Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Ace attorney nor Professor Layton. Ace attorney belongs to Capcom while Professor Layton belongs to Level 5. I own nothing!
The eve of the golden court.
Defeat...
It could taste sour in your mouth, especially when it is soured by the added loss of a good friend especially when times in someone's life could hurt a curveball your way and, whenever that would happen, your world could feel as though it's about to shatter around you.
It took a short half an hour to get back from deceased alchemist, Newton Belduke's, residence all the way back to Patty's bakery.
The inside of the bakery was normally light-hearted and filled to the rooftop with laughter and the occasional scream of fear after being confronted by Patty's diabolical rolling pin. Fond memories filled the building and it created a couple of feelings that consisted of nostalgia and joy. Sure, during the time spent in Labyrinthia there were some dark times (such as when the Storyteller would foretell horrific things to come in his "stories") but there were cherished times of happiness too!
Phoenix Wright and Luke Triton both felt incredibly numb as they couldn't say a single thing after the event that had transpired, they couldn't even discuss what had happened during the short window of time in where Phoenix himself and Maya & Professor Layton and Luke had split up to go meet Labyrinthia's creator and explore Belduke's residence.
The trek back to the bakery was silent and hard.
And now, here they were.
Phoenix stood at the top of the staircase with silent sorrow hovering over him like a storm cloud.
Although the tension was weighing ridiculously as the days events weighed just as heavily.
As earlier that same day, something really tragic happened. Not only had the famous Professor Hershel Layton been turned into a gold statue but good friend, Maya Fey, had been accused of doing it by witchcraft. A bunch of nonsense since Maya wouldn't hurt a fly. She was his trusted friend and, even though she had been in this situation many times before, almost as if she was apparently a magnet for trouble like this, this time it felt different.
There was a boatload more at stake then just her freedom.
Her life was on the line as well.
It was nighttime, around 9:30, and Luke Triton (the apprentice famous Professor Layton) was still wide awake and grieving.
Phoenix, Luke and Patty had all gathered up the stairs and went into the bedroom attic.
Luke was in pieces as he wept by candlelight as he buried his face in his hands and he looked the most vulnerable then he ever looked before. The only sounds reverberating through the building were the noises of his choked up snuffles and sobs, those sounds only added to the depressing atmosphere...he had curled into a little blue ball as he spent his sorrow in his own hands, covering the palms of his hands over his face whilst the violent and hysterical wracks of Luke's body continued.
Phoenix heaved a deep silent sigh as he rested against the doorframe of the attic bedroom, pondering on the current situation.
Both Espella and Maya were being held overnight at the Deathknell dungeon —both of them were probably being questioned harshly and was probably so frightened right now. Maya didn't deserve this, the claim that she could have even attempted to harm Professor Layton was utterly absurd and the other claim of her being a witch was even more so. He couldn't help but feel his stomach clench at the thought of him possibly failing to save her, she would be...
The thought sickened him more then anything else.
The ace attorney felt awful about this, what could he do?
He had never felt so helpless before and he never wished to feel this way ever again. All he could do was stand by the door, watching from outside the room as a certain Professor's apprentice sat on the edge of the bed with his heart breaking in his strong chest.
He knew that Luke needed help but he didn't know what help he could give.
The boy was bawling his eyes out as he howled with grief and his pain was completely palpable...this is what he'd been doing since they got back to the bakery where they'd all been residing ever since they had arrived in Labyrinthia. Luke was seated on the edge of the bed, his cheeks red and tear-stained as the tears relentlessly cascaded down his face in endless streams down his face.
The boy's blue cap had been discarded on the floor as had his bag with all his notes and other items, the notes were strewn across the floor.
Phoenix observed with saddened ocean blue eyes as the 12-year-old sobbed his eyes out. Every single muscle in his body was screaming at him to act, to do something useful to try and offer a little bit of comfort to try and console the young apprentice gentleman —but his mind held him back since he had no idea what he could do without making the poor lad feel worse.
He didn't want to just stand there!
But what could he do?
He didn't know how to handle traumatised children...
"P-P-P-Professor...! I'm sorry, I-I-I'm so...sorry! I-I'm sorry I w-wasn't faster o-o-or stronger!" Luke muttered through sobs and cries, "I-I could have h-h-h-helped you!"
