Phoenix opened the door. It was difficult for him to come there, and face the empty office.
His daughter was gone, as was Athena, and Apollo had grown increasingly distant, spending his days working on his own, no longer trusting his boss to find the truth. Most days Phoenix didn't visit the office at all, preferring to either work with Edgeworth over at the Prosecutor's building, or to do legwork, running around the city after any lead, no matter how small.
But seeing the girl in the office was like a ray of sunshine.
"Pearls! How are you?"
She bowed. "I'm well. And I've re-arranged all your files, cleaned the toilet, washed the windows, and mopped up the floor."
"You really shouldn't have. It's not like we are having many clients lately. Not after…" His voice trailed off.
"Mr. Nick! Are you ready to try again?" Pearl hurried to interrupt his train of thought.
Phoenix gave her a smile. "It's not really me who will be doing all the work. Are you sure you're ready to try again?"
She nodded, giving him her brightest smile. "I have been fasting to make myself more susceptible to the otherworldly powers. I couldn't find a waterfall, but I sat in a cold bath for an hour."
Phoenix looked worried. "Don't overdo it. Wouldn't want you to catch a cold."
"I won't. It was nothing compared to my usual training." Pearl took out the candles and incense they had used before in their attempts at channeling.
"You wish me to try channeling Trucy, right?" She asked shyly. "It was just thinking maybe we could try other people who disappeared?"
Phoenix nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I have the police-files on some of the kidnapped people."
"What about Miss Blackquill?"
Phoenix shook his head. "Don't."
"I'm sure it would be okay if I-"
"No, Pearls. Don't even think of it. We will only attempt to channel people who are not… Who are harmless."
Pearl bit her thumb. "I understand."
They sat on the floor facing each other, the scent of incense heavy in the air and began the ritual.
But just like before, nothing happened.
"I can't reach her, Mr. Nick. I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be sorry. After all, that would mean she is dead."
"Yes… But… It's not the same as trying to channel someone who is alive, or being channeled by someone else. I know what that is like. This is like trying to reach out, and only finding fog, but one that's made of porridge. Usually spirit-world is like diving into a pool of fresh water, but now it's more like a murky swamp. Am I making sense?"
"I can't channel, so I don't know what it should feel like. Can you tell if it's something wrong with the spirit-world, or your abilities? Can you channel people you know for sure are dead?"
"I'll try."
She thought of the recently deceased nun Bikini, and focused. To her surprise, she felt the same porridge-fog obstructing her this time. And she knew Bikini was recently dead, and someone she had been able to channel recently.
Pearl tried thinking someone else who she could try contacting.
Prosecutor Blackquill. That was perfect for channeling, he had died recently, and considering the circumstances of his death he was most likely not at peace, and so easy to contact.
She thought of letting Mr. Nick know what she was about to attempt, but decided against it just in case he would tell her no.
It would be fine, Mr. Blackquill had been a good man, after all.
Pearl focused, and this time she could feel something. A familiar tugging at her mind.
She followed the feeling, trying to reach out to the spirit. The spirit-world was still weird, foggy and difficult to navigate. She breathed deeply, smelling the incense, keeping herself aware of her body, anchoring herself to the physical realm. It helped her get her bearings, and she was able to move towards the dead soul.
Pearl reached out to the spirit she had summoned, expecting it to enter her body.
It circled around her, like an untrusting animal. She knew from experience some spirits were like this, vary of the channeler, so she tried to let the spirit know she wasn't a threat.
It's okay, I won't harm you.
It reached in, closer and closer. Pearl prepared to let it in her body.
Instead, it snapped around her like a some kind of a snake, greedily and almost like it was hungry.
Startled, she was pulled in, the dark, cold spirit closing around her.
And she screamed.
