Nightmare § 9

[prosecutes]

Warnings: One very scary little girl.
Dream Effect: Fear and humiliation. Then more fear.

"You must be exhausted from such a long flight, Miles," a stern-sounding man announces as he walks down a long hallway, not even bothering to look back and face the person he is speaking to. "You will refrain from sleeping until it is your proper bedtime. Understood?"

A gloomy child of no older than ten walks behind his adoptive father silently, carrying a small suitcase in his hands. Inside is all that remains of his old life. "Yes, sir," he answers.

The rest is a blur until they arrive at their destination. Once the door is opened, Miles stares at the room, mouth agape. A bright sea of saturation immediately floods his eyes: pastel pink carpeting, rose-colored walls, fuchsia curtains and various other shades of pink decorating the dark burgundy furniture. Miles rubs his eyes, blaming what he sees on the sleep deprivation from the trans-continental flight. It can't be right.

"This was my elder daughter's room," Manfred mentions impassively. "You will stay here."

A few brief and uneventful flashes later, another memory of that room springs up. It has not changed much, but the furniture has all been rearranged to resemble a courtroom. The spectator benches are filled with stuffed animals and various dolls. A large stuffed giraffe sits at the judge's bench. The defense attorney is a frightening-looking clown with a missing eye and tiny bite marks all over his hands. A three-year-old Franziska sits proudly at the prosecutor's bench. Miles is the defendant.

"The prosecution will prove today, without a doubt, that the defendant, Miles Edgeworth, is guilty of being a foolish fool," the girl proclaims articulately, taking considerable pauses where necessary and with as much authority as she can muster at her young age. It's clear that she has spent time practicing this particular statement. With arms crossed and his brows furrowed, Miles isn't happy about the way their game is going. He looks up at Franziska briefly to see her glaring daggers in his direction.

"What?" he asks.

"It's the defense attorney's turn. Make him talk."

"But it's so humiliating."

"Miles Edgeworth, you promised!"

"No, I didn't."

"Do it or I'll tell papa you were being mean!"

Rolling his eyes, Miles speaks out in a high-pitched voice. "The defense will prove that these allegations are false." His voice returns to normal. "There, happy now?"

Franziska's sharp gaze softens considerably as she stares at Miles. For what seems like the first time since he's met her, she appears to resemble a normal child of her age. Confused and uncertain, she bites down on her lower lip as she attempts to understand what Miles has just said. When no explanation can be found in her limited vocabulary, she has no choice but to ask why he chose that particular word. "...Alligators?" she asks quietly.

"No, allegations," Miles answers. "It means assertions made with little or no proof. Accusations."

The girl sniffles. She looks down at her bench, unable to come up with a retort. With a frustrated moan, she rubs her eyes with the back of her hand. Miles can't just let her stand there and cry. He gets up from his bench and walks over to her to try and calm her down.

And just like that, Franziska is back to her usual frightening self. In fact, she looks absolutely furious. Whether it's at Miles knowing a word she doesn't or at herself for not knowing what the word was, it does not matter: all the anger will be redirected at Miles in either case. "Foolish fool!" she screams. "Who said you could leave your place? Bailiff! Arrest him right now!"

The panda doesn't move.

Suddenly deciding to take matters into her own hands, Franziska goes over to the 'bailiff' and snatches his jumprope. "Foolishly foolish fooly fool!!" she shrieks as she runs toward Edgeworth, flailing the jumprope above her head.

Miles runs for his life.

----------------------------------

[Obviously still very sleepy, he mutters something unintelligible before shutting off the Dreamberry.]

Comments

1/3

[perfektioniert.livejournal.com]

[Franziska rarely wastes her valuable time viewing the foolish dreams of Somarium's population of fools. What is there to gain from witnessing these utterly pointless scenes? What reason would she have to actually learn about the residents here?

However, seeing the name of one Miles Edgeworth pop onto the screen of her Dreamberry is more than enough to tease at her curiosity. It's an insight into the mind of her brother that she's rarely had in all their years together. What sort of things does he dream of?

Though her finger rests for quite sometime on the keypad of her small phone, she finally decides to play the dream, her expression completely casual and mostly bored as it begins.]

2/3

[perfektioniert.livejournal.com]

*CRACKCRACKCRACK*

3/3

[perfektioniert.livejournal.com]

[The dream was not what the young woman had been expecting.]

MILES EDGEWORTH! You FOOLISHLY FOOLISH FOOL leaving your FOOLISH dreams open for the FOOLS of this place!!!

1/3

[prosecutes]

[Reflexes command that Miles backs away as soon as he hears the sounds of the whip cracking.]

2/3

[prosecutes]

[...Wait. Dreamberry. Riiiiiiight.]

3/3

[prosecutes]

(She hasn't really changed all that much since then, has she?)

