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pikaschu · 7 years

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okay so au where instead of pretending to be fulbright, the phantom pretends to be athena

the UR-1 incident still happens the same, and then athena ends up in europe living with whoever and getting her attorney’s badge at a young age. phoenix meets the real athena cykes in europe on one of his trips with edgeworth, and invites her to come join the WAA. but the athena who gets off the plane is the phantom in disguise (the game just says the phantom can’t remember anything about who he used to be, so i can’t see why the phantom couldn’t be female instead)

instead of killing athena, the phantom just kidnaps her and holds her hostage somewhere. phantom!athena joins the ranks of the agency under the guise of helping acquit blackquill but really she just wants to get close enough to get the psych profile back (and then she can just ‘reveal’ that it was athena who killed metis like blackquill worries, and leave the real athena to take the fall and serve jail time)

the climax of the game (the reveal of the phantom’s identity) would’ve had much more of an impact on me personally if i’d spent the game getting to know this new protagonist character only to turn out that it was really the big bad the whole time. the way the ace attorney series has been written so far makes us set up to trust the members of the WAA. they get accused of murder (maya, phoenix, trucy) and the player knows that they didn’t do it, that they must be innocent. having 5-4 end with athena getting accused of murder and then having it actually turn out to be her as the culprit (or the phantom pretending to be her anyway) would’ve messed with the game formula in the same way that 2-4 messed with the player always assuming the client must be innocent and 4-1 subverted the tutorial case status quo of revealing the killer at the start and by having the first witness not be the killer

and then real athena cykes is brought in at the climax to testify and the truth comes out about the UR-1 incident and the rest of the game. after it’s all over phoenix invites her to join the WAA if she still wants to. aa6 still happens basically the same, except her seeming like a beginner again in 6-4 actually makes sense. athena can take the spotlight in aa7 and come into her own as a lawyer. we’d get a game of her dealing w what happened when she was younger w her mother, and what happened when the phantom kidnapped her. she’d gain confidence in her own abilities and become a kickass lawyer in her own right instead of the comic relief side lawyer they wrote her as in aa6

(aa5 is my least favourite game in the series, and it makes me sad that i dislike it bc it had so much potential. it could’ve been amazing? but instead we got a game of weird writing choices and too many new characters we weren’t really given a reason to care about)

i’ve only played dd all the way through once so excuse me vagueing my way through the exact story details

so 5-1 and 5-2 play out the same way. i don’t really have an explanation for why the phantom would be faking being athena in her inner monologue but w/e, we’ll just chalk it up to story and gameplay segregation or something

apollo has never met athena before so he has no reason to suspect anything is wrong w her in 5-2 when they first meet

5-3 is where the player starts to wonder if there’s something athena is hiding

juniper was her best friend, even if they haven’t seen each other in years, so maybe phantom!athena makes a comment about a childhood memory but gets a detail wrong and juniper is like ‘oh that’s not how i remember it’ but brushes it off

widget doesn’t always match what emotion athena’s feeling in dd, so what if this is b/c widget can sense something is wrong bc this isn’t the real athena

it would be interesting to replay this after the ~reveal~ and spot the points where something is obviously wrong

the phantom gets juniper declared innocent bc she’s playing the long game and what better way to convince everyone she’s really athena

apollo spends the whole game increasingly feeling like there’s something...off about athena

his abilities keep trying to tell him she’s lying but he can’t tell what about b/c i mean why would he suspect she’s a fake

it comes to a head in 5-4 after clay’s murder, so he puts the eye patch on etc

when phoenix runs into juniper at the space station, she mentions about how something seems weird about athena and her being...different from how juniper remembers her but she can’t quite put her finger on what’s wrong

phantom!athena swearing she hasn’t met clay before, b/c she’s not the real athena so she has no idea if they ever met or not

the trial still has the wham moment of realising who the phantom is (in the game it’s aura’s line about the detective telling her to lower the ladder but it would be slightly different here) except it’s an even bigger wham bc it’s this character you’ve spent the whole game getting to know

