Important Notice:
Due to CR dot Net being online again, I finally managed to bring the Court Record of this Fanfic back up-to-date, meaning you can effectively guess along again! The link to the CR Thread for my Fanfic (containing every chapter's court record) is in my Profil, just like it was half a year ago and should work now! I suggest you to take a look at the Court Record and everything in it before reading this chapter, as it is a Trial Chapter. Also, I have removed the Pseudo Court-Record from the end of this chapter, simply for taking up space and being impractical. After all, there's the actual Court Record on CR now, once again. If you guys want the Pseudo Court-Record back, however, I will return it where it was. Just tell me. ;-)
May 3rd, 6:30am
Gatewater Hotel
The next morning I had the most colossal headache in my recent life, at least since the incident with the fire extinguisher two years ago. My throat was sore and my back ached. It was pretty much the definition of a bad sleep. Of course, that was just the natural result of me falling asleep on the desk with the computer running in front of me all night.
"Ungh…"
I massaged my temples for a bit, as I tried to sit up straight again and stretched in order to feel a bit less like a piece of wood stuck in a pile.
(…Well… I guess I can call myself lucky for not falling out of the chair. Now… what was I doing again, before I fell asleep? …Oh, yeah…)
The reason I spent my night in this rather uncomfortable position came back to me. It was because of that one comment the boy I had met the day before had made. 'Apollo'… That had been his name, right? When we were talking about Dylan Sengage… He had mentioned something that had caught my interest a lot.
"Yes… He does that all the time…"
"Huh? Does what all the time?"
"Lock picking."
"Lock…Picking…? But… That's a digital card lock!"
"That doesn't stop him. He can open anything, from a Piggybank to a Safe. He used to brag about that a lot when he first moved in…"
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"But… But how?"
"I'm not really sure… But I think… it had something to do with his parents."
And that was why the first thing I had done that night when I got back to my hotel room was sit down at the room's PC and access the internet. There was information I needed. I had a sneaking suspicion regarding what I had heard in this conversation and wanted to have solid proof for it.
I finally put my hand back on the mouse and focused my eyes on the screen before me,
(Well… Let's see what good my research did… )
Carefully, I looked over the contents of the opened Browser Window; however, I didn't need long to realize that I must have cracked the jackpot just before I fell asleep the night before.A smirk formed on my lips as I read over the archived newspaper article which I had found.
"Bingo."
My next action was to lead the mouse cursor to the "Print" Symbol in the upper right corner of the screen. There it was. The decisive piece of evidence that would clear up and explain the greatest contradiction in this case once and for all. With this, everything finally started to make sense...
There was only one thing left to do for me now, before the trial would resume at 10am. As the newspaper article was still being printed out, I picked up the receiver of the hotel room's phone and called a certain number that I was glad to have memorized,
"Gumshoe? …Yes, Phoenix Wright here. Listen, there's a favor I have to ask you for…"
May 3rd, 9:30am
District Court
Defendant Lobby No. 2
Three hours and several tries to get my back to stop hurting like crazy - I did not succeed – later, I found myself standing in a familiar lobby, facing a familiar person, holding coffee from a familiar vending machine.
Maya and Iris were there, chatting excitedly on the sofa next to us, as I explained a few things to the man I was facing.
"Evidence that supports my theory…?" Edgeworth, whose cup, unlike mine, contained tea, asked, taking a long sip from it. He eyed me in a skeptical manner as he did, causing me to reply as assuredly as I could.
"This trial is going to be as standard and fair as possible, I promise, so I won't give you the evidence now or tell you anything more about it. I will present it when the time has come. But it's become more than obvious now that Lana is less than likely to be the actual culprit, Edgeworth. I will represent the standpoint that she did it only for as long as necessary. And then… I am counting on you to present me a solid line of reasoning that proves it couldn't have been her. I know you can do it. Nobody can if you can't."
"And once that has happened, you will drop the lawsuit against Lana Skye immediately, correct?" Edgeworth asked, giving me a stern expression.
"Well, we need a plausible other suspect to prosecute instead first, "I nodded. "But I think this won't be a problem either. I am sure that we can figure this out quickly if we work together… The truth behind this case, I mean."
"The truth," a smile appeared on Edgeworth's face. A little thin, but still. "You have no idea how much it means to me to hear those words from your mouth."
"Edgeworth…"
"Anyway," the smile vanished, as quickly as it had appeared. "Any progress with your memory, Wright?"
I shook my head.
"No, no changes… "
(Though… I feel like there is something I am forgetting when I say that…)
"I see…" A hint of disappointment mixed into Edgeworth's expression. He sighed. "In that case, let us end this trial as soon as possible without rushing things. We need to find a way to…"
"Edgeworth," I leaned forward a bit. "I am fine. Please, I shouldn't be the one who has to remind you that this case has priority now. This just isn't… right."
Edgeworth's eyes shifted away, as he was pondering aloud.
"Your condition is worrying, though…"
"Do you really think that, or are you forcing yourself to think it?
When I said that, I could see how Edgeworth, clearly caught off-guard, opened his eyes wide and looked into my direction again.
"…Because what happened to me doesn't fit into view of the world? Because you can't accept that there might not be anything 'wrong' with me at all actually?
I knew that claiming something like this was a lie, at least partly. I knew that there was something wrong with me… But the feeling that Edgeworth wasn't taking me for full, but rather saw me as a confused, helpless child at the moment irritated me too much to just ignore it. I wanted him to have more faith into me… Even if 'this' Edgeworth and me barely even knew each other in reality. It still meant something to me.
"Edgeworth. Just trust me." I told him. "We will finish this trial and everything else comes later."
(It feels weird, acting like I was the calmer one for once…)
Edgeworth's thoughts were probably similar to mine, since this was the moment that he visibly tried to focus his thoughts a bit better again and told me,
"Hm… 'Trust you'. I see… In any case…" He looked up. "I assume you know by now whom I suspect of being the true culprit?"
I nodded.
"Yes, and I believe I have the same-"
"No," Edgeworth interrupted me before I could say more. "Wright. You are the Prosecution. Don't forget this. Your suspect is Lana Skye… Until I have taken every shred of doubt off her."
He looked confident when he finished this last sentence, letting me know that he knew just as well as me that this moment would come.
"Right. Thank you. I will remember that."
"Though," he focused his eyes on me again, looking slightly troubled. "What remains is the issue of Ms. Skye's confession."
"Yes. I know," I told him.
"It will be hard to revoke the lawsuit against her until she takes it back," Edgeworth emphasized. "I hope you are aware of that."
"Well… about that… Actually, I already had something prepared for this."
