Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the Professor Layton or Ace attorney franchises, the rights to both of them belong to Capcom and Level-5.
A gentleman's pearl
It was a cold and blustery evening in London England as snowflakes whirled through the air, dancing as rather strong slivers of wind blew.
It was only just the beginning of Spring and the winter snow that had been anticipated last season had finally decided to reveal itself and coat London in a thick blanket of snow and frost. The temperatures had dropped into the lower spectrums of what it normally would have been around a wintry Springtime, and had hit the city like a drop kick to the back of the head.
The little specks of snow came fluttering down as some stormy clouds started to roll in from the North of London, the nighttime skies became darkened and gloomy —filled with massive and pronounced grey clouds that had decided to just casually pop up out of completely nowhere— and it was very uncaring when the down drift had found its victim in the apprentice of famous gentlemen archeologist/puzzle aficionado who just so happened to have been walking along in the heavy shower.
Professor Hershel Layton's young apprentice, Luke Triton, was just walking along the side of the road in rather brisk paces to try and escape getting hit by the heavy amount of snowflakes that fluttered feebly to the snow-coated ground and the frigid cold beginning-of-Spring temperatures. Every single flake felt like a dagger of ice piercing their skin each time it hit one of them.
Luke couldn't hold back a small shiver when a sudden sliver of a breeze brushed passed, his teeth chattered and he could have sworn that he felt some goosebumps pop up and dot each of his arms underneath the thick coat he wore.
Why was he out at night? Well, it was because he felt like taking a small stroll right now. It had become routine for him to go out at six in the evening; the Professor and Luke, himself, had an agreement that he could go out by himself only if he stayed close to the apartment and came home by eight o'clock.
The young boy agreed of course, since he found those rules were perfectly reasonable and he wanted to respect his top-hat-wearing mentor's wishes and so that's exactly what he was going to do. Sometimes when he'd go out on his nighttime excursions, he'd have some nice conversations with the occasional critter or the like that he would casually come across on his small excursions.
But what the young gent in blue didn't know was that this was going to be a walk he never would forget, not for as long as he lived.
He started to pick up the pace and go home early. The cold winds were starting to become a little too much for him when they started to turn into pretty strong gales with a crisp winter/springtime edge to it. The winds were blowing the snowflakes into his face now and were trying to obstruct his visage and this caused the boy to squint his eyes through the harsh whirlwind of little white specks.
He reached up to touch his signature blue cap and adjusted it on his head a bit, making absolutely sure that the winds wouldn't blow it off his head, then Luke refocused his attention to what was on his neck. Wrapped around him was a cherry red scarf that he looped around his neck just a bit tighter in an attempt to keep warm against the gale-force winds and continued on his way, but he was stopped in his tracks when he saw something twitch out of the corner of his eye.
What was it?
It looked like a tail.
He was convinced to investigate further when he that it belonged to a small cat, a brown tabby, lazily lay down to perch on a near frozen windowsill that was just above the human boy. All the cat could really do was and glance down at him with its head jerking in a way that indicated that it wished for the boy to approach it.
Luke decided to do just that. Due to him being able to converse with the fluffy, feathery and scaly, he knew very well of animals and their habits.
Yet he had to wonder what this stray alley cat wanted with him, they sort of liked to keep to themselves...especially around winter time.
This was a known fact.
The cat mewled at Luke, mewing softly and melodically, and licked its paw and wiped it across its face to clean itself. The gentleman-in-training interpreted the cat's mewling and meowing in his own mind as words, he listened and registered whatever the little kitty cat was telling him carefully. Since he could speak to animals, he could understand them much easier then anyone else could. It was a talent he was glad to have.
"So..." The young gentleman asked the cat with a very slight tremble of trepidation in his voice "You say that you saw someone head that way? Crying?"
The cat bobbed its head in a single nod and made a noise of confirmation whilst it's cute little pink nose twitched as well as its whiskers. The feline continued to make noises, though, still communicating with the young boy wearing the blue cap and giving him some additional information and then relaxed itself on its perch high above.
Luke looked at the cat with a raised eyebrow as he inquired. "You didn't see what they looked like or anything? Couldn't tell whether they were a male or female or not?"
