A/N: I'm baaaaaaack! This story will be the end of the Flora Reinhold series, and I'm hoping it'll be the most exciting yet.
Review Reply to Gamergirl: I'm glad I could make you happy. Yes, Alfendi was faking. I'm surprised more people didn't guess that! I'm also happy you enjoyed Flora using a sword. I was I could animate it! That would be awesome! Sorry about the cliffhanger. IT HAD TO BE DONE!
This is the only chapter that'll be in third person!
Now forward!
…
Prologue
Third Person
Professor Hershel Layton smiled as he turned onto the street that he resided on. It'd been many months since he last saw his home, and his family, and he couldn't wait to pull Flora and a protesting Alfendi into a hug. After that, perhaps they would go pick Eric up from the University, for his classes should be over, and they could go out for dinner.
With this thoughts in mind, he parked the Laytonmobile in front of his flat, retrieved his trunk from the back seat, and made his way to the front door.
"I'm home!" he called as he opened the door.
"Professor!"
"Father!"
"Layton."
Hershel was immediately put on guard, not just from the fact that Eric answered instead of Flora, or his and Alfendi's tone, but also for the fact that Inspector Chelemy was standing in his parlor.
"Inspector," he said, setting his trunk down close to the wall, before looking around. Eric was sitting stiffly in his arm chair, while Alfendi was perched on the arm of the couch. Chelemy was standing by the window with a perfect view of the front door.
"Where's Flora?" the professor demanded, realizing she was missing. Both Eric and Alfendi looked away, Eric upset and defeated, Alfendi angry.
"She's missing," Chelemy said.
"What!?" Professor Layton gasped.
"Yeah. After Roma Hertz escaped jail and stole the Chalice of Youth… she kidnapped Alfendi from school and took him to Caneopa…" Eric said, gaining the Professor's attention. He told the professor everything that happened.
"Alfendi took the staff and ran, to draw off the hypnotized crowd, and Flora made me go call Scotland Yard. By the time either of us returned to the square… both Flora and Hertz were gone…" Eric finished.
"We searched everywhere, but in the chaos and confusion, she must have somehow gotten out of the city," Alfendi added. Hershel frowned slightly, his eyes hardening.
"How long ago was this…?" he asked. The two boys looked at each other before looking down. It was Chelemy who answered.
"About a week now."
Hershel looked up at the inspector, his mouth a hard line at that answer, before he realized that he needed to keep a clear mind. He took a few deep breaths before bringing his hand up to his chin thoughtfully.
"How are we going to find them, if the whole of Scotland Yard can't?" Eric demanded. Layton turned to look at him.
"It's not her and Hertz we should be hunting for," he finally said.
"What are you talking about, Layton!?" Chelemy snapped. "Of course it's them we should be looking for!"
"No. Hertz wasn't nothing more than to find the City of Gold, correct?" he asked, looking at Eric, who nodded.
"Yeah, though we haven't been able to figure out why…" he admitted.
"Then that's what we must do. Find the City of Gold."
…
The train pulled up to a small train station, slowing to a stop in order to let its passengers off. Many passengers disembarked, and the conductors began to unload the luggage from the last car.
A couple leaned against the wall near the entrance of the wall, watching the luggage.
"Look at that trunk," the woman said softly, pointing to a large trunk that was being unloaded.
"Look's heavy," the man commented.
THUD
"CAREFUL!" a woman snapped, whirling around when hearing the sound of the trunk falling. "There is valuable cargo in there! If you break it, it'll be your head!" she yelled.
"S-sorry, ma'am!" the poor train conductor stammered, quickly righting the trunk. He glanced down, noticing the lock was broken, but before he could say anything, the woman swept over, shooing him away.
"Huh. 'Valuable,' huh?" the man said with a smirk, looking at over at the woman, who leaned closer to him. "Thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Sure," the woman said with a winning smile. "So long as she deserves it," he said, poking his nose.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he muttered. The two smiled at each other, before slipping away from the train station.
…
A/N: And the end of the prologue! Poor Professor Layton. He just has such bad luck!
Any idea who those characters where at the end?