Chapter Text
Franziska von Karma arrived at the door of Fey Manor at 9:00 AM on a Thursday, in perfect time. She knocked three times and waited.
She was about to knock again, when the heavy wooden doors opened and Pearl Fey greeted her with a glare.
Franziska cleared her throat. "I am here to see Maya Fey. She should be expecting me."
Pearl let her inside without a word and started walking, not waiting for Franziska to follow. Apparently, the little girl still hadn't gotten over her grudge against the prosecutor who had tried her cousin for murder. Franziska shook the foolish thought from her head; it wasn't something worth focusing on now.
She was led through a corridor lined with shoji doors to a wide room, with light coming in from a passageway on the right and a robust double door towering in front of her. Hanging scrolls with elegant silver ink on blue paper and banners written in ornate calligraphy adorned the walls.
Pearl Fey looked Franziska straight in the eyes. For a 9 year-old, her gaze was quite intense.
"Mystic Maya will be here shortly," she announced, and swiftly ran away through the side door.
Left alone, Franziska took in the atmosphere of the house. While called a "manor", the Fey's residence was far from the size and the splendor of the von Karma estate Franziska had grown up in, with its rich adornments and refined halls. The single-story building however, the largest in the village, was still splendid with its wooden frames and ivory walls.
High ceilings with strong wooden beams, austere passageways, and sparse furniture made for a proper place for quiet contemplation and meditation in Franziska's mind.
She was not accustomed to Kurain's traditions, but she could recognize the manor as one befitting the rigorous and ancient practice of spirit channeling, just as Hazakura Temple had been.
All of that was, obviously, in great contrast to the image Franziska had of the now most prominent member of the Fey clan.
With all the elegance befitting the Master of Kurain, keeper and guardian of that sacred spiritual tradition, Maya Fey stumbled into the room, jumping on one foot while she put on her sandal on the other.
"Franziska! I wasn't expecting you so early!" she exclaimed, still slightly out of breath.
"I see that you are well, Maya Fey." Franziska gave Maya a short bow in greeting. "I thought it best not to foolishly waste any time, as I have important matters I need to discuss with you."
"Yeah, that's what you mentioned on the phone the other day," said Maya. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting prodigy prosecutor Franziska von Karma to need my help. Do you need me to channel someone?"
"No. But your assistance might be of great value in the case I am currently investigating on behalf of Interpol." She gestured to the briefcase in her hand, containing her organizer and the case files.
"I see. Well, in this case let's move somewhere more comfortable! I was just about to eat something, anyway. Can I offer you anything? A cup of tea, maybe?"
"If you insist."
With that, Maya Fey led her back into the halls of Fey Manor, to what Franziska assumed were the family's quarters in the back portion of the house. Maya opened a sliding door, revealing an eight-tatami room that overlooked the inner garden. The maple trees outside were starting to redden and a chill, early autumn breeze flew in from the open doors.
A low table was already set with a teapot, cups and an inordinate amount of cookies, mochi and Steel Samurai-themed candies.
The spirit medium plopped down on one of the zabuton cushions in front of the table, threw a couple sweets in her mouth and started pouring the tea. Franziska set her briefcase on the ground and sat cross-legged opposite of Maya, keeping her back straight. She adjusted the whip at her hip so it wouldn't poke her side as she sat.
She took a cup of green tea in her hands when Maya offered it, its warmth seeping through the ceramic and through the leather of her gloves.
"So," Maya Fey talked around the food in her mouth and Franziska tried to repress a shiver. She'd promised her little brother she would try to be polite. "What brings you all the way to a secluded mountain village?"
Franziska took a sip of her tea, before setting it aside. She pulled out a few documents from her briefcase, and placed a picture on the table (on the side not occupied by a mountain of sugary treats) so that Maya could see it. The image showed an old silk scroll, partially unfurled, with delicate characters that had been painted in silver ink many centuries prior. The bright silk ribbon that would be used to fasten the scroll dangled off of the wooden handles.
The other girl leaned forward to get a better look, as Franziska started to explain.
"This is an ancient channeling scroll from the country of Khura'in, which I'm certain you'll be familiar with."
Maya nodded. "That is where our channeling technique is derived from. My ancestor, Ami Fey, was originally from Khura'in before moving to Japan. We came to America only a few generations ago."
"It was stolen from the Khura'inese Royal Palace a few days ago," Franziska continued, "on behalf of what we believe is a third party from a foreign country. Interpol was tasked to investigate the matter."
"What was so important about that particular scroll?" Maya Fey now had a more serious look on her face, all her attention focused on Franziska.
"This is where I hope your knowledge will be of help. This was the only scroll that was stolen from a room full of precious relics and writings. According to the scholars of Khura'in, it tells of an ancient channeling technique called reibaku, though it does not explain how to perform it. This technique is said to grant a great power to whoever practices it, but its use was forbidden by Mystic Ami because of its dangerousness. However, it's unclear what dangers it would pose, exactly." Franziska laid her hands down on the table while Maya mulled over her words.
