Chapter Text
Diego Armando is a broken shell of the man he once was, but there’s still hope that he can be put back together. He had the fortune of being saved by another man, somebody who he had believed to be his enemy; Phoenix Wright. He’s the one who put him in prison in the first place, but there were no hard feelings about it. Phoenix saved him from further descending into the Hell that he claimed to have escaped from. Even though Diego had to sacrifice a person’s life, he deserved to be saved and reconciled. He had to be saved from this vengeful persona that was ‘Godot’, because he wasn’t the man that he truly was — Godot was a lonely and hateful being that was slowly but surely taking over his soul; it’s something that Mia would’ve hated to see. Phoenix gave him the chance to throw away that identity and return to his true self… even if Diego still felt like that a huge part of himself is forever gone.
Once he had completed his prison sentence, he actually had somebody waiting for him… the very man who brought his magnificent vengeance into fruition. It was strange to be welcomed back with open arms. He never thought he would have anybody waiting for him ever again, especially not after that unforgettable crime he’d committed.
Phoenix had offered him a place at the Wright Anything Agency as an assistant — that’s what he called it now — but Diego did not feel ready for that kind of commitment yet. He lived on his own for a few years, serving coffee at a local bar; giving himself some time to figure out what he wanted to do next.
Then a few years later, Edgeworth offered him a place at the prosecutor’s office, informing him that his sense of justice would be a huge help in fixing the broken legal system. The amount of prosecutors in the office were running thin, due to the so-called “Dark Age of the Law.”
Diego was intrigued by his offer, so he accepted. Even though he preferred the other side of the courtroom, he had to admit that his role as a prosecutor was very short-lived; so he figured it was worth a shot to give it another go. With Edgeworth pulling a few strings, he was allowed to be a prosecutor again — despite his criminal record. The prison system was surprisingly good at getting inmates and ex-cons back on their feet, supplying them with support for future careers. Edgeworth had a hand in helping those who wanted to get back into law, and so he helped Diego.
Phoenix even allowed Diego to live in the same apartment as him once he made that decision. The two drew close over the years, especially given the struggles they both had.
After months of taking cases, Diego was slowly getting his passion back. He often took cases against Phoenix and his colleagues. Diego was so good at handling cases that it almost felt like he never left the law at all. He still had this desire to test Phoenix’s prowess and he wants to see how he passed down Mia’s legacy through newer generations. He’s not vengeful anymore, he’s just curious and likes being a bit competitive.
His new life wasn’t 100% perfect though, he still had his drawbacks. His health was far from stable. He still relies on his visor for vision. Not only that, but he needs to take a concerning amount of medicine every day. There was the usual pain relief and antidepressants, but now he needs to take anti-hallucination pills. This problem started ever since he saw Mia’s spirit by Phoenix’s side, and with the stress of being in a lonely prison cell for a few years, it only became worse. Even if it was a cause for concern, Diego needed to hear Mia’s voice in his head, it brought him a sense of comfort.
Only Phoenix knows about the hallucination issue, and it does concern him to a certain degree. Diego doesn’t want anybody else to know about it so Phoenix promised to keep quiet. Maya and Pearl stayed in contact with him ever since his arrest, and they already know about his broken down body because of the poisoning incident and why he had to wear a mask, but they didn’t know the extent of how bad his health actually was; especially not his hallucination problems.
He also has a lot of trouble remembering things sometimes. There’s random memory lapses that just hit him out of nowhere. Most of the time they aren’t too bad; instances where he just loses his train of thought, but other times he forgets too much. Trucy — Phoenix’s daughter — witnesses this at home every now and then. She notices Diego stressing out, forgetting where he puts things, and even forgetting things that happened five minutes prior.
Sometimes Trucy would ask her dad about it. “What’s wrong with him? Is he okay?” she asked, but Phoenix could only respond with “We all have days like these. It happens…” until it slowly turned into “It’s a long story…”
Trucy was just left confused and a little worried, but she decided not to question it further.
While living with Phoenix and his daughter, Diego felt like he was part of a family. It felt like he belonged somewhere. He was shocked when he first found out that Phoenix had a daughter. People several years younger than himself were already moving on with life much faster than he was. Everyone else was moving forward while he was just frozen in time. He was like a human artefact for everyone to gawk at. It made him feel so inferior.
But even so, Trucy treated Diego as if he were her other dad; she even started calling him Papa. This wasn’t a position he thought he would ever experience, or deserve, but he greatly appreciated it nonetheless. Trucy loves showing Diego her magic tricks. He was genuinely entertained each time he watched; however he was very concerned when she first showed him her magic panties — he wondered if Phoenix raised her right.
Eventually, one day, during a trial… a scary and unforgettable event took place. Phoenix and Diego were working on a case against each other. Diego led with compelling arguments and had hard evidence… but something unexpected happened while he was in the middle of explaining something.
