Notes - Set after the second game and a short while before the third, with heavy spoilers for both the second and third game. There's a bit of a story behind why this was written. I'll admit that I dislike the Clive/Katia pairing and the reasoning "because they're both of same age" that I've often seen behind it. While I'm a fan of never-met ships this one just doesn't gel for me personally. So I made the mistake of asking if anyone would be willing to write "unshipping" for these two on the kinkmeme. Not bashing per-say, I was very definite about that, but just something that didn't imply a romance between the two. Really, I never intended to upset anyone but should have thought better before requesting something of that nature. After someone there left a few comments saying my prompt might actually be against the rules I conclude that it was wrong for me to ask for it and requested that the prompt be deleted, as I didn't want to make any Clive/Katia shippers feel unwelcome on the meme. However, I still wanted non-shipping for these two, so felt that it would be better to write that theme myself. I try to avoid bashing in my work, but I must ask that if you do ship Clive/Katia that you NOT read this fanfic, as it portrays the relationship in a negative light and I wouldn't want to upset anyone. This fic was written for people like me, who just don't see the pairing nor enjoy how it gets portrayed in the fandom. Um, and that's the whole long-winded explanation behind this.
There were times when Clive really loathed being a reporter.
The whole affair was necessary though, as it was the only way he could ever hope to find information upon the explosion that had killed his parents many years earlier, but certain things he had to report were very dull for him.
Early on in his career, one of his employers had noticed that he took an interest in cases regarding Professor Layton. The real reason for this was because Layton was also involved in the explosion and Clive was curious about how much the man knew, but this fact had been confused for a general interest in Layton's adventures. Because of this Clive was the reporter who was given the job of writing up about almost of the professor's many adventures.
He didn't mind this so much. As long as he kept out of sight enough so that Layton wouldn't see him, since this would spoil Clive's plans regarding the future London, it was quite interesting to write up about the many things that the man discovered.
But some days he just couldn't be bothered with it.
Today was one such day.
He was already so close to completing the future London and setting his plans into motion that he could practically smell it, so any distractions from this work were coming across to him as an annoyance. But it would look suspicious if he turned down work from the newspaper and he didn't want to create any unnecessary complications to mess up his very delicate plan.
So he took the job. This time it wasn't even following Layton, it was just interviewing someone about a previous adventure he'd had, losing this day out even more appeal in Clive's eyes.
Looking through the notes, he summarised that there had been a search for something called the Elysian Box, a murder charge that had turned out to be a false alarm and something to do with the press's current favourite train, the Molentary Express, that had led him to a small village called Dropstone and a girl who had apparently been involved with it all.
Right now Clive couldn't care less about any of this, but work was work and today's work was requiring him to interview… he checked the notes, yes, Miss Katia Anderson.
Apparently she was the daughter of a man who was descended from the original founders of Dropstone, so she was probably going to have airs and graces to her that Clive didn't really want to have to deal with.
He knocked on the door, telling himself that soon enough he wouldn't have to bother with doing these interviews, only to be greeted by the usual 'you must be the reporter, just through here, please'.
After being shown through to the living room, Clive took a seat across from a lady with short purple hair, who he reasoned must be the person he'd been sent here to talk to.
"So, you're Miss Anderson, right?" he started.
"Please, Katia will do," she replied, smiling warmly.
"I'm afraid that would be most unprofessional, Miss Anderson," Clive answered, which seemed to surprise her slightly. In truth, he'd heard that line too many times before. No one wanted the press to believe they were stuffy or snobby, so most people insisted that they be referred to by their first names, making them come across more casual. Usually he'd let it slide, but Katia had caught him in a bad mood.
"Um, very well then," Katia said, awkwardly, "So, what is it that you want to know?"
What he wanted to know was exactly what Layton knew in regards to those deaths that the police covered up so neatly many years ago, but he doubted this girl had the answers to that.
"I want to know about the Elysian Box and your ties to it. There are many rumours flying around regarding it and I think the world would like to know the truth," he said instead.
"Oh, I don't think I can tell you that. With all due respects the box is something that is quite private to my family and I doubt grandfather would be all that comfortable with me telling the world about it," replied Katia.
"Then this interview is going to be very short indeed," Clive muttered through gritted teeth. No matter, find a different angle. "Well, if you can't talk about the box then perhaps you can tell me more concerning the Molentary Express. You were travelling on it at the same time as Professor Layton was and there has been a lot of noise about it stopping in a mysterious village, not listed on the train's schedule."
"I'm afraid I can't tell you about that either," she said.
"Is there anything you can tell me about?" Clive replied.
Frowning, Katia stated, "I don't really like your tone, Mr…"
He'd never mention his name.
Ignoring her pause for him to provide that name completely, he went on, "My tone is because I came here to find out about the mysteries around the Molentary Express affair and so far you have told me absolutely nothing. If your stance was that whatever happened is to remain private then you never should have agreed to an interview in the first place. The whole article is going to be one big 'no comment' from the way this is looking."
"Well I'm definitely not telling you anything now!" she yelled, getting to her feet, "I've always heard that reporters were rude but I had no idea to this extent. Please leave!"
Clive sighed, getting to his feet.
There was no point in pushing this any further, it was clear he'd messed up his chance to find out any information about this story. He'd have to come up with something to tell the higher-ups that didn't sound as farfetched as the rumours of a vampire being involved, but he could do that without having to talk with this tight-lipped woman anymore than he already had. Perhaps they'd believe that there just wasn't a story here to start with, just a load of rumours? But no, the public always wanted a story, even if he was just fabricated…
As he showed himself out, Katia was still shaking with rage.
"How very, very… ugh!" she shot.
"Is something the matter, my dear Katia?" came the voice of her grandfather, the true origin of all of the mysteries behind the Elysian Box.
"No, just a run-in with an annoying reporter," she replied, turning to face him.
He laughed; "Even in my deluded state I could have told you they were all like that."
"But… I really thought that someone might care about the truth of your story, grandfather," she mumbled.
"You care and that's all that matters," Anton answered her, "People like reporters are paid to pretend they care. I think you made the right choice by keeping the story to yourself."
"As long as you're sure," said Katia, feeling better for having her grandfather's approval on the subject.
And so she went about her life knowing the true story of the box, the train, the alleged vampire and the professor who had helped, without ever needing to tell it to anyone else. In turn, Clive went back to his own work, dismissing the story as unfounded rumours and then forgetting about it completely.
His complicated adventures involving Hershel Layton were only just beginning, after all.