The cat shook its head and yawned tiredly, stretching out its front paws. The tabby cat started to look tired as its hind legs and front paws started to dangle off the edge of the ledges —huge green eyes started to drift shut and the cats tail flicked with agitation. The cat mewed again, this time sounding a bit miffed with the animal-whisperer.
Luke sighed "I know that it's late and you want to get to sleep but can't you tell me anymore about it?"
The cat seemed a bit more annoyed with Luke and just gave one last hiss of a noise and jerked its head in a gesture to point towards the direction where this person had allegedly gone.
Luke's curious expression drooped into a blunt and rather sarcastic one. "You want me to go and see for myself...?"
The cat nodded its head once again and the boy simply sighed to himself exasperatedly, sometimes cats could be a little difficult to talk to -especially feral cats whom lived in the London alleyways. They would always seem to not very care much about others and only care about themselves. He exhumed a deep-throated sigh and lowered his head a bit when he realised that, like the young tabby had just suggested, he'd have to look for himself.
Luke tipped his hat politely up at the cat and put on his most grateful and appreciative smile, even though it was a supremely hard thing to do in the face of a rather irritating costumer.
"Alright. Have a good evening, sir-"
He was instantly met with a violent hiss in response and a swipe of the claws from the street tabby before he could finish that sentence and he instantly became very nervous and very, very, very apologetic as he had just made a huge blunder.
A cold sweat soaked his brow and he frantically amended that sentence.
"A-Ah! I am so sorry, madam!"
Luke then hastily ran away from the angered feline informant and took off like a speeding bullet towards the direction where he had been directed to go, he was running so fast and so frantically but he stopped dead in his tracks when a soft noise reached his frost-bitten ears.
It was a soft and quiet noise.
But he kind of recognised it as...crying?
This was probably the same source of crying that the cat had told him of.
Alas Luke's head perked up. Who would be out here in such harsh and cold weather conditions? And even more so, who would be bonkers enough to be out at this hour...other than himself? A passing thought rushed through his mind that it was probably just another stray cat digging through the rubbish bins or something.
But Luke knew better. Those weren't the cries of some poor innocent animal and he knew all too well that he wasn't hearing things, his gut was squeezing inside his tummy, screaming at him to listen to it. He felt that his curiosity had to be sated and he wanted to act on his gentlemanly instincts and he couldn't bear to hear anyone weep, whether they be crazy or not.
It didn't take him very long at all before he found himself stood on what looked like an abandoned hilltop.
He gazed wearily at his surroundings but he couldn't see much but a lot of snow as far as the eye could see, he closed his eyes and flinched when another sliver of cold wintry winds brushed passed him but tried his best to ignore it. He focused on all the sounds around him and even if they were muffled by the sounds of the winds, he caught on to the sobs and turned on his feet to stare at what was behind him.
He saw nothing except something that looked like a turned-over busted old iron barrel which, like everything else in this parkland, was covered in a thick and icy cold layer of snow. But then he caught sight of the barrel shaking a bit and he actually just now noticed that the old metal barrel was shaking a hint despite the wind rattling it -and, despite the fact that the winds were becoming steadily more powerful, it was staying glued to its spot.
"Huh?" Luke's brow furrowed in downright confusion, "What's that?"
This situation was getting increasingly bizarre and bewildering.
The apprentice gentleman didn't know how to tackle this situation but what he did know was that he had to proceed with caution because there could be some dangerous stranger hiding in the barrel for all he knew. They could have been trying to lure him in like a fish to a baited hook to take everything he owned or something like that or do something even more sinister.
Who knew what he'd find if he just looked?
"Hmm...if I want to solve this puzzle then I guess I'm going to have to be very quiet and careful." He muttered to himself, bringing his own arms close to his chest and hugging himself when yet another sliver of ice-cold winds caught him in an instant light hurricane -these winds were becoming fierce with every second that passed, he had to hurry if he wanted to get home before a blizzard would hit.
He didn't want to catch hypothermia.
