Chapter Text
Maya was liable to fall asleep right there in that seat.
They’d arrived at the village at around sunrise (running into and picking up their dropped belongings as they once again crossed the pass), and upon explaining their predicament, the innkeepers permitted them to stay free of charge. But alas, they had to leave after only a few hours so they could catch a train to get back to the capitol. Now, they were on one such train, and through both Mr. Edgeworth’s and Franziska’s connections, they’d all gotten first-class sleeping compartments.
Despite the many luxuries afforded by just that, however, all Maya had been doing since she’d gotten on was just stare out the window from her seat. Now the sun was setting and she was getting very tired.
She almost slipped fully into unconsciousness when a knock at the door woke her up.
“Come in!” She shouted, probably a little louder than necessary, as her head popped up and her eyes went wide.
The door opened and Maya was surprised to see Franziska walk in, wearing a housecoat and bandages on her foot. “Hello,” she said, rather meekly, which was also in and of itself rather surprising. Franziska seemed to be looking at something on Maya’s face.
“Oh! Uh, hi!” Maya quickly realised that she’d been drooling and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Come on in! How’s your foot?”
After several hours of walking, the enormous hole on both the top and bottom of Franziska’s right shoe caused the front half to break right off, and by the time she’d gotten to the village, she’d developed quite serious blistering, in spite of the makeshift sock she made and wore, derived from her bowtie-like cravat thing she always wore at her neck.
“Oh, it’s fine. May I speak to you for a few moments?” She asked, approaching the seat opposite Maya.
“Of course!” Maya replied. “What’s on your mind?”
Franziska started staring out the window as Maya had been, looking off at nothing. “Can you promise not to tell anyone any of this?” She said, almost in a whisper.
“Of course. Scout’s honour.”
Franziska sighed. “This will likely sound quite foolish, but I think you are the only person I can ask about this type of thing.” With that, she began to explain:
“After my father… died and Nosferatu disappeared, I’ve been… feeling things. Sensing things that aren’t really there. It was much stronger in the fortress, and has gotten less so as we’ve gotten away from it, but I can still feel it. They’re not really sounds, or a physical touch, more like…”
“Kinda like when someone is standing close but not quite touching you but you can’t see them, except there’s nobody there?”
“Y-Yes, exactly like that.” Franziska seemed surprised at the specificity of Maya’s answer, and she turned back to look at her. “How did you know?”
Maya shrugged. “Sometimes spirits will come close by like that, and I can detect their presence. Sometimes I can even identify them that way.”
A sudden realisation hit Maya like a freight train.
No… there was no way… Nothing like this had ever happened before.
“Wait,” Maya said, her speech quickening. “You’re sure you’ve never, ever had this beforehand, right?”
“Yes,” Franziska replied, leaning forward a little, seeming intrigued by Maya’s sudden change in attitude.
Could it be? Was such a thing even possible?
There was only one way to find out.
“I have an idea!” Maya said excitedly. She got off her seat and knelt down on the floor, patting the space in front of her while looking up at Franziska. “Come down here with me!”
“W-What are we doing?” Franziska seemed unsure of herself, but she still came down from her seat and knelt opposite Maya.
“Even if this is the case, it still might not work, as even the most talented have to practice before they can do it,” Maya started explaining. “But we’re gonna try and get you to channel a spirit!”
“W-W-What?! I-I can’t do that!” Franziska sputtered.
“Nonsense! And hey; if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.” Maya shrugged. “But at least you can say you tried.”
“B-But what will happen? What if the spirit I channel is violent or I can’t get rid of them?”
“Don’t worry; we’ll try and get you to channel the spirit of my sister; Mia. She’s very kind and gentle, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. Besides, I haven’t had a good talk with her in a while, so this is as much for me as it is for you!” Maya laughed a little.
“Alright… I trust you.” Franziska reluctantly complied. “What must I do?”
“First; put your hands and fingers together like this.” Maya clasped her hands together in the same fashion as she’d done back in the room where Franziska had been restrained. “This is more ceremonial than anything, but tradition is tradition!”
“Alright…” Franziska observed how Maya was doing it and then imitated it herself. After looking down to correct her fingers to the right position, she looked back up at Maya.
“Now, this is the real meat and potatoes; the channeling.” Maya instructed, lowering her voice and speaking more soothingly to help Franziska relax, closing her eyes as she demonstrated the correct position. “Take deep breaths; in through your nose, out through your mouth, and close your eyes with your hands against your forehead. Now, in your mind’s eye, call out to Mia Fey. That name, that person. You’ll feel her presence get closer until it’s like she’s in the room with you. Now this sounds a little creepy, but let her into your body. Don’t be scared; it doesn’t hurt and it’s a totally smooth process, just relax and-”
“I think she’s got the hang of it.”