The judge banged his gavel. “Prosecutor Armando, please explain to the court the significance of this evidence.”
“The fingerprints left on the knife only belonged to the defendant and the victim. There were no other traces found at the…” Suddenly Diego went completely out of it and lost his train of thought. He stared blankly at the knife for a solid minute until someone snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Prosecutor Armando? Your evidence?” the judge asked with a confused expression on his face.
Phoenix looked across at him and immediately knew that something was wrong. Diego was clearly becoming more and more stressed. “Your Honor! I humbly request a recess! Just for ten minutes. I think… he needs a quick break to collect his thoughts.”
Feeling lenient, the judge nodded. “Very well. The court will now take a ten minute recess. Mr. Armando, please prepare your evidence during that time.” He slammed his gavel.
Diego sat in the prosecutor’s lobby, still clearly out of it. Phoenix and Trucy decided to check up on him while they had the time. Phoenix sat next to him on the sofa. “Hey, are you alright?” he asked, touching his shoulder. “You look dazed…”
Diego was rapidly losing his memory. He was so confused when Phoenix sat so close to him. “Why… Why is he sitting so close to me?” he thought. Then when he suddenly felt Phoenix’s hand on his shoulder, he flinched and hissed at him aggressively. “Don’t fucking touch me, Trite!”
Phoenix gasped at his sudden bitter remark. He covered Trucy’s ears because his fatherly instincts told him to. “Diego… what’s wrong? You haven’t called me Trite in a long time.”
Diego winced. “H-How…?”
“Huh?”
“How do you know my name…?”
Phoenix looked heavily concerned. “W-What?”
“I never… How do you know this!?”
“Arman—” He interrupted himself, deciding to go back to his other name. “Godot! Calm down…”
Trucy moved Phoenix’s hands away from her ears. “Daddy? Papa? Is everything alright?” she asked as she looked at Phoenix and Diego.
The prosecutor was completely baffled by Trucy’s question. It felt like she was referring to him as her “papa”, but how could that be? He had no idea who she was.
Phoenix got up and whispered to her. “Ah… I think he’s having another one of those brain farts again. Let me handle this.”
Trucy nodded and stepped back while Phoenix tried to sort this problem out.
Diego was looking around the lobby being completely confused. Himself, Phoenix and Trucy were the only ones in the room so that could only mean that Phoenix and himself were Daddy and Papa. “I… I don’t understand… What did you just call me?”
“Papa?” Trucy said as she tilted her head with a bit of worry.
Diego shook his head. “I-I’m not your Papa…”
“Well… I guess not… but…”
“Godot…” Phoenix interrupted. “Don’t you remember? It’s been three years since you and Trucy met…”
“What are you talking about? Who’s Trucy?”
Phoenix stared at him for a second and then sighed. “Okay, this is worse than I thought…”
Suddenly Detective Gumshoe entered the room. “Hey, pals! Is everything okay?”
Phoenix shook his head, the expression on his face became serious. “Not at all. Actually, can you do me a favor?”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Can you ask the judge to continue the trial tomorrow? Mr. Armando is not in any state to prosecute right now and a ten minute recess isn’t going to cut it.”
Gumshoe nodded. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do!”
After several minutes of waiting, Phoenix’s request got accepted.
“Alright, we have an extra trial day. Let’s head home, you need some rest.” Phoenix said, holding his hand out for Diego.
The prosecutor just slapped his hand away as he kept getting more and more confused. “You… But you don’t know where I live!”
“You live with us, Papa…” Trucy said, becoming increasingly concerned.
Diego’s heart sank. He felt ill. He felt like he was in a completely different world. The only person he recognised was Phoenix, but he wasn’t someone he wanted to be on friendly terms with — not to his knowledge anyway. Diego hates him, he wants to crush him. So why is Phoenix being so friendly and openly concerned about him? Why is there suddenly a little girl who sees him as a father? So many unanswered questions. It’s making his head spin.
Suddenly, Diego stood up and tried leaving the room. His mind was racing with thoughts and feelings and he didn’t know what to do about it. Phoenix followed behind him. “Hey! Where are you going?”
“I’m going home! I don’t want you near me!” he hissed.
“We share the same home…”
“In what world would I live with you? I hate your guts!” Diego fiercely pointed at him. “I’ll never accept you! Never!”
Phoenix grimaced at the bitter words. “Godot, please… Just listen to me!” Phoenix shut the door before Diego could leave. “This is serious!”
“And why should I listen to a lowly, worthless, scum of a lawyer like you?”
“Because you’re a different person now! You have a new life. Things have changed a lot these past eight years!”
Diego went pale. “Wh-What?”