The young gentleman proceeded onwards, he crept carefully up to the turned-over barrel. He merely cringed when he realised that the frigid cold started to nibble away at his plump cheeks. Each time he'd take a step that the snow would crunch beneath his shoes but he just tried to ignore that little fact. The closer he got to the barrel, the more his mind and his heart raced and he was certain that the tips of his fingers were starting to go numb from the extremely cold temperature.
It felt like an eternity before he finally stopped in front of the big metal barrel and peered in to see what could possibly be inside.
Luke gasped in disbelief and instinctively took a step backwards in reaction, shock being the strongest out of all of them, he felt his cheeks burn like magma and his heart break into a galloping leap inside his chest. His jaw dropped and his mouth was left hung open, "O-Oh my..."
It was a young girl sat right in the barrel, huddled in the very back of it to keep warm and to indicate that she was rather frightened.
Despite it being a little dark on the inside, the young gentleman could make out bits of the girl's appearance; she looked to have been about eight years of age. She was wearing a purplish kimono-like gown and she was wearing a matching shawl, probably just to keep her warm despite the frigid temperatures, a bunch of big beads hung around her neck but there was something missing. She had hazel brown hair that was neatly tied up into a pretzel and her skin was as pale and fair as the snow but had just a delicate shade of peachy pink too, her eyes were huge and brown and so beautiful as they gleamed like little bright lights despite the dark.
The boy was surprised that this whole time, this girl had been hiding out in the cold.
But he also couldn't help but think of another thing whence he first lain his eyes upon her. He knew that it was something that he shouldn't have been really focusing on but he couldn't help but find this girl enchanting to look at. Her face looked like it had been carved from the heavens, her eyes (though teary) reminded Luke of a mug of steaming hot chocolate. She was so stunning that he could stare at her all night long and never become bored.
"Sh-Shes really pretty..."
He didn't exactly know what he was feeling right now, other than stunned surprise, but his heart wouldn't stop drumming within his chest and it was a sensation that he found that he rather liked. His cheeks were ablaze and he wasn't sure whether it was frost bite or something else. He shook his head quickly, shaking himself out of his state of shock, he had to evaluate her condition first and foremost.
He couldn't just be fixated on how pretty she looked, she could've been hurt for all he knew! He leaned in a little to get a better look at the girl and asked her in a gentle tone of voice.
"E-Excuse me, are you alright?"
It seemed that the girl hadn't even noticed the young apprentice gentleman and jerked into motion immediately after he spoke with that soft hushed tone of voice, she let loose a gasp and her sleeves instantly went to rub at her eyes which were raw and had been tinted red. That was a massive sign that she had been crying before Luke showed up -proof that she was, indeed, the source of the quiet snivels and sobs from before and the pretzel-bunned girl just stared up at Luke with fearful and timid eyes.
She curled up into a ball as she retreated back into the corner of the barrel.
"I...I don't know..." She admitted, looking down at the huge beads that hung around her neck. "I'm...I'm lost...and I don't know where I am."
Luke blinked in bewilderment at the young girl, his face a mask of confusion. He didn't understand why this girl was out here to begin with, and he was a bit worried for her...especially seeing as there was really nobody around outside at this minute in time. Not that he could see, anyway. Nobody should get lost in this cold weather. There was something about her that struck Luke about her as familiar, but couldn't place his finger on how.
"Really? Well, I can help you get back home if you want." He offered her a kind and sincere smile.
But then the girl shook her head and moved to back herself right up against what should have been the bottom of the barrel, her eyes down and her frown huge as she clutched her chest, right where there was a somewhat empty part of her heavy-looking beaded necklace.
"I...can't. B-Because there's something important I've lost and I can't find it."
Luke started to understand now as he had pieced together the events of what this young girl had gone through. She had probably got out of her house or something to look for this thing she had misplaced, somewhere around here probably, and had gotten a tad chilly from the frigid temperatures so decided to take shelter from the cold night. It sounded like a reasonable deduction, for sure, but there was still something about all this -something that felt rather curious about her.
Luke wasn't entirely sure what to do next but what he did know was that he had to try and coax the young girl out of there.
He didn't even care anymore if this made him, himself, come down with a cold, or if it would break the curfew that was set up for him but he had to do something since doing nothing was simply not an option because he knew that he would never be able to call himself a true gentleman (not even an apprentice gentleman) if he turned his back on someone, especially a lady, who needed his help.
