[[Spoilers: No Layton's Mystery Journey spoilers, I promise. These short fics were originally written before the game's release for a 30 Day LMJ Art/Writing Challenge. Sadly, I didn't get around to finishing all the prompts, and some of my headcanon fics were debunked now that the game's actually out. These are the ones that could still loosley fit within the game's canon. So, we'll say spoiler warning for the rest of the PL series - including Mystery Room.
Set: Pre-Mystery Journey and pