Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is late! Leaving Disney World being the same day you're supposed to be updating makes things inconvenient. (But Disney World was worth it!) And then I was going to upload it earlier today, but my stupidity got in the way. Long story short, I accidentally deleted the entire chapter, so I had to rewrite the whole thing from memory. Yeah, it sucked. So please forgive any errors you see, as they are most likely a result of my frantic typing. I'll go back and proofread eventually.

Okay, remember that this is the chapter with AA3 Case One spoilers. Also, due to a minor change in plans, Chapters 4 and 5 will contain Ace Attorney: Justice For All Case Two spoilers. Proceed if you dare...


Chapter Two~ Carol of the Bells

Date: December 24, 2016

Time: 9:50 PM

Location: Wright & Co. Law Offices

After what Mia just told him, Phoenix didn't want to go back to sleep. If Mia's ghost friend was going to arrive soon, he wanted to be ready for anything to happen. But it was hard for him to stay awake, so he decided to do something productive and clean his toilet for the third time this month. He had recently bought a new toilet cleaner to test out, and as he scrubbed vigorously, he was pleased to see at how effective it was. He was eventually finished with his chore, and he put the cleaning supplies away in the closet.

He stood in the main room, once again wondering what to do. He looked at the office clock and saw that he still had about ten minutes until the next visitor came. He rubbed the back of his head and realized that his spikes were ruined after he fell asleep on the couch. He headed back to the bathroom to redo his hair just the way he liked it.

Phoenix may have gotten a bit too preoccupied with doing so, because a few minutes later, a small innocent voice sounded from the other room. "Um, hello?" the voice said.

He realized that it was already time, so he went out to go see who the new visitor was. There was something oddly familiar about her voice that bugged Phoenix. Could it be...? No, of course not. He pushed away his thought. When he entered the room, however, his suspicions were proven correct. He gaped in shock at the woman standing before him. "You're- you're..." he stuttered.

A beautiful young lady in a white lacey dress while holding a parasol to match stood there. Her stunning red hair was draped over her shoulder, which was a nice contrast to her pale skin and white outfit. A mysterious glowing aura surrounded her body. Her eyes fluttered when she saw Phoenix enter. She spoke, "Oh, you must be Phoenix. I am the Ghost of your Christmas past."

Phoenix couldn't understand why the spirit looked the way she did. He began, "But you are- you look exactly like someone I once knew..."

The spirit then realized why this man had such a dumbfounded look on his face. She smiled and explained, "Because I am not the spirit of a specific human being, I do not have the true appearance of one. So I took on the form and a bit of the personality of someone from your past, so that you may feel more comfortable around me."

The lawyer found a little relief in finally knowing why she looked like Dahlia, his ex-girlfriend. At least he now knew that his ex didn't die and her spirit came back to haunt him. But it did bother him that he still had to look at her as an image the spirit was projecting, and the spirit seemed to have taken on her fake personality.

"Is something wrong?" the ghost asked. "If who I look like bothers you, I can change my image-"

"No no, that's fine," replied Phoenix. As much as it disturbs me thinking about Dahlia, I'm more afraid about who else from my past you would choose to turn into.

"Very well," she said. She held out her hand to Phoenix. "Shall we be off, then?"

He hesitated at first, but he presumed that she knew what she was doing. He took her hand- which unsettlingly brought back memories of his dates with Dahlia- and answered, "I guess."

At that moment, the floor seemed to vanish beneath him as everything flashed white.


Date: December 14, 2001

Time: 11:30 AM

Location: ?

Phoenix found himself laying on a concrete surface, staring up at a cloudy sky. As he sat up and rubbed his head, he looked around and saw that he was in front of an elementary school's main doors. The Dahlia look-alike stood next to him. Before he could ask where they were, he heard a tinny bell ringing that sounded from inside the school. Seconds later, the doors acted as floodgates as hordes of children stampeded through. Phoenix yelled and shielded himself from the trampling feet of the kids, but all they did was harmlessly phase through him and the spirit. After they all passed by, Phoenix whipped his head around to face the spirit and asked in confusion, "Wait, what?!"

The ghost replied, "We do not exist in this time and place. No one can see, hear, nor touch us." Then after most of the kids left, she pointed towards the doors. "Look there, Phoenix," she said.

A trio of boys were exiting the school. The boy with messy brown hair dashed outside, another boy with black spiky hair jogged to keep up with his friend, and a boy with neatly combed dark hair and bangs draped over the sides of his forehead trailed behind. Phoenix cocked his head in recognition and said, "Wait, those boys... but how...?"

