A/N: This chapter has a lot of easter eggs for my other stories, as well as an explanation of the difference between ghosts and spirits (as many of my regular readers will know, ghosts have made appearances in this universe in the form of Danny Phantom crossovers).

…

Chapter Two: Arrivals

Joshua still had two hours after school before he had to pick Amethyst up from elementary school. He and Misty would normally hang out in this time, but she had gone on her date.

This gave Josh time to come up with some kind of story as he sat on the steps of the elementary school, his sketch book resting in his lap. He sighed softly, watching people walk by as he used charcoal to sketch out the scene in front of him.

It wasn't his best work, by a long shot, but it was enough to keep his hands busy.

He glanced up and around again, before freezing, spotting something that made his blood run cold.

A young woman, maybe a few years older than himself, was stumbling through the crowd. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes ripped. There was blood on her shirt and her hand where it was pressed against her stomach. She held her phone in her other hand, and was pleading for help.

The worst thing? The thing that made his stomach really turn? Everyone was ignoring her. Josh quickly put his book in his bag and wiped his hands on his jeans as he jogged over.

"Hey, miss? Are you okay?" he asked the woman. She turned and looked at him, a wide, shell-shocked look on her face.

"N-no. Please, you have to help me. I-I was just attacked by my boyfriend, and my phone's not working, and-and-and—" she began to hyperventilate. Josh made calming motions, not wanting to touch her, just in case.

"It's okay, it's okay. Here. Sit on that bench, okay? I'll call 9-1-1. I won't leave you until the police get here, okay?"

"A-alright. Th-thank you," the woman sobbed, sitting on the bench Josh had indicated. He quickly pulled out his phone and placed the call. A few minutes later, two cop cars and an ambulance arrived. Out of the first one stepped Detective Klu Hunter, his cream colored trench coat billowing out behind him.

Klu Hunter was a homicide detective in his mid-30s, and incredibly enthusiastic about both his job and the law. This sometimes lead him to arresting the wrong person, but he always meant well. However, as he looked around, Josh could see annoyance sparking in his dark green eyes. Finally, he looked at Josh.

"You made the call, right?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. Please, she needs help," Josh said, motioning to the bench behind him. Hunter looked at the bench for a moment before looking at Josh.

"There's no one there," he said. Josh looked back. The woman was sitting on the very edge, looking anxious as she held the wound in her stomach. He turned back to Hunter.

"What do you mean, Detective? She's right there. Can't you see she's injured and scared? This is no time to be joking around!" Josh snapped.

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous. There is no one there, Mr. Wright!" Hunter snapped with none of his usual good mood. Josh actually took a step back. Of course Hunter knew who he was, he'd accompanied his father on a few investigations that Hunter was in charge of. Josh also knew the detective because of this, and seeing this side of him scared him. "I would think you'd know better than to make a false report. That's a serious crime."

"But it wasn't a false report!" Josh replied. "She is right. There. On that bench!" he said, pointing behind him.

"There is no one there, Mr. Wright," Hunter asserted.

"Oh. Oh," the girl suddenly gasped. Josh whirled around, wondering if the girl was getting dizzy and needed more help. But…

There was no one there.

"Huh?" he muttered. "Where did she…?"

"I told you," Hunter said. Josh turned to look up at him.

"But… she was… right there," he muttered.

Just then, a red sports car pulled up behind the police cars, the low rumble of its engine announcing its arrival. From it stepped Chief Prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth. He strolled over to the detective and his godson, wondering what was going on.

"Detective, what's going on?" he demanded.

"Ah! Sir!" Hunter snapped to attention, looking at the man. "This young man filed a false report, stating that a woman's been attacked and needed medical attention."

"A false report?" Miles asked, turning to the younger man. "Joshua?"

"I swear, it wasn't false. I saw a woman who needed help, and she was bleeding. She said she was attacked by her boyfriend, so I called 9-1-1 for her. She had been sitting on the bench, but now she…" Josh trailed off, looking at the bench again.

"The bench has been empty since we've arrived, sir," Hunter added. Miles looked at the bench again, before looking at Josh.

"Joshua, where's your sister?"

"After school study-session," Josh answered robotically. Edgeworth's gray eyebrows slammed down over his eyes, seeing the lie from a mile off.

"Right. Come on, I'm taking you home," he said, taking the young man by his arm.

"But sir, what about—" Hunter began, before trailing off once they were in the car. "Right," he sighed.

