ace attorney

Mia checked her watch once, twice, a third time. The elevator was just taking forever , and at this rate, they would never get out to dinner. Eventually the doors opened to her floor, and Mia walked down the hallway to the office.

She was sure that Maya and Phoenix would get along. After all, they had the same type of earnest wonder when it came to a problem, and there wasn’t a mean bone in their bodies.

Mia put her hand in her pocket for the office keys and swore. Dammit . She had forgotten them at her apartment. And Mia had wanted to look through her files on Redd White, too. In her frustration, Mia set her hand on the door handle.

It moved.

Mia wondered briefly if she had locked the door when she left. That thought was quickly dismissed, as Mia always remembered to lock the office door. Perhaps Phoenix was already in the office. It could only be him, as Maya didn’t have an office key.

“Phoenix?” Mia called into the office once she went inside.

The lights weren’t on. Odd. Phoenix must have come in looking for something that he was sure wouldn’t warrant the need for light. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had done it, either.

Yet, there was no reply. That was strange, even for Phoenix. Usually he would be poking his head out of wherever he was, replying with an enthusiastic “Yeah Chief?”

The door to her personal office was ajar. That, she was absolutely certain, had been shut when she left earlier. Mia set her clutch—she had never been a fan of purses, they were too bulky and she didn’t even have that much stuff—on the reception desk.

Mia walked to her office and opened the door completely. A strange smell hung in the air. It made her gag and bring her scarf up to her nose. What was that smell? It was familiar, but Mia couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Phoenix Wright? Are you here?” Mia asked again. “What is that smell?”

She noticed the mess of papers littering her desk and floor. Her chair had fallen on its side, and the glass light stand she had just bought was shattered. Dammit, that had been expensive, too!

Mia rounded the couch and bent to pick up the papers. It wasn’t like Phoenix to be this messy, and if he did drop some papers, he always cleaned them up.

Somehow, the smell was worse the farther into her office Mia walked. Had she spilled something on the carpet and not noticed? She stood and put the small stack of papers on her desk, right next to where The Thinker should be.

Wait, should be?

“No no no…” Mia whispered. “Where did it go?”

She turned to the window and stopped. No. No, it couldn’t be. She was seeing things.

“M-Maya…” Mia said numbly.

She walked to her younger sister and dropped to her side. She had seen plenty of dead bodies, what with being a lawyer and her unfortunate first case, but to think that her own sister …

The sight in front of her sank in at last, and Mia sobbed violently. Maya, her own sister, who wasn’t even an adult yet, was dead , and it was all her fault. She should have told them to meet her at the restaurant.

The Thinker laid by Maya’s thigh, the head covered in blood. Maya’s blood. So that was the smell.

Mia put her head in her hands and sobbed harder. Her sister, her baby sister , was gone . Just like that. She would never hear Maya’s laughter or see her devilish smirk ever again.

“Um, Chief?”

Mia barely registered Phoenix’s call from the main office.

“Maya… M-Maya…”

“Chief!”

Phoenix dropped to Mia’s side and turned her away from Maya. He brought her hands away from her face and spoke gently.

“Chief, what happened? Are you okay? Who is this?”

Mia looked through teary eyes at her apprentice. He watched her carefully, concerned.

“P-Phoenix, she’s dead .”

“I— I’m aware of that, Chief.”

“M-My baby sister… Maya’s d-dead…”

“Sister…?” Phoenix looked away from Mia.

Maya’s head hung forward, and blood trailed down her forehead underneath her bangs. Mia pulled one of her hands from Phoenix’s and brushed Maya’s bangs aside. A bloody gash was hidden behind them.

Mia wrenched her other hand from Phoenix’s and covered her face again, barely suppressing a wail. Her whole body shook.

“Chief, have you called the police yet?” Phoenix asked.

“H-How could I?! My sister is dead , Phoenix! I— I just found her here! M-Maya…”

A shriek came from the Gatewater Hotel across the street. Phoenix stood up and looked out the window to see a woman looking directly at him, with a phone in hand.

“Well, Chief, I don’t think you’re going to have to call the police.”

Mia took Maya’s hand and clasped it between hers. She sat there, unmoving, sobbing into it until the police came. They pulled her away from the body and handcuffed her. Phoenix’s protests were the last thing she heard from that office.

“It should have been me.”