wright begins to have doubts. As suspicions begin come to light, dark secrets are revealed, and evil plans start to come afoot, he knows that he must save her. But, can he change a "decided" fate, and unveil the mysteries of the dreams?

Joined by some old friends, as well as a new ally, Phoenix will attempt to break through the binds of fate, and everybody will be pushed to their breaking points to uncover the secrets of Courtroom #13.

Hello, and welcome to my newest fanfic, The Courtroom Phantom! I'm counting this as my first actual AA fanfic because the first one I wrote sucked. Really, really, really, bad. It's on deviantART if you want to check it out, but I recommend you spare your brain cells and don't.

Anyway, this is an AU that takes place in between the second and third games, and is an adventure/psychological thriller/mystery/romance. The main ship is Phoenix/Maya, as well.

This is a fan-made work. The Ace Attorney series and the related characters belong to Capcom. The only things I own are the OCs and the story itself.

Maya Fey often had strange dreams.

The strangest, however, was of one that she always had, night after night, the same thing, over and over.

Maya would walk through the courthouse, and go into the court library. Moving a book on supreme court cases would reveal a secret compartment on top of the bookshelf. Inside the compartment was an oddly shaped key. Maya would grab the key, leave the library, and walk down the hall to a door to a courtroom. She would put the key into the lock, turn it, and open the door.

After that, she would wake up. However, for the past two weeks, she had been waking up screaming and crying.

Little did she know that the secrets of that dream would turn everything into a swirling mass of chaos and challenge everything she knew...

Little did she ever know...

Chapter 1

March 17, 8:05 a.m.

Wright & Co. Law Offices- Upper floor

Phoenix Wright woke to Maya screaming. By now, of course, he was used to it, but this wasn't the sound of a bad dream, he soon realized.

This was a scream of pain and agony.

He rushed into Maya's room, where Maya Fey was clutching her head, her fingers splayed apart like talons. Tears streamed down her face. Suddenly, she stopped screaming, and sat up, straightening her fingers and untangling them from her long, thick ebony hair. Instantly, Phoenix knew that something was wrong, because it took her left hand longer to get out. It was as if her hair was sticking firmly to it.

Maya let the blue-violet covers fall around her, her white satin nightgown hugging her figure slightly. The straps fell off her thin, pale shoulders, shiny with sweat. Her right hand moved to clutch her pillow, and her left to the neckline, right below her burnt orange colored magatama necklace. Phoenix could see what looked like something a dark crimson color on her hand. She was panting, her chest heaving up and down in short, rhythmic strokes. Her warm milk chocolate colored eyes were wide with fright, tears still threatening to spill onto her tear-streaked face.

"Maya...what's wrong?" Phoenix asked.

"I...I continued the dream..." Maya whispered, her voice hoarse. "This...I don't think this is...an ordinary dream anymore..."

"It never has been." A small voice replied. Pearl Fey was crouched in a corner, still in her light blue pajamas. A large dark purple bruise was on her right cheek, her dark hazel eyes were opaque. "This has never been an...ord-i-na-ree...dream..."

Phoenix nodded, still focused on Maya's hand. Maya, thinking that phoenix was looking at her breasts, covered them with her right arm.

"Maya, your hand." Phoenix said. "There's something on your hand...!"

Maya tentatively let go of her nightgown and gasped when she saw it.

Her left hand was completely covered in blood, a rather large wound in the center of her palm.

Phoenix left the room and shortly returned, holding a roll of bandages, a wet cloth, and a small bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol solution. He sat down next to Maya on her bed and grabbed her left wrist. She let her hand, which had been curled into a fist, lay flat, and Phoenix wiped away the excess blood off her hand, then twisted the cap off the bottle of alcohol solution and gently poured it onto the wound. Maya gasped, her face contorting in pain. She turned away and let out a loud wince, her teeth gritted.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Phoenix said softly. He hated seeing Maya in pain as much as much as she hated receiving it.

He finally stopped pouring, two-thirds of the bottle still in it. After bandaging her hand, Phoenix put everything back in the bathroom, and ran the cloth under warm water. He wiped Maya's face with the cloth, calming her. He did the same to Pearl, as well, after coaxing her out of the corner and putting bandages on her bruise.

Phoenix left them and went to his own room, where he got dressed in his blue suit. He pinned his attorney's badge on, grabbed the case file for the trial that he had that day, and went downstairs to the office.

The Wright and Co. Law Offices was a small apartment-style building located near the downtown district in the greater Los Angeles area. It had once been Mia Fey's, Phoenix's late mentor, and thus had a beautiful feminine charm to the upper floor, which was the living quarters-the carpet was a lush, warm lavender, and the walls were a cool lilac with white trim. There were four bedrooms, and two bathrooms, one across from one of the rooms, and one in the master bedroom. Each of the bedrooms were either cream or white, and the bathrooms were tiled in various shades and tints of blue.

The office itself, on the other hand, was very strict and professional-looking. The colour scheme was black, grey, and cream, with the exception of the oak hardwood floors. The lobby was very neat, as usual, the reception desk with the ledger on it meticulously polished, and the black leather sofa for clients free of dust.