"I've never heard of it, I'm sorry. There are still many things I don't know about channeling. Growing up me and my sis would have these lessons in the family library about the history of our clan and whatnot, but I always fell asleep halfway through." Maya leaned back again and ate another mochi. "But we could go have a look and see if there's anything there."
Franziska was shocked. It was unimaginable to her how someone could be so indifferent to their education, especially someone in Maya Fey's position.
Growing up, she had begged her father to teach her, and she had considered it an honor to be allowed into his study. It had been her favorite room in the house, with walls covered in dark rosewood shelves filled with law textbooks and encyclopedias; she could feel the importance of that knowledge.
She remembered sitting on his lap as a little kid, not long after Miles Edgeworth had moved in with them. Her father would read case files to her and explain the duty of a prosecutor, to always obtain the perfect verdict no matter the cost. He would ask her questions, and he would compliment her for her understanding of the law at such a young age. Franziska had known at that moment that she would work tirelessly to follow her father's footsteps and become a perfect prosecutor herself.
She'd read most of the books in that room before she turned ten.
Franziska retrieved the picture and placed it carefully in her organizer.
"Let's examine the library," she said, "it's be best to check every possible lead."
The library of Kurain Village was situated just behind Fey Manor in a low, raised building surrounded by a zen garden. Intricate patterns of lines and circles had been raked into the sands, swirling around the trees and the rock compositions that surfaced from those grainy waves.
The interior consisted of a single rectangular room with shelves running along all four walls, filled with tomes and scrolls of appropriate dustiness for their age. Long windows ran along the upper portions of the walls, with blinds to prevent excessive sunlight from damaging the weary fibers of the books. In the center of the room some tables and chairs were available for reading.
Maya sneezed as she entered, effectively signaling her arrival to the librarian.
"Ah, hello Mystic Maya," said Sister Paige, squinting from behind her glasses. Maya had known her since she was born, and in her twenty years of life the nun's appearance had always been identical: that of a short, mousy woman with salt and pepper hair tied into a tight bun, ever-present glasses and a glare that she'd learned could rival that of most prosecutors she now knew.
"Are you here to continue your studies on the 19th century implementation of Western philosophy into—"
"Not today, sorry!" she interrupted, putting on a smile. "We're here to look into something waaay more exciting."
"And what would that be?"
"Forbidden channeling techniques, of course!"
Sister Paige took off her glasses and looked straight at Maya. "I am pleased to see you have been taking your studies more seriously since you officially became the Master of Kurain, Mystic Maya, but I must advise against delving into such topics," Sister Paige moved her eyes to Franziska, "and I must warn you especially about sharing this knowledge with outsiders."
Franziska's hand flew to her whip, but Maya jumped in before the prosecutor could actually prove Sister Paige right.
"Prosecutor von Karma's help was instrumental at Hazakura Temple last winter, Sister Paige," she said, in her best 'I'm the Master now' voice. She didn't need to add the significance of who had been the victim in that case, and she didn't want to. "I trust her with this."
Sister Paige shifted her gaze between the two of them a few more times, before sighing in acceptance. The librarian was one of the few women of the village who could actually out-stubborn Maya on occasions, especially when it came to her books, but this time wasn't one of them.
"Sections 13 through 17 for the origins of the Kurain Channeling Technique and its early precepts, and sections 42 and 54 for ancient channeling practices and other derived techniques respectively. Now if you'll pardon me, I have other matters to attend to."
With that excuse, she picked up a few tomes and glided past them out of the library.
"Well!" Maya clapped her hands together, looking around the room, "time to give these bad boys a read!" She turned to Franziska, who was now staring at her with a weird look. Maya didn't know what she'd done this time to earn it, and elected to ignore it.
She walked to the first shelf that Sister Paige had indicated and started pulling out scrolls at random, when a thought crossed her mind. Maya turned towards Franziska. "Wait, can you read Japanese?" she asked.
"Of course I can," answered the prosecutor, "it is essential for my work with Interpol. However, it took me a few months to learn it perfectly." Franziska grimaced at this admission, clearly irritated about not meeting her personal standards.
Maya blinked twice. "Right," she said, "better start working then."
After a few minutes they had amassed various scrolls and books on one of the tables at the center of the room.
Maya groaned at the prospect. At least there was no way they wouldn't find something in all of those volumes.
"There's nothing here!" cried Maya, five-or-maybe-more hours later. Her eyes hurt from the amber light of the reading lamps, her back ached and she'd caught herself re-reading the same characters four times in the last five minutes. She laid herself over the table, crinkling some papers in the process, and banged her head against the wood.
Franziska, who was still reading a massive leather-bound book with the utmost concentration, looked at her disapprovingly, her mouth pressed in a thin line.