Maya opened her eyes to see that Mia was already sitting in front of her, albeit with silver-blue hair and a poorly fitting housecoat, which she adjusted to the best of her ability.
“Holy cow, that was fast!” Maya exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise.
“No kidding; I’ve never heard of someone who could channel a spirit on their first try. Not even mom was able to do that. She's extremely talented.” Mia crossed her arms, seeming quite impressed with the prosecutor’s performance.
“So, this means…” Maya’s voice trailed off.
“That’s right,” Mia answered the unfinished question.
“So… what should she do? What should I do?”
“Take her to Kurain Village with you; teach her everything you know.”
Maya tilted her head to the side a little. “You really think that’s a good idea?”
“Why not? She may not be a Fey, but she’s obviously very spiritually sensitive, and that kind of talent is a rarity. Plus, being the first person to be born not able to channel spirits and then being able to do so later in life might yield some interesting other effects. I think you two will have a lot to discover and learn about. You could advance the art of spirit channeling quite a lot together.”
“I think you’re right,” Maya said with a smile. “I’ll pitch the idea to her.”
“Then I won’t keep you any longer,” Mia replied. “It sucks we can’t chat more, but if she decides to come with you, then I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing each other quite a lot in the near future.”
“Sounds good to me!” Maya was excited already. “See you later, sis!”
“Take care, Maya.”
Mia gave her a last smile as the connection was severed. When Maya blinked, Franziska was herself again; head bowed forward and unconscious. She quickly shot upright and sucked in a gasp as she quickly woke up. “What happened?! Did I faint?! I- I think I lost consciousness.” Franziska’s eyes were wide with shock and confusion, and although Maya should have probably broken the news a little more gently, she couldn’t help but get excited.
“Congratulations, Franziska!” She exclaimed, throwing up her arms. “You’re a spirit medium!" She leaned forward a bit, dropping her hands to her hips. "And better yet; you’re the first spirit medium in history to be born not a spirit medium and then become one! And you’re the only one that either I or Mia know of who was able to channel a spirit on their first try!”
Franziska slowly looked down at the ground as she brought up her hands to her temples. “This… this is unbelievable. I… I don’t know how to react to this.” She looked up at Maya. “What should I do?”
“Come to Kurain Village with me!” She couldn’t help lifting her arms up in excitement again. “You’ll have so much fun, it’s great there! I’ll teach you everything I know! You’re super talented; you’ll be a master in no time!”
“I… I don’t know. I have responsibilities with INTERPOL, I have an entire career to worry about. Depending on how long I’m there, it might throw everything off…”
“Aww, come on!” Maya pouted, trying the old puppy-dog-eyes strategy. “Pleeeeeeeeeeease?”
Franziska stared at her for a few moments. For a second or two, she seemed steadfast in her doubt of the idea, but the fight soon drained from her expression. “… Alright. I’ll come with you.”
Works every time.
“Woohoo!” Maya pumped her fists in the air, then placed a hand on Franziska’s shoulder. “Welcome to the Fey Clan!” She narrowed her eyes as she acquired a big grin. “… Mystic Franziska.”
“That’s… going to take some getting used to.”
“Well, you’d better get used to it; it’s tradition!” Maya half-joked. “But don’t worry about that too much; you’ll get your own Magatama and set of robes and you’ll be all spiffed up. It’ll be lots of fun!”
Franziska looked up and down at Maya’s attire. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Oh, don’t you worry; we’ll make you look good and sharp!” Maya assured, shaking Franziska’s shoulder a bit. “You’ll see!”
“Well, I think I will head to bed now.” Franziska said, standing up without acknowledging the idea of 'looking good and sharp'. “Thank you for your insight, and… I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow!” Maya waved back.
With that, Franziska walked out, shutting the door behind her.
Getting up, Maya got dressed into her PJs and jumped into bed, catching a quick glimpse out the window as she did.
Quite a lot had happened in the last few days. There’d been a lot of hardship, but in the end, everything turned out for the best. Everyone came home in one piece, they’d all conquered a fear or an insecurity, and now Franziska von Karma was an immensely talented spirit medium and was coming with Maya to Kurain Village. Overall, things had turned out quite well.
Just like the luminous night sky, which Maya watched with fluttering eyes as she slowly drifted off to sleep.