Clearly surprised, Edgeworth's attention raised visibly; his eyes focused on me.
"Prepared…?"
"Hey, Maya, Iris, could you come over here for a moment?"
The girls had barely heard me addressing them when they got up from their seats, taking a few steps towards us, Maya in her usual girlishly hopping way of moving and Iris with a bit more 'grace'.
"Yeah, Nick?" Maya came straight to my side. "Something you wanted to tell us?"
Edgeworth eyed Maya in a suspicious manner, still slightly puzzled by how quickly her behavior towards me had changed, even though he was aware that she knew about my 'state'.
"If there is anything we can help the two of you with," Iris started to say, as she stepped up to us, and then smiled. "…We'd happy to support you!"
"Actually, for now I only need the two of you to stand here and pay attention to the door over there," I told Iris, before I felt how someone took me by my shoulder with one hand.
"Wright," Edgeworth addressed me rather sternly. "We were in the middle of a conversation, if I am not mistaken. You were about to tell me you had something in mind regarding Ms. Skye's refusal to revoke her confession."
"Just give it a few moments, Edgeworth. They should be ready any second now…"
Edgeworth's expression changed rapidly from serious and borderline scolding to confused and questioning.
"…'They'?"
I just grinned – it was sure a good feeling to know a bit more than him, at least once in my life – as I raised my hand and started counting down aloud, moving my fingers accordingly,
"3…2…1…"
The sound of a door flinging open and banging against the wall next to it was what followed – incidentally, it was the same door I had asked Iris and Maya to watch before – as a person stepped inside with an incredible amount of enthusiasm on his face, exclaiming loudly,
"Surprise!"
Iris and Maya's eyes grew. Edgeworth, too, let the hand which had still rested on my shoulder sink and stared for a bit, as if he wasn't quite sure what to make of what he saw. I just stood by their side, observing and happy that it had all worked out. It looked like Gumshoe had been able to go through with the request I had asked him to carry out for me a few hours before.
The Detective stood in the door waving at us with his right hand. And by his sides, left and right from him, two women were entering the room alongside the man. One a bit older, brunette and dressed in black, the other seeming younger, red-haired and wearing a white summer dress.
"S-S…SIS!," Maya beside me exclaimed in disbelief, already running off towards the door, as I could still hear Iris whisper 'Sister…!' timidly before she went after Maya with an increasing pace.
That was the moment I made my decision that I didn't care what kind of consequences I would have to face later for ordering two convicted 'criminals' to be brought out to the public courthouse, even more than before. The scene that followed was more than worth every penalty I could get. With even more energy than usual –which is saying a lot – Maya leapt at Mia as soon as she was in reach and then clung to her, as if she was about to fall into a bottomless hole and her sister was the only thing to hold onto. I mused to myself that this image was probably a bit too depressing for a happy scene as this, as Maya went on to tell Mia, "I missed you so much, Sis! You wouldn't believe it!" while still hugging her.
Mia just warmly smiled, "Actually, I think I know very well how much you missed me, Maya… Because I'm pretty sure, I missed you the same."
Mia then hugged Maya back, as the two of them laughed. Meanwhile, just a meter away, the visible scene wasn't too different, despite having something mirror-like to it that Maya and Mia would never be able to achieve. Of course. Maya and Mia weren't twins.
"Dahlia…" Iris was holding both of her sister's hands, making the two of them look like school girls who were about to make a promise. Her eyes were wet, "I… I was so scared for you! To think you… a place like this…"
"Shh, shh, now…
As Dahlia was visibly attempting to calm her sister down, I myself attempted something very different, and that was not to think too much about this scene. It was Dahlia I was seeing here… And my stomach still twisted at this thought. The thought that this scene was even possible with Dahlia. Without lies or facades… Just real, sisterly love. But there they were, and Dahlia was holding Iris' hand in a manner that was so soft, it was hard for me to believe that this was the same woman who had killed three people and attempted to kill three more, including me.
"It's fine, Iris," she told her sister, and for a moment I found it hard to believe that it was really her voice, since it lacked both the overly sweet, charming tone of her fake self, as well spite and sarcasm of the 'real' Dahlia I had known. "I'm here now, alright? Don't go and start crying. This is really not the moment for it."
"D-Dahlia…"
Dahlia and Iris. Side by Side. A picture like from a children's book. When I first found out about the twins, I had wondered to myself how I could have been stupid enough to not notice that the woman who had testified in court and the woman I had dated for several months before that had been two separate people. But now that I actually saw them together like this for the first time, my own behavior didn't seem so dumb to me anymore. They were really identical. The face the eyes, the stature, the height, even the hair length… They looked like two manufactured dolls of the same model. Only their different hair-colors gave away that they were not the same person, and, thanks to Edgeworth, I now knew that even this was just due to the wonders of modern cosmetics…
My mind found only one way to express my thoughts regarding what I was seeing,
"…Wow."
"Monozygotic Twins," I heard Edgeworth behind me say. "Their DNA is absolutely identical. What sets them apart are their experiences in life… In Dahlia's and Iris' case, those apparently didn't cause the ways they developed physically to diverge too greatly."
"Yeah, "I nodded, "If I didn't know better, I'd say one of them is holding hands with a mirror… It's almost too perfect to be real."
"Hm…'Perfect'?" Edgeworth displayed a kind of knowing smile. "'Perfection' does not exist, Wright. You should know that. They may look almost identical, but look closer."
Edgeworth made a subtle gesture, prompting me to observe the twins a bit longer,
"Look at the ways they move, their manners of speech… It may not be obvious when facing them separately. But side by side, you quickly notice that, while the appearance may be the same, they differ in everything else, no matter how subtly." He went on with his explanations, even when I couldn't help but let my eyes off the girls and look at him instead. "What sets people apart are their actions, their knowledge and their choices, Wright. What makes us who we are is not our face or the way we dress – Those are means of identification. What gives us our identity is the path we choose… And this path is not the same for any two people. Not even them."
"I see," I replied, feeling a bit overrun with being told something as…'deep' as this so suddenly, with little provocation. "But, uhm…. Still, Dahlia and Iris grew up together, didn't they?"
Edgeworth turned his head to look at the twins himself. "Even then, that doesn't mean they were together at every moment of their life, shared every thought, and made all the same decisions."
"True…"
(What makes us who we are is the path that we take,) I repeated what Edgeworth had said to myself, while closing my eyes. (…In that case, 'that man'… is not me at all. Not in the least.)
I found myself clutching my breast pocket, as I thought this… feeling something tiny and pointing inside piercing through the fabric, into my fingers. I realized what it was and didn't know whether to frown or not as Edgeworth was already speaking to me again,
"Still, Wright… Why?"
