nathaliegeffroy

[bluexyess]

;; I forgot to mention that I made an animatic with Mia & Aris in it !!! 

[wrightingsins-blog]

You’d think that moving to a new city was a good thing.

Or rather.. be moved? With the recent happenings in Phoenix’ life, he didn’t know how to describe it anymore. Sometimes, he felt kidnapped. Other times, he felt like he was a living a long dream, decorated with anything beautiful.

His feet took lazy steps as he paraded around the city. Eyes darted around the scenery from time to time, taking in all that was current, all that was ephemeral. For a moment, Phoenix wondered if he was like that; a spring blooming, fading into summer until it aged into fall. Afterwards, it would come to rest in a calm winter slumber.

Sleep wasn’t eternal, yet it felt like it was. Every day Phoenix had woken, he would feel confused, disoriented. This hadn’t felt like real life. He was still dreaming. Dreaming of the flowers, the sunlight. Having nightmares about how his room got destroyed and how he got put on trial over it.

By now, Phoenix had gained a routine and it had sickened him. He would get up in the morning, get himself ready and march towards his office. Then he would spend the following hours looking through case files. He wondered if he should pick up small cases involving sheep civilians. Trivial ones, so he could at least pay the bills and his juniors. Both Apollo and Lucina needed some form of mentoring and guidance too.

Perhaps he should be glad that the hectic days were over. His room got repaired, the trial concluded, and the hope of new work came in like a ray of blinding light. He thought he might be on the right track and that everything would improve from there on. Phoenix took a lot of things with a grain of salt.

He had learned many things in Stella City by now. Some of the things surprised even himself.

One of those things were, for example, was that animals adored him. The sheep hadn't given him a good impression when they picked a fight at first. How was he supposed to know they wanted the biscuit hidden in his pocket? He hadn't realized this until he met Shrek. It was a childish biscuit in the shape of the Steel Samurai. Maya had given it to him and Phoenix stuffed it into his pocket, without much thought. He had never gotten the chance to actually eat it. Needles to say, he managed to get on Shrek’s good side.

Then there was Polly the parrot, a bird he had met recently in Starlight Garden. Although smart, it knew a lot of bad pick-up lines and made human interaction difficult. Phoenix had grown quite attached to the animal. He felt for him. Polly did try his best, often learning new phrases and names. Sometimes he would cuddle into Phoenix as he sat on his shoulder.

Edgeworth had suggested that the bird may be one they had encountered before. Neither of them had an idea on how to confirm that. Manfred von Karma had retrained the bird before, so the bird kept silent to many questions. It wouldn't answer a safe code, nor mention the DL-6 incident. There was no way to distinguish the original Polly from other birds anymore.

Phoenix stopped in his tracks to tickle the parrot that sat on his shoulder. It was a beautiful beast, who snuggled into the lawyer to rest and gain affection. It was a mystery why Polly actually showed this behaviour. Phoenix reckoned Maya would argue it’s because they had similar hair styles. Maya would say that, then crack a joke or two. Maya would have–

It was difficult for the lawyer to keep himself together. He rubbed at his eyes and brainstormed, trying to piece things together. Maya wasn’t here, which had led to the logical conclusion that Pearl and the Magatama wouldn’t be here either. Following that trail of thought, Phoenix had figured that Mia wouldn’t be as well.

That was a rather obvious conclusion, except he wanted deny it with every fiber of his being. With neither Maya or Pearl here, it had meant no one was there to channel his former mentor. That drove him to places, as he was unwilling to accept that they would never speak again. That she was truly dead. A procrastinated stage of grief had finally hit him.

Like a bag of flour pushed and tossed around, Phoenix dragged himself back to the motel that he had stayed in so far. If this walk wasn’t helping him get his mind off things, then maybe a short rest rest in his room would.

Except it wouldn't. The moment Phoenix had flopped down onto the bed, his brain took a trip onto the express train of thought again. He had no TV to distract himself, no way of turning off his brain. The lawyer glanced around the room, looking for anything that would help him take his eyes off things.

He looked towards the car and the messy wall built around it. Venuz' car was bright red, daring and almost screaming ready to go. It surprised Phoenix that the crash hadn't destroyed the front of the vehicle. One of his theories was that the car was completely robust and akin to a tank. That would make sense. Yung Venuz was rich, he might have been able to afford that.

It was so convenient for him, was it not? Strung along by a rich triangle who had promised him that they were pals, showed that he meant the best. Phoenix had yet to see it. He had yet to witness most of what Yung Venuz had claimed, but he was hopeful. Maybe the more he trusted, the more things would come true; the less alone he had to be.

Phoenix had always been a social animal.

Excited and passionate, while radiating a unique kind of ambition. He dashed through life with an air of vigour that was easily distinguished as his. Phoenix had always chased after things, after dreams and after people. After theater and Shakespeare, a proclaimed girlfriend and Miles Edgeworth. He would travel to the depths of Hell for them, eat a glass bottle, and even defend them in court if he had to.

Many thing had scared him. Trials, a guilty verdict, Manfred von Karma; but Phoenix persevered. He persevered and kept going, if only because it meant he could save Edgeworth. So he could never lose a grip on him again.

