Edgeworth glanced down at his speedometer for what felt like the hundredth time. Despite the agitated nature of the defense attorney sitting in his passenger seat, there was no way he was going to risk getting a speeding ticket. He could only imagine the scandal it would cause if word got out that such a high ranking prosecutor was driving around with such a flagrant disregard for traffic law.
"Can't we go any faster?" Phoenix asked predictably.
"We are not having this conversation again, Wright. If I get pulled over for speeding we will never get there." Edgeworth replied.
"I'm sorry," Phoenix said, running his hand through his hair. "I'm being a pain, I know. But I really have to get there."
"Yes, you are being a pain." Edgeworth muttered as he manoeuvred the red sports car to overtake a slow moving truck ahead of them. He paused for a moment, before questioning Phoenix again.
"So let me get this straight. Maya's being inducted as Master of Kurain today, correct?"
"Right." Phoenix said with a nod.
"And it's also her birthday."
"Right."
"And despite your relationship with this girl, you had no prior knowledge of either event?"
Phoenix scowled. "What am I on trial here?"
"Give me a break, Edgeworth," he pouted. "There has been so much going on lately and Maya never even mentioned anything. And for the last time, there's no relationship. Maya and I are friends. That's all."
"You should realise, Wright, that the more vehemently you deny something the guiltier you look." Edgeworth responded, raising an eyebrow.
"You should realise that you need to stop prosecuting your friends or soon you won't have any." Phoenix countered. Edgeworth laughed softly under his breath.
"I could add something about denial and rivers in Egypt but I'm afraid that would be terribly tacky and clichéd." Edgeworth said lightly.
"Are you done?" Phoenix cried, causing Edgeworth to chuckle uncharacteristically. "Or are you going to torture me the whole way there?"
Edgeworth didn't respond, but the small smile remained on his lips as he watched the road ahead of him. Phoenix shuffled in his seat, huffing lightly. Silence enveloped the pair once more, but not for long.
"I can't believe you forgot her birthday," Edgeworth added daringly, his expression mocking.
"Seriously, Edgeworth. I'm really starting to regret calling you..."
Edgeworth laughed as Phoenix crossed his arms angrily. This trip was turning out to be a lot more fun than he had anticipated.
A torturous twenty five minutes later, Edgeworth's car passed through Kurain Village's front gates. Bringing the vehicle to a stop, the pair climbed out and headed towards the main building.
"Remind me never to ask you for a favour again," Phoenix sulked. The last hour and a half trapped in a car with his prosecutor friend had done little to improve his mood. Not only was he annoyed and a little hurt that Maya had kept such significant events to herself, but he also felt like a jerk for forgetting her birthday. Edgeworth's jibes hadn't helped at all with either of those issues.
"I promised I would get you here on time, and we are here. Are we not?" Edgeworth inquired.
"That remains to be seen." Phoenix said. "For all we know the ceremony could be over already and I just spent nearly two hours of my life that I'll never get back trapped in a car with you."
"Some gratitude." Edgeworth noted.
Phoenix shook his head and craned his neck searching for someone who might be able to tell them what was going on and where.
He noticed a woman heading towards them, but recoiled when he realised it was none other than Althea Fey. She had been pleasant to him when he had picked up Pearl for their trip to Gatewater Land last week, but which personality of Althea Fey was heading to greet them today was anyone's guess.
"Great." Phoenix muttered as the council elder drew closer. Edgeworth raised an eyebrow, prompting Phoenix to elaborate further. "It's Althea Fey. She's the one that's been causing all of this trouble for Maya."
Edgeworth nodded in understanding as Phoenix steeled his expression. If she even tried to make him leave he would be giving her a piece of his mind.
"Mr Wright," Althea greeted him cheerfully. "I'm so glad you could make it. I was concerned when Mystic Maya arrived alone today. I was sure you would be accompanying her."
Phoenix gulped. What on earth was going on? Althea was practically the perfect picture of a sweet old woman and the stinging barbs he had lined up for her were definitely not called for in this instance. He was truly at a loss for words.