I turned back to him, as he continued talking, "Why did you let those two be brought here? You must have had a reason for this…"
"My reason is… Iris," I responded to Edgeworth.
"Iris?" He replied with curiosity. I nodded.
"You said that the reason she had problems channeling were her self esteem issues, right?" I explained. "Well, I thought that maybe having Dahlia here would help her to overcome this to the point she can finally carry the request out, should we really need Lana to exchange a few words with Ema… Also, I know that Dahlia was your… partner…"
I bit my lip a bit when I said that. "And believe me, I know how powerful that woman's smile can be when she wants to. Seeing how I am stuck with Franziska Von Karma and her whip by my side… I thought it would only be fair for you to have a similar 'Force' by yours. It evens out our chances. Fight fire with fire- Or, in this case, whips with smiles."
"I see," Edgeworth replied, seeming to at least somewhat approve of my line of reasoning. "But what has Mia Fey to do with this…?"
"Mia Fey was… let's just say, my personal choice. Firstly, it's only fair for Maya. Secondly… I just felt that she should be here and observe this trial. She…" I found myself looking to the side at this point. "…might notice something that we missed. Something that could help us to turn the situation around…"
"You sound like you were speaking from experience, Wright."
"…"
I stayed silent. I had only realized this just now, but… The 'real' reason I had made Gumshoe bring Mia here as well – even if she wasn't 'my' Mia – was actually a reason to smack myself. A very good one in fact. Here I was, just a few months after that trial, that one trial which should have taught me that I need to finally just trust into my own abilities and not rely on someone else's advice, the one trial that supposedly ended with me finally 'growing up'… And yet again, I was counting on Mia to watch over me and bail me out, should it come worse to worst. It was enough to make me mad at myself.
(Am I really still that dependant on Mia, after all that's happened? Can I really not take care of this… or anything by myself?)
I felt how my hands balled to fists, maybe because the urge to smack myself was slowly evolving into a desire to punch myself…
And Edgeworth seemed to notice.
"…? Wright, are you alright?"
"…
In that moment I made a decision, severing my right fist again and leading the hand into my breast pocket instead.
"…Forget what I said just now," I told him, "Mia Fey is here only for Maya's sake. We… will handle this by ourselves."
When I pulled my hand out of the pocket again, I held a small object between my fingers, which I showed to Edgeworth before me.
"…We have all we need right here. I know it. We just need to put up a good fight… The truth will do the rest… right?"
Edgeworth just looked at the small thing that I was presenting to him.
"…Your badge," he said and I nodded and started pinning the little emblem onto my lapel/
"Yes. Right now, I am a prosecutor. This is my role in this trial. And I'll play it well. I won't hold back anymore from now on," I told him. "I will take this serious and give it my all. I promise."
Edgeworth looked at my face, then a bit down, probably at the badge, which was now pinned to my suit, and then back at me.
"Alright," he said. And his eyes told me… that he trusted me. A good feeling. "I assume the next witness you will call is Maya?"
"Yes, she changed her testimony after all," I replied and nodded. "And I'm sure she'll be less scared to say the truth this time. After all, she has her sister watching now."
"Hey, Nick, are you talking about me?
The sound of a girl hopping over to my side was hard to overhear. Maya grinned and radiated more joy than the sun radiates light at me.
"I thought I heard my name."
I turned towards her. "Maya, you remember what you promised us yesterday?"
"Uhm, promised…?" She seemed to be pondering a bit, before she had her realization. "Oh yes, that's right! I was supposed to… correct my testimony…"
She shivered a bit when she said that. I felt sorry for her, knowing that even the thought of what had happened in court the day before must have been unsettling for her. Still, there wasn't much I could do…
"Maya, don't worry." She had turned her eyes to the floor, yet I still looked at her with all the seriousness I could show, even though she couldn't really see my face. "We won't bring up what could be written in that letter anymore. I promise."
"A…Alright…"
Maya looked up at me again. A slight smile appeared on her face, even though it was obvious she was still far from absolutely relieved.
"I trust you two." She told us.
In this moment, I felt a slight, yet piercing pain in my chest. I remembered what I had done the evening before. 'I trust you' … Maya trusted me. And yet I had done something I had promised her not to do.
(…I did no harm,) I told myself, in order to calm down. (The letter was absolutely harmless… Just a Pen Friendship. There is nothing about it that could get her into trouble! But…)
My eyes turned back to Maya, who was now rubbing her hands in slight nervousness.
(Then why is she so afraid of anybody finding out about this friendship?)
While I was thinking that, Maya was silent, which was unusual for her. But I knew what she was thinking about, so I understood it… or rather, I knew that I didn't understand. It took her a few seconds to stop playing around with her hands and finally ball them to fists, telling Edgeworth and me.
"Alright! I'll testify! Bring the cross-examination on, guys, I'm ready! ..." She let her hands down and put them behind her back. "…as long as I don't have to talk about that letter."
I nodded. "Deal."
"Yes. It is good to see you agree….In any case, I will not question you regarding the letter's contents." Edgeworth promised.
Maya just closed her eyes and smiled, a bit more relieved than before. It was then, that I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"The trial will start soon, I guess. The two of you should get ready."
I turned around to face the young woman the voice belonged to,
"Mia…"
She just stood there, crossing her arms and smiling. "I am rather surprised, Mr. Wright. Taking a case in your state... The situation hasn't changed, has it?"
There was a bit of worry in her eyes when she said the last sentence. I shook my head. "No, not really. But… I don't think that will be too much of a problem." I lifted my suitcase an inch, just to get Mia's attention onto it. "I have everything we need here. This isn't about winning or losing after all…"
"Hm…" Mia tilted her head slightly and closed her eyes. "…Lana…"
"…Yes… about her," I realized that Mia might have the answer to a certain question that was still unsolved and decided to ask her. "…You probably know that she confessed to the murder, right? You're her friend… Do you have any idea why she would do that?"
"Well…" Mia opened her eyes again. "It's strange. There is only one reason I could imagine she would do something like this… But the 'reason' isn't there now."
"You mean…Ema?"
A slow nod was the reply I got. Mia's expression seemed tense and puzzled. "The only person Lana would give her life away for like this is her sister. But… Ema is dead. Which completely eliminates this possibility…"
"…You know, I just had an idea, Mia." I thought the situation through once more, before I elaborated on my thoughts to her. "Ema might be gone, yes, but… what if Lana is doing this in order to protect something that was important to Ema?"
Mia brought her hand up to her chin. "Something important to her?"
