"Snuffed out Light"
Chapter 2
"Too little, too late"
He didn't know how long he kneeled there, his son's cooling body pressed tight against his chest and nose buried deep into his soft silver curls, but… deep down, he knew no amount of time would be enough.
His legs were aching for him to get up, but he dare not move away.
His lungs burned and screamed for fresh air, yet he would not listen. Miles will never breathe again. He can remain breathless for a little while longer.
His hands shook fingers digging into the dead flesh, desperate for a reaction, a scream, a shout, a protest… But nothing ever comes, no matter how hard he presses and diggs.
He just wanted Miles to wake up. To pout about his chest hurting and complain about having his father's fingers imprinted into his arms.
He just wanted his son to live…
He must have looked rather pathetic sitting there, gritting his teeth and rather foolishly searching for any sign of life from the body in his arms, until he could no longer feel his fingers.
But he just couldn't think of anything else to do, his mind torn between cold reality and hopeful denial.
It's funny, really, how death never seems to stop taking things away, once it's struck.
Because now it seemed to add his logical prowess into its harvest.
So when the specialists came around to take Miles away to the morgue, Gregory was too mentally exhausted to fight against it.
Now he just sat there, on the cold floor, looking blankly at his fingers that were stained with his son's sticky blood.
"Edgeworth…" he heard someone speak, though the voice sounded muffled and far. As if he was listening to it under water. "Gregory listen to me, it's time for you to get back up."
The Defense Attorney doesn't know if he recognizes the voice, not sure he wants to.
He doesn't listen to it, there is no point.
Getting up meant leaving the Police Station, and that in turn would result in him having to go home.
Where nothing waits for him aside from insufferable quiet, the terrible reminder that the bright little light in his life was no longer there, and the murky blackness of grief and guilt.
Because he was there.
And yet Miles still died.
His legacy, his pride, his joy, his happiness and his light, just got sent down to the morgue, a room in which the living have no place, for an autopsy...
Why should he want to leave?
"Gregory please… you shouldn't be sitting on the floor like that." The defense attorney could feel hands on his shoulders, warm and strong, a striking contrast to the hollow coldness that now filled his chest. "Give me your hand."
He could feel the person reach to grasp his frozen digits, enclosing their hand around his bloody palm as if the stains were nothing more but figments of his imagination. "Hold onto me, Edgeworth and I'll pull you right up."
Something in that sentence makes him frown.
He couldn't tell whenever it was the forced optimism hidden between the words, the implication that this is something he can actually recover from,or just the fact that it was said by a person who knew nothing about what he's going through.
It sounded like the person was mocking him, kicking him when he was already down and implying that he'll never get back on his feet without help.
Part of Gregory wanted to get angry at the person. To yell that they have no right to judge him unless they went through the same ordeal.
Most of all, though… most of all he just wanted to be left alone. So that he could figure out how he's supposed to move on with his life, now that… that Miles was no longer a part of it.
So he let his fingers stay limp in the person's grasp, hoping they'll get the message and just leave him be.
But that didn't happen, and soon he felt himself being pulled into a standing position whether he likes it or not.
He's not sure if he's surprised to see who pulled him up, a Prosecutor with the same drive to find the truth he has, Byrne Faraday.
They worked together on some cases and have become good friends since then.
"There." The man said gently patting his shoulders. "That's better now, isn't it?"
Gregory didn't respond just gazed blankly at Faraday, wondering if this is what dry drowning feels like.
"Come on." Byrne then locked shoulders with him. "Let's get you somewhere more comfortable, alright?" He began leading the defense attorney away from the elevator but, before they would leave the cursed place, Gregory dug his feet to the ground.
"No." He rasped out.
"Edgeworth-"
"I'm not leaving."
"...this is no place for you, Gregory."
"He's here." He nodded towards the door that not too long ago opened to let a team of specialists carry away his son. "So I will stay here too. He… never liked being alone. He pretended to be nonchalant so that I didn't worry but… I always knew it scared him."
He was projecting.
He was projecting his own fears onto Miles, and it didn't matter because
'God, my poor boy.'
Byrne then grabbed his shoulders and gave them a gentle shake.