"I can help you find it if you would like, two heads are better then one. Besides you could catch a serious cold if you stay in there..."
The girl sniffled and tilted her head to one side in confusion but she also appeared to have been very depressed and downcast, "Why would you wanna help me?"
Luke smiled gently. Judging by the girl's accent, she was an American and he simply found her voice so sweet, it sounded like the sweet soft chime of a bell to his ears, and he didn't know what it was about her but he just couldn't help but find her to be quite adorable. He said the first thing that popped into his mind -a repeat of one of the Professor's many gentlemanly proclamations.
"Why wouldn't I? It is the duty of every true gentleman to help a lady in need,"
The little girl seemed reluctant at first as she stared at the young eleven-year-old's hand uncertainly, but after a few moments a small smile curled at the corners of her lips and she accepted the boy's invitation and took his hand. He assisted her to stand by pulling her to her own two feet and he smiled at her, grinning gently from ear-to-ear.
"My name is Luke Triton, what's your name?"
The girl averted eye contact timidly as she returned the introduction. "Um...my names Pearl. Pearl Fey. But my cousin calls me 'Pearly'."
Then it hit him like a train.
Ah! I r-remember now!
Luke turned to Pearl almost frantically, his eyes wide and his mouth agape as he took on an almost frazzled demeanor. "Pearl, you wouldn't happen to know someone by the name of "Maya Fey" would you?"
Pearly's eyes lit up instantly when she heard that name but it was more out of admiration rather then shock that the gentleman's apprentice knew such a name to begin with. Her cheeks turned a ripe cherry red hue and her hands flew to them and she let loose a flurry of giggles that quite honestly made Luke's heart explode internally. "Yeah, Mystic Maya's my cousin,"
Luke stared adoringly at the pretzel-haired girl. She was so adorable, but he wouldn't tell her that because if she was anything like her cousin then she wouldn't take kindly to it and he just didn't want to risk that.
It was after that when Pearly explained that Maya and Phoenix had come on a brief short Holiday to London and were actually hoping to drop by to the Professor's the next day. All the while she gushed about her cousin and the spiky-haired lawyer dressed in blue, whom she referred to as "Mr. Nick" for some reason but Luke knew better then to question. She also explained that earlier that same day some bullies had approached her in the park and took her prized gem, something called a Magatama, and buried it in the snow so she had snuck out of the holiday home to find it. She apparently didn't have the courage to tell Maya about it as she didn't want to be a bothersome pest.
Pearl dried her damp eyes with a sleeve as both herself and her new friend dropped down to their knees and searched through the snow to try and find Pearly's misplaced item. As they dug with relentless vigour, Pearls tilted her head to one side whilst looking towards the young apprentice gentleman in her company. She decided to change the subject, "S-So, your P-Professor Layman's app-en-ee-tice?"
Luke just couldn't keep a small light-hearted smile from curling at the corners of his lips, the eight-year-old girl's way of mispronouncing things was quite charming. He normally would have been a touch indignant about people mispronouncing his respected mentor's name and his title but, for some reason, he found himself willing to let it slide with the young pretzel-haired medium. Yet he decided to correct her anyway.
"Um...Its "Layton" and "apprentice", Pearl. But yes! I'm his apprentice number 1!" He proudly jerked his thumb to his own mildly-puffed out chest to put an emphasis on his self-bestowed (but totally accurate) title.
In the meantime, Pearl looked mystified. For a couple of moments, she hadn't spoken a word thus leaving a rather awkward silence in their wake. Her brown pools were huge and gleamed in the moonlight whilst a small but rather meek smile curled at the corners of her lips, she couldn't prevent a small giggle from escaping the back of her throat. Despite the cold she felt herself start to shiver on the spot whilst she continued to shovel away -the snow piling up in small hills behind them as both Luke and Pearl constantly changed spots to continue their search.
It felt like an eternity while the two children dug through the snow in search of the precious gemstone.