"The evening she was killed, Ema and I were to meet up so she could give me something. However, she had nothing on her when we discovered the crime scene. And Lana mentioned Ema and me 'working' on something…"
"…Evidence," Mia spoke out the one word that was on my mind regarding the matter and I nodded.
"Yeah, that is probably what she wanted to give to me… Maya thinks the same about it."
"Still, even so, it doesn't make sense."
"…?"
Mia still seemed to be pondering about the scenario. "Think through the situation carefully, Mr. Wright. If everything happened as you assume, that means Ema had important evidence on her, which she probably worked hard for to get in the end even gave her life for. So, if Lana was really trying to protect her sister's hard work, wouldn't she try to find the true culprit and reclaim the stolen evidence, rather than take the blame? The way she is acting right now, Ema's work on whatever case the two of you might have been investigating into is lost for good."
"…You're right. That doesn't make a lot of sense," I realized.
(There has to be more behind it,) I thought to myself. (Why would Lana be protecting her sister's killer? Why…?)
The greatest issue with this case was that I still knew little to nothing about the motive of the true culprit. The 'motive'… whatever 'evidence' Ema had found for me must have been important to the killer and that was all I knew. But the only people who knew what Ema had truly wanted to give me that day were Ema and 'the other me'. Both of which were not available for questioning. Still, there were a few pieces of proof that would wash the guilt off Lana's hands, as soon as she just took back her confession… which was issue number two. Right now, I couldn't do much except to wait for the bailiff to call me and Edgeworth over at the start of the trial and put all my faith into my skills as a lawyer, as well as his. Mia just wished us luck as she, under the watch of Gumshoe, made her way to the gallery. I knew that I would have felt so much safer with her by my side during the trial, but I understood that I had to finally stop acting like a little, insecure boy. I had to stand up and figure this out by myself. And so I stepped forward towards the door of the courtroom, where Franziska Von Karma was already waiting for me, her whip ready, burning contempt gleaming in her eyes.
May 3rd, 10:00am
District Court
Courtroom No.2
When the trial started up again, the crowd in the gallery was loud, maybe even louder than normal. I heard Maya's name fall a few times, though, but this didn't even seem to be the main concern… The eyes of most of the audience were on the young woman standing in the Defense's bench. Naturally, it wasn't unusual that Dahlia was at the center of the attention… Listening to the talk of the people in the gallery, however, revealed that the reason was a different from what I thought. Apparently, many here had watched the trial which cost her freedom, meaning they were aware that she shouldn't be here. Others had apparently also noticed Mia and Gumshoe taking place in an isolated place at the far right of the gallery and apparently felt not too well about sharing said gallery with a 'criminal'.
(I really hope the judge was informed about me allowing them here…) I thought to myself.
Meanwhile, Franziska Von Karma was standing beside me in her usual pose. She hadn't exchanged a word with me yet. To be honest, I was glad about that. Her whip, to my surprise, didn't rest in her hand. but she had fastened it to the back of her skirt's belt. This struck me as a bit unusual for her, but I didn't say anything. Again: A silent, non-violent Von Karma was a good Von Karma in my eyes. I turned my attention back to the gallery, just to notice the next thing that struck me as odd there. Within the masses of grey-black-brown dressed people of no special recognition value, there was one figure that stuck out like a single, red dot on a white sheet. That was probably because she was, in fact, actually wearing red. A red hat and cape, to be exact. Trucy, the little girl I had met in Kurain the day before, was sitting on a bench much too high for her, letting her legs dangle down like those of a doll, as she shifted around in a way that made her seem quite eager to see what was going to happen now.
(Huh? What is she doing here…?) I wondered to myself, as I felt the weird sensation from the two previous days return, which made me slightly dizzy. Somehow, right now, it was even clearer than before to me that I was supposed to know this girl… that she was supposed to trigger memories… Was it because she was dressed differently today? Why was she even wearing something as attention seeking – the people around her, at least, seemed to find it rather attention seeking – as this?
(Maybe this is her casual wear,) I thought to myself. After all, I had met people with weirder 'casual wear' already, so it was not exactly far-fetched. And, to be honest, no matter how unusual it was to see a girl dressed like this in the gallery – such a young girl, too – one had to admit that she really looked adorable in her little, black dress, the white boots and the cape and hat. Almost like taken directly from a picture book.
I kept wondering why she was here. After all, she had nothing to do with this trial. For a second, I wondered if maybe Maya had brought her along, but why would Maya do that? And would the girl's parents have agreed to this? It was a murder trial, after all. I wasn't too sure if I would have agreed. I already felt quite uneasy every time Pearls was watching my trials… Then again, I assumed it was none of my business. I was about to look away and focus on the Judge's chair instead, when I noticed how the girl turned to the right, talking to someone. Naturally, I couldn't hear what she was saying, her voice too far away and drowned out by the talking of many other members of the audience, but she moved as if she was trying to tell the person she was facing that the seat beside her was still empty. Slightly curious, I turned my attention to the right and was surprised to find that she was talking to a teenager in a red school uniform, whose right leg was in bandages.
"…!" (…Him?)
Young Apollo seemed to be more than relieved to have found an empty seat that quickly, as he let himself fall onto it in a rather exhausted manner, just to have Trucy lean over to him and start… poking his hair. Naturally, he immediately pulled back, nervously talking to her, presumably trying to tell her not to do that again.
(He must have looked me up on the internet, otherwise he wouldn't have known about the trial… Did he come because of what I told him yesterday?)
"What are you staring at, Phoenix Wright?"
Even Franziska's voice didn't quite manage to draw my attention off the children, but it was enough to prompt me to speak.
"That boy over there… I met him yesterday," I said, more to myself than the woman next to me.
"And? Does he bear any relevance for this case?"
Finally, I turned towards Franziska. I should have known she would ask this if I brought my meeting with Apollo up. Still, I felt no need to drag the boy into this, when he didn't exactly qualify as a witness himself. Plus, I already had all the information I needed.
"No, not really," I replied.
"Then don't foolishly waste your time looking at him like only a foolish fool as you can." She told me, clutching her sleeves… but not whipping me. I was surprised, to say the least. "The judge is coming."
It wasn't two seconds after Franziska had said this, that I heard a familiar voice declaring from above us,
"Court is now in session for the trial of Lana Skye. Are the Defense and Prosecution prepared?"
"The Defense is ready," I heard Edgeworth state from the right side of the room and immediately, I stood up straight myself, looking at the judge.
"The Prosecution…" I touched the unfamiliar badge on my lapel for a short moment. "…is ready as well, You Honor."
