Chapter Text
Miles Edgeworth did not believe in ghosts. In fact, he categorically despised the occult in general. But the ones he hated above anything else were spirit mediums. They were shams, scam artists, and charlatans, all of them. Once someone was dead, that was it. There was no way to bring them back. There couldn't be. Anyone who claimed they could channel the dead was a liar. They had to be. So no, Miles absolutely did not believe in ghosts. Until yesterday...
He had felt a strange connection to that case the second he'd set foot on the crime scene- once he'd gotten over the initial shock of Larry calling him in the middle of the night and telling him that Phoenix Wright, of all people, might be dead. He analysed the evidence with the same cold, detached, scientific lens he always viewed cases through. But for some reason, this one felt different. At the time, he chalked it up to the fact that he was viewing it all from the opposite side- he was not a prosecutor in that moment, but a defense attorney. Yet even as time progressed and he passed the reins back to the true defense attorney, he couldn't shake the feeling in his chest. This case ran deep, he knew that much already. But he felt pulled towards it in a way he had never experienced before in his entire career. Maybe that's why he found himself sat in the courtroom gallery during the second day of trial, watching as Phoenix pulled apart Godot's case bit by bit as he got closer and closer to the truth. Then, the truly unexplainable happened. Even days later, Miles couldn't quite wrap his head around what he had witnessed. But from what he could ascertain, he had seen the spirit of Dahlia Hawthorne herself rise out of Maya Fey's body and dissipate into smoke right in front of his eyes. It was undeniable, irrefutable evidence. Proof of three vital things; the spirit of a person lived on after their death, individuals trained as spirit mediums could channel them, and Maya Fey, sole surviving daughter of Misty Fey, was one of these spirit mediums and seemingly a very powerful one at that. And that one, incredible sight turned Miles' entire world upside-down. Ghosts were real. Spirit mediums were real... and Misty Fey was not who he'd thought she was at all.
Miles couldn't quite believe he'd never put it together before. He supposed it was because he'd never memorised Misty's name. After all, why would he? He hated her out of principle. She had been the spirit medium to channel his father's ghost all those years ago. A decision that had led to a catastrophic series of events that had firmly placed Miles on his path for vengeance against defense attorneys. And all this time, he'd blamed her for it. Blamed her for her lies and deceitfulness to the police. So when he'd first come across the name Maya Fey, and even Mia Fey before that, he'd never put the two together. But now he knew the truth. Not that he could say he understood it, but at least he believed it.
As the dust settled after that case, he found himself thinking more and more about the victim. He'd built up so many assumptions about Misty Fey over the course of his life, all of them seemingly wrong. Miles realised that the only way to truly solve the mystery surrounding this woman was to look into her life himself. Prosecutor Godot, or Mr. Armando as they'd since found out, had mentioned during the trial that the police had kept tabs on Misty after her disappearance from public view. So logically, those files were the place Miles decided to start. And goodness, there were an awful lot of them. It seemed every move Misty had made in the past 17 years had been carefully observed and meticulously documented. Before long, Miles found himself locked away in his office buried in paperwork, despite not even being on an official case. He spent every day and night scouring through the mystery of Misty Fey's life. He wasn't even sure why. He just knew that he had to find out more about her and he'd know what he was looking for when he found it. And find it, he did. On the third night, he had been looking through a file focusing on her potential connections and possible weaknesses that the police had noticed, should any criminal find out who she really was and try to blackmail her. He skimmed through the list of names and saw nothing he wouldn't have already expected.
Daughter- Mia Fey (deceased)
Daughter- Maya Fey
Sister- Morgan Fey (incarcerated)
Niece- Pearl Fey
Niece- Dahlia Hawthorne (deceased)
Niece- Iris Hawthorne (whereabouts unknown)
Miles' eyes scanned down further, running through various government contacts and connections to businesses and high-profile members of society. Until he came to the very last name, right at the bottom of the page. Miles gasped, the paper falling from his grasp and fluttering onto his desk as he stared down at the words glaring up at him.
Close connection- Gregory Edgeworth (deceased)
What on earth was his father's name doing on this list? His mind whirred, trying to put the pieces together. Was it because she'd been the one to channel his spirit during that case? But that didn't make any sense; none of her other channelings were listed here. No, there had to be another reason. Misty Fey knew Gregory Edgeworth when he was still alive. And knew him well enough to be considered a close connection by the police. But why? What possible reason would a defense attorney have to be tied to a spirit medium?