"Edgeworth focus on me for a second, okay?" He asked, voice filled with concern. "Your son-"
"Miles." The defense attorney corrected him. "His name is Miles."
"...Miles then." Faraday swallowed thickly. "He… he wouldn't want you to stay here and drown in self-loathing. He'd… want you to go home."
"Home? What home?" Gregory chuckled, though the notion seemed lifeless and devoid of emotion..
His dark eyes fell. "Home left along with him."
In the end Byrne managed to move him to the waiting lobby with the help of Detective Badd, another part of their inner circle of friends.
They sat him on one of the benches and gave him a mug filled with scalding hot tea to drink.
"He doesn't look so good, Tyrell." Gregory heard Byrne say, watching his friend stare blankly at his reflection in the dark liquid. "He's holding onto the cup despite it being burning hot… that… that can't be healthy."
"He's in shock… Faraday." The larger man sighed, pulling out a little pink lollipop from between his lips. "Right now you could shoot him and he wouldn't notice."
"We need to help him." The Prosecutor voice sounded full of determination and energy. "How… how do we help him?"
Gregory continued to stare deep into his own eyes reflected in the tea even as Tyrell answered.
"There is not much we can do aside from making sure he doesn't follow after his boy."
His eyes changed and swirled with each and every breath he let out, at the mercy of the rippling currents of the water.
It looked troubling, horrific…
And painful.
He let out a mirthless chuckle.
The Gregory looking back at him reflected his inner turmoil better than any facial expression, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered which one of them is real.
"Only time can heal this type of wounds, and sometimes…"
He stopped breathing, waiting for the image to still and be at peace again...
"Sometimes not even it can help..."
But it never did.
Misty Fey was meditating in her private when Morgan came to give her the news.
"Miles Edgeworth is dead." She said with the sort of detachment that suggested she was talking about a stray dog, rather than her only nephew.
The master spirit medium flinched at the news but otherwise gave no reaction.
"How?" Was all that she asked.
The boy couldn't be more than ten years of age and was perfectly healthy if she were to go by the latest letter Gregory sent Mia, so the cause of death couldn't be natural.
...unless Gregory lied to keep her from worrying.
"Shot." Her older sister stated coldly, distantly. She never believed the Edgeworth to be part of their family. "His father was with him."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"Is Gregory also…" she couldn't ask the dreaded question, her throat choked on the very words.
"No."
Misty let out a sigh of relief.
'Thank the Lord for small mercies.'
Morgan said nothing more, leaving her to slowly be consumed by the realization that one of the children she brought into the world has been torn out of it brutally and painfully.
She gasped, her hand traveling up to rest over her heart which was slowly being torn apart by memories long buried in the dark depths of her mind.
# Flashback#
"It's a boy, Ms. Fey."
Is the first thing she heard after an hour of rest.
At first all she felt was sadness and shame that her second-born turned out to be a boy, useless to her clan for being unable to channel.
"Would you like to hold him?"
She wants to say no. It would be easier to dispose him in an orphanage when the emotional connection is minimal.
It would be best for both parties, she tells herself, if the boy knows not who his biology mother is.
But then… then she actually sees him.
His small head, silver puff of hair, puffy cheeks and small fists curled on the blue blanket he was wrapped in.
She looked at all that… and her heart went out to this newborn bundle of joy.
"Yes." Misty rasped out, struggling to sit up. "Please."
The nurse nods and gently places the baby in her weak arms.
The minute she got a solid grip on him, the boy yawned, rubbed his eyes and then blinked up at Misty with big, dark-gray orbs that he shared with Gregory.
The mystic smiled gently.
"Hello, little one." She whispered softly. "I'm your mother."
The child didn't smile back just tilted his head, his tiny hand traveling up to his mouth so that he can suck on his thumb.
"Not very talkative, are you?" Misty chuckled, remembering how Mia gurgled and cooed after hearing her voice for the first time. "You must take after your father, then."
The boy tilts his head again, as if trying to understand what his parent was attempting to communicate to him, intelligence shining in his bright eyes.
He was going to grow into quite the smart individual, Misty thought.
'Just like his father.'
"Ma-ma!" Her thoughts were interrupted with the arrival of her, now eldest child, Mia and her older sister, Morgan.
The leader of Kurain looked up at the incoming pair and smiled at her daughter.