(Let's finish this, once and for all…)
With a nod, the judge, whose eyes were on me for longer than they had been on Edgeworth – I guess he had been worried that I'd be in the same absentminded shape as the day before – went on in.
"Very well. As you all remember, yesterday's trial brought up several interesting new theories as well as new possibilities. We figured out that the crime scene might have been tampered with and that the victim might have been hit by surprise, rather than during a struggle, as the position of the deadly wound suggests. Likewise, it appears that there were more people present on the twentieth floor than initial investigation made it seem like. Mr. Wright?
The Judge turned towards me. "Do you want to add anything to this?"
"Yes, Your Honor." I nodded. "After thorough investigation, the Prosecution did come to agree with the Defense in the points that the Crime Scene has been tampered with and that the possibility that the victim might have been taken by surprise is rather likely. However,
I leaned forward a bit.
"The Prosecution remains at its standpoint that this is merely the result of the actions of a confused, despaired woman. The additional people entering the twentieth floor, while casting doubt on the only known witness to the crime, do not relieve the defendant of her guilt either, since one fact remains after all: There is only a handful of people who would have been able to access the crime scene. In order to prove this fact, I would like to call a previous witness back to the stand," I explained, standing up straight again. "The Prosecution would like Maya Fey to repeat her testimony to the court."
It didn't take long for the commotion to kick in, as I had expected. It formed within mere seconds. The gossiping people's voices filled the air of the courtroom almost momentarily and there were only few who weren't talking, or were even observing what was happening around them in confusion. The two children – Trucy and Apollo – were in the latter group.
The Judge ended the rambling of the crowd with his gavel.
"In that case…" He spoke. "…we will hear Ms. Fey's testimony once more. Bailiff, please lead her in."
The courtroom's door immediately opened, revealing the figure of Maya, backlit by the daylight from the many windows in the corridor. Without much hesitation or further prompting, she stepped up to the witness stand, her smile seeming a lot more natural this time.
"Hiya again," she grinned and looked up at the Judge. "…Your Honor!"
Maya's mood was… almost too good. There was no reason to wonder why that was, though, as the cause was obviously sitting in the gallery, arms crossed, smiling right down to her younger sister. The judge, however, didn't know this and thus reacted rather dumbfounded to the young witnesses' casual welcome.
"Eh… yes. I see, you seem rather… cheerful today, Ms. Fey?"
"Well, didn't I say that already?" Maya immediately posed, "I am the Cheerful Voice of the Night's First Star, MA-"
"This is of no concern." The voice who had interrupted Maya was Franziska. Still no whip-lashing though, much to my amazement. "Will or will you not testify, witness?"
(I was about to point out that she was still the 'dreamful' voice yesterday, but I guess it'd be better if I don't. For my nerves and lifespan.) I quietly thought to myself, realizing that even when she wasn't inflicting physical pain left and right, Franziska Von Karma could still be quite terrifying. Still, Maya's newfound mood seemed to not only be good, even for her standards, but also as unshakable as its owner's will.
"Does the Steel Samurai use a spear? Sure, I'll testify!
The Judge just blinked, since he, naturally, couldn't make the connection. Maya just grinned on.
"Ready when you are, Nick, Miles!"
I responded to this with a nod.
"Maya, please testify about what you did yesterday between 16:00 and 17:00."
"As good as done!"
~-Witness Testimony-~
The fateful afternoon
"I was supposed to go to Sunshine Coliseum, but… There was something I had to do first.
For that reason I went to Nick's – Mr. Wright's – apartment. That was around 16:30.
I was probably the first there. I used the elevator, so it's possible I'm the one my mother saw.
I was trying hard to not attract attention, so I only looked straight ahead. I don't know if anybody else was there.
After I did what I had wanted to do, I left again. I met nobody else."
"Witness…" The Judge seemed ever-so-slightly confused. "This testimony differs completely from what you told us yesterday."
"I know," Maya replied casually. "No sense repeating the same stuff twice, right?"
And then, the morning's first whip crack was heard. A slight shock, not pleasant to my ears, but, fortunately, not directed at anything other than the floor, which made it bearable. Franziska, though, seemed strained.
"Why…" She started. "Why did you keep something as casual as this from us, Maya Fey?"
'Does that mean we went through that entire cross-examination yesterday for nothing?' – I could clearly see those words on Von Karma's face.
"I was worried…" Maya stated, going into a pondering pose. "Nick's reputation isn't the best at the moment, you know. I kinda wanted to avoid people spreading rumors if they see me doing it…"
"Doing what?" The Judge asked with big eyes.
Now Maya's hesitation returned, if just for a short moment. She finally looked up at him and spoke.
"Delivering the letter."
And once again, the crowd started loudly chatting in a way that gave the courtroom an atmosphere resembling that of an overfilled baseball-stadium. The judge quickly did his best to calm the gallery down, as Edgeworth was already asking her a question,
"So, you admit that the one who brought the letter was you?"
Downright unusuallycalm, Maya nodded.
"Yes. I brought the letter. I'm also the one who wrote it. The truth is, you see… Mr. Wright… Nick… I've known him pretty well for a while. I guess you could call us 'friends'."
"But, witness," It was the judge who had now spoken. His eyes, once again, opened wide. "The envelope the letter was sent in… its color was a bit…"
"Pink?" Maya asked. The Judge just stared, before she laughed and answered. "Yeah, but what's so weird about that? I mean, you can buy colored envelopes in every store nowadays, right? I bought pink ones when I saw them. I thought it'd look less boring than white envelopes!"
Maya was radiating a pure honesty when she said that. It was impossible to even start to think that she had any idea of the implications that most people would connect to a pink-colored envelope delivered from a girl to a guy… Maybe it was better that way. The judge, however, seemed to be at a loss of words, as if he had just been told that Santa Claus isn't real. Continuing to stare down at Maya, he seemed to be pondering something, as Edgeworth finally spoke again.
"I am afraid I'll have to clear up a slight misunderstanding that seemed to have occurred during this trial. Yesterday I spoke about how the letter might hint at a 'relationship' between Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright. However… I never meant to imply that this relationship might be of romantic nature. I would like to excuse for my unclear way of formulating my theories.
This trial was probably about to win the prize for the loudest gallery with the most gossiping since the abolishment of Mob-trials in the Middle Ages. The Judge didn't even bother to speak anymore in order to silence them, he just banged his gavel until they finally had all fallen silent again.
"In fact, I took the freedom to do some minor research," Edgeworth continued. "I discovered that the color of the letter… Has absolutely no meaning. Maya Fey has a tendency to send letters to her friends in colored envelopes, including the color pink. It holds no relevance to the letter's contents or, more importantly, this case."