"But what about Amethyst?" Josh asked as he buckled his seat belt.

"Misty can pick her up," Edgeworth said, pulling away from the curb and weaving around traffic. "After her date."

"Date? What date?" Josh asked, a little too quickly. Miles just looked at him, and the young man slumped in his seat.

…

When they got to the village, Miles immediately pulled Phoenix aside. The defense attorney was tired, having just finished his last case and picked up a new one, but listened intently to what his friend had to say.

"Joshua made a false police report today," he started.

"Wait, what?" Phoenix gasped.

"Mhm. I think Detective Hunter would have taken him in if I hadn't happened by. Wright, I know you and Maya are busy, but… well, maybe Joshua needs some more attention."

"What do you mean?" Phoenix asked.

"Well, Maya's always spending a lot of time with Misty, preparing her to take over, and you're always busy with cases, now that The Wright Anything Agency has fully taken off. Joshua wants to be a lawyer. Maybe he's acting out to get your attention," Miles explained. "Maybe he wants you to start taking him with you to the court room."

"I-I don't know…" Phoenix sighed. "He's still so young."

"Trucy acted as Mr. Justice's co-counsel at his age."

"Yeah, I wasn't exactly father of the year when she was his age," Phoenix replied.

"Pearl acted as your co-counsel when she was much younger."

"Maya was kidnapped, and I needed to keep an eye on Pearl! What else was I supposed to do?"

"Still, Wright. Just think about it. Before his acting out gets him in real trouble."

Joshua, who had been listening at the door, scowled, but darted down the hall so as to not be caught eavesdropping on them.

"I wasn't 'acting out'…" he muttered, before shooting a text to Misty, telling her she's have to pick up Amethyst.

…

"Alright, the water's should have receded by now," a now dry Luke said, picking up his equally dry equipment. Eric helped by grabbing a few things, while the rest of the crew prepared themselves. Once everyone was ready, the proceeded into the caves.

"Flashlight?" Luke offered, holding one out for Eric when noticing he didn't have one. Eric snorted.

"Yeah, thanks," he said, taking it and switching it on.

"What's so funny?" Luke asked.

"It's just odd hearing you use American terminology now, considering," Eric said.

"Oh," Luke muttered.

"Do you say cell phone instead of mobile phone, too?" Eric asked innocently, only to earn a pinch. "Ow!"

"That's for teasing me," Luke said haughtily, striding forward. Eric chuckled after his friend, shaking his head.

The group carefully made their way to where they'd been working, a large cavern that was damp. Luke waved Eric over.

"This is where we've been digging. It's the center of the cave network, as far as we can tell," he explained, putting on his headlamp and switching it on. Eric pulled one from his own bag, doing the same. "Lander thinks it might have been a library of sorts, but we haven't been able to find anything to prove or disprove that."

"Well, then, let's gets looking," Eric said. Luke smiled, looking at the crew.

"You heard him!"

One hour. That's all it took for Eric, who had a mind for ancient ruins, to get a rough translation of the ones on the walls, which lead to his discovery of a large tablet, about the same size of his chest and two hand-lengths thick.

"Guys! Hey, guys! I found something!" he called, gaining everyone's attention. Luke grinned at one of the other men, Lander.

"And this is why I said we needed him," he said, walking over to where Eric was studying the tablet, running his gloved fingers delicately over the ruins carved into the tablet. There was a lot of them, almost like the writer had a lot to say and needed to cram it all onto this one tablet of stone.

"We need to get this topside and analyze it before the waters come again," Luke decided. The rest nodded in agreement and began to help carry the heavy artifact. Once it was placed inside the tent, Eric did quick charcoal rubbings of the surface so that he'd have a copy of the ruins.

"We've seen similar ruins before, Luke," Eric said excitedly, diving back into his bag and pulling out a book. "Remember the Venrin?"

"How could I forget?" Luke asked quietly.

"They might be related, and that would make sense. After all, the Venrin were all about the spirit world, and these people seem to be too," Eric said, having not heard Luke. "These ruins are older than the Venrin though. A lot like how the Cities of Bronze, Silver, and Gold were older then the Azran. These people, the Garindid you called them? Perhaps a few left here and traveled to where the Venrin had been in an effort to connect closer to the spirits," Eric mused.

"Yeah, but they contacted ghosts. Not Spirits," Luke reminded him.

"What's the difference, anyway?" Eric asked.