Looking back at the last couple of weeks, Phoenix wondered if he would do the same for the people he had met here. It was strange,  the more he stayed in this city, the more he started to enjoy it; the more he didn’t want to wake up.

There was so much to the city and its citizens that Phoenix hadn’t yet discovered. Like the letter he and Hajime had received back from Aries. They had worked on writing a letter together, but they hadn't discussed the results yet. Phoenix had been too swept up in his own disastrous schedule to give visiting Hajime a moment of thought. Something about having to deal with his own wrecked room did that to him. Mysteries came second.

Phoenix had also been guilty of enjoying the moments he had with his new friends.

He had gone for a few drinks with Yung Venuz by now. They had almost gone through thick and thin by now. One could argue that Y.V. was merely screwing him over, but the lawyer stayed positive. It did no good to rediscover the salt mine within him again, so he closed it off. It was was so easy to get angry with Venuz, so easy to cry, too. Phoenix had hoped all this was a one-off, but he was wrong. It continued and continued; rushing through an endless cycle of emotions. Joy, fear, anger, sadness and disgust. It was almost like Y.V. made him feel again.

Then there was Mina, the crazy artist that lived in the room beside him. He actually took a liking to her, despite her strange behaviour. They would drink coffee, discuss mysteries and eat noodles at places Phoenix had yet to visit. It was refreshing. Mina was refreshing. Sometimes he recognized the silly parts of Maya in her; a spontaneous soul that was always up to no good.

If only Mina could have been his assistant too, but Phoenix knew it was bad to dream. An income of zero stardust monthly to his name was unreliable. Phoenix had no room to talk about work expenses, yet alone hiring new employees.

Which led him to two problems: the first one being Lucina. She was a new apprentice, recently shoved under his wing by Aries and Stella. Lucy sounded pure and capable of taking on any type of enemy, unless it was in a court of law. Her arrival was either a blessing or a curse, but Phoenix had felt his heart soften around her. He had fathered her and almost considered asking her about it too. Whether she had parents, if they were here and if she needed someone to take care of her. Phoenix had decided to drop it. At the age of twenty-six, he knew he was in no way capable of caring for another human being. Not to mention Lucina was about twenty herself, old enough to fend for herself.

Adoption was a topic of thought for another day.

His second problem was Apollo, who joined his office more recently. Phoenix knew that Apollo had his heart in the right place. Combined with those steel chords of his, he was sure to make a great lawyer. Great, except the office had no cases yet. Phoenix felt guilty about leaving both of them broke, and as a result, was more desperate to look for work.

If it was work he was looking for, then maybe Niles could help him out with that. He was a police officer, insisting on the name "Officer Niles" if you were into that. The two of them hadn't gotten along with each other in a professional setting yet, but Phoenix liked him. He had swooned Phoenix, taken him out for dinner, helped with obtaining case files before. There was a certain amount effort the man had put into everything and Phoenix appreciated it. If only Niles' daughter, Nina, would approve of this chemistry.

Phoenix thought of who else he had met so far. He remembered Yumihiko, the boy who had exclaimed to be a Prosecutor. Although proud in nature, Yumihiko had proven himself to be quite the crybaby. They had walked to the post office together. Had comforted each other that they could rely on each other in times in need. Phoenix had assured Yumihiko that he wasn't alone, even if he didn't quite believe it himself. The Defense Attorney sometimes cried, too, and agonized over his own misery. He would think back to every single bad decision he had made before.

Yumihiko was surprisingly intelligent. How was Phoenix supposed to know he would catch on so quickly? To cross examine like he did? Fact checking was what Prosecutors did, sure, he knew that. They countered bold statements with hard evidence, overruled them with logic. Phoenix hadn't expected to take the witness stand in a social setting. Nor for his contradictions to be spotted and called out on. It was like Yumihiko’s existence was testing him.

Testing him about the time that he was stuck on trial, defended by the glorious sheep that went by the name of Mia Fewe. Phoenix had thought she looked too alike to another Mia he knew, but he had never said anything about it. After the case's conclusion, Phoenix was a collected mess of exhaustion and discomfort. He forgot what it was like to be on trial. Even if the case was not a murder, the nerves were still there. Mia was still there in a way. The only thing different this time was–

Professor Hershel Layton.

Yes, that was right. The Professor had helped him more than he had ever asked for. He flaunted his gentleman skills, reached out to the crowd about puzzles and even offered one of his own. An amazing man, that Phoenix almost thanked his life to. He was was exceptional if you didn’t consider his wrong opinion on stepladders. Phoenix sighed in satisfaction, reminiscing the times he had fought about ladders before.

There were so many things Phoenix missed by now. The temperate weather of Los Angeles was one of them, but he also missed the people. He missed Maya, Mia, Larry, Pearl– even Detective Gumshoe, as strange as it was. In fact, the only person he didn’t have to miss was Miles Edgeworth.

It was strange how things worked out, didn’t they? Phoenix’ heart had whispered it was fate, while Polly mumbled vague pick-up lines in his sleep.

“Shh… Polly.” Phoenix pecked the bird’s head before he closed his own eyes, drowsiness dragging him into a deep sleep. “That’s a good boy.”