"I can confirm that."
I flinched when I heard the voice. Dahlia. For the first time since the trial had started, she had spoken. Her tone was sweet and calm, like I remembered it.
"Maya hasn't sent a letter in a white envelope for years," Dahlia explained. "All the letters we get from her when she is on tour are colorful. It is so cute and fits her personality, don't you think?"
And then, she smiled. Oh, that smile… I couldn't help but tremble when I saw it. Which, in turn, caused Franziska next to me to eye me with confusion.
"I…see…" The judge, of course, was enchanted by the young lady next to Edgeworth. Like always. As planned. It was good to see that this 'charm' was working for us, instead of against us for once…
Meanwhile, Maya's expression had changed, she now looked rather annoyed. She finally puffed up her cheeks. "Seriously, why are you still talking about that letter? It's not that weird, is it?"
Silence. The first silence in a long while, in fact. Maya could just look to the rows of the gallery, visibly not exactly pleased by the fact that her "Mystery Envelope" was still No. 1 talk in this room, as the people either tried to evade her, eyes, played innocent or bluntly gave her expressions that said, 'Yes. Yes, it is.'
Even Edgeworth just sighed and had his arms crossed, Dahlia closed her eyes and spun her Parasol, as if to pretend she was preoccupied with her own thoughts, Franziska clenched her sleeves in a belittling manner, and I could just force a – probably not very convincing – smile.
"Hmph…" Maya, looking like an upset little girl, turned her attention to the floor, as if to tell everyone that it was much friendlier than them. "Excuse me, I guess I'll never write a letter again in my life."
(Or… you could simply use normal envelops, like a normal person?) I wondered to myself, perhaps forgetting whom we were talking to here.
Maya looked up again. "C-Could we please get on to the Examination-stuff now?"
"I agree." That was me and I felt a few sweat drops on my forehead. How had this mutated into a Talk Show about Maya's taste in mail? "I really, really don't think we have the time to talk about this now, Your Honor..."
"Likewise, the Defense would like to finally proceed to cross-examine the witness," Edgeworth added.
The Judge took one last, long look over the courtroom – Gallery, Defense, Witness Stand, Prosecution, Gallery again, in that order – before finally nodding.
"Very well. The Defense may cross-examine the witness."
I sharpened my ears, ready to find any contradiction Edgeworth might miss.
~-Cross-Examination-~
I was supposed to go to Sunshine Coliseum, but… There was something I had to do first.
For that reason I went to Nick's – Mr. Wright's – apartment. That was around 16:30.
I probably was the first there. I used the elevator, so it's perfect possible I'm the one my mother saw.
HOLD IT!
"You, however, didn't see her. Do I understand this correctly?"
Maya nodded. "Yeah, I didn't see her. Believe me, if I did, I'd have freaked." Maya then went into a pondering pose. "I think I'd have run out of the elevator again and ask her to please not tell anyone that she saw me…"
It was then, that a question came to me. I scratched my chin and raised my voice to ask,
"Regarding the elevator, I'm a bit curious. Your mother said she avoids using them. Do you have any reason for why that could be?"
"Oh…" Maya looked a bit surprised by the question, but not a whole lot. "Well… I guess that'd kinda my fault."
"Your fault?" I asked. (I think Mrs. Fey even mentioned something like this.)
Another nod on Maya's part. She explained. "When I was 17, I had a nightmare with an elevator in it once. It was so bad that I ran up to Mom afterwards and whined about it for about an hour…"
"Wait! A… A nightmare involving an elevator?"
I had asked that without really knowing why. It had been somewhat of a reflex. Only after a few seconds had passed and I had the chance to reflect on my own actions, I realized what had caused me to act like this.
This description. It sounded familiar… Scarily familiar, actually. Could this be a coincidence?
My mind could no longer just respond with 'Yes, just a coincidence' when Maya continued to explain.
"It was a scary dream… The earth shook and the air was so thin, I could barely breathe it." Maya brought her arms close to her body, as if she felt cold and needed to warm up. "There were people and they were fighting and yelling. And then there was this horrible scream… Believe me, once I woke up from that one, I didn't manage to get even a second of sleep more for the rest of the night. It was that frightening."
(It… can't be…)
This was impossible. The dream Maya described was identical to another dream I had heard about once. During another case. In this very courthouse… Except that this was in my own 'World'.
"Mr. Wright?" I heard the Judge address me. "Are you alright? You seem a little pale."
"What's the matter?" Edgeworth added, obviously puzzled about my reaction.
I was simply… I guess 'stumped' is the right word. Nervously, I let my eyes wander back and forth between Maya and Edgeworth…
Maya had described a dream. It was a dream I knew about very well. However, for all I knew, the events that triggered this dream never happened in this world. For all I knew, Maya shouldn't even know of those events. So how did she know about that dream? How?
Was it a coincidence? Or… Did Maya really know?
"…Nothing…" It cost me some effort to ignore what I had to heard and go on, but I had to. This was something that had nothing to do with the case, no matter how much it puzzled me, so I couldn't waste time questioning Maya further regarding this. Nobody else would have understood why. "In any case, this fits with your mother's testimony…"
"Which in turn means that we have two testimonies which complement the facts, but contradict Ms. Heatherd," Edgeworth added. "In my opinion, this casts some doubt on her."
"Quite a bit of doubt, actually." That came from Dahlia, who stood next to Edgeworth, idly brushing her hair, without stopping to smile, "I don't want to seem mean, Your Honor, but Maya here is really a sweet girl and so much more trustworthy than that other witness… Wouldn't it make sense if Ms. Heatherd had simply been fibbing, because she couldn't remember what actually happened? Young girls like her tend to be forgetful when they are preoccupied with something, you know."
The approving look that the Judge gave Dahlia – and I have to admit, I found it a bit creepy how his eyes followed her brushing hand as he did so – prompted me to comment again myself.
"Ehm…We shouldn't make any assumptions based on age or the fact that Maya's a better person that Lilie Heatherd, Your Honor," I said. "That's got nothing to do with the case. And the first impression can deceive, after all."
I couldn't help but have my eyes on Dahlia when I said that. I sincerely hoped nobody noticed and misinterpreted that.
"Hm…" The judge lowered his head. "Still I am starting to feel inclined to doubt Ms. Heatherd's believability…"
(You… and the entire courtroom, Your Honor.) I thought, letting my eyes wander through the room. (Including me and Edgeworth.)
I was trying hard to not attract attention, so I only looked straight ahead. I don't know if anybody else was there.
HOLD IT!