"Free at last!" the first boy shouted as he waved his arms in the air, praising the unseen divine being which graciously released him from his educational prison. "I can do whatever I want now! Look out, L.A.!"

"Jeez, Larry, you don't have to be so dramatic. People are looking at us weird," remarked the spiky-haired boy, whom Phoenix realized was a younger version of himself.

"I agree with Phoenix. Keep yourself under control," added the proper-looking boy, who also finally caught up with his friends. "Besides, school isn't dreadful like you make it out to be."

"That's easy for you to say, Miles!" snapped Larry. "You get all your homework done and ace every test!"

"That is because I genuinely strive to get good grades," Miles replied, "unlike you, who resorted to copying off of my paper during the math test last Wednesday."

Larry's irritation instantly turned into shock. "H-how did you know?!"

Miles sighed. "Well, it's quite obvious when you're periodically scooting your chair closer to my desk, and I can feel your nervous breathing on my shoulder."

Larry realized how bad he was when it came to stealthiness, but at least his skills weren't as bad as the teacher's ability to supervise. "Okay, so I kinda suck at being sneaky," he admitted. "But if you knew I was cheatin', why didn't you tell on me?" He wondered why do-gooder Miles would reveal him.

"That answer is simple," replied Miles. "You are one of my only friends, so it was my duty to assist you during the final math test of the semester. Not to mention that I recall what you said happened the last time you ended the year with a failing grade."

Larry thought back to the horror of his mother's rage the last time he received an "F," then he had a sudden feeling of debt towards his friend. "Aww, thanks Edgey!" he exclaimed. He slammed into Miles and trapped him in a powerful bear hug.

The raven-haired boy, extremely uncomfortable with intense physical contact unless it was with his own father, looked at his friend Phoenix. Help me, his pleading eyes said. However, Phoenix wasn't feeling very helpful at the moment, so to Miles's dismay, he too joined the group hug. Miles shot him a glare which clearly meant, Sometimes, I really hate you. Phoenix only smirked in reply.

"I hate to break up... whatever this is, I won't even ask, but I need to have a word with you, Larry Butz."

The three boys ended their bonding session and turned around to see their teacher. Larry stammered as sweat trickled down his face, "Y-yeah, Miss Willen?"

She crossed her arms and stared down at him. "I have reason to believe that you cheated on Wednesday's math test."

Larry sweated even more.

Then the teacher made her accusation, "You stole the answer sheet, didn't you?"

Knowing that this was not the case, Larry became confused. "Huh?" he said. "Whaddya mean?"

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix's index finger shot directly towards Miss Willen. "Do you have anything to prove that?!"

"Excuse me, Phoenix," she said while glowering at him, obviously offended.

Miles stepped in and explained, "I apologize for my friend's behavior. What he intended to say is that he requests to see sufficient evidence to support your claim."

"Miles, as much as I appreciate your politeness," she glanced at Phoenix, "I'm afraid we can't hold another class trial. Come with me, Larry. I'm going to call your mother."

"No, wait!" Larry begged. "Why are you pinning this on me?!"

Miss Willen sighed. "I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friends, but if you must know why I suspect you, it's because you miraculously got every answer on the test correct."

Larry blushed. "But, but I-"

"None of that. Come along, now." She took Larry's arm and turned in the direction of the school.

During this moment, Phoenix's mind was racing at a mile a minute. Having just heard that Larry cheated not by stealing the answer sheet, but by looking at Miles's paper, he knew that he was innocent of Miss Willen's accusation. But he couldn't present that information, because it would still prove Larry guilty of cheating. Then, Phoenix remembered something that just might help out his friend.

"Hold it!" Phoenix exclaimed. "I can prove that it was impossible for Larry to have stolen the answer key!"

Miss Willen faced him and warned, "If what you're about to say is pointless, then I'll have to call your mother as well because of your disrespectful outbursts."

Knowing that he only had one chance at this, Phoenix took a moment to think carefully. Then he said, "If I remember correctly, you came into the classroom about five minutes after class started, right?"

The teacher nodded. "Correct."

"Well, we were at lunch before math class, and during lunchtime, something happened. Larry got into a fight."

Miss Willen gasped and looked at Larry. "Is this true?" she inquired.