"Hello, my dear." She shifter a bit in her bed to allow the two year old to crawl up to sit next to her.
Once the toddler was safely sat against the large pillow, Misty could afford to look towards her older sister, who was standing in the middle of the room seemingly unwilling to step closer.
"Morgan." She nodded her head in greeting.
"Mystic Misty." Came the cold response. The older woman then looked at the bundle in her arms with barely hidden disgust. "Is this… the boy?" She spat the last word out as if was poison burning her tongue.
Misty felt her features darken in response to the insult.
"You will not use that tone when addressing my son." She hissed out, tone low and filled with warning.
Morgan's eyes widen and she steps back in shock, before gaining back her composure and bowing her head respectfully.
"Yes, Mystic Misty." Her tone grew even colder now, more resentful than the master of Kurain ever heard her use before.
"Ba-ba!" Mia's childish voice pulled Misty's eyes away from her older sister.
The little girl was leaning over her mother's shoulder, peering curiously at the small baby in her arms, who in turn, looked just as interested in her as she was in him.
"Yes, Mia." Misty smiled at her in approval. "That is a baby."
"Bah!" She squealed happy at the praise, and, for a moment Misty was worried her newborn son will get frightened and start crying.
But, much to her pleasant surprise, the baby did no such thing. Just looked up at her, thumb securely in mouth, and big dark-gray orbs blinking sweetly at her.
"This is your little brother, Mia." Misty smiled at her daughter. "Say hello, my dear."
"Hi!" The happy dark-haired girl beamed at the tiny baby, and waved in greeting.
The nameless boy gurgled a short response before stuffing his thumb back into his mouth.
Mia giggled at that, filling the room with enlightened laugher.
Misty even noticed that the baby boy smiled at the sound, as if he enjoyed it.
"Look, Mia." Misty said to catch the girl's attention. "Your new sibling smiled."
"Bah, s-sm" the two year old tried to say, "s… s… s'mils." she then beamed at her mother. "S' mils!"
Misty noded.
"Very good, Mia." She praised.
A few more minutes later, the nameless child started getting fussy out of hunger so Misty adjusted her hold on him and began to feed him.
"I assume the… father will want to see the boy." Morgan said, reminding the master Mystic of her presence.
"He will, indeed." She replied solemnly, remembering the big argument Gregory started after they banned him from seeing their firstborn when she was born.
Morgan let out a deep and long-suffering sigh before finally saying:
"I... suppose we can allow him to see the newborn."
It sounded like she's doing everyone a huge favor by allowing the birth father to see his child. A favor that Misty is going to have to repay later on.
It didn't matter right now, however.
What mattered is that Gregory is going to see both his daughter and his newborn son, and, for a single afternoon, they could be a real family.
"'mils!" Mia butted in with a large smile.
"Yes, little one." Misty released one of her hands from holding her new bundle of joy, and ruffled the little girls tiny fringe.
"Mommy is smiling."
Am hour later, when Mia was wrigling her fingers over her little brother's head, the door was pushed open revealing a disheveled Gregory Edgeworth.
"I'm… here!" He huffed, leaning on his knees for support. "I'm here…"
Mia squeaked on his unexpected entry and was now peeking at him from behind her mother's shoulder.
Misty chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand in mirth.
"Yes, you most certainly are."
The defense attorney gave her a looped grin before huffing and puffing a bit more.
"Have you come to see the newest addition to our family, Gregory?" Misty smiled kindly in his direction. She felt a squeeze on her shoulder. "Ah, right. How could I forget? You must meet our daughter too, of course." She gently nudged the two year old to step out from behind her shadow. "Go say 'Hello' Mia."
The two-year-old waved at her father shily.
"Hi."
Gregory, finally managing to calm his breathing down to a reasonable pace, smiled and kneeled in front of the tiny girl.
"Hello, Mia." He said gently, voice choked up with raw emotion. "Do you… do you know who I am."
"F'wen?" The tiny girl tilted her head at him, her hand fumbling with her dress.
"Not quite but close." Edgeworth chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm… I'm your daddy, Mia."
For a moment the girl just looked at him in total silence, before turning to her mother and asking:
"Da-da?"