Phoenix felt his heart break a bit more as he shook his head solemnly.
It wasn't his fault, anyone with eyes could see that.
Phoenix perked his head up when he heard Luke say something, his voice void of much emotion at all. He had this depressed smile on his face as the tears kept on trailing down his face without any sign of stopping whatsoever. He tried to mop up any lingering tears with his sleeve (but failed miserably) and glanced over at the spiky-haired, blue clad attorney-at-law with this empty gaze.
"It's...Its my fault, isn't it...M-Mr. Wright?"
Luke's voice was hoarse and croaky from all the crying he had done.
Phoenix felt as though his heart couldn't break anymore...he was proven wrong. He wanted to make his voice work at that moment, to convey his surprise at such a question and tell him that it wasn't his fault at the slightest but his voice just betrayed him and he couldn't even try and make his voice work. He still had a dumbstruck expression on his face.
"L-Luke..." Was all he could say.
He wanted to do nothing more then to go over and comfort the distraught lad.
Before he could say much more, Phoenix was cut off by the sound of feet thundering up the stairs.
Patty hastened up the staircase with a look of urgency and worry etched across her lovingly sweet-as-a-bun face, she even brushed passed the somber attorney-at-law with a glass of water in her hand. The glass was halfway full with the liquid and it was probably what Luke needed right now, especially since she seemed to realise that Luke would probably be really dehydrated due to crying nonstop for quite awhile and she was probably correct to think about that since the poor boy must have felt dreadfully depressed and he didn't need his load made worse by dehydration.
Patty entered the room, making sure to slow her steps, and approached the bed. She took care not to startle the boy whom hardly seemed to acknowledge that she was there. The baker took a few steps to the bed and seated herself next to Luke on the soft mattress and then handed him the glass. The young gentleman stared emptily at the glass before he pressed the rim of the glass to his lips and he took a few short sips of the liquid, sniffling as he kept holding on to the glass tightly as though it were his lifeline. His face remained downcast and rather empty as he was clearly making an effort to calm down and keep breathing.
Luke's chest heaved in and out as he tried hard to regulate his breathing.
Patty reached over and patted Luke's shoulder sympathetically.
"There, there, love...try and stay strong, alright?"
Luke took a sip of the water, his face still red due to crying nonstop for hours.
He only muttered a croaky "Thank you," beneath his breath.
The boy's eyes brightened slightly when he saw Eve the cat leap on the bed and start nuzzling into him. The black cat shook her head, causing the scarf worn around her neck to wave around in the process, and then she approached him while she had a worried look in her emerald green eyes. She hopped on to his lap and mewled, her slender figure was light enough for him to not notice her presence much as he absentmindedly scratched her behind the ear.
Eve purred softly as she basked in the attention she was receiving.
The attorney in blue also had to guess that her purrs were actually words of comfort and reassurance to Luke, considering that he could understand what animals were saying.
Phoenix continued to stand over by the door with a saddened expression, he hugged himself and leaned heavily against the doorframe whilst he was in deep thought.
He still couldn't believe that this was happening, that his friend was currently in jail (AGAIN) and a new friend had been "turned into gold" by "magic" which he still had a hard time comprehending. He was never a man who believed in that kind of thing since he would always brush it off as make believe but the Professor had told him rather bluntly that he had to accept it or else.
It was a hard tablet to swallow.
The spiky-haired lawyer hung his head with shame and started to say what he wanted to tell him earlier but couldn't, even though he knew full well that Luke wouldn't be able to hear him, and he started to speak in a hushed yet tender whisper.
"No, Luke. It wasn't your fault...I was in the cellar beneath the room at the time. I was practically there when it happened. If I'd just stayed with Maya and then, maybe, I could have stopped it. If anyone should be blamed then blame me."
Phoenix lifted his gaze, looked back up and watched the scene unfold before him with a sad yet rather hopeful look on his face. He didn't want to keep up feeling hopeless like this, the Professor (even though he was currently encased in solid gold) would have wanted him to take care of Luke and the girls and he wasn't about to let him down.
An undertone of determination ignited like a fire in his voice.