Larry cocked his head in deep thought. "Yeah. Miles was talking about why he never gets school lunch because of possible health violationism or something like that. Then some other kid called him a nerdy weirdo. Only me and Phoenix are allowed to call Miles a nerd, so I punched the name-calling bully. Then we got on the ground and fought until a teacher broke us up. Then I went to the nurse, 'cause I kinda got beat up. Miles was a little upset that I was crazy enough to fight the bully, but I think it was worth it."

The teacher glanced between the three boys, then she spoke, "Well, as probable as this story sounds- knowing how Larry can act up- I can't take your word for it. I would need the consent of an adult who was involved in the situation. But now that school has closed for the winter, it seems that everyone else has gone home."

Then Larry remembered something. "Oh, wait!" He exclaimed. He shoved his hand into his pocket and dug out a crumpled up piece of paper. He flapped it and gave it to the teacher. "The nurse told me to give you this note 'cause I was late for class. But I kinda sorta forgot to give it to you. I mean, you never asked why I was late. You didn't even look up from your desk, so... heh..."

Take that, Phoenix thought confidently.

Miss Willen inspected the note. "Hmm... I suppose the time written on here is five minutes after class starts. Very well, it seems that you weren't the one who stole my answer key, Larry." She released his arm and continued, "I apologize for accusing you and putting you through that trouble. I hope you boys have a wonderful Christmas break." Then she walked back towards the school doors, probably to check her desk and see if she had just simply misplaced her answer key.

When she was gone, Larry immediately pulled Phoenix into a headlock and ruffled his spiky hair. "Nick, you're awesome!" He shouted gleefully.

"Yep, I already knew that. Heh heh," Phoenix replied while struggling to escape his friend's embrace.

Miles took this opportunity to attempt to slink away, but Larry noticed. He released Phoenix and turned around and said, "Hey Edgey, don't think you can get away! Come back here!"

Miles quickly came up with an excuse by glancing behind him and saying, "Um, I believe my father is here to pick me up now. I have to go." Then he remembered something and added, "Oh, my father said that you guys can come visit me at my house on the 28th. That's when the big trial that he's working in will be over, some time in the afternoon."

"Okey-dokey!" Larry confirmed, sticking up his thumb in the air.

"Got it!" replied Phoenix. "And Merry Christmas!"

Then, Miles did something rare: he actually smiled. Of course it wasn't a full-blown grin, but it was a start for sure. He returned the phrase, "Merry Christmas." Then he turned and headed to the usual place he waited to get picked up. Phoenix and Larry walked off in another direction, chatting amongst themselves.

The older Phoenix watched his younger self and friends part ways. Then the Dahlia ghost spoke, "You were a great defense attorney, even as a child." She giggled just a little.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, but those were the days when it was easy. Especially since the person I was defending was my friend."

"Speaking of friends," the spirit continued, "that was the last time you and Larry ever saw or talked to Miles, wasn't it? That is, until recently this year."

Phoenix nodded. "Back then, we went to his house on the 28th, when he said we could come, but no one was home. We kept coming back for next few days, but he was never there. We never really knew what happened to him."

Tears began to form in the ghost's eyes. "If only you knew..." she mumbled to herself.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Phoenix questioned.

"Oh, er, no," she quickly answered. Then she declared, "Come on, we still have another place to go to." In one swift move, she levitated behind Phoenix, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and swooped him up into the air.

"AAAGGGHHH!" Phoenix screamed as he watched his childhood school sink beneath him. Harsh winds whipped across his face. "What are you doing?!"

"Don't worry," the spirit reassured. "We will be there soon."

Phoenix tried his best to calm down his frantic breathing and rapid heartbeat. They had left his school and were heading towards the city. But to his amazement, he was observing with his very own eyes the town develop from when he was a child to what seemed like the modern day. It was like watching a time lapse, but over the course of years. "Woah," he mused. Then he began to recognize his surroundings more, and he realized that they were flying straight for his office. The ghost didn't show any signs of slowing down, so he braced himself for impact with a hard wall. But the wall never came. Instead, he found himself standing on the floor of the office's reception room. Is this crazy adventure finally over? He thought. Then, he heard a familiar voice outside. The voice neared the door, and the person whom the voice belonged to let herself in.