[Fortunately, even though he woke up not long ago, he's already dressed and awake enough to form a coherent response.]

Calm down, Franziska. I have no way of changing the privacy settings on this device. There is nothing that can be done about it.

[scientize.livejournal.com]

[Naomi and Miles have not had the smoothest relationship since returning to their 'real' selves. As much as she may try to ignore it, there's an awkwardness between them that even she is having trouble shaking away.

But this dream, despite the underlying emotions from him, brings a soft smile to her face. She had never been anywhere near such a terror to her own adopted brother, but she doubted it had been a walk in the park either.]

What a little treasure she is.

[prosecutes]

['Awkwardness' is an understatement. Miles found it strange when Naomi insisted on calling him by his first name and acting as though they've truly known each other for a long time. Yet as with most of the other annoyances he must deal with, eventually comes resignation. Naomi is by no means anywhere near as frightening as a certain Wendy Oldbag, at least.

Despite the feelings evoked by the dream and recalling the memory, Miles refuses to speak ill of his little sister and defends her without pause.]

She grew up to become a fine prosecutor.

[scientize.livejournal.com]

[Naomi certainly hadn't meant the comment negatively.]

Yes, I'm well aware. But it must be enjoyable to work so closely with family.

[zerointegrity.livejournal.com]

Looks as if you started your law career at a quite an early age. I suspect, after having such extensive training for a good majority of your life, you are quite the formidable opponent in a courtroom.

[prosecutes]

[By the time Lelouch answers, Miles is having his morning tea. He raises an eyebrow at the response at first, questioning whether the young man is being serious or sarcastic. Yet despite how bad the dream made things look, what Lelouch said is very much true.]

That would be correct.

[sip]

However, what you observed in the dream is by no means a shining example of preparation for the bar exam.

[zerointegrity.livejournal.com]

As a student interested in politics and the Britannian government, I would love to see you performing at your highest capability. Maybe hear about some of the famous trials you've been a part of and the methods you used to prepare for your exams... everything sounds quite fascinating. A child as audacious as the one I witnessed moments ago is bound to become one of the top attorneys of his time.

[katona-sziv.livejournal.com]

[Hungary can't help but giggle a bit although it's more out of pity.]

She seems very lively.

[prosecutes]

[Random strangers are laughing at him now? How humiliating.]

She always has been, yes.

[katona-sziv.livejournal.com]

Children are meant to be.

Is she like that now?

[lshikawajuusan.livejournal.com]

[He does not know what to make of the unusual dream - it seems awkwardly personal. So here, have someone who is not laughing at your expense.] ...Mn. Children can be cruel.

[prosecutes]

[Well, this person isn't laughing. Edgeworth supposes that's an improvement, at least. He nods.] You've had similar experiences yourself?

[ishikawa-juusan.livejournal.com]

Not exactly.

Many years ago, I lived at a dojo with other young uchideshi. There were always a number of students who sought to hurt or annoy you, or otherwise get you into trouble outside of practice.

[hunt-jackals.livejournal.com]

...Charming girl.

[It actually kind of made him glad he wasn't raised with siblings. That and the fact that if he and Snake were raised together, one of them would've been dead before their seventh birthday.]

[prosecutes]

[Franziska may be a scary girl with similar issues of wanting to assert her superiority, but at least she's never tried to kill Miles.]

Sibling rivalry can reach frightening levels, unfortunately.

[hunt-jackals.livejournal.com]

I'm very much aware, believe me.

[If he and Snake had been raised together, one of them would've been dead before they reached ten years old.]

[chose-death.livejournal.com]

[Damn frightful child. One of those that probably should have been given a good lash of discipline at that ripe young age. Girlhood in the convent may have fixed up that girl.

....

May have. To say he doesn't think her capable of honor, honesty, and respectability would be a grave understatement.

Javert is admirably restrained, his tone very slow and level, though his eyes betray his true emotion. Even the fear emanating from Edgeworth's dream is not enough to override the Inspector's strength of feeling.]

Pleasant fellow, wasn't he?

[As much as he would enjoy delivering a biting comment about the girl, he refuses to verbally acknowledge Franziska and instead focuses on Manfred.]

It is a shame.

[prosecutes]

[Mmm, tea.

Miles answers Javert's ironic statement with a dry response, one severely devoid of emotion.]

Indeed... he was a great inspiration to criminals everywhere.

[Action] 1/2

[evilkoala]

[And he thought 7 year old Myrtle Evans was frightening. He recognizes the girl in the dream as Franzsika and he's pretty sure he had met her when he was moonlighting as a police dog. Unfortunately, the memory is rather fuzzy now.]

Eck. Scary little girl.

[Action]

[evilkoala]

[After turning off the Dreamberry, Stitch looks up at Miles and asks rather candidly:]

Can Stitch bite her?