Trucy took out her phone and showed Diego her lock screen. It was a picture of the three of them at an aquarium together. It also pictured Diego carrying her on his shoulders. Once Diego saw this image, he was at a loss for words.
“I… I don’t understand… When did this happen?”
“Just last week, Papa…”
“Huh…?”
“Diego… Let us take you home. You’re clearly not well.” Phoenix pleaded. “We’ll try explain everything once we’re there.” He opened the door and led the way. Diego sighed, slowly nodded and then followed behind them until Phoenix remembered something. “Ah! Actually, I left some things back at my office. We should go there first before heading home.”
The three of them headed back to Phoenix’s office, or “The Wright Anything Agency” as it’s now known as. Even the name shown on the signboard made Diego’s blood boil. This place should belong to Mia, not Trite. Once Phoenix opened the door, they were greeted by none other than Apollo and Athena.
“Oh hey, you guys are back early!” Apollo said as he was watering Charley the plant.
“So, who won the case? I’m placing my bet on Mr. Armando!” Athena said in her usual high-spirited attitude.
“Wh-What is happening…?” Diego just became more and more confused as they continued to talk. He felt so uncomfortable with everyone acting overfamiliar with him. He’s never seen these people in his life. Why were there so many people being so friendly and close to him? He was becoming overwhelmed. Not only does he not know who these people are, he is also far from used to talking to this many people at once. He’s so adapted to his crippling loneliness, he had no idea how to react to this kind of attention.
Phoenix could tell that Diego was rapidly getting stressed. He kept giving confused glances around the room and was nervously sweating. “Not now guys, he’s not feeling too good…” he said as he ushered Diego into the other room. He switched the lights off before quickly shutting the door behind him.
Apollo and Athena just gave each other worried glances as they watched their boss pull Diego into the other room. They could hear him breathing heavily, almost as if he were about to have a nervous breakdown. Trucy understood what was going on, but she had never seen it get this bad.
“Uhh… What’s going on?” Athena asked with concern all over her face. “Is Mr. Armando okay?”
“Papa is having one of those… hard times again…” Trucy replied.
“Again? This isn’t the first time?” Apollo asked.
“No… well… not exactly.” Trucy sighed. “You see, he has these… memory lapses from time to time. Although it’s over small things like forgetting where he puts things and where he was going. In the trial today, he was in the middle of talking until he suddenly stopped. I thought he just lost his train of thought like he usually does, but… it got much worse than that.” The pain in Trucy’s eyes clearly revealed that she didn’t like talking about this particular subject.
Athena gasped. “Wait! Don’t tell me…”
Trucy nodded. “He forgot who I was. He forgot what happened during these past three years. He forgot a lot of things. And I guess seeing you two made him lose it even more…”
“I see. That’s a very complicated situation.” Athena frowned. “That would explain the overwhelming shock and sadness I heard inside his heart...”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Apollo asked, determined to help.
Trucy just averted her eyes. “I think… we just have to hope that this will all pass soon.”
“I know! When Boss lets him out of the room, I can give him a quick therapy session with Widget!”
Apollo perked up. “Of course! That little toy has worked wonders in the past!”
Athena pouted. “It’s not a toy, Apollo! It’s my trusty partner!”
Eventually, Phoenix and Diego came back out of the room. Both of them looked exhausted. “Okay, this isn’t working…” Phoenix muttered.
“Is everything alright?” Apollo asked.
“Simply put… no. Everything is not alright.” Phoenix said bluntly.
“What isn’t working, Boss?”
“This is hard to explain… but Mr. Armando isn’t well today. He needs to go home.”
“I sense a lot of discord in his heart. How about I try using Widget on him?”
“Widget…?” Diego mumbled.
Phoenix shook his head. “Perhaps we should do this another time. He’s being very uncooperative right now.”
“Alright, I guess I should try again when he’s feeling better...” Athena sighed and put away Widget.
Phoenix grabbed the case file that was left on the desk and headed for the door with Diego.
Apollo tilted his head. “Mr. Wright? Where are you going?”
“Well I said we’re going home, didn’t I? We came back here because I needed to pick up a case file. I wasn’t planning on staying long.”
“So you’re staying home for the rest of the day too? What about the trial?” Apollo asked.
“The trial will resume tomorrow. I’m going to prepare for it, of course. You two stay here and take care of the office for me.” Phoenix said. “Oh, and Trucy? Are you coming with us or are you staying here?”
“Oh! I’ll stay here actually. I can help Polly and Athena out with stuff. Me and Athena were gonna have a slumber party at her apartment too! So you go on ahead with Mr. Armando and sort his problems out.”
Phoenix smiled softly. “Alright, I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
The esteemed lawyer waved goodbye to his little family as he left the premises with his confused and agitated adversary. The three youths were still very worried about the unusual man’s circumstances, so they hoped things will blow over without any dire consequences.