phoenix’s inner monologue guilt over not realising that the real athena was in danger or that anything was wrong

when blackquill is cleared and gets to be the case prosecutor, edgeworth leaves to go gather evidence on the phantom or w/e

fulbright is the red herring in the game, blackquill suspects him as the phantom so he’s blindsided by the athena reveal

phantom!athena is on the stand while edgeworth’s team ends up coming across the real athena where she’s being held

this leads to the classic ace attorney moment of someone (edgeworth) dramatically bursting into the courtroom

with him he has the real athena

she testifies and helps out the defense, phoenix and apollo are determined to help her and clear her name even if technically they don’t know her bc they’ve spent the last few months thinking they were getting to know athena cykes

also i have this mental image of athena’s sprite but she’s huddled in edgeworth’s big coat

it comes down to the thing w/ the moon rock earring, except the phantom thinks she’s won bc she knows her earring is a fake. the real athena has the actual earring though and she gives it to phoenix to present as evidence

the obligatory scene in the court lobby after the trial has them talking w the real athena

phoenix apologising for not realising she was in danger

athena thanking him and apollo for fighting her corner anyway

apollo is awkward w her b/c someone w her face killed clay but the real athena is innocent of any of that and also just helped save their asses in court and get justice for clay

phoenix offers her a place at the WAA if she still wants it

trucy helps persuade her to stay (‘i need a good assistant for my magic show’ and telling her they need more girls around the office)

the post credits scene is a few months later on a typical day in the WAA after athena has found her feet and she fits right in

the dlc for dd is the same except it’s set after the game and it involves phoenix as the defense and then athena is the assistant and it’s phoenix bonding w the real athena and being a total dad to her

aa6 happens pretty much the same

maybe we get a bit of insight into how athena is coping w everything that happened

when she and apollo investigate together in 6-2 it’s nice b/c they’re slowly bonding and become close friends after everything that the phantom!athena did in aa5

when they go down to the part of the theatre under the stage, maybe athena freaks out bc it reminds her of where the phantom held her and she tries to put on a brave face but apollo sees through it and helps comfort her and calm her

she then does the same for him when they go up high and he’s terrified of heights

the entire case is a nice bonding moment for them while they work together to save trucy

she really admires apollo as a lawyer and he’s really come to value her as a friend

apollo’s inner monologue when he looks over at athena is just him thinking about how strong she is and what a great lawyer she’s gonna be

her helping save the office really helps her feel like part of the family

athena regressing as a lawyer and seeming like a beginner again in 6-4 actually makes sense

it’s one of her first cases as lead

and her first case w out either phoenix or apollo

apollo tells her he believes in her as trucy drags him off to be her assistant

athena has a shaky beginning but ends up getting the correct verdict and helping her client

blackquill is pretty shitty to her in that case w how rough he is w her, but maybe in his mind he feels super guilty about not realising phantom!athena wasn’t the real athena, and while the real athena now tries to bond w him he tries to distance himself from her so she won’t be in danger again bc of him

this is something that can be brought up to deal w in aa7 aka athena cykes: ace attoney, they can find a balance where he still gets to be her protective big brother figure but she also makes it clear to him that she’s a perfectly capable adult and doesn’t need to be coddled

phoenix insisting athena isn’t allowed to be in the courtroom in khura’in in 6-5 is b/c he doesn’t want to put her in danger again

she’s kind of put out but she understands this is apollo’s fight

apollo still leaves at the end of the game, meaning athena gets to step into the spotlight

we lead into athena cykes: ace attorney

she’s getting more responsibility at the agency which is good but she still feels kind of lost bc yeah she got justice for her mother and she helped blackquill (which was her reason for becoming a lawyer) but she did it from the sidelines mostly

she gets to bond w other characters by having a different assistant each case (trucy, ema, phoenix, blackquill, etc.) (maybe even klavier who just keeps moping about missing apollo)

phoenix is busy w something else for a lot of the game (jurist system stuff?? fixing the law system again?? who knows) and so athena is the agency’s main lawyer for day to day stuff