Edgeworth seemed to have found something he wanted to hear more details about.
"You were trying hard not to attract any attention… How exactly did you try to achieve this?" He asked. "After all, you are quite well known. Your face would have been hard to hide…"
"Oh? That?" Maya took a few moments to remember something, before she smiled and stated. "I didn't need to worry about that. My face was hidden."
Edgeworth crossed his arms. "In this case, how exactly did you hide your face?"
"I wore a bandana," was her reply, before she went on to explain further. "I had it wrapped around my head, you know. Like in those movies with the foreign women with the sunglasses who hand out information incognito…"
"But you didn't wear sunglasses?"
"Nope, I kinda forgot about those," Maya admitted. "Would have been cooler if I did, though."
While Maya still seemed to be picturing how much 'cooler' she would have looked with a pair of sunglasses to go with her headwear that day, I had my own train of thoughts to follow,
(So, Maya was wearing a Bandana when she delivered the letter… I wonder if that changes anything.) My eyes wandered over to the other side of the courtroom, (Edgeworth, at the very least, seems to find it pretty interesting.)
I knew it because it was obvious from the pondering look on his face.
After I did what I had wanted to do, I left again. I met nobody else.
I probably was the first there. I used the elevator, so it's possible I'm the one my mother saw.
HOLD IT!
I was surprised. Edgeworth was trying to press the same statement he had previously questioned Maya about once again. Wondering what that could mean, I sharpened my ears.
"Your mother saw you… Yes, we have well established that now, I think." Edgeworth said this with his arms crossed, his pointer finger tapping his arm. "Yet, there is something that strikes me as curious about this…"
"What would that be, Miles?" Maya asked, clearly interested in what Edgeworth was going to say.
He continued. "Well, Maya… You say that you were wearing a Bandana around your head, in order to avoid being recognized. I just wonder… how much did you actually conceal?"
She shrugged and tried to remember. "Well, I'm not that sure anymore… But I think I had it wrapped across my mouth and…Yeah, I also had my hair pinned up and the Bandana was wrapped over that too… Why do you ask?"
The moment Maya had said this, my eyes shot wide open. There was a mistake.
OBJECTION!
And before I knew it, my finger was in the air, pointing straight at the witness stand, as it should. Maya had just contradicted a fact. I had no idea why or how… but the contradiction was there and it was time to point it out!
"Maya…" I put my hands down on the desk. "So, you say your hair was covered?"
She was taken off-guard by my sudden Objection and thus needed a few moments to reply. "Hm…? Yeah… Yeah, I think it was…"
"In that case, something is wrong with either your testimony or with your mother's."
"Huh?"
Maya didn't seem to understand, so I explained. "When your mother testified that she saw you, she said that there was only one feature of the person she saw which she could see clearly… And that was her hair!"
"Eh?" Confused, Maya threw her hands in front of her body, staring at me dumbfounded. "But…that would mean…"
"That the person she saw wasn't you, yes." I nodded.
"B-But it had to have been to be me!" Maya disagreed quickly. "I was the only one with black hair around at that time!"
OBJECTION!
This came from Franziska, who had been uncharacteristically silent up to this point. She had a confident smile on her lips. "Familiar words, aren't they? If I remember right, it was something like this that witness Lilie Heatherd argued with during yesterday's trial, correct? Of course, she was quickly discredited… By the foolish man in the Defense's Bench across the courtroom."
Maya's cheeks puffed up. "That's not the same at all!"
HOLD IT!
And now it was Dahlia's turn. Somehow, there were too many people to keep track of in this courtroom…
"Your Honor, just because Ms. Heatherd was lying when she said this, it doesn't mean Maya is lying too, right?"
She had Puppy Dog Eyes… Gosh, those Puppy Dog Eyes… I could barely even look at them.
"Please, couldn't we just assume that there's another explanation for this? I don't believe she would be lying…"
"Of course I'd not!" Maya shouted. "Why should I? Everything I wanted to keep secret is already out! I swear something's wrong here! This is a-"
(Say 'conspiracy' and I will face palm.) my mind thought in the short moment it was given to do so. Thankfully, Maya didn't get any further, as Edgeworth hit his desk with one hand to get her attention.
"Maya! Can you remember anything that could explain this contradiction? I would like you to think about this well. It could easily be another detail you forgot!"
"Hm…" Maya's cheeks were still full of air when she crossed her arms and started thinking. "Something I forgot… something I forgot… hm… AHHHH!"
And then, she suddenly bounced up. "Now I remember!"
"Now what?" I asked quickly. It looked like we were about to get some new information again.
"What happened to the Bandana!" She answered. "I wasn't wearing it when I boarded the elevator again."
"You weren't?" Edgeworth asked, looking just as tense as myself. Maya proceeded to shake her head,
"No. It had fallen off by that time…" She led her hand to her mouth. "Yeah, I remember now. That was when I slid the letter in under Nick's door. I bent down to push it through… and suddenly, the knot opened. I guess I hadn't closed it tightly enough. I didn't have the time to put it on again afterwards, so I just picked it up again… Yeah… then I left. With my hair down and the bandana in my bag."
There was a tense silence in the room when she finished. As if everybody was waiting for her to continue. As if everyone had awaited some kind of great revelation, some amazing fact that would turn the entire case around… But she said nothing more.
"That… is all?" I finally asked hesitantly.
Maya nodded. "Yep!"
"…"
An undeniable sense of disappointment swept across the courtroom, even capturing Edgeworth, to my surprise. It looked like he, too, had expected to get more out of this contradiction.
"Now… Mr. Edgeworth…" The Judge looked down on him visibly not too happy with how the cross-examination was progressing,
"What is this new, er… 'information' telling us?"
Edgeworth hesitated to answer, yet his reply was calm when it came.
"Nothing, Your Honor." He admitted. "I had hoped that pursuing this inconsistency would give us some more additional insight into the events of that day… Apparently, I was wrong."
"Obviously," the Judge stated. "Whether or not the witness lost her bandana would barely have any influence on how the murder happened, I assume."
"But at least this means Maya didn't lie, correct?" I could hear Dahlia cast a positive light on the situation.
Von Karma was quick to add her own opinion. "It doesn't matter whether or not Maya Fey lied regarding something as foolishly pointless as a foolish bandana, the fact remains that Miles Edgeworth merely wasted our time by questioning her regarding who Misty Fey could have seen once again! The facts of the case remain the same, regardless of those events: Maya Fey arrived around 16:30, a time at which Ema Skye wasn't even present at the crime scene yet."
