Raina von Karma was waiting.

The sun streamed through the thin, cheap curtains, illuminating her face. Her features were small, pointed; dark circles underneath her blue eyes marred her otherwise pale complexion. Long, silvery-blue hair reached her shoulders. Her left hand tapped on the desk before her nervously, rhythmically. It occasionally fidgeted with her cell phone. She was tense; her other hand was gripping a mug of coffee tightly.

On the desk, papers were splayed about. Legal documents, photos, and letters; the most recent was lying open, a photo paperclipped to it. The photo was out of focus, as though it had been taken by an amateur, but the content was clear—a group of people, some impatient, some exasperated, some embarrassed and very few looking positively excited. In the center of the group, a black-haired smaller-statured girl (clad in extremely odd purple and white clothing) had flung an arm around a sheepish-looking man in a blue suit with very spiky hair.

Many of the other people in the photo were dressed rather bizarrely as well. A little girl grinned on the other side of the black-haired girl, wearing an almost-identical outfit to her. On the other side of the spiky-haired lawyer was a grinning man in a goatee, giving the camera the thumbs up. To one side stood a woman with her blue hair cut short, flexing a whip in her hands as she looked at the camera, both disdainful and irritated. Next to her was an amused-looking man with silvery-black hair, wearing in what could only be described as a magenta suit. A plethora of other people were crowded together—including what looked like a clown, a teenage girl in a lab coat, a large man in a dirty green overcoat (who was holding the hand of a smaller woman with glasses in a waitress' uniform), and a large man with wild red hair who looked like he might make a convincing werewolf.

The letter, the text of which was not obscured by the photo, read:

"Raina—

I had that thought you might want to see this. Franziska's well, as am I. As you can see, we recently celebrated Wright and Co.'s third birthday. It was apparently imperative that Franziska and I attend, as you can see. You can probably also see that young Maya Fey seems to believe that everybody enjoys the Steel Samurai as much as she does. Work's been going well. How have you been? How is Maxine? I look forward to more updates.

Warm wishes,

M. Edgeworth"

The most prominent photo, however, was a large, framed one of a girl of around eight. She was small in stature, with almond-shaped blue eyes and short black hair in pigtails. It was what appeared to be her school photo, and it was this picture that Raina von Karma's eyes came to rest on at the moment that the doorbell rang.

Immediately, Raina walked briskly towards the door, peering through the keyhole. Her worried expression changed to one of relief; it was evident that she recognized the person awaiting her. She flung the door open, smiling.

"Thank God you're here! You got my message?" She turned around, walking towards her desk and reaching for her papers. "I need to show y—"

The figure's hand clapped over Raina's mouth; they produced a knife from the folds of their long coat and held it to her neck. The long, silver blade cut into her throat as he dispatched her efficiently; dark blood splattered everywhere as an artery was severed. The figure released Raina. Her body crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

The figure carefully, disdainfully stepped over the body. It swiftly grabbed the papers that Raina had been reaching for from the desk, and stuffed it in its large jacket pocket.

It left the room, carefully closing and locking the door behind it.

Forty-five minutes later, Maxine von Karma came home from school and unlocked the door, only to find the now-cold body of her mother on the floor.

And in the United States, completely unaware of these events, Miles Edgeworth received a phone call.

A/N: Hey, readers...this is JabberwockSlayer, and you're reading what is hopefully my first multi-chaptered fanfiction (not to mention my first Phoenix Wright one)!

Now, the premise probably needs a bit of explanation. In case 1-4 (Turnabout Goodbyes of Ace Attorney), Manfred von Karma mentions a granddaughter in passing. Now, since neither Franziska or Edgeworth had any children at the time (at least, we hope not), that got my dear friend (Reaper-Lawliet; read her fics, those who haven't, she's hysterical!) and I thinking. Perhaps there was another von Karma child at one time-an older sister? And so, the wonderful characters of Raina and Maxine von Karma were conceived.

Of course, you'll find out not only more about them, but how they connect to the canon protagonists as time goes on. Please R I'd like critique about my writing and, of course, would like to know if you guys want me to continue.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything aside from our mysterious killer; Maxine and Raina von Karma belong to Reaper-Lawliet.