Without waiting for the flabbergasted lawyer to respond, Althea gave Phoenix one last smile before turning her attention to Edgeworth, offering her hand.
"You must be another of Mystic Maya's friends. Althea Fey, Kurain Council Elder," she said courteously. Edgeworth shook her hand lightly.
"Miles Edgeworth," he said stoically.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Edgeworth. If you two would like to follow me, there are other guests waiting for the ceremony to begin in the reception hall. The wind out here has a terrible chill to it. It would be far more comfortable to wait indoors." Althea instructed, before leading the two men towards what they could only assume was the reception hall. Phoenix wondered if the old bat had rigged the place with explosives or something crazy like that.
As they entered the room, Phoenix quickly scanned the guests and dignitaries that had gathered and was relieved to find no trace of Andre Fey. As if reading his thoughts, Althea turned to speak to Phoenix.
"Andre is not with us today, Mr Wright," she said, surprising him. "I know he is of some concern to you and the council shares your concern. The wellbeing of our Master is our first priority and your claims of him having a connection with Morgan Fey are currently being thoroughly investigated."
Phoenix stared at the woman, trying his hardest to mask his disbelief as she continued.
"We can't have anyone within the village that harbor's ill will towards Mystic Maya. Andre has returned to boarding school where he can be properly supervised until we can get all of this sorted."
She placed a hand on Phoenix's arm, her expression softening.
"I do hope your assumptions are incorrect, but the council realises we must do what is best for Mystic Maya right now."
Phoenix nodded slowly, not quite sure what to say. He didn't believe a word of the elder woman's diatribe, figuring that Andre would still definitely be around somewhere, but causing a scene here about it wouldn't be of use to anyone. Especially Maya.
"I am glad you are taking Maya's safety into account," he said sternly. Phoenix needed Althea to think that he believed her current facade. Feigned compliance would buy him more time to find out what was really going on.
Althea nodded curtly, before turning to leave the two men.
"Please, help yourself to refreshments," she said politely. "The ceremony is due to begin in twenty minutes."
With that she left the pair, heading off to finalise preparations. Phoenix waited until she was out of earshot before speaking to Edgeworth.
"I'm guessing this is the part where you tell me I'm insane and that there's no way that sweet old lady has any sort of sinister plans whatsoever, right?" he said glumly.
"No..." Edgeworth considered carefully as he scanned the room. "That woman is hiding something. Her demeanour just now was extremely forced."
Phoenix exhaled audibly.
"Thank goodness," he sighed. "Because there is some serious trouble going on right now and I'm going to need all the help I can get if I'm going to get to the bottom of it."
Edgeworth scoffed lightly.
"I'm a little surprised, Wright. Perhaps even a little insulted."
"What? Why?" Phoenix asked, confused.
"Reading people and seeing through false personalities is a very big part of what both you and I do every day." Edgeworth explained. Unable to resist another chance to take a shot at his friend, he added "Well, at least it's what I do every day. How many cases have you had since Hazakurain?"
Phoenix rolled his eyes. When exactly had Edgeworth developed a sense of humour?
"Very funny."
"I thought so." Edgeworth quipped.
Ignoring his friends new found preoccupation with making jokes at his expense, Phoenix continued to explain his unease at Althea's unbelievable change of heart.
"Not only is it completely insane that she's being so nice to me, this whole Andre thing is leaving a bad taste in my mouth." He began, frowning. "You should have seen the way she treated Maya at the last council meeting. And I thought she was going to kill me when I mentioned Andre and Morgan Fey in the same sentence."
Phoenix shook his head as he tried to make sense of it all.
"She even mentioned Maya's father. I think she might know how he died. I'm worried that she even might have had something to do with it."
"I'm still trying to find out as much as I can about Sebastian Parker." Edgeworth assured him. "It's been quite difficult, but I have a few contacts that could prove worthwhile. I'm going through my father's records too, but I doubt they'll hold any worthy information."
Phoenix nodded in thanks.
"Who'd have thought that my father's old friend and colleague would end up being your Maya's father." Edgeworth said, shaking his head lightly, still surprised at the information Phoenix had supplied him with earlier. "There really are no coincidences, are there?"