"Yes… and she probably left almost immediately after donating the letter in my apartment," I added. "We have Mrs. Fey's testimony to prove that. Ema was set to meet with me at a later point in time. The probability that anything Maya did had any effect on how the murder was carried out is pretty low…"
"Exactly!" Franziska Von Karma took the word from me again. She stretched her whip above her head, "Thus, I demand this waste of my precious time to end now!"
"Hm…" The Judge's eyes were closed. "Yes, it seems like this line of questioning did not further the trial in the least… I would like to ask the witness to continue her testimo-"
"HOLD IT!"
This came suddenly and out of the blue. I raised my attention, and so did Von Karma, Dahlia, Edgeworth and the Judge. The person who had interrupted was Maya. Her hands balled into fists, she stood there, determination in her eyes.
"W-Wait!" She shouted once more. "I just remembered something else!"
I listened up and leaned forward. "What? What did you remember this time, Maya?"
"When Ms. Von Karma said that Ema couldn't have been there already at the time…" Maya said. "I… I think there's something wrong with that!"
"Elaborate on this, Maya," Edgeworth told her. "Please."
And Maya did as she was asked.
"When I lost my bandana, I bent down in order to pick it up again, and… That's when I saw it." She bit her lip. "I got a peek through the slit under the door and, inside… someone was moving. And I heard steps too! I mean… I couldn't see who it was… the slit is too narrow for that, but…
Maya stood up straight. "Someone was already there when I brought the letter to Nick's apartment! I'm sure of it."
The crowd turned louder again, but at least this time, there was a legitimate reason. I myself was stumped. Movements at the crime scene… Before Ema would have had any reason to be there. This was more than just relevant to the case. This could possibly change… everything.
It was obvious that Franziska thought the same about it. She was sweating.
It was obvious that Edgeworth also thought the same about it. There was a smirk on his face.
The Judge's gavel finally ended the commotion.
"Order! Order!" When the Gallery finally calmed down, the Judge's eyes were alternately at me and Edgeworth. "What is the meaning of this? Up until now, we assumed that nobody had access to the crime scene until Ms. Skye arrived… However…" His eyes were now on Maya. "If the witness saw someone inside the apartment before the victim arrived… That would mean…"
"It would mean one of two things," Edgeworth started. "Either Ms. Skye arrived sooner at the Scene of the Crime than we assumed she did, or…"
"…Or the person Maya noticed was, again, someone else… Yet another unknownwitness… and a possible suspect." I stood up straight behind my desk. "This is what you are trying to say, right, Edgeworth?"
He nodded. "Indeed."
The crowd started chatting, whispering and gossiping once again, and one could downright feel how their trust in Lilie Heatherd's testimony was lost more and more every passing moment. Some still merely skeptic, others were already calling her a liar outright and yet others again badmouthed the prosecution which even permitted her as a witness. I just pretended they weren't talking about me, that made things easier.
Another bang of the Judge's gavel, however, promptly silenced them. The Judge, already seeming fairly annoyed with how things were progressing, announced.
"I think this has gone on long enough. We all know what the next step should be, don't we?"
"Yes. A repeat of Lilie Heatherd's Cross-Examination might be the only way to find the route of this long line if discrepancies," Edgeworth agreed, while the Judge's eyes were already sliding over to my side. "Mr. Wright, how quickly can you bring Ms. Heatherd back to this courtroom?"
(Finally.)
"I was prepared for something like this to happen and subpoenaed her to appear before court again today… But she ignored it."
More rambling from the crowd. But can you blame them? I didn't exactly feel good either when I had to admit that this girl didn't even feel the need to respect a subpoena with my – a prosecutor's – signature on it as an order she had to follow.
"She should be in her apartment right now. At least that's where she was when I called her this morning and asked her to stay in case we needed to question her…" (I hope she had at least that decency…) "The Prosecution would like to request a forty five minute recess, in order to contact the witness and wait for her to arrive at the courthouse."
The Judge nodded. "Very well. A break of 45 minutes has been granted. The Prosecution and Defense may use that time to discuss their cases as well as the new information amongst themselves. Court is adjourned for now."
And with yet another bang of the Judge's gavel, the first part of the day's trial came to an end, and I hurried into the Lobby, ready to call in the witness that everybody needed to question again, even though nobody wanted to…
Wheeew… Took me long to upload. The chapter has been finished for a week, actually, but I had a few things to do, so, sorry. ^^;
This is the chapter where I decided: Nick is ready for action. And I mean Badge-putting-on YEEEEEEEEAAAAHHHH! action.
Also, the Fanfic is now completly up-to-date on CR once more, meaning that THE COURT RECORD WORKS AGAIN, HALLELUYA! Guessing along is encouraged! ^^
Alright, I got a good night's sleep now, so my brain is functioning again now and I can finally type an Author's Note that actually makes sense! Yay, me! XD
So, I spent the rest of the summer cosplaying as Dahlia, Maya and Trucy in alternation, which was great fun, though, my Trucy Cosplay was damaged. Won't go into details, but I'll need to repair it before I next wear it. Also, my Roleplaying group founded a Roleplaying Forum. We call ourselves "Case Files" and specialize on Ace Attorney Roleplaying. We have an advertisement thread in the introduction section of CR dot Net. Check us out, if you're interested!
Managing the Roleplaying Forum ate up some of my time, but it also gave me some new inspiration for this fanfic. Expect stuff to happen soon. :-P Though, I am in my third semester on Uni now... I need to study hard, so updates will probably not get as fast again as they were before they got slow. ^^;
As for this Chapter itself, everything in it has a purpose, so keep what you read in mind. I also suggest you to pay a look at the Newspaper Clipping Nick found (it's in the court record). People tend to say "This and this in your story is Filler", but, truthfully, I don't distinguish between "Filler" and "Main Part" because to me, every part of my Story has a purpose that will tie into the rest later... if I manage to remember it, hopefully. ^^; I usually don't like handing out huge junks of information at once... The dream last chapter was one of the rare exceptions. The hardest part of this chapter was probably balancing out the screen time of the characters. I had to edit the chapter when it was almost done already because I realized that Dahlia and Franziska barely had any screen time, so I rewrote parts of it. That made me feel hypocritical, to be honest... I mean, I complain that there are too many characters on-screen during Rebuttals in GK2, and what do I do? Stuff 6 characters into the Courtroom at once, PLUS having relevant people in the Gallery as well... -_-; Oh, well, I hope at least I managed to make Nick more active and Franzy more passive in this Chapter. I generally wanted Nick to visibly become the dominant one here, one who actually acts rather than just observing. I don't know how well I did with this though. ^^;
Well, that's it from me for now! Nenilein over and out! ;-)