Alas the bitter cold started to turn their hands and fingers red and numb and nibbled at their cheeks, turning them redder and raw; so they decided to just have a break after awhile and climb back into the barrel and look up at the night sky. They both huddled up to one another to keep warm, Luke unwrapping his scarf from his neck and furling it around both of their necks. Luke was especially cold, as he wasn't as accustomed to this climate as his new friend was, so he just basked in the body heat that radiated from the young girl.
They were abruptly pulled from their state of cold nighttime huddling when they both noticed that a small distance away, a small flock of birds fluttered down to the ground and then stood perched on the snowy ground. They seemed to be a small group of robins, they pecked at the snow to try and find some worms or any insects to nibble on despite the icy frigid outdoor temperature.
Seeing the two birds encouraged Pearl out from the hiding place as she slowly climbed out and crawled on the snow, clenching her teeth tight to fight off the inner frigid cold that ran through her bloodstream and she approached the tiny feathery creatures although her bones and her joints felt as stiff as the ice and snow surrounding her. Her big brown eyes were agleam with a unique mix of curiosity and perplexity.
These were birds that she had never seen before; they weren't native to the village of Khura'in back in America, or as far as she knew.
It didn't take long until she stopped and was at least two feet from the small group of red-breast robins. Pearl inhaled with complete awe on her facial features and she may have felt cold but she couldn't resist the irresistible temptation she felt whenever any animal was in her line of sight. So she offered her cupped hands out to the birds, but a few flew away from her. The small girl's face dropped into a guilty frown and she bowed her head sadly in disappointment. She hadn't meant to scare them off like that, she just wanted to befriend them...her heart dropped into her stomach.
But her head perked up when she felt a weight on her shoulder.
Luke had placed his hand atop her shoulder and then, albeit stiffly, knelt down beside her and stuck his free hand into his jumper pocket. The young gentleman wearing the blue cap shuffled his hand in his pocket and then plucked a closed fist back out of that same pocket, then he gently tilted his hand down to the snowy ground and scattered a few birds seeds on the ground but in a trail.
Pearl was confused. Why did the young gentleman do that?
She hadn't needed to ponder on that question for long as some birds came back rather quickly and then the birds pecked continuously at the snow and eventually climbed into the palms of her hands, pecking at the seeds. Pearl gasped as she felt her heart swell in delight and her deep warm brown eyes sparkled and twinkled like the stars above. She grinned warmly at the birds landed and then perched inside her cupped hands. Then one of the birds looked up at Pearl and chirped, the tiny spirit medium spoke softly as she tried to reassure the other little birdies to come closer.
"It's alright," She crooned in a gentle tone, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Luke stared at Pearl from aside with an adoring look in his eyes as he could feel his heart constrict in his chest, his gaze softened and his little smile broadened considerably. He hadn't felt this way since that night he had met Arianna back when he used to live in Misthallery, but this time he felt something within his chest stir. He couldn't explain this feeling, he couldn't even try. Pearls seemed to have a soft spot for animals and he felt delighted at that, his cheeks even turned into a ripe cherry red colour -but he was uncertain whether that was from cold or from something else...
Even though we just met I think that she's an amazing girl, he thought.
"Luke,"
Pearl's voice snapped the young boy from his thoughts and his featherlight smile morphed into a frown. His onyx wide and curious eyes darted back and refocused themselves on the pretzel-haired young medium whom continued to hold one of the red-breast robins that had perched in her cupped hands but she was now staring him square in the face rather then the delicate little creature she was holding.
"How did you do that?"
Luke's smile returned and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
He never really felt like his ability to communicate with animals had warranted such awe and amazement from other people since communicating with the fluffy, scaly and feathery was second nature to him. Whenever anybody would compliment on his special talent he would get all bashful, especially as he didn't like bragging much...that is unless it was warranted in the situation.
"I...I can talk to animals...s-s-sort of...I suppose..."
The next thing the young blue-cap-wearing gentleman apprentice knew, Pearl had somehow launched herself at him with her eyes sparkling in wonder and the inevitable amazement. She was so close that their noses were inches away from touching, it made Luke want to back up a bit from his personal space being invaded but he tried not to let that bother him since he had made Pearly happier than earlier and there was no way he wanted to risk her crying again.
Pearl practically screeched "YOU CAN?! THATS AMAZING, LUKE!"
