Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Ace attorney, the rights to the franchise belong to Capcom and not me.
The price of perception.
The two lawyers felt a rather awkward atmosphere brew between them both.
It only grew as they both entered the law office and went over to one of the corners where a big, rather magnificent, yet surprisingly understated desk stood. Phoenix sat himself down in a nearby chair as he oversaw Apollo stumble over to said desk and he was nearly stunned beyond belief when he saw how messy the desk was. It was scarily similar to his own desk in the office, as a matter of fact, he almost had to blink when he realised that it wasn't actually his own desk but Apollo's.
Phoenix squinted his eyes as he watched his student felt around the desktop, as if feeling for something, a particular something.
All he accomplished was brushing off stray pieces of paper that fluttered to the floor.
Apollo sat down in the office desk chair parked behind the desk rather gingerly as he plopped himself down on the seat, barely missing it, and he started to dig through several sheets of paperwork...or at least that ones that remained on his desk. He rummaged through the paper whilst he squinted his eyes at them, muttering huffily beneath his breath as he skim-read through what he could.
It didn't go unnoticed by Phoenix, though.
"Apollo. I honestly think you need some medical attention."
His comment was ignored.
The frustration building in Apollo's being was very palpable, especially from where he sat.
He watched as the horn-fringed younger lawyer leaned in to stare uncomfortably close to each and everyone of his papers. The 24-year-old dressed in red glowered at each paper, but then he seemed to see some words and he gasped in shock as he jerked back in his seat.
Apollo proceeded to exclaim, grabbing the piece of paper in his hand "A-Ah! A new case!"
"Sorry, Mr. Wright, I've got some work to do..."
Before Phoenix could stop him, Apollo quickly rose out of his seat and wandered around the office, probably to grab a pen, in a very strange manner. He was still walking slowly yet loudly, his feet stomping hard on the floor, as he kept his eyes open —yet he seemed to look around in a slow manner.
Seeing him walk like that...it was so strange.
It was getting stranger and stranger by the second and Phoenix's concern was starting to increase dramatically.
(What should I do? I'm a lawyer, not a doctor or an ophthalmologist!)
Apollo started looking around with eyes squinted until they were practically narrowed slits. His footsteps were heavy as they "clomped" loudly against the floors. He still appeared very tentative about walking around the place and he even seemed to try and secretly reach out to grab anything to use as some sort of guide...However, he didn't anticipate a bit of loose floorboard that stuck out of the ground.
His foot got caught on that sticky-out bit of flooring and it caused him to trip over it.
He came crashing to the floor below and he landed hard on his front.
Phoenix, alarmed, bolted up and raced to his ex-student's aid. The spiky-haired attorney was at his side in seconds as he found himself towering over him and watched as Apollo used both hands to push himself up so he could flip himself over and he sat on his backside, he kept his gaze down to the ground in front of him.
"Apollo!" He nearly shrieked.
Apollo groaned sorely as he rubbed his head.
"Owwwww..."
The lawyer held his hand in front of the attorney in red's face and held up four fingers.
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
Apollo squinted his eyes as though trying very hard to focus his eyesight on the digits in front of him.
"U-Uhhh...?"
Phoenix observed this and narrowed his eyes sceptically.
He had a really good idea (some could even say it was as plain as crystal) as to what was happening —thanks to Thalassa— but he needed Apollo to admit it so he could help properly. He let Apollo try and count his fingers for a few more seconds before he secretively, making it so his former protégé couldn't see, slipped his other hand into his pocket and felt his fingers furl around a certain comma shaped jewel. He kept his ocean blue eyes firmly locked on Apollo and he was sure that the atmosphere had gratified significantly.
The spiky-haired ace attorney then spoke up, the volume of his voice raising an octave dramatically.
"Apollo. Are you hiding something?"
Apollo flinched hard when that question.
It was as if that question literally smacked him across the face.
All at once, darkness descended the room and chains sprang forth, linking from the walls and the ceilings until finally three big red locks slammed right in place, circling the middle of the young man's chest. They were a trio of pretty burly-looking locks, too, and they all made a chill trickle down Phoenix's spine.
Psyche locks.
Apollo's face paled and he was glancing wildly across the room, eyes darting as his shoulders rose and fell rhythmically with his rapid breathing.
It was obvious he was lying.
"U-U-Uhhh...n-n-no! I'm not hiding anything!"
Phoenix scowled darkly at Apollo, his deep blue eyes blazing with the flames of wrath.
"Apollo Justice! I thought you knew better than to lie to me, young man!" He admonished, using a stern and angry tone of voice. It was the same kind of tone he would use if he had to scold Trucy for misbehaving (those occasions were rarer than diamonds) and he could tell that it was having its desired effect on Apollo.
"Wh-Wh-What!?" The spiky-fringed 22-year-old squeaked, now shivering, "I'm not...! I wouldn't...!"
Phoenix narrowed his eyes angrily. He folded his arms firmly across his chest, still glaring sternly down at the downed lawyer as he watched him squirm beneath his strong and soul-piercing gaze —he stood strong and firm as he kept his eyes on Apollo.
He thought to himself, (I'm sure this is serious if Apollo is lying to me.)
