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It's your first official channeling and you're terrified. It's been sixth months since you left Nick -- since you promised you'd become a full-fledged spirit medium and return to his side. Since then, you've been training hard, and somehow a doctor has found out about you and wants you to channel the spirit of a nurse. Aunt Morgan herself approved you for the channeling -- despite her previous assertions that powers were inadequate, that you were an embarrassment to the family -- she recommended you personally for this, and it makes you feel like you really have grown. Maybe you can make her proud, after all.
Even with her endorsement, you don't feel ready. What if something goes wrong? What if you fail?
You decide to add one condition to the channeling. Nick has to be there. That's the only way you know that things will turn out okay. You don't even expect him to show up (what if he's busy? what if you're just burdening him again?) but he does, anyway. And your heart soars.
"I think you'll totally be shocked by how good my hamburgers are!" you joke-- honestly, he wouldn't even be able to see you channeling anyway, because you'll be locked in the channeling chamber with the client, but just knowing he's right outside fills you with a kind of strength.
Everything is in place. You enter with Dr. Grey, the key firmly in your hand. "That key is one of a kind, so please take care of it as well," she reminds you.
"It'll be fine, Aunt Morgan. I won't lose it, trust me!"
She says nothing, and you proceed. The candles are lit, everything is in place.... the doctor kneels on the ground before you, hands pressed into prayer and bows his head. You do the same, steadying your heart, your breathing, and trying to reach---
Everything goes dark.
When you awaken, you feel the pressure of something in each of your hands, and your kimono is sprayed and soak, slick with--
Blood.
Morgan is holding you in her arms, and she easily extracts what's clutched in your hands -- a gun, and a knife. Your eyes widen as you take in the scene, Dr. Grey's body is several feet away, still and soaked, and here you are...
It's his blood, you realize, as Morgan releases you and you start to shake. It's his blood, how could this---
"As I thought...." she said, face hidden behind her sleeve, "Your power.... was not enough.... it was too weak.... You couldn't control the spirit, and now I'm afraid that man..... is dead.... "
Her eyes bore holes into you, as the police arrive to arrest you and you realize that she's right -- you're a murderer.
---
Phoenix visits you, of course he does.
"I finally.. I finally get to see you again... and... "
In contrast to Morgan's eyes, his are warm.
"It's not your fault. You didn't do it."
"No," you insist, "I... I did it.... I killed that person."
"But that wasn't you!"
"It doesn't matter. It might as well have been me." Your throat is thick as you remember Morgan's words -- the ones she's always told you. How could you think you could do this? Even though you're the daughter of the Master, you've never been good enough. You couldn't even channel Mia when Phoenix needed her most. "I was too weak... and I couldn't control the spirit's power, so...."
Phoenix's eyes are sad as he looks at you. You can't even look at him.
"You don't have to be nice to me. I understand."
He questions you for details, but you remember nothing --- except your dream, where you dreamed you were dead and buried in the ground, and you smelled something familiar.
It's clear he has no idea what to say to that, and you regret telling him.
Finally, the visit is over. No one has come to see you but him, but you're not surprised. He tells you to prepare the document requesting he be your attorney.
You don't even know what to say. You just admitted you're a murderer and he still wants to defend you?!
"Are you sure?" you ask, "I mean, I'm guilty! I'm a murderer!"
"No one's decided that yet," his response is tight, as his face.
"But I did!" you insist, as if he heard you wrong, "I killed that person... with these.. two hands!"
"That's enough, Maya."
You can't believe he's doing this. What if this ruins his life, too?
"It's hopeless! If you defend me, you'll lose, I'm sure..."
He's had enough. His voice thunders. "Stop it!"
And something breaks in you. The fight disappears. You shrink away from him, your eyes get glassy, and in a much smaller voice, you say:
"... Help me.... Nick, help me... I'm scared...."
You'll get the death penalty for this. But worse than that, a man is dead because of you, and your aunt...
Phoenix promises he'll help, and you give him your most prized possession -- the only thing you have left of your mother, her magatama. You tell him to take it to your cousin, Pearl -- she's got incredible spiritual power, unlike you, so she'll be able to charge it for him. The next time he comes, you make sure to channel your sister for him. He needs her.
---
The trial goes by in a blur. The successor -- Manfred von Karma's daughter -- seems to be every bit as ruthless as he is. You don't know what happened to Edgeworth. You try to keep up with what's happening -- the prosecutor, von Karma, she's insisting that you're the killer because you couldn't have left the room. But Phoenix proves that someone did leave the room, because things that should have never left the channeling chamber was outside.
You can't remember leaving it, though. You can't remember anything. But, Phoenix tells you something he heard from Mia -- spirit mediums can't dream. The fact that you remember dreaming... means you must have been drugged, and set up.
While this should have brought you relief (even though you can still feel his blood, smell it, remember vividly being covered in it -- you see it every time you close your eyes), another ugly thought comes to you.
If you were framed, there's only one person who could have done that.
Aunt Morgan.
You want to deny it, you want to deny it with all of your heart, but you know, deep down.... that has been happening for generations in the Fey Clan. Morgan was the one who was supposed to be Master, not your mother. But your mother's power was superior, and so she usurped Morgan. You know, deep down, that Morgan resents you, as much as you want her to accept you. She's the closest thing to a mother you've ever had, after all. And now, after everything... you're the only one left of the main bloodline, and if you were to disappear, then.....