Phoenix walked into the study, which he used as a private office for himself, hidden behind a door in the back. The study was actually quite small, with a small desk, on top of it an old, clunky computer. Bookshelves lined themselves behind the desk, chock full to the brim with thick, heavy tomes on law. To the left of the desk was a window, showing the beautiful spring sky.

Phoenix watered the houseplant by the window, lovingly named "Charley" by Mia, and sat down in front of the computer. The familiar sound of a shower running permeated from the upper floor. The computer finally booted up, and Phoenix clicked on one of the word files. He himself created the files, and they ranged from different subjects, from cases to even Maya and Pearl. He opened Maya's file and clicked on a document entitled "dreams." He headed a new page with the date and time and began to type about the events that happened fifteen minutes ago.

March 17, 8:18 a.m.
Wright & Co. Law Offices- Upper Floor, Maya and Pearl's bedroom

Maya got undressed and put on her fluffy white robe. After helping Pearl get untangled from her process red sash-she always got tangled up in it-she went across the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

She untied the bandages from her hand. She guessed that it was about three-quarters of an inch deep, not far enough down to cause substantial damage. It was a circular cross-section, about two inches in diameter. Maya had no clue what it was, but by the tissue damage alone, she could tell it was probably supposed to go in farther, and that it was definitely something meant for piercing. She estimated that, in actuality, it was about ten inches.

After taking her shower, Maya got, clinging onto the shower curtain for more support than usual. She felt dizzy, and the hazy images caused by the steam didn't make her feel any better. She suddenly stopped, her right foot on the edge of the tub. She thought she heard the shuffling of feet somewhere nearby. She shook her head wearily. It's probably just your imagination. Maya told herself. Your mind's playing tricks on you, is all.

However, she couldn't decide if that was really true or not. Her vision was wavering, and the footsteps became louder and clearer. She gripped the curtain tighter.

All of a sudden, her vision became sharp, but her hearing dulled, as if her ears plugged up. A shadowy hand loomed towards Maya. She screamed and ran to her right on. However, her right foot slipped off the edge of the tub, and her left got caught on the lip that she had her right foot. She turned in midair to see something falling over her, then felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. Maya landed on her side, the sound of footsteps all around her, and her vision faded to black before she could even cry out for help.

But, she could one thing before she was fully unconscious. A young girl's voice, saying just two small words, over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

March 17, 8:53 a.m.
Wright & Co. Law Offices- Upper Floor hallway

Pearl Fey stood outside of the bathroom door, her hand resting on the doorknob. She knew what she was going to see on the other side, as she had heard the crash, she just wasn't sure if she wanted to really see.

She slowly opened the door and carefully walked inside. Just in front of the door was Maya, her back towards Pearl, unconscious. The shower curtain had been ripped down and was draped over her legs. Her arm was outstretched, as if she was reaching for something. On her back was a series of deep cuts, forming the number thirteen.

Pearl slowly shook her head. "You idiot." She said, her voice slightly deeper than what it usually was. "If it was getting this bad, then why didn't you tell me?" She sighed. "It's always the same with you, Maya. You try to be strong to cover up your weaknesses... I would fight for you, but I'm just too weary of this to do so." She closed the door and walked downstairs. "Doing this over and over again...nothing's changing. I don't think it will ever change. But, my job is to protect you and Phoenix, and that I will do, until the end of the earth. I will...I will find a way to change this fate!"

As Pearl stepped into the lobby, Phoenix walked upstairs, a concerned expression on his face. He suddenly broke into a run, then came down the stairs again.

"The paramedics should be on their way now, Mr. Nick." Pearl said to him, her voice her normal tone again. "I heard the crash and wanted to know what was wrong."

"Ah, th-thank you, Pearls." Phoenix replied, a worried smile on his face. "I'm really grateful for your help."

"Um... Is something wrong, Mr. Nick?" Pearl asked. "You look kind of scared."

"No, it's not that, it's just that, well, I'm kind of worried about Maya." Phoenix explained. "And, well, yes, I am scared. I'm scared because I know that these dreams have been getting worse, and now she's actually getting physically hurt by them, which seems, well impossible. I just don't want Maya to suddenly wake up one day, trapped in her dream."

Pearl nodded. "Yes, that would be quite terrible. I know that Mystic Maya tries to act strong to protect herself, but she doesn't want to ask for help with this. We were talking about it last night, and she said that if she gets through this on her own, then she'll prove to everybody that she's strong enough to take care of herself. I'm worried about her because of that. If she dies...then..."

Phoenix patted Pearl's head softly. "It's okay, Pearls. I'm sorry to bring this up. It must be hard on you, to just sit and watch idly by while all of this happens."

Pearl shook her head. "I'm fine, Mr. Nick. Honest, I am! I just want to know if you're okay. After all, your special someone is in so much pain...and you shouldn't be sad because of that. You should smile, because Maya would like it if you were keeping your spirits up for her. Just smile, okay, Mr. Nick?" She grinned. "Nipah!"

Phoenix let out a small chuckle. "You're right, Pearl. Maya wouldn't want me to down right now. Thank you." A knock on the door made him get up. The paramedics had finally arrived, and he lead the way to where Maya was. Pearl sat calmly where she was.

Phoenix, please, for all of us...keep your resolve strong. Your will to see Maya happy again is the key to everything. I just know it.