"Not in the Fey family, no." Phoenix said seriously. Edgeworth sighed, laughing quietly to himself.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Wright," he teased. "I'd assume the Fey's aren't the most ideal family to marry into."
Phoenix glared at him. This was really getting old, although Edgeworth didn't seem to think so.
He opened his mouth to give Edgeworth a piece of his mind, but was interrupted by the sounds of the large wooden doors to the main hall opening. People around him began to move. It appeared that the ceremony was about to begin. Relieved at the prospect of seeing Maya again, Phoenix forgot all about his annoyance with Edgeworth and turned to move towards the doors.
"Are you coming?" Phoenix inquired when Edgeworth didn't move.
Edgeworth shook his head as he flipped through contacts on his cell.
"Do not worry, Wright. I will still be here to drive you and Miss Fey back to the city when the ceremony is over with."
"That's not what I was concerned about, but thanks nonetheless." Phoenix said. "Don't you want to see the ceremony, though?"
"I think I've seen enough formal receptions in my time." Edgeworth explained. "Besides, If I can find somewhere around here with any form of cell phone reception, I'm going to need to make a few calls. It is Maya's birthday after all, and quite the prodigious occasion. It would be only fitting to throw her a party. Perhaps we could even keep it a surprise."
Phoenix beamed. Edgeworth certainly had his moments.
"You're a pal, Edgeworth." Phoenix said with a grin.
"Yes. I suppose I am." Edgeworth said coolly. "Don't go spreading it around."
Phoenix laughed as he turned to head in the main hall, leaving Edgeworth to make his phone calls. He hoped today would end up being a memorable day for Maya, but this time for the right reasons.
Maya stared at her reflection and sighed. She almost didn't recognise the woman in the beautiful purple kimono staring back at her.
Grown up. Sophisticated. Kurain's Master. She felt like a fraud.
"What a joke," she thought dismally to herself.
She'd been training her whole life for this day and now that it was here she wanted nothing more than to wish it away entirely. She wasn't ready. There was still so much to do, so much to see and learn. The thought that she would give it all up in a second to simply be Phoenix's assistant flashed through her mind.
"Some ambition, Maya," she mused.
As great as it sounded in theory to forget about Kurain and go back to the city with Phoenix, Maya knew that Kurain was in desperate need of someone who would bring the village up to more contemporary standards. She knew she had the brains to do it, but did she have the backbone?
Giving up was not an option. Pearl was next in line and there was no way that Maya was going to hand down anything less than a perfectly functioning village to her young cousin when the time came. If the time came at all. Eventually the elders would expect her to marry and bear children, hopefully providing a female heir for her position, in which case Pearl would no longer be in line for the title at all.
Maya screwed up her nose as she thought of the kind of man the elders would push her to marry. It would likely be some sort of boring politician or diplomat. Definitely someone who in marrying the master, would tie Kurain to outside power. She hoped it was some time before she would have to deal with that, but now that she had turned twenty she knew it wouldn't be long before the council started pushing the issue.
Her mother had been lucky. She had married her love and escaped the incredibly outdated prospect of an arranged marriage. Although coming back to Kurain pregnant would have been a difficult time for her mother the following years of happiness with her father before his untimely death would have been more than worth any shame the council insisted she bear. Maya wondered how the council would have reacted if she had returned to Kurain in a similar 'predicament' to her mother. She blushed furiously at the thought.
Her father had chosen to leave everything to be with her mother and although she didn't doubt in the slightest that Phoenix had the same loyal nature, she would never allow him to give up being a lawyer just to be with her. As much as it hurt, this is where her similarities with her mother would have to end. They both might have fallen for lawyers, but she would not get to keep hers as her mother did, even if it was only for a short time.
Maya's cell phone beeped loudly in the pocket of her kimono. Pulling it out, she saw that she had received a text from Phoenix.
"His ears must have been burning," she thought to herself with a smile. She opened the text and read it to herself.
"Stuffy meeting, hey Maya? You've got some explaining to do… birthday girl."