let athena meet gumshoe please

athena and edgeworth bonding

a new female prosecutor who athena has a great dynamic with

bring back franziska too and phoenix is kind of put out that franziska immediately takes a liking to athena

we get to see athena grow through her own pov

the final case of the game is apollo coming home and literally getting accused of murder the second he gets off the plane

optional sibling reveal tie in during this case where athena has to figure out how to break it to apollo

athena doesn’t think she can handle defending her friend yet and so hands the case to phoenix at the start

she’s the co-counsel for the first trial day but then things happen and she has to take over as the main lawyer

she figures out the culprit and unmasks the big bad of the game on her own, helping apollo and getting him declared innocent

she’s in a much more confident place than she was at the start of the game

apollo tells her he wasn’t worried bc he knew he was safe in her hands

basically phoenix is still important to the new trilogy (aa5/aa6/aa7) but the overarching story isn’t his, it’s athena’s

this signifies that phoenix has moved onto a mentor role, and the baton has been passed to the second generation of the WAA

capcom please hire me i have a lot of thoughts

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everythinggodofwar · 5 years

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The Treasure of Koninsgard (part 8)

The day everything changed...

The warm morning sun trickled through a crack in the wall of the shoddy old cabin in the middle of the woods where Sigyn slept. She blinked her foggy eyes and groaned when the ray of sun hit her face and woke her up from her peaceful slumber.

With a still-numb hand, she rubbed her eyes to get rid of some of the film over them. Finding it tiresome to move, she just rested her palm over her eyes to block out the sun and tried to relax.

It was a lovely spring morning. She heard the sound of morning birds singing to each other and the gentle hum of the wind through the trees. She enjoyed those sounds.. She enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the bright colors of the forest especially in the spring when wildflowers bloomed and the trees were a fresh shade of green. She didn’t get to see much of that while she lived in the realm between realms; there, everything was the same boring color of blue or purple or white. Even inside their old home where mother and Dagny had created enchanted bifrost windows that showed all sorts of places and even a garden with a dome over it to make it look like the outside world, it was hard not to feel trapped, like there was nothing else out there beyond the front doors.

Midgard was much more beautiful, and it seemed safe enough. Sigyn couldn’t quite understand why they hadn’t come to Midgard way sooner.

As she came to, she looked over to her mothers side of the cabin to see an empty bed. She scanned the entire room to see if she could find her, but no such luck. She sighed and, with and inhuman grunt, sat up in her bed. Mother was always gone..

She threw the blankets to the side and swung her legs over the side of the bed, allowing her bare feet to graze the cold stone floor. As much as she hated boring days like this would be, she knew it was time to get up and start the day.

She looked around the cabin for something to do. There was a shelf full of books to read, a chest full of toys and games, and a journal mother had made for her to draw in, but despite all this Sigyn couldn’t find a single thing in there that interested her. What she really wanted was to go outside and explore; she knew that was against the rules, though. If mother wasn’t there she had to stay inside, but mother was hardly ever there..

She groaned as she hopped out of bed and felt the cold ground against the bottoms of her feet. A small piece of paper with some writing scribbled on it sat on the table where Sigyn and her mother usually ate. She rubbed her eyes and made her way over to read it.

“Hunting. Will be back by sunset.” The note read in Mother’s handwriting.

Sigyn sighed and set it back down. Not surprising. Mother was always “hunting,” though she hardly ever brought anything back. It had been a solid two weeks since they had had a decent meal. All mother usually came back with was berries -which were few and far between- and ingredients for potions. Sigyn wondered if “hunting” was just an excuse for her mother to get away from her. Sometimes she wondered if someday her mother would just leave and not come back at all.

Ever since Dagny had banished them, mother had been so distant. She hardly ever talked to Sigyn anymore and when she did the conversations were short and awkward. They used to be close-at least closer than they were now. Sigyn wondered what could have happened between her and Dagny that could have been so bad that it ruined her relationship with her daughter.

She just shook her head in disappointment made her way over to the bookshelf to see if there was anything interesting- though she already knew exactly what was there.