"Wright..." Miles muttered to himself. Because of course everything came back to that man. It always did. He stared at his father's name for a moment longer, trying to compose himself, before he picked up the phone. In hindsight, he probably should have checked the time.
"Edgeworth?! Are you alright?" Phoenix's voice wobbled as he answered the phone and Miles' heart tightened a little in his chest.
"I'm perfectly fine, Wright. I just had a question I wanted to ask you," Miles replied steadily.
"At one in the morning?!" Phoenix half-shouted down the phone and Miles winced.
"Oh, right... I hadn't realised it had gotten so late. Apologies for waking you-" Miles started to say.
"I was still up, couldn't sleep actually," Phoenix cut him off, "but why are you still up?"
"I guess I couldn't sleep either, I suppose. I'm actually still in the office and-"
"You're still at work?! It's gone midnight, Edgeworth!" Phoenix scolded him and Miles couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Like I said, I hadn't realised. Now, are you going to let me finish a sentence this time?" Miles asked, not quite able to keep the edge of teasing from his voice. Phoenix said nothing, so Miles continued, "I've been doing some research into Misty Fey. Don't ask me why because frankly, I have no idea. I just felt a connection to this case and that I needed to know more. But I was reading through a file that listed all of her relatives and close contacts and right at the bottom of the list was... my father's name,"
"Gregory's name is on that list?" Phoenix asked quietly after a brief pause.
"Yes. At first I thought it was because of that case 17 years ago. But none of the other spirits she'd channeled are on this list, my father is the only one. Which leads me to believe that she knew him when he was still alive. The only thing is, I have no idea why. I don't recall him ever mentioning her by name, or even discussing spirit mediums or the occult in general. Whatever his connection to her was, he didn't share it with me," Miles explained, running a hand through his hair.
"That's- I mean... wow, Edgeworth. I don't know what to say. That's huge," Phoenix sighed and Miles could hear the disbelief in his voice.
"I myself am rather shocked," Miles agreed, his eyes running down the list of names again.
"You said you had a question, though. Something you wanted to ask me?" Phoenix suddenly remembered.
"Well, I couldn't think of a reason for my father, a defense attorney, to have a close relationship with a spirit medium. So naturally, I thought of you and Maya. I know the circumstances in which the two of you met was highly unique, but I was wondering if maybe you had some insight into why they might have known each other? And in what capacity?" Miles asked slowly. He knew it was a long shot, but he didn't have any other leads at the moment.
"Aww Edgeworth, do I really come to mind so easily?" Phoenix teased and Miles definitely didn't blush, "I can't say I can help much on this occasion, though. Like you said, the way I met Maya was unique, to say the least. Unless it was a working relationship, I can't think of why Gregory and Misty would have known each other. Honestly Edgeworth, unless your father had a case that specifically took him to Kurain village then I can't think of how the two of them would have even met in the first place. Unless they literally ran into each other on the street by chance,"
"It's not impossible, I suppose," Miles mused, closing his eyes. Something Mr. Armando said in court a few days earlier flashed through his mind 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. However improbable'. Miles had been briefly surprised at the time that someone other than himself had started quoting Arthur Conan Doyle's works in the courtroom. And to Phoenix, no less.
"I could ask Maya, if you want? Not right now, obviously. Unlike us two idiots, she's currently sleeping. But I could talk to her in the morning, see if she can think of anything," Phoenix offered, breaking Miles from his thoughts.
"Only if you think it would be okay. I don't want to cause her any more pain," Miles knew she'd been through an awful lot in the past few days. The past few years, really.
"She's tougher than she looks, Edgeworth," Phoenix reassured him and Miles smiled slightly at the notes of affection in his voice.
"Okay, well if you're sure she'd be alright with it," Miles sighed, still not fully convinced. But what choice did he have?
"Of course, I'll call you tomorrow once I've talked to her," Phoenix said, something akin to excitement in his voice. Because of course he would find something like this fun.
"Thank you, Wright," Miles smiled slightly.
"Anytime, Edgeworth," Phoenix chuckled in response.
Miles sighed as he hung up the phone, leaning back in his office chair. He probably should go home and try to get some rest. But as he glanced back down at his father's name, he very much doubted he'd get much sleep at all.