Misty just smiled, and nodded her head.
"Da-da!" The tiny girl then launched herself at the defense attorney she just met, hugging his neck as tightly as possible.
Gregory, despite being a bit surprised by her openness, laughed and tightly hugged her back.
"God, how I longed to do this." Edgeworth managed to choke out through his clenched throat, nose hurried in Mia's fluffy hair. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you Mia, I really wanted to, I swear. I'm so so sorry."
He kept on apologizing to the small girl for something that wasn't his fault, and the sight made Misty's eyes fill with tears.
Right now she wished more than ever, that the rules in her village were not so strict when it comes to males living among them.
That she could have a real family.
At this exact moment her nameless boy started to babble, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.
"Oh, is that…" Edgeworth started to ask, standing up with Mia in his arms.
"Yes." Misty nodded. "Our little boy."
Gregory slowly walked over to the bed, sat down on the edge, maneuvered the tiny girl in his arms to his lap and then looked over Misty's shoulder.
Locking his eyes with that of his baby boy, who blinked up at him sucking his thumb.
"He's... beautiful." The defense attorney whispered, reaching out his hand towards the tiny fist clenched on the blue blanket and rubbing it gently. "Does… does he have a name?"
"No, I haven't been able to think of on-"
"'mils!" Mia squeaked, happily nested between her father and mother. "'mils!"
Both adults look at each other.
"Miles…" Misty whispered out what was on both their minds, and smiled. "I believe Mia wants her baby brother to be named Miles."
"A very fitting name, little one." Gregory kissed Mia's little head, making her giggle.
"Miles Edgeworth it is, then."
# End of flashback #
That was the first and last time they were a real family.
Her clan traditions didn't allow for anything more.
And now, the tiny life form that brought them together, was gone.
Murdered.
Misty allowed her tears to fall onto the prayer mat she was sitting on.
'Miles.' she thought shaking her head. 'How I wish I could have been there for you.'
Gregory cursed under his breath when he saw who just entered the police station, and desperately wished he had something strong to drink.
"Gregory." She said, the siren, the mermaid, the harpy. In that sweet angelic voice that drew him to her all those years ago. "I came as soon as I heard what happened. I… I don't know what to say…"
"Don't bother saying anything." He growled out, annoyed with her pretences. "I don't need your empty sympathies."
Misty Fay actually flinched at his hard tone and, for a second, he felt bad for snapping at her.
But then he remembered the large dark-gray eyes of his brave, little boy the few times he asked where was "his mommy".
He remembered the sadness and subconscious understanding shining in them when he lied and said she died in a car crash.
And, immediately, all guilt melts away.
"How can you say that?" Misty asked, voice quieter now. "He was my son too, I grieve for him as much as you d-"
"Don't you dare." Gregory rounded on her, eyes Blazing in anger. "Don't you dare say those words to me as if they were true, because we both know they're not."
Misty met him head on, head high and shoulders squared.
"They are true."
"Oh? Oh really" He chuckled brokenly. "Now this… this I got to see." The defense attorney crossed his arms on his chest. "Tell me then, dear grieving mother, that child you're mourning… what was his name?"
"Gregory…" Detective Badd tried to intervene but Edgeworth didn't let him.
"What. Was. His. Name?"
The spirit medium didn't answer, she just looked at him unflinchingly.
"You have no idea, do you?" Gregory snorted. "You don't even know the name of the child you're supposed to be mourning, and you expect me to believe you're grieving for him?!"
"Edgeworth…"
"I can still feel pain at the loss of my offspring as a moth-"
"You," Gregory pointed an accusatory finger at her. "were no mother. Not to Miles. Maybe you were to our daughters, but never to him." He hissed out through gritted teeth. "Because he was never worthy of your attention, now was he?!"
"That's not true-"
"Oh?" He asked, rage clear in his voice. "If that's not true, then where the hell were you?!" The man screamed out what has been bubbling inside him for years. "Where were you when Miles was in a hospital fighting for his life as a three month old baby?! Where were you when he broke his arm riding his tricycle?! Where were you when we celebrated his birthdays?! Where were you when he needed his mother?!"