“Hmm..” she scanned the disorganized books lining the tattered bookshelf in hopes of something catching her eye. She had already read pretty much everything they had, and the things she hadn’t read she really didn’t have much interest in..

The Legends of Beowulf? No.

History and Lineage of the Pharoahs? Definitely not.

Her eyes stopped at the stupidly large book simply titled “Greece and its Gods.” She pondered this one. She hadn’t read that one yet, and mother would be happy to know she was using her time to study another culture. Plus she had always liked hearing about the Greek gods whenever she could. She didn’t know much about them, so it could be interesting..

After a moment of pondered she made up her mind and pulled the book off the shelf. She plopped it down on the dinner table and took a seat.

She didn’t think she would enjoy it so much, but after a couple hours of page after page after page, she realized she was very interested. The book began with a lineage chart of the gods, which she briefly glanced over but quickly decided was too long to read diligently. The book had four sections. The first section had maps and historical information about the land of Greece and the surrounding areas. The second section held a description of each of the significant gods. Her favorite one so far was Athena.. The third section held a whole bunch of interesting stories and tales about them.

The book seemed to be working its way up to some major event. She supposed she would have to keep reading to see what that was. When she reached the end of the second section she turned the the beginning of the third section with an obvious excitement.

This section was just titled, “The Ghost of Sparta.”

Just before she could begin, she was interrupted by her mother bursting through the door in a panic.

“Sigyn!”

“What??” Sigyn retorted, slightly frightened by the sudden outburst.

“Thank the gods.” Alva ran to Sigyn and wrapped her arms tightly around her. “You’re still here.”

“Of course I am!” Sigyn retuned the embrace but not without confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“We have to go.” Alva let go and ran to her bed to grab her important belongings that she hid underneath. “Grab your coat.”

“What? Why? What’s going on?” Sigyn just stared in shock at her mother as she hustled around the cabin to grab whatever was important.

“We’re not safe here anymore.”

“Why not? I didnt lose control! Just like you said!”

“I know you didn’t. We just have to go.”

“Where?”

“To Dagny.”

“Dagny? But you said-”

“I KNOW.. what I said...” she sighed. “Your aunt is the only one who can help us.. We don’t have a choice.”

“Is father coming?”

Alva ignored the question. “Get your coat.”

Sigyn stood up begrudgingly and grabbed her coat- not that she thought she needed it in the middle of spring. “Can I bring anything?”

“Only if you really need it.” Alva opened the front door and motioned for Sigyn to hurry. Sigyn took a final look around the cabin; she figured this would be the last time she saw it. With a sad sigh she turned to the door and headed outside.

The sky was dark now. Had she really been reading all day?

Alva clutched Sigyn’s trembling hand and practically dragged her through the forest to the nearest portal to the realm between realms. Once they got there she released her daughter’s hand and, as fast as she could, rummaged around in her bag in desperation to find the key.

Sigyn screamed when a sudden burst of lighting followed by a loud crack of thunder came out of nowhere from behind them. Thor was near. And Odin would be with him.

“Come on. Come on.” Alva muttered in panicked frustration as she continued searching for the key. That lightning had come from where there home was.

“Mother??”

“I got it.” She ripped the key out and held it over the pile of rocks and wood as they formed together to create a door. “Come on.” She snatched Sigyn’s hand again and shoved the door open.

Alva dragged Sigyn through the door, but not before Sigyn glanced back when more lightning lit up the sky to see the silhouette of a giant of a man in the woods behind them.

Alva breathed a sigh of relief when the portal closed behind them, but Sigyn just stood there, frozen, as all the color drained from her face.

“Sigyn?” Alva shook her daughter gently to pull her out of her daze.

She didn’t respond, however,- or so much as acknowledge her mother.

“Sigyn??” She said, more forcefully this time.

Sigyn’s wide eyes darted up to meet her mothers, but she said nothing. She couldn’t.

“Do you have it?”

Sigyn blinked her eyes and forced herself out of her fear induced daze. She nodded and pulled the small wooden bear she was instructed by her mother to always carry in case of emergency out of her coat pocket.

