Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: The Frigid Melody

The Frozen Court pt. 2

Phoenix rubbed his face with a sigh.

"Okay, we don't have long," he said, picking the dust out of his eyes and leaning against the building's wall. "Please tell me you've got something for us."

"Um, before we do..." Luke shifted on his feet with his hands behind his back. "Dr Wallace?"

"Mm-hm?" was the only sound the doctor made.

"You were so anxious about your bonsai tree, so..."

Luke brought his hands into view, revealing that he was clutching a familiar porcelain pot in his fingers.

"Oh, thank god." Dr Wallace snatched the pot out of the teen's hands and hugged it to his chest. "It was killing me not knowing if it was okay!"

"See, Doc?" said Trucy. "You didn't have to worry about anything! Stefan's doing great!"

"Stefan?" Luke asked with a frown.

"The name he picked for his tree!" Trucy replied. "Cute, right?"

The Professor adjusted the brim of his hat with that familiar friendly smile.

"It's a very beautiful plant, Doctor," he said. "You have every right to be concerned for it."

Dr Wallace ran his fingers over the bonsai tree's branches with the kind of tenderness usually reserved for the gentlest of lovers. The leaves trembled as a cold breeze washed across the hill and he cradled the pot as though it were his child.

"Thank you," he sighed.

Phoenix resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Was it really so hard to keep on track with what they were supposed to be doing?

"At the moment, however," said Layton, "we have far more important things to worry about."

Oh thank god. At least there was one person who knew how to stay focused.

The doctor, however, was frowning.

"Did you dig through my files?" he asked.

Luke tugged at his scarf.

"I hate to admit it," he said, "but we had to."

Phoenix pushed himself away from the wall and straightened up. This godforsaken trial was getting more frustrating by the second.

"I understand that doctor-patient confidentiality is important," he said to Dr Wallace, "and there's probably a whole bunch of legal things about it that I don't know about, because I'm American and an idiot, but this could literally end up being a matter of life and death."

Dr Wallace's eyes seemed to flash with venom for a moment.

"Mr Wright, this day has already been stressful enough," he replied. "I don't need your childish exaggerations on top of everything else."

Phoenix slipped one hand into his pocket so that nobody could see him clenching his fist.

"With all due respect, Doc," he said, "the last time I stood trial in a place like this, they literally threw people into fire pits. What I've seen of these people's feelings towards you has me thinking they aren't that different."

He glanced up at movement in the corner of his eye; Luke was grimacing, clearly uncomfortable at the memories Phoenix had dredged up, and Layton was frowning in accompaniment.

Never mind. They weren't important right now.

"If you don't want to be thrown into..." Phoenix waved his hand, searching for a good comparison. "...I don't know, some kind of ice pit, you'll have to tell us what happened in yesterday's appointment with Mr Oldfart."