Date: December 24, 2015

Time: 8:00 PM

Location: Fey & Co. Law Offices

Mia Fey entered the room, and she was talking on her phone. She took no notice of Phoenix, so he realized that he was still in the past. He also partially figured this out because the Dahlia ghost was standing beside him. Mia seemed to be ending her phone call: "Yes, Maya, I'm catching the train tonight so I'll be there for Christmas Day. ...No, don't wait outside for me. I'll be coming in late, and you'll freeze out there. ...Fine. I'll see you then." She hung up the phone and put it in her pocket just as a slightly younger Phoenix holding a stack of papers in his arms came in from the other room.

"Hey, Chief," he greeted.

Mia looked at the papers he was holding and inquired, "Have you been working the whole time I was gone?"

"Well, yeah," Phoenix answered, chuckling a bit. "I wanted to get as much work done as possible before tomorrow."

"Wow," said Mia as Phoenix placed the last of the paperwork in their proper locations. "All you need now is to pass the bar exam and get some experience in the courtroom, and you'll be a great lawyer."

"Hopefully," remarked Phoenix.

Mia walked over to the window and peered out. There was a group of people singing Christmas songs. "Hey, Phoenix, come look," said Mia. As he promptly came to her side, they watched a man holding his daughter's hand as they walked down the sidewalk. The girl skipped along happily, then they both stopped in front of the carolers. A joyful grin was on the girl's face as she listened to the beautiful melody of the song. Mia commented, "It warms my heart to see people so happy at this time of year. You have no worries, and you get to spend time with your loved ones. This is one of the reasons why I chose to become a defense attorney. I want to protect those who are innocent so they can enjoy being with their family and friends, especially during this season. Christmas is such a beautiful holiday, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Phoenix agreed. But I would hate to be the reason why an innocent person is thrown into prison, just because I couldn't help them.

Mia looked at her student. "Phoenix, I know you can make me proud. Promise me that you'll keep this moment in mind when you're behind the defense's bench, and that you'll fight for your clients."

"Of course," assured Phoenix. "I'll do whatever I can."

Mia looked down at her watch and said, "Oh, I have to go to the station before I miss the train. It's the last one going out tonight." She headed into the other room and returned with an overnight duffel bag slung over her shoulder. "I'm going to close the office for the night. You've worked hard enough today, now go home." Phoenix followed her out the door, then she turned around and locked the office.

"Are you going anywhere special tonight?" Mia asked.

"I'm just going to my mom's house and maybe spend the night," Phoenix answered.

"Good," Mia said. "I'll meet you back at the office on the 26th. Spend quality time with your mom tonight. No working on Christmas, got it?"

"Yep," Phoenix laughed nervously.

Mia began to walk away and said, "Bye, Phoenix."

"See you, Chief," he replied.

She looked back one more time and added, "Merry Christmas."

Alongside the spirit, the present Phoenix watched with a sad feeling as the past Mia strode away. "I actually promised her that...?" He trailed off. Then he sighed in frustration as he held his head in his hands. "I can't make a promise that I can't keep! Ugh, Dahlia- I mean, spirit- I don't care who you are, just stop this already!"

The ghost frowned at his anguish, then she spoke, "Follow me."

They passed through the wall back into the office, but something was different about it from just a few minutes ago. Phoenix noticed with relief that it looked exactly the way he left it before the spirits came. "So my life can go back to normal now?" he asked the spirit.

She looked at him in confusion. "Did Mia's spirit not tell you that there will be two other spirits after me?"

"Oh. Right." Darn, I forgot she said that. He looked at the clock on the wall. The short hand pointed at the eleven, and the long hand stuck straight up. He turned around to ask the spirit, "Who's going to come now- huh?" But when he did, she was gone. He looked around the reception room to try and find out where she went, but then he heard something in the other room. It sounded like a deep laughing as something hard was constantly being slammed against a desk. Figuring that this unknown person must be the next visitor, Phoenix headed into the other room to greet him.


Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Were you surprised about who the Ghost of Christmas past was? See if you can guess who the next spirit will be! (And did you figure out why this chapter has its title?)

We don't know the name of Phoenix's teacher when he was in fourth grade. All we know is that she was kind of stupid and cruel for letting the rest of the kids verbally beat him down in his class trial without sufficient evidence to have the wright to do so (I had to, people). Sure, you could say that she was simply ignorant of the procedures of a court trial, but nevertheless, I named her after a teacher I had back in my day whom I hated. Just my way of getting revenge on both the real and fictional teachers. Mwahahahaha...

If you liked the story or you have something to say that's not considered flaming, please leave a review! I'll try my best to update on Friday! (But I can't promise that, because exams are this week.)