“Good.. You know what to do.”

Sigyn nodded. She knew exactly what to do; mother had taught her repeatedly in hopes of making sure if the time ever came to go back to their old home she could- with or without Alva. With shaky hands, Sigyn twisted the figurine at the middle till it cracked open, revealing a small, hollowed out compartment in which a small black travel stone was hidden. She sat the stone on the ground and whispered, “Stefna.”

The travel stone lit up like a small star and began to spin around faster and faster and faster until it shot up in the air and carved a doorway out of thin air.

Once the stone had finished its job creating the door, it’s light faded, and it dropped to the ground, where Sigyn grabbed it and returned it to its hiding place inside the hollowed wooden bear.

Alva looked around to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Let’s go.” She grabbed Sigyn’s hand with haste and practically shoved her through the portal.

As they passed through the portal and allowed it to disappear behind them, Sigyn looked up at the all-too familiar sight of their old home. At the end of an expansive pathway stood the proud old manor of stone and encompassing world tree branches with its large front doors and billowing towers.

The building itself was a simple square shape, with four towers total -one at each corner of the square. It stood three stories high without a single window-save for the bifrost “windows” inside; inside their were dozens of rooms each with its own specific purpose, whether it be for practicing a specific area of magic or potions or even just for leisure. Even though it had been so long, Sigyn knew every single room and every corner of this place. She was happy to see it again, but part of her wondered if Dagny would even allow them to come back.. She was so angry last time she had seen her.

“Mother..” Sigyn said in barely a whisper.

“Yes?”

“I’m scared.”

Alva looked down at her daughter, at first in shock, but it only took a moment for her eyes to open. For them to really open. It was like it was the first time she had really seen her daughter in so long. For so long she had been blinded by her anger at Dagny that she had allowed herself to grow apart from Sigyn. Now her daughter was frightened and confused beyond repair because she hadn’t been there to help her heal her emotional wounds. She had never meant for that to happen..

Still.. she knew what she had to do.

“Hey.” She smiled and bent down to Sigyn’s level. She gently squeezed her hand and placed her hand on her cheek. “Remember what I’ve always told you?”

Sigyn nodded.

“Say it.”

“I don’t have to be afraid.”

“Why?”

“Because.. because I’m strong.”

“And.. because you have the spirits of your ancestors behind you every step of the way.” She placed her hands on Sigyn’s shoulders to provide some sense of assurance. “Remember that?”

“I remember.”

“Good.” She stood up and took Sigyn’s hand, gently this time. “Let’s go find your aunt then.”

“Okay.”

Together, they made their way up to the front door. Alva hesitated before knocking. She considered the consequences carefully; her and Dagny’s rivalry went back for centuries- from even before they had openly fought- so she knew her sister would demand some sort of compensation in exchange for her help.

Finally, Alva made her decision; she knew what she had to do. She knocked three times to announce her arrival and opened the door.

The two stepped inside. Sigyn looked around at the familiar parlor; large bifrost windows lined the walls, letting some sun in the otherwise dimly lit room, a large staircase directly ahead of them led up to the second story, and a large iron chandelier with magic blue lights instead of candles hung from the high ceiling. On either side of the staircase were two statues of what mother called “guardians”; they just looked like men with armor on and their faces covered by veils. Dagny always said they kept evil away, but Sigyn wasn’t so sure about that.

On the floor in front of the staircase, the three symbols representing the nornir were carved into the floor. Dagny chose to have those there as a reminder of their fate being governed by someone else; though, in her more recent years she seemed to have done away with that idea.. or maybe just the desire to believe in that idea.

“Alva?” Sigyn heard her aunt’s familiar, tranquil voice ring from upstairs. She looked up to see Dagny standing at the top of the staircase with one one pale, bony hand rested on the railing. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t see us coming.” Alva replied coldly, referring to her sister’s ability to see visions.

Dagny chuckled. “I saw many things, sister.” With her usual graceful, almost ghost-like, walk, she began to take steps down the stairs. “But.. that doesn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?”

“You don’t need a vision to know the answer to that.”

