Amicus Curiae (Ace Attorney Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: A New Country, A New Home

Amicus Curiae Chapter 1

"Please allow me to show you to your seat, Miss Chime," the flight attendant, whose name was Ms Rhoda Teneiro, as advertised by her badge, said to me. She guided me to my seat, and as I sat down, I thought, there's no turning back now. I am going to America, and I will not return to England until this whole "dark age of the law" is over. It would not be my first time in America, but it would  be my first time there for work.
"Thank you, Miss Teneiro," I said.
"Please, call me Rhoda. If you need anything, do not be afraid to call for me. There aren't many passengers on this flight, so I should be free. After all, at iFly Airlines we aim to please as we fly over the seas!" With a smile, she left to take care of another passenger. After taking a few steps, she turned back to me and said, "You know, you remind me of a man who saved me while I was working a flight. Now, if I could only remember his name..."

Phoebe's car was waiting for me outside the airport. As I exited the building, she got out of it and walked up to me. "Celia! You really did come! Even after that phone call, and you telling me to meet you here, part of me still didn't think you were actually serious," she said.
"Of course I was serious. This 'dark age of the law' is a serious situation, after all, although I did not realise just how serious it really was until you were arrested."
"Oh, that. Yes, that was really scary. But don't worry, if that happens again, I'm sure Mr Wright will help me like he did last time," she replied. I was relieved that she seemed to have calmed down since that fateful phone call. She had been close to tears, and I had heard the fear in her voice during that call. As Phoebe was quite timid, even at her age, I was not surprised that simply recalling the incident sent her into such a state.

"I assume Mr Wright was your defence lawyer?" I questioned as we drove to Phoebe's apartment.
"Yes. Junie got arrested, you see, but a lawyer called Athena, who worked for him, got her declared innocent. Since I'm Junie's cousin, Athena made him take my case. He was amazing! I wonder what would happen if he was your opponent in court..." She trailed off. I had heard a bit about Phoebe's younger cousin Juniper. She was about eight years younger than Phoebe, but because Phoebe's parents had moved to England a little before she was born, Phoebe hadn't really gotten to know her until she moved back to America as an adult. Still, I was surprised that Phoebe hadn't mentioned Juniper's case to me. They had become good friends in the short time they'd known each other.

"So when will I get to see you in court?" Phoebe said, turning to look at me as we drove along a busy street.
"Hopefully soon," I replied. "There's a decent amount of paperwork to be done on both sides when a prosecutor transfers from one country to another, but I hear it's nearly finished." I didn't bother to mention the immigration paperwork as well (especially since she had gone through that process as well). That had been a bit of a nightmare, but all this would definitely be worth it if I was able to do even a little to ease the strain the dark age of the law was putting on the legal system here.
"Oh yeah...that must be a pain. Unfortunately I can't help with the paperwork, but I can help with the move. I've been through that already, after all. You can stay at my apartment until yours is ready; I already had a spare bed in there. Your apartment is in the same building. In fact, it's exactly two floors above mine."
"Wow, you got one prepared before I even arrived?"
"Well, my building was already quite close to the Prosecutor's Office. I asked the manager if there were any vacant apartments because I knew someone who would be moving here, and he said that he could keep one reserved for when you came. Isn't that great?"
"Indeed, it is. Thank you, Phoebe, that was really helpful."

Phoebe slowed down as we neared a tall, official-looking building. She pointed to it. "Look, there's the Prosecutor's office you'll be in. It's pretty impressive, isn't it?"
I laughed as I replied, "Actually it's about the same size as the London Prosecutor's office. So it's not really that impressive to me."
Phoebe looked surprised. "Really? I thought this one would be bigger than the London one. America is bigger and busier than England, after all."
"While that does seem to be the case, you have to remember that London is the capital city of England. Although Los Angeles is a busy city, it's not the capital."
"That's true. The offices in the capital cities process the international cases, as well as other important stuff, right?"
"Yes, hence why evidence transferral day is always such a nightmare there."
"Yeah, I remember I called you once on an ETD, and you were really cranky and you said that you had a headache because it was a lot noisier than usual with people walking around everywhere."
"Well, there were detectives and prosecutors from other offices there as well. Speaking of which, would you mind driving by the police department so I can see where it is?"
"Sure, no problem!" She sped up again as we drove on through the busy street. As Phoebe drove, I had to wonder: how long did it take her to get used to sitting in the left seat in the car instead of the right one? It would take ages to get used to that!

After taking a tour of the streets around the police department, we went to the apartment building. While not as tall as the Prosecutor's Office, it was still quite big. After picking up my key from the front desk (my apartment was almost ready; I could move in in a week or two) we went up to Phoebe's apartment on the 5th floor, via the elevator. Since her apartment was on the 5th floor, mine would be on the 7th, as Phoebe had mentioned it was two floors above hers. "Here it is, number 506. Oh, and here's the spare key we picked up," she said handing me the second key we had gotten at the front desk. Phoebe took out her own key and unlocked the door.

The apartment looked like it could house no more than two people, though that wouldn't be a problem of course. The living room had a couch, chair and a small TV in it, as well as a small table, on which sat a vase of flowers. Phoebe loved nature, so this did not surprise me. What did surprise me was the black and white cat that came darting into the room like a hurricane. It ran up to us and after meowing at Phoebe, walked up to me cautiously and began clawing at my black boots. "Oh, that's right. I forgot that you had a cat. What is its name?" I asked.
Phoebe proceeded to pick up the cat and stroke it before replying. "Oh, this is Domino. He keeps me company. You shouldn't be that surprised, Celia. I always wanted a cat but my parents said no because she was worried it would scratch the furniture."
"Well, and because she was allergic to them, right?"
"Well, yeah. But at first I thought she was just making that up until that time I brought Jess's cat over so we could play with it together before Mum came home. After Jess and her cat went home, Mum was sneezing all night." Jess was one of our friends. I had been sick that day and was sorry to have missed playing with the two girls and the cat. They had laughed every time they brought up the cat story though.
"Yes, I remember you telling me about that. You got into big trouble when she found out though, did you not?"
"Well...yeah. So when I came over here, I had to make sure to find an apartment building where you could have a pet. There aren't many around, but luckily I found this one."
"That's good," I said, finally sitting down on the couch. "Though I don't plan on getting a pet myself."
"That's a shame; they're fine as long as it doesn't...you know, make a mess, or disturb anyone. Oh! So...shall I make some tea?"
"Oh, that would be lovely. The cup I drank on the plane seems so long ago." At that point, Domino jumped out of Phoebe's arms, gave me a strange look, and ran off somewhere in the apartment. Phoebe raced to the door and checked that it was closed properly.
"He got out the other day," she explained. "That cat loves to explore."

After we drank some herbal tea, I used Phoebe's laptop to email the Chief Prosecutor of the LA Prosecutor's Office to let him know I was in the country. I had been told to do that so he could arrange a meeting and a time to start work. Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth's response was timely indeed; only half an hour after I informed him that I was in America, he had replied, asking if two days from now was a good time. I told him that it would be fine. Because it was so late by the time I had checked for a reply, it was not long before I was lying in the spare bed that Phoebe had set up in her bedroom. It wasn't a proper bed; only a spare that slid out from underneath her bed, but it would certainly be sufficient until my apartment was ready. Because of jet lag, it was not long before I fell asleep.