Uh oh.
Busted.
Maya felt bad about deliberately misleading Phoenix about the reason for today's "meeting" and the significance of the day but she had her reasons. Kurain and her duty were a sore point at the moment and she knew that if Phoenix had any idea that she was approaching her official induction that he would worry and want her to talk about it, but she really didn't want to. Talking about it would just highlight her doubts and it was hard enough to prepare herself for the responsibility as things were. If he made her really sit down and think about what she was accepting and what it meant she would eventually have to give up she might have broken down and given up completely. She was hoping she could just sneak through the process without him having to find out. At least not for a while, anyway. There were also things during the ceremony that she would be asked to agree to that she knew Phoenix would at least find questionable.
His text seemed light-hearted and Maya was relieved that he didn't appear to be mad at her, but she knew at the very least he would be hurt. She sighed. She really didn't think this through properly. This was a very important day, and Phoenix could very well take it personally that she chose to keep it from him. He might even think that she didn't think he was important enough to be there. That couldn't be further from the truth.
"Damn it." Maya said out loud, covering her face with her hands. She wasn't even officially inducted yet and she was already making poor decisions. Kurain was doomed.
"Mystic Maya," the young woman's voice interrupted her self loathing. "They have requested your presence. We are ready to begin."
"Thank you, Mystic Jess." Maya said politely as she moved to follow the girl. She brought her fingers to her neck, delicately touching the place where her magatama should have been. Her old necklace would be replaced today with the master's magatama & talisman. It would be a constant visual reminder of her position. There was no turning back now.
With a deep breath she headed into the hall to begin the next chapter of her life.
Phoenix shuffled in his seat, switching his cell to silent before slipping it into his pocket. Even with the limited reception he had managed to get a message through to Maya letting her know that he knew it wasn't just some regular meeting today. He'd failed to inform her though that he was here in Kurain for the ceremony. He figured she would find out soon enough.
A small murmuring from the crowd caught Phoenix's attention and he watched as the council members filed into the hall and took their seats at the head of the hall. A few moments later Maya entered behind them. He smiled. She looked nervous, but beautiful.
She glanced briefly in his direction but didn't seem to notice him. About half a second later she did a double take, smiling widely when she spotted him in the second row. He smiled back. He saw relief wash over her face as she turned her back to him to face the elders, sneaking one last glance at him before lifting her chin and focusing her attention on the women in front of her.
Phoenix watched her as the ceremony began and the council elders began speaking of traditions and the history of the position. Maya nodded courteously as required, respectfully listening to the women speak of the ideals she would be meant to uphold. He felt a small pang of worry at the amount of responsibility that she would be taking on, but at the same time he was proud that she was facing it with her head held high. She had worked so hard for this. Perhaps a little too hard at times, but she had done it all for the good of her people. Maya was strong and capable, and Kurain would no doubt flourish under her leadership.
She looked stunning in her masters robes, which he noted had been cleaned since she last wore them. That was the night he had kissed her, the night he had overheard her tell Mia that she loved him. He respected Maya's wishes that they simply remain friends. She really did believe that it was for the best, but if last night on the couch was any indication, their feelings for one another would be difficult to keep under control. He almost wished he hadn't kissed her on the Winding Way. The desire to do so again was becoming overwhelming.
The ceremony wore on, and Phoenix found his mind drifting. He was at least glad for the view of the beautiful woman in purple to keep him at least partailly occupied. He stifled a yawn. Althea would no doubt think he was terribly rude for yawning during such an important ceremony. The address was soon over, and Maya was now required to speak.
He watched her kneel on the floor before the elders, frowning at the fact she was being placed in such a submissive position. His concern only deepened when they began instructing her to repeat vows of sorts, detailing her obligation to the village and how she would always put the village and its interests ahead of anything else.
"This isn't right…" Phoenix thought to himself. "They're basically making her vow to be a slave of the village." He would have to discuss this with her later. He wondered if she had known about this part of the ceremony.
Finally, Maya was allowed to stand again, and two young acolytes approached her with an elaborate new magatama necklace. They fastened it around Maya's neck, bowing slightly before backing away. Maya bowed her head in return at the girls and again at the elders.