Although he felt mildly uncomfortable, he couldn't keep from giggling a bit at the girl's enthusiasm. He looked down at the small Robin and then used one finger to stroke its head, chirping at it under his breath. The bird seemed to like that as it let out a small purr-like nose and its feathery body puffed out and it's head sunk in between its shoulders. Luke couldn't hold back a chuckle as he glanced back over at a very eager and excited Pearl.
"Hahaha...really? Umm...errr...thanks. By the way, he said that he likes you."
After those words had left the boy's lips, Pearls couldn't keep an even more gigantic smile off of her face. She held up the Robin and snuggled it close to her face whilst cradling it as carefully as possible in her hands and the little bird seemed to love the hug almost as much as the human holding him did as it leaned its puffy and fuzzy body right up against the girl's icy cold cheek.
Then Luke cleared his throat awkwardly, coughing lightly against a closed fist and he suggested through shivering from the cold.
He secretly hoped that they could find this thing Pearl had lost very soon because not only was he getting supremely cold and rather tired from staying out later than he normally would but he was extremely eager to get Pearl back to her cousin before she noticed that her beloved cousin was gone; as far as he had heard, Pearly held Maya in high regard (kind of like he respected the Professor) so if he could get her home quickly without getting herself into trouble then he would have been completely satisfied that his work would be complete.
However, what neither of them were unaware of was that things were just about to take a rather bad turn...
"So, m-m-m-miss Pearl," he bowed his head curtly and chivalrously as he suggested through chattering teeth, wishing he had brought warmer stuff to wear on this below-freezing night. "now sh-sh-shall we find y-y-your lost—"
He never got to finish his sentence since a dark shadow had fallen over both him and Pearl. The little Robin the young medium had been holding in her hands had become startled and decided to fly off and flee. Somehow the atmosphere had become much colder than before and it made the two children feel a bit on the nervous side. The bitter numbness of the ice and snow had rendered them unable to move due to their legs being mostly frozen due to kneeling for such a long time.
They looked at one another as their happiness and joy from moments ago had turned into a mix of unease and nerves. Luke swallowed when terror crept over him whilst he felt a familiar presence and he didn't like it. Not one bit.
Pearl swallowed as she eyed the gentleman in blue fearfully.
"L-Luke...? What's happening?"
Luke looked at Pearl with horror on his face and he grit his teeth. He had a suspicion he knew exactly who this person was yet he kind of hoped that he was wrong, and he couldn't help but notice that his own two hands were shaking and shuddering like mad. His heart paused and his frost-bitten ears twitched when he suddenly heard a couple of footsteps crunching in the thick blanket of snow and, despite his terrified shaking, he quickly took the young girl's hand in his and gave it a tight squeeze in a nonverbal attempt to reassure her.
Pearl seemed justifiably confused and very concerned by Luke's fright. She hadn't known him for long but she could instantly tell that he was someone who wasn't openly frightened often and would try and be a feisty and fearless gentleman -she could tell by just looking into his eyes. But she could also tell that he was very afraid right now and the reason was linked to the oncoming footsteps that approached them.
The crunching of snow got louder and louder.
Soon they were met by a familiar face...but not the face they had been expecting.
"Luke, my boy? What are you doing out here so late?"
Just like that, Luke's terrified expression melted away like butter in a microwave when he saw the adult top-hatted gentleman towering over them. There was a very confused frown on his rectangular face and his brows were furrowed and he had an umbrella tucked under his arm. Luke felt a huge amount of relief when he saw the professor stood there and with that same inviting presence he would always give off. Yet he couldn't help but be a bit gobsmacked to see his mentor.
"P-Professor!"
A/N: SURPRISE!
Here is part 1 for my two-parter Feyt love story.
I have worked hard on this chapter and I sincerely hope that you guys enjoy it. I am working hard on the second chapter and will try and get it out soon, but I am going to take my time doing it because slow and steady wins the race.
But please be sure to review and/or fave this fic.
And a HUGE thanks and shoutout to JordanPhoenix for giving me the idea for the Beauty and the beast inspiration idea and for waiting so patiently for this.
Thank you so much!
-Chloemcg