"But I promise that I'll save Maya, keep Espella safe and find a way to set things right. I swear it on my defence attorney's badge."
Time passed as Phoenix, Luke and everyone else had went to bed.
They needed the rest if Maya was to be acquitted.
Hours had passed until Luke had awoken with the previous days events fresh in his mind.
He just lay still on the bed, eyes flitting open as he awoke from his short sleep.
He just kept himself curled into that tight little ball, huddled in a corner with his back against the wall. His face was so red that it could have put tomatoes to shame and he had this dreary and rather empty look on his face, he could have even fooled people to think that he was a zombie. The dark bags spread beneath his reddened eyeballs and the red, yet pale, complexion of his tan skin led credence to this. His stomach gnawed irritably as it would when anyone stayed up a good majority of the night and he couldn't help but sit up and place his hand on top of his abdomen to try and silence its noisy growls.
He frowned and his brow quirked since he could hardly think over the churning, grumbling sounds.
Luke glanced out the window to get a gauge to see how early or late in the day it was and he frowned even more when he saw that it was quite dark outside, the sun wasn't even up yet. He tried his best not to sigh exasperatedly out loud as he fell back in bed, his eyes felt as though someone had glued them wide open and they stung due to the tears pricking at his ocular structures.
He wanted the Professor...
He wanted his friend back!
All the young boy could think of was the absolute pain he was in.
How could he help the Professor solve this puzzle of Labyrinthia now? He wasn't anywhere near as smart as the Professor was so he doubted he could solve it on his own. Besides, he wanted justice for the the top-hat-wearing gentleman's fate! He wanted that witch to pay for taking the one man who took on the role of the second father he ever had and his mentor for being a gentleman.
He wanted to make her pay...!
He didn't want to believe that it was Maya who could have done this, really he didn't.
But she did seem guilty.
...It certainly looked that way to him as she screamed that she hadn't done it when Luke and the others had entered as the Witches spectre tumbled to the ground hard and that rang more then a few alarm bells in his mind. Besides, wasn't she the one who said "When it comes to people with special abilities, nothing surprised her?" He didn't want to suspect Maya because she seemed so nice...but, if she did do it to the Professor, then what could he do?
A gentleman always pursued the truth.
That's what the Professor would say.
That's when it hit him.
Luke's eyes widened as a spark of emotion flashed through them. A true gentleman...always pursued the truth. He needed to do this on his own. He knew that he couldn't rely on Wr Wright to help him right now and he needed to get out of the bakery anyway, he bit his bottom lip whilst trying to contain the tears that filled his obsidian eyes. His heart was heavy but he stuffed all the guilt he felt deep, deep down in his soul as he started to muster up the need to shove his bitter emotions away.
He knew what he needed to do.
The gentleman's apprentice sat up on the bunk bed as he nodded resolutely to himself.
"I...I must start believing what I see with my own eyes..."
Luke proceeded to hop off of the bed, making sure to be very careful not to disturb the sleeping attorney in the bunk bed above him, and landed feet-first on the floorboards. He nearly flinched when he realised that the sound was louder then he had meant but inwardly sighed in relief that it didn't even make Phoenix wince as he just kept snored louder then the roaring engine of a Ferrari.
If he weren't so upset he would have laughed at the fact that the lawyer was such a loud snoring.
He reached down and grabbed his cap off of the floor and placed it back on its rightful place atop his head full of dirty blonde hair, and then he grabbed his bag and let the strap hang from around his shoulder and press against his waist. Then he got to his feet and put on his shoes since he refused to go outside barefoot. Luke started creeping out of the room, making sure his steps were as light as a feather, and then ventured out of the doorway.
As his feet clomped quietly down the stairs, he started to feel his head burn with vengeance.
Luke finally looked up and glared so hard that he could have melted steel, his eyes bloodshot and red as he wore the darkest scowl in existence, a single tear rolled down his left cheek as he muttered quietly, more to himself then anything else.
He needed to find inquisitor Barnham, he could remember where to find him.
"I'll avenge you, Professor...I promise."
A/N: This is what I think happened after the Professor was turned into gold just before "The golden court".
Phoenix stands by and has to watch Luke wallow in grief after our favourite gentleman succumbs to the golden curse.
I hope you guys like it!
-Chloemcg