"I-"
"I can tell you." Gregory's heart was pounding. "I can tell you exactly where you were all this time." He points up. "Up there… in your pretty little village, where Mia and Maya are the only ones that deserve to have you in their lives because they're girls."
"The code of my village-"
"I know what that stupid thing says!" The defense attorney exploded. "I accepted it the moment I met you…" He whispered, voice filled with grief. "I knew… I knew I would never get to raise my daughters due to it's fucking rules, but I still did what I could to make up for it!" Gregory slammed the desk he stood behind. "I send them birthday gift on their birthdays, I made sure they didn't starve to death. Fuck, I even sent letters!"
"But you?" He laughed. "The only time you showed up in his life, is now. When he's dead!"
The defense Attorney then laughed bitterly.
"You know… he never believed what I told him about you, not really. He was… much too smart for that, that boy of mine." He chuckled sadly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I caught him once… as he was writing a letter to someone, when he was five years old." Gregory chuckled."Heh… I remember being curious about who the receiver is, so I waited till he fell asleep to take a peak." He then glared at Misty again. "It was… a letter to "mom". He… he just wanted you to come to us for one day. One day. Because… it was my birthday and… he couldn't think of a better present." The defense attorney swallowed thickly and rubbed away the tears that ran down his cheeks. "He figured that… God knows you wouldn't come for him... maybe... maybe you'd come… for me." His entire body shook. "He just wanted one day… even promised not to ask for anything ever again, if only you'd show up."
Edgeworth grit his teeth tighter to keep the cries from escaping.
"I even… I even got that letter to you. Gave it to that funny little delivery lady that looked at the small pink envelope in disgust, before placing it in her bag with all the other mail. And, for a moment, I let myself hope that, maybe you'll do it. That you'll show up."
He then shook his head bitterly.
"But you never did, and I… God I never saw him so crushed in my life." He lifted his head and looked at Misty, tears glittering in his eyes. "You know what he said then?"
Gregory walked up to the spirit medium and looked her deep in her eyes.
"He asked, 'Father? Is it… my fault that mom doesn't want to see you?'." He asked, voice soft.
"And I said… I told him 'Mommy is dead, Miles.' and, you know what? I think… I think he finally believed me that time."
Misty opened her mouth to says something but Gregory silenced her with a raised hand.
"I know why you're really here, Misty." He stated coldly, his voice too even and sturdy to really be calm. "And the answer is no."
"Edgeworth think this through." Tyrell Badd tried to reason with his friend. "It might be the only way for us to get some answers."
"I'd rather die not knowing who killed my son, than have a ten-year-old channeled to talk about his own murder!"
"Gregory…" Misty tried, voice soft.
"Miles might have meant nothing to you." Edgeworth spat out in her direction. "But he meant everything to me. And I'll be damned if I let him get hurt on my watch again."
Silence filled the police station and, for a fleeting second, Gregory thought the proud Master of Kurain will just turn around and go.
But she didn't.
She stayed.
"I know this is a very difficult time right now, Gregory." Misty took a step in his direction. "The wound is still raw, and your mind is filled with problematic emotions and feelings." When he didn't react, she dared to take another step forward. "But, after the dust has settled, believe me, you will want to know the truth. You will long for closure."
Edgeworth let out a broken laugh.
"Problematic emotions, metaphorical open wounds, closure… is this what you tell everyone who's hesitating?" He then hit the desk before him with his open palm. "You keep the rest of the family out of Miles's reach for all his life, ignore the fact that he even exists when he's sick or in a hospital, and now, that he's been murderer, you suddenly show up and dare to play the grieving mother?"
"I-"
"What is your motive in this, Misty?" Gregory spat out. "Are you hoping that, now that the only disgrace in your lineage is dead, I'll be willing to make you another girl? Is that what you're after Misty?! Another child to take far away from me, and raise to be a cold hearted bitch like you, in exchange for what? Closure?" He laughed. "What closure?! Knowing who killed Miles won't bring him back, catching the murderer won't bring him back, nothing will ever bring my boy back!"
Misty froze in place, quietly listening to the Defense Attorney's rant.
"No…" Gregory shook his head, with a sad chuckle. "No I want you to stay out of the situation. It shouldn't be hard, just pretend we don't exist."
He then looked deep into Misty's eyes.
"Like you've done for the last ten years."