"Don't be a fool, Maya Fey. We only have a few books left, where we will certainly find a mention of reibaku." Even Franziska sounded unsure about it, though.
"You don't know that," she complained, still stretched on the table, "plus, it's way past lunchtime and I'm hungry. Aren't you hungry?" She turned her head and looked sideways at Franziska.
"This is a more effective use of my time," she answered instead, going back to studying the pages in front of her.
"Ugh. This explains why you're always so mean. You're hangry!" Maya jumped up and pointed at Franziska in her best imitation of an 'Objection!', and the prosecutor flinched before a look of utter astonishment passed on her face.
"I'm not— I'm not hangry!" she sputtered, grabbing her sleeve with the other arm and twisting the fabric in her fist. Maya recognized the gesture from court. Take that! she thought.
That settled it: Maya got up, and announced she would be back shortly with food, Sister Paige's ban on eating in the library be damned.
She went back to Kurain Manor, straight to the kitchen, and packed a few onigiri that they could eat while working. On the way back she ran into Pearly, but her little cousin declined her offer to join them, as she didn't want to spend any more time than necessary with "that mean German lady with the whip", in Pearl's words.
She was exiting the manor, jumping down the steps at the entrance (lunch couldn't wait any longer) when a trilling sound startled her. The phone booth on the other side of the road was ringing loudly and Maya wondered who it could possibly be. In the last months she'd been trying to push for a modernization of the Village wherever possible, and that included communications: cell reception was better since a repeater had been installed near Mt. Mitama's summit, and the old payphone was rarely ever used nowadays.
Except…
Maya suddenly remembered, and she slapped her forehead. She'd promised Sister Bikini that she would call her today, but with Franziska being there and all their research she'd completely forgotten. And since she'd left her phone in her room, of course Sister Bikini would try the payphone next!
She ran across the street and answered the call.
"Sister Bikini! Hi!"
"Maya, here you are! I was afraid you'd fallen into the icy waterfall and froze for good this time! Wa ah ah!" The nun's laugh ringed cheerily through the phone receiver.
Maya smiled. Sister Bikini always put her in a good mood (except when she had to go through one of her Special Courses, that is).
"Sorry! Something came up and I had to help on a case."
"Oh, is it that lawyer friend of yours again? Mr. Wright?"
"Nah, it's Franziska. Franziska von Karma," explained Maya.
"The angry one with the whip? Oh my, I hope there wasn't another murder at Kurain!"
"Nope, not yet at least." Maya twirled the receiver's cable around her finger as she answered. "We've just been reading books all morning, I'm beat."
"Ah ah ah! I can feel my back hurt at the mere thought!" replied Sister Bikini with sympathy.
"Hey, maybe you could help us. Do you know anything about a channeling technique called reibaku?"
There was silence on the line for a few moments. When Sister Bikini spoke again, her voice had lost any previous hilarity.
"I don't know what you two are investigating, but I have only heard that term once before. From your mother."
Maya gripped the receiver more tightly. "Please, Bikini. I need to know about this."
The older woman sighed at the other end of the line. "I hope I don't come to regret this," she said. "A few weeks before your mother disappeared, she visited Hazakura Temple for a training session along with another acolyte, a friend of hers. I happened to listen to a private conversation between the two of them—it wasn't my intention to eavesdrop, you must believe me, but the way they were talking surprised me. Sister Calypso sounded scared and she was begging your mother not to do something. Mystic Misty mentioned a reibaku technique at one point, but I don't know what they were referring to. I quickly left after that. I'm sorry, this is all I can tell you."
Her mother. And just before the DL-6 incident, as well. Maya wondered not for the first time if she would ever really understand her.
"Thanks, Bikini," she replied, swallowing down her thoughts. "I've never heard of a Sister Calypso before in Kurain, though."
"Oh, really? She was a good friend of your mother's! They trained together ever since they were little girls. Ho ho ho! I still remember the pranks they used to pull on the other acolytes, those two! Your aunt Morgan couldn't stand them!"
"Do you know where I could find her?"
"Last I heard she was working at Momijigari Temple, in Koyo Valley. It takes a while to get there, but it's beautiful this time of the year!"
Sister Bikini rattled off the directions to the temple, as Maya committed them to memory. They would have to take a car to get there, and it would be quite the long drive.
"I don't know what you're investigating this time, Maya, but please be careful. I don't want anything bad to happen to you again," said the nun at the end. On that gloomy note they said goodbye.
Maya hung up the phone. She looked down at the pack of onigiri she still held in her hand. She wasn't really hungry anymore.
When she arrived at the library Franziska was still sitting at the table, reading. The prosecutor raised her head as Maya laid the food down.
"Maya Fey," she said, "what happened?"
Of course it would've been too much to ask that a freakishly perceptive girl, who had made it her job to investigate and prosecute international crimes, wouldn't notice her sour mood.
"Forget the books," announced Maya. "I know where we need to go."