"So, how much have you been using your perception ability?"
Apollo twiddled his thumbs, whistling to hide his oh-so visible anxiety. This wasn't of much use, however, especially considering that he was sweating bullets and he was showing every sign humanly possible that he was hiding something.
The giant red psyche locks didn't help matters.
"Oh, uhhh, ummm, uhhh, I-I-I haven't been using it too often."
A blatant lie.
"You maybe good at perceiving lies but you are the worst at telling them." The lawyer in blue commented crossly, "Okay then. What if I were to talk to certain people and ask them if they've seen your bracelet squeezing and then staring at them with bugging eyeballs? That's what happens when you perceive the truth, if I remember right?"
Apollo jerked back in stunned shock and he started absentmindedly rubbing a finger against his bracelet, he didn't seem to notice he was doing it.
"U-Uh, yeah, that d-does happen."
Phoenix literally pointed out what Apollo was doing.
"So why are you rubbing your bracelet? I don't even have your eye of perception and even I can see your nervous tic!"
Apollo flinched hard, eyes bulging out of their sockets in shock, and he looked down at his own arm and noticed his finger on his bracelet. He definitely didn't seem to have noticed his tic and was even more surprised that he was displaying his nervous habit more obviously then his own clients ever had.
He yelped in shock and almost fell backwards from where he sat on the floor.
Phoenix saw that the psyche lock jiggled slightly.
He smirked to himself.
(Just a bit more pushing should do the trick...)
The psyche-lock kept trembling, appearing as though it was just about to break, and it was shaking just as much as Apollo was.
The older lawyer's voice took on a sudden accusing edge as he pointed his famous "objection" finger at Apollo, almost jabbing him in the chest with it as he started barking at him. He knew he was probably being a tad harsh but he wasn't going to tolerate being lied to, he wasn't stupid and he wished his own people (former or not) wouldn't treat him like he was.
"Ever since I've come here to see you you've been tripping, stumbling, bumping into things that should be very clear since they're right in front of you and acting very strange in general! I know you, Apollo, and you need to trust me!"
Phoenix sighed to calm and centre himself.
The lawyer in blue thought, (Okay, I need to calm down.)
He stooped down knelt in front of the frightened spiky-fringed lawyer, his voice was still stern and even fatherly. The lawyer with the famous, slicked back, jet black, spiky hair finally noticed something else about Apollo; when he got a much closer look, he saw that the whites of the younger man's eyes were mixed with the colours of bright red and pink, looking bloodshot, his brown coffee-brown irises were rimmed with a scarlet red colour and his pupils were severely dilated.
A pang of concern hit the ace attorney right in the heart because those eye colours didn't look normal in the slightest —it was no wonder Apollo couldn't see, his eyes looked severely messed up!
"Apollo. I need you to be honest with me here. You can't see very well, can you?"
That was when it happened.
The red psyche-lock had started to tremble and shiver, quaking due to pressure, before finally breaking apart whilst the chains that sprung around had crackled and retreated to the corners, ceiling and floors that they originally sprung forth from.
The psyche-lock had been broken.
All that was left was an emotionally shaken Apollo...
Apollo finally looked up at his old boss and his lower lip started to tremble, his body shaking and he finally seemed to drop that facade he seemed to have tried so hard to keep up. His thorns of hair withered like flowers without water and his eyes, although red and irritated, started to tear up and he looked up at him with the most pleading look he could muster.
"Ph-Ph-Phoenix...I'm not fine. I haven't been able to see straight for a month now and I'm scared. I...I don't want to go blind, Mr. Wright! Will you please help me...?"
Phoenix felt his heart shatter when he heard that admission.
This was the first time Apollo had addressed him by his first name.
He could hear the fright in the young man in red's voice and it was seriously heartbreaking. He didn't even need Athena's unique sense of hearing to hear the fright in his heart, poor Apollo must had been so scared about his eyesight steadily leaving him and trying to convince himself he was fine...just like always.
How long had he been fighting this alone?
He wondered why Apollo hadn't asked for any help but quickly realised that the young man had gone through almost everything in his life all alone; he had gone through being orphaned at a year old alone, he had to be sent to the US alone, forced out of his homeland, he had to practically grow up alone, he had to cope with going through the bar exam alone and he felt as though he had to go through the death of his best friend and (not to mention) the man who raised him alone.
Apollo must had tried to go through this alone, too, but found he just couldn't anymore...
"I'm sorry I lied, Mr. Wright...! I ju-ust...just couldn't..." he trailed off for a moment, tears streaming down his face and falling to the wooden floors below, "I...I really need your help..."
The lawyer promised himself that his protege wouldn't have to be alone anymore and he was going to keep it no matter what. He didn't need to be asked twice as he let a kind-hearted smile blossom across his face, he offered his hand to the vulnerable-appearing young man on the ground in front of him.
He was going to help him.
"...Of course I'm going to help, son."
A/N: Heres the admission as well as a fatherly moment between Phoenix and Polly. Lets see what will happen to Apollo next chapter. Will he be blind? Will his eyesight get worse or get better? What will Nahyuta and the others think?
Don't forget to review and fave.
-Chloemcg