IC INBOX | cerealia

[prosecutory]

Good day. This is Miles Edgeworth.

I cannot accommodate you at the moment, but please leave a message and I will respond as soon as possible. 

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[prosecutory]

[Edgeworth watches the red-orange bubbles with interest while his own hand continues to crackle and glow.

He gives her a wry grin.]

Your tale would have seemed strange to me as well, had I not seen and experienced stranger things.

Do you fight alongside other soldiers? You mentioned a friend who could revive you.

[faithfulflame]

[They're a bit like fireflies, and they divide up into smaller ones, swarming just like them.]

That's right. I'm Mars, the guardian of that planet. There's one of us for nine of the ten planets in our solar system, as well as for the moon and the moons of Mars. So, at present that's thirteen.

[Yes, she said ten planets.]

Most planets have a guardian like me. The living ones do, anyway.

[prosecutory]

[Edgeworth can't manipulate his power like Rei can - at least, not without touching something or someone and sending a horrific jolt through. So after a while, the energy in his hand simmers down and stops, and it is as if nothing happened.

The ten planets bit is jarring, but he decides to shelve it for now. It was probably a different solar system anyway. Similar to the one he knows, except up to that part.]

How are you chosen to be guardians? Although...I suppose it goes without saying that you would be the guardian of Mars.

What of the others?

[faithfulflame]

[You know, Rei would have sworn there were only 9 planets too. The last one is just hidden, made of dark crystal that refracts light, making it nearly invisible.]

We were born there. On those planets. In the case of our solar system, we were the royalty of those planets. I suppose you could say I'm the queen of Mars, now that my mother is dead. My mother in the past life, anyway. But it's a dead world. Only Earth has life anymore.

The others are all the same. Royal blood of their world's family, with a heart made of crystal like mine.

[prosecutory]

Were some of your enemies the reason why these other planets are dead?

[He feels like he can sympathize with Rei. Not because of the dead planets thing, but because of her continued fight against the gods and beings and whatever to protect the universe. Although in his case, they just needed to protect their own little patch of the world and in so doing, keep the rest of the world safe.]

[faithfulflame]

That is a very long, sad story.

[Rei takes a breath, and drinks a little of the tea she's been letting sit before it cools. That's a good question and she should have expected it.]

The short of it is that the people of Mars, Venus, Uranus, and all the others were killed in a war. In our past life, some time before the first Ice Age a demon that dwelled in the sun managed to incite chaos and brought about the end. And while I and the other guardians revived...the rest of our people did not.

[prosecutory]

[Oh. Ohhhhh.

Edgeworth looks down at his own tea, his brow furrowing. Then he turns to face Rei, sympathy on his face. That could have been the previous world he had been to.]

I'm sorry, Rei.

[He remains silent for a while.]

Did you battle the demon after you revived?

[faithfulflame]

[Rei didn't move, she just stared down into her cup in pensive silence for a moment. The question is answered almost dully, a breath exhaled through her nose.]

Yes, it was the first real enemy we fought. The first time I died, actually, in this life. We destroyed it, utterly. Metallia will not be able to reform.

[prosecutory]

That's good to hear...even though it seems that your job as a soldier is never done. Not even here.

[He finally picks up his cup and begins sipping.]

[faithfulflame]

Is a soldier's job ever truly finished?

[She doesn't seem unhappy about this, at least.]

Edgeworth-san, I guess it's worth saying that in the end? We do achieve peace. We...as a group...unify the Earth, and do away with all the bad things that've happened. Famine, pestilence, war, crime, poverty. That makes it worth it, I think. All the fighting does have an end.

[prosecutory]

[Edgeworth lowers his cup, and the corners of his mouth move up ever so slightly. He closes his eyes for a moment.]

I can't argue with that. That's how I felt when we finally reached the end of a war.

At the very least, I found myself in Cerealia after my mission in Death City was over.

[faithfulflame]

Death City?  Is that seriously the name?  [How morbid.]

[prosecutory]

Yes, that's the name of the city I lived in...and yes, many places in it are also named the same way.

[Deathdonald's, Deathbucks, Edgeworth's favorite pastry place is Death By Pastry, he lived in the Casualty Condominiums...

Yeah.]

[faithfulflame]

That's...quite a name. Any particular reason?

[prosecutory]

This world is ruled by a death god, and there is much emphasis on the concept of souls.

[faithfulflame]

Ah. That's...certainly a reason.

[If an odd one.]

[prosecutory]

In fact, many of the monsters I fought fed on human souls. We would harvest their souls in turn and use them to strengthen our Weapons - the people who were granted the power to turn into, well, weapons.

[And he's stopping short of saying hi, my name is Miles Edgeworth and I committed homicide. Or rather, witch-icide.]

[faithfulflame]

[Ask her how many people she's killed...]

Transform? Do you mean that literally? People actually change shape?

[prosecutory]

Yes, they can. And they have different abilities in their Weapon forms.

[Let's save the body count discussion for another day.]