"Well, according to Pearl, Ghosts are spirits who have made it to the Ghostly Realm and have been infused with ectoplasm, giving them a physical form and abilities. This usually only happens to a spirit who's been around for hundreds of years, give or take, but then, there are always exceptions to that rule. Not all spirits are powerful enough to handle fusing with ectoplasm though, and some fade into Oblivion. Now spirits, they don't have physical forms, which means no power unless they're channeled. This makes them much harder to contact," Luke explained. Eric nodded, following the explanation.

"So in a way, the Venrin were both stronger and weaker than their predecessors," Eric mused.

"Exactly."

"Well, I'll study this," Eric said, holding up the papers. "I have a pretty strong grasp on Venrin Ruins, so I should be able to translate this."

"Thanks," Luke said, glancing at his watch. "It's close to dinner. Let's pack up for the night."

"Sounds good."

…

Dinner at Fey Manor that night was packed. Usually, it was just Phoenix, Maya, Misty, and Josh. Tonight, Pearl, Luke, Amethyst, and her border collie puppy, Sapphire, were there, joined by Eric, Flora, and Violet of course. Apollo, Ema, and their two kids were there as well, with even Athena, though the three defense attorneys were discussing work. This left Ema, Flora, Maya, and Pearl to discuss girl things, while Eric and Luke still conversed about what Luke's group as found so far.

Amy was talking to Violet and petting Sapphire's ears lovingly, slipping the puppy food every now and again while Luke pretended not to hear Sapphire's yelps of thanks. Misty decided to play with the Justice kids: nine-year-old Lexi, and seven-year-old Orpheus.

Josh was still sulking about earlier. Phoenix seemed to notice, and broke off from the impromptu conference with his employees.

"Hey, kiddo. I have a big trial coming up on Saturday. Want to come with and watch?" he asked, deciding to take Miles's advice. Josh quickly looked up.

"Sure. What's it about?" he asked, skootching closer.

"Victim's name was Notry Tere. She was stabbed in the stomach while on the phone. Death was almost instant," Phoenix explained, showing Josh the mugshot of Miss. Tere. Joshua froze in shock, staring at the woman.

She was the same as woman he had tried to help earlier.

"The defendant, our client, is a friend of mine from college, which is why I took the case personally," Phoenix added.

"Er, this friend. Was he the boyfriend?" Josh asked.

"Hah, no. He's her father. The two had apparently argued about her boyfriend though. Wait—" Phoenix froze, looking at Josh. "How'd you know she had a boyfriend?"

"Well… um… I guessed," Josh finished lamely.

"Hm… well, okay…" Phoenix seemed unsure as he studied his son. Apollo's fingers twitched to where he used to wear his bracelet (which was now on Lexi's wrist), while Athena tipped her head to the side, playing with her earring.

"But yeah! Of course I want to come!" Josh said brightly, distracting the three. Phoenix smiled, wrapping an arm around him and including him in the attorneys' discussion. Josh only half listened though as he thought about earlier.

Death was almost instant? Then how did I see her earlier?

He glanced up, and jumped slightly. Staring right at him was a woman in a long, brown kimono, her pale face fully focused on him. As soon as she was noticed, however she simply vanished into thin air.

"Joshua?" Phoenix asked, giving his son a small shake.

"Hm?" he asked, snapping out of his focus.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Just thinking," he said with a smile.

…

After dinner, Luke insisted on going back to the dig to check on it. Eric found himself agreeing, especially after hearing that it might be sabotaged, and went with him.

"So, what kind of sabotage has there been?" Eric asked.

"Unexplained cave-in, our pictures destroyed. That kind of stuff," Luke explained.

"Well, there is a lot of seismic activity in this area, so I don't think the cave-ins are entirely unexplained," Eric pointed out, but Luke was already shaking his head.

"That's the thing. I thought about that, so after the first cave in, I brought a seismologist on board, to watch out for earthquakes and stuff like that. But according to Dr. Terro, the seismologist, there hasn't been a single earthquake in the area since we've started."

"Oh. That's weird."

"I kno—oh no…"

The two men froze as they rounded the turn and spotted the cave. The tent had collapsed, but the two could still see the shape of the large tablet among the canvas and bars.

The entrance itself, however, had caved in. There was no way to enter the cave. Luke darted forward, studying the rocks, before shaking his head.

"No sign of explosives on anything. How did this happen!?"

…

A/N: Tada! Poor, really confused Josh…