Okay so this has been a headcanon of mine since I played the game and I needed to write something for it. (Its very likely to have a second chapter)
So, massive spoilers for PL vs AA (if you havent played that you wont know whats going on anyway) and mildly implied spoilers for Azran Legacy. Next chapter will definitely have spoilers.
DISCLAIMER: I own neither Franchise
The inside of the old alchemist's home was odd, and filled to the brim with jars and scrolls. Hershel couldn't help but liken the place to that of a wizard. Quite fitting, considering the nature of the town. Hershel moved his hands over the desk, careful not to disturb the scene too much but anxious to find some kind of clue.
"Greyearl wasn't kidding when he said he'd left this room untouched." Stated Phoenix, as he wiped a finger along the table, bringing up a thick layer of dust; Luke sneezed as he opened up one of the books, also creating a cloud of grime. " But it's helpful to us, this should be just as it was when he died. Assuming there wasn't some kind of teleportation spell, the witch snuck into the room-" The professor cut him off.
"I wouldn't suggest we limit ourselves to believing it was a witch, it may be some mere trick, like the last one." Phoenix nodded while picking up a couple of papers off of the floor.
"True. So If the criminal got into the room unnoticed, there must be some kind of entrance other than the door." Maya clapped her hands together.
"Like a secret passageway!"
"Exactly, maybe with the- What are you doing?" He looked up to see Maya beginning to pull books from the shelf and throw them aside. Maya turned to smirk at him.
"Have you never seen a spy movie Nick? The secret passage is always behind a bookshelf."
"There's a whole wall of books, that'll take you forever."
"Luke'll help me, right Luke?" She leant down to his level and pouted her lip. Luke laughed and went to stand beside her, pulling out the books on the lower shelves. But, unlike Maya, he placed them back again when he'd checked. Hershel looked round the room; It was small and they'd pretty much covered every section of it. There wasn't much for him to investigate here. But if there was a hidden passage in, there had to be a way back out.
"I'll check outside the house, perhaps there will be some extra clues. Luke, you stay with Maya and Mr Wright." He added as his apprentice went to follow him, Luke look disheartened for a moment, but happily re-joined the investigation when Maya called him to look at some of the books she'd found. The professor made his way through the entrance to check outside, bidding good day to the butler as they passed. Out on the grass he moved round the side of the building, pressing his hand against the wall, feeling for any kind of inconsistency. There was one section of the wall that felt slightly softer than the rest, and he wondered if that had any meaning to it. Hershel moved down onto his knees and leant against it. Perhaps there was a door? He tapped against the wall, listening out to the difference.
"I'm sorry sir, have you lost something?" He raised his head to see a pair of feet in front of him and looking up saw a young woman in farming clothes, a bundle of sticks in her arms. Hershel laughed to himself, realising how odd this must look to somebody passing by.
"No, it's nothing like that; I'm helping someone to find-" It wasn't until he stood up that the face became familiar to him. He was taken aback momentarily, it was impossible for anyone to be here. The lack of camera and yellow coat made her nearly unrecognisable, as well as the cropped hair and the dirt across her cheek. But there was no forgetting that face. "Emmy?"
"Huh?" Emmy's eyebrows rose as she leant forwards on the fence "If you're looking for a girl, I don't think you're gonna find her down in the grass." She laughed. So she wasn't her, Even so, her voice was the same. Hershel was overwhelmed; But this definitely couldn't be right. There was no way for her to be here. This was a book; there were no real people within its pages, except for him and his friends of course. This was mere coincidence.
"No I'm not looking for Emmy, I'm just- I apologise, what's your name?"
"Audrey, I live just down the road." She gestured with her shoulder, keeping the bundle steady. Hershel stood up, dusting off his trousers. He tried to keep any suspicion off of his face, but knew there was definitely something off here. There was no way for someone to be so similar without any relation to her. When she smiled, it was the same expression that he'd seen beside Luke in a photo frame on his office desk.
"Hershel, Hershel Layton. I'm with the new court defense here, looking into crimes."
"The court?" she exclaimed "At last someone's in charge of that , there was some real weird stuff happening round town a little while ago, people getting accused of being witches all over the place. But there was never anything to defend them."
"Yes I hear It was quite bad, people are paranoid." He wondered for a second whether this was Emmy, trying to fool him. But there was no reason for that to be a possibility.
"There was that Espella girl the other day, and I'm tellin' you there's no way she's a witch. But they were so convinced it was her"
"You know Espella?"
"Used to go to my school." It had been hardly 3 years since she'd left, how could she have been here since then? " She was going around claiming she was Bezella at one point but it's not true, you know when you look at someone and you can just tell that they ain't who they say they are?" Hershel nearly laughed at the phrasing.
"Yes, I know the feeling." Audrey looked down at her wrist, as if there was supposed to be something there. Her head raised towards the sky.
"Well, I better get going." Audrey lifted the sticks to sit up on her shoulder and stepped back from the fence. "That fire's not gonna start itself. I hope you find what you're looking for Mr Layton. I'll be at the next trial, so maybe I'll stop over and say hello."
"It was nice seeing you." Hershel watched her as she headed down the path, when she reached the end she turned back at him and waved before going round the corner. As she moved out of sight Hershel slumped against the fence. He couldn't work out at all what was going on, but Emmy Altava, who'd only sent four letters to him and Luke since they parted, was here. He was either completely out of his mind, or there was something happening that he hadn't figured out yet.
"Professor?" The door behind him opened, and Luke peered out. "Professor, Mr Wright found a trapdoor, I think you ought to take a look at it." Hershel stood up from the fence quickly, making sure Luke didn't see him relaxing while they were all hard at work. He considered telling him what had happened with Emmy… or Audrey, as she called herself, but decided against it. The boy didn't need something like that to worry him.
"Yes, I think that would be a good idea."
"Are you alright, you seem down." Luke walked over and looked up at him.
"I was just thinking about how she would have got in."
"The criminal?" Hershel knew it would be a bad idea to let Luke know his thoughts, so simply smiled in an attempt to lift the boy's spirits. He rubbed Luke's head and began making his way back inside.
"Yes. But you say Mr Wright found a way?" Luke nodded eagerly. "Then I suppose there's no need for me to look for anything else out of place. Let's go take a look." Glancing down the lane once more, he followed him inside to try and uncover at least one mystery.
Perhaps this town was even more unusual than he'd first expected.