Althea then decreed Mystic Maya the new Master of the Kurain technique, and with that the formalities were done. Maya was ushered out of the hall by the acolytes that has presented her with her magatama and the elder council soon followed.
Phoenix followed the rest of the guests outside, finding Edgeworth in the reception hall.
"How did everything go?" Edgeworth asked as Phoenix came to a halt next to him, a frown creasing his brow.
"Good, I guess." Phoenix responded cryptically. "I can't say that I agree with a lot of the things they made her agree to, but I have to trust she knows what she is doing."
"Very true." Edgeworth nodded.
"So did you get a chance to arrange anything?" Phoenix asked, alluding the Maya's birthday celebrations.
"It's all covered." Edgeworth assured him. "I've contacted a caterer and as many of Maya's friends and acquaintances that I could reach. All we will need to do is get her to my apartment. Considering I am driving you two home, that should be relatively simple."
Phoenix grinned.
"I really appreciate this."
Edgeworth made a dismissive notion with his hand. Glancing over Phoenix's shoulder, he spotted Maya heading towards them. Phoenix turned to see what he was looking at, smiling when he saw his assistant, the now official Master of Kurain.
"I understand congratulations are in order, Miss Fey," Edgeworth stated politely.
"Thanks, Edgeworth!" Maya said happily, glancing at Phoenix.
"I'm sorry to disappear, but I have to make a few phone calls," Edgeworth said apologetically as he made a quick, but totally transparent exit. Phoenix couldn't help but note how terribly obvious it was of him to leave them alone like that, but Maya didn't seem to notice. After a quick instruction to meet him at the car, Edgeworth was gone.
"So…" Maya said, eyeing Phoenix sheepishly.
"So." Phoenix said as he crossed his arms.
"I guess I owe you an apology." Maya said softly.
Phoenix sighed softly. He didn't understand the reasons why Maya had opted to exclude him from today, but now wasn't the time to press her on them. It was her birthday.
"Maybe later," he said with a warm smile. "Today is your birthday. Let's just forget about all our troubles for now. We don't have to discuss this now."
Maya smiled broadly, throwing her arms around Phoenix's neck and crushing him in a strong hug.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'm so glad you came." She added, breaking the hug and taking a step backwards. All eyes in the room seemed to be on her, and such a display of affection for the lawyer would no doubt have the Kurain gossip mills running non stop for the next month.
"Well you can thank Pearls for dobbing you in," Phoenix said. "She called me in a panic this morning asking why I wasn't here. When she told me what was going on, I called Edgeworth and he drove me here. I didn't want to miss this."
Maya smiled at him. She knew he had every right to be mad at her, but here he was, smiling at her. He was so happy to share this special day with her. She vowed never to exclude him from anything again.
"Do you have to stay here?" he asked her, looking at the guests still gathered around the room.
"Nope." She said with a grin. "I'm free to go."
"Good." Phoenix smiled. "I think I need to take you out for some birthday burgers. That is, if burgers are sophisticated enough for the Master of the Kurain technique…"
He wasn't really planning on taking her out for burgers, but he figured she would forgive him for his small lie when she found out what was really happening.
"Oh Nick, don't be ridiculous. I may be the Master, but I'm still the same Maya I was yesterday." Maya said with a chuckle.
"Good to hear,"
"Should I change?" Maya asked, looking down questioningly at her elaborate masters robes.
"Never." Phoenix thought to himself before realising she was talking about her clothes.
"No, you look beautiful, " he responded earnestly. Maya blushed. Phoenix smiled at the pink tinge on her cheeks. "Well, find Pearls and let's blow this pop stand, Master Maya."
"You don't need to call me that," Maya said with a laugh.
"Are you crazy? I'm going to call you that for the rest of the day!" Phoenix cried, offering her his arm.
"Please don't." Maya laughed as he hooked her arm through his. The two of them exited the hall, heading off to find Pearl.
Maya smiled as the warm sun splashed her face. So far, this was the best birthday she could remember.