....
She'd finally get what she wanted, wouldn't she?
Even with her endorsement, you don't feel ready. What if something goes wrong? What if you fail?
You decide to add one condition to the channeling. Nick has to be there. That's the only way you know that things will turn out okay. You don't even expect him to show up (what if he's busy? what if you're just burdening him again?) but he does, anyway. And your heart soars.
"I think you'll totally be shocked by how good my hamburgers are!" you joke-- honestly, he wouldn't even be able to see you channeling anyway, because you'll be locked in the channeling chamber with the client, but just knowing he's right outside fills you with a kind of strength.
Everything is in place. You enter with Dr. Grey, the key firmly in your hand. "That key is one of a kind, so please take care of it as well," she reminds you.
"It'll be fine, Aunt Morgan. I won't lose it, trust me!"
She says nothing, and you proceed. The candles are lit, everything is in place.... the doctor kneels on the ground before you, hands pressed into prayer and bows his head. You do the same, steadying your heart, your breathing, and trying to reach---
Everything goes dark.
When you awaken, you feel the pressure of something in each of your hands, and your kimono is sprayed and soak, slick with--
Blood.
Morgan is holding you in her arms, and she easily extracts what's clutched in your hands -- a gun, and a knife. Your eyes widen as you take in the scene, Dr. Grey's body is several feet away, still and soaked, and here you are...
It's his blood, you realize, as Morgan releases you and you start to shake. It's his blood, how could this---
"As I thought...." she said, face hidden behind her sleeve, "Your power.... was not enough.... it was too weak.... You couldn't control the spirit, and now I'm afraid that man..... is dead.... "
Her eyes bore holes into you, as the police arrive to arrest you and you realize that she's right -- you're a murderer.
---
Phoenix visits you, of course he does.
"I finally.. I finally get to see you again... and... "
In contrast to Morgan's eyes, his are warm.
"It's not your fault. You didn't do it."
"No," you insist, "I... I did it.... I killed that person."
"But that wasn't you!"
"It doesn't matter. It might as well have been me." Your throat is thick as you remember Morgan's words -- the ones she's always told you. How could you think you could do this? Even though you're the daughter of the Master, you've never been good enough. You couldn't even channel Mia when Phoenix needed her most. "I was too weak... and I couldn't control the spirit's power, so...."
Phoenix's eyes are sad as he looks at you. You can't even look at him.
"You don't have to be nice to me. I understand."
He questions you for details, but you remember nothing --- except your dream, where you dreamed you were dead and buried in the ground, and you smelled something familiar.
It's clear he has no idea what to say to that, and you regret telling him.
Finally, the visit is over. No one has come to see you but him, but you're not surprised. He tells you to prepare the document requesting he be your attorney.
You don't even know what to say. You just admitted you're a murderer and he still wants to defend you?!
"Are you sure?" you ask, "I mean, I'm guilty! I'm a murderer!"
"No one's decided that yet," his response is tight, as his face.
"But I did!" you insist, as if he heard you wrong, "I killed that person... with these.. two hands!"
"That's enough, Maya."
You can't believe he's doing this. What if this ruins his life, too?
"It's hopeless! If you defend me, you'll lose, I'm sure..."
He's had enough. His voice thunders. "Stop it!"
And something breaks in you. The fight disappears. You shrink away from him, your eyes get glassy, and in a much smaller voice, you say:
"... Help me.... Nick, help me... I'm scared...."
You'll get the death penalty for this. But worse than that, a man is dead because of you, and your aunt...
Phoenix promises he'll help, and you give him your most prized possession -- the only thing you have left of your mother, her magatama. You tell him to take it to your cousin, Pearl -- she's got incredible spiritual power, unlike you, so she'll be able to charge it for him. The next time he comes, you make sure to channel your sister for him. He needs her.
---
The trial goes by in a blur. The successor -- Manfred von Karma's daughter -- seems to be every bit as ruthless as he is. You don't know what happened to Edgeworth. You try to keep up with what's happening -- the prosecutor, von Karma, she's insisting that you're the killer because you couldn't have left the room. But Phoenix proves that someone did leave the room, because things that should have never left the channeling chamber was outside.
You can't remember leaving it, though. You can't remember anything. But, Phoenix tells you something he heard from Mia -- spirit mediums can't dream. The fact that you remember dreaming... means you must have been drugged, and set up.
While this should have brought you relief (even though you can still feel his blood, smell it, remember vividly being covered in it -- you see it every time you close your eyes), another ugly thought comes to you.
If you were framed, there's only one person who could have done that.
Aunt Morgan.
You want to deny it, you want to deny it with all of your heart, but you know, deep down.... that has been happening for generations in the Fey Clan. Morgan was the one who was supposed to be Master, not your mother. But your mother's power was superior, and so she usurped Morgan. You know, deep down, that Morgan resents you, as much as you want her to accept you. She's the closest thing to a mother you've ever had, after all. And now, after everything... you're the only one left of the main bloodline, and if you were to disappear, then.....
....
She'd finally get what she wanted, wouldn't she?