“Hm. True.” She took her time walking down the stairs, as to show she has all the time in the world and not a thing to worry about. Once she finally reached their level, she looked down at Sigyn and smiled. “Hello, dear.. I’ve missed you.”

Alva held her arm out in front of Sigyn and moved to stand in between them. “Don’t talk to her.”

Dagny shifted her fiery gaze from her niece to her sister and scoffed. “What have you been filling her head with?”

“I’m only here for one thing, Dagny.”

“Oh!” She laughed humorlessly. “I know! I know exactly what you’re here for.. BUT.. If I recall, I already gave you your answer.”

“She’s my daughter!”

“I told you no!” She was getting visibly more angry. “How many times must we do this, sister? How long before you learn?”

“Mother,” Sigyn began timidly, sensing something was wrong there, “what is she talking about?”

“Sigyn, you remember where your room is, right?” Alva asked, ingoring her previous question.

“Yes, but-”

“Go.” She ordered, never stopping glaring at Dagny. “Your aunt and I have much to discuss.”

“But I-”

“Go!”

Sigyn’s shoulders sunk as her mother stepped away from her and pointed in the direction she wanted her to go. She sighed and started off sulking to her room. Why wouldn’t she be allowed to talk with them? They never told her anything. She always felt like they were keeping secrets from her.

As she neared the hallway that led to her room, she looked back to see her mother and aunt walking up the stairs, whispering to each other. She watched for a moment as they disappeared down a hallway. She knew she should listen and just go to her room like her mother had said, but she was tired of never knowing what was going on. She was tired of never understanding what everyone was talking about. She had been good; she hadn’t used her powers at all since mother told her not to. Surely she deserved to at least know what they were doing.

She made her decision. She ran to the stairs and tiptoed after them. Once she reached the top, she could faintly hear their voices; though it wasn’t loud enough to understand what they were saying. She crept along till she reached the hallway they had gone in, and, ever so carefully, she stuck her head in and peered down the hall. They were still walking through, on their way to their final destination.

“How exactly did he find you?” Sigyn could hear Dagny ask.

“It was my fault..” Sigyn could understand this, but what she said afterward was impossible to hear. What did she mean ‘my fault?’ Sigyn wondered.

“In here.” Dagny opened the door to the one place Sigyn was hoping they wouldn’t go- the only sound proofed room in the house.

Sigyn groaned. That’s inconvenient. She didn’t even know why they had that room; all she knew was that it was enchanted to where no sound escapes it, no matter how hard someone may try to listen in. Of course they would go in there..

Giving up and disappointed, Sigyn crossed her arms around her stomach and sulked down the stairs. Might as well just go to her room.

Once she reached her old room she took a minute to examine it. Carefully, she studied every inch to see if anything had changed. It hadn’t.

Her large canopy bed with the frame that arched overhead hadn’t moved an inch since the last time she’d slept in it. The dresser full of clothes she’d grown out of by now stood by the wall opposite the bed with its arrangement of toy dragons and random trinkets on top still in order. At the far end of the room was a bifrost window with a large cushioned window sill beneath it. The window showed what was, in Sigyn’s opinion, the most beautiful place in all the nine realms: the top of the highest peak in Jotunheim and in all the realms.

Sigyn made her way over to the window and sat down, taking in the view that still as beautiful and calming as the last time she’d seen it. There were no giants in sight today, but that was okay. The view was enough for her.

On one of the cushions was a floppy old stuffed dragon; Sigyn had always liked dragons- or the idea of them at least. She picked up the old toy and hugged it against her chest. She wished she would have brought this with her when she left the realm between realms, but mother hadn’t let her pick out what she could take with.

She took a deep sigh and let herself sink into the cushions. She let the overabundance of pillows surround her as she gave into fatigue. She hadn’t realized how tired she was till then. Apparently reading all day long can really wear a kid out.. that and running for their life from a maniac parent.

“Mrkyr.” She whispered, and the bifrost window darkened, allowing the room to be enveloped in darkness.

She closed her eyes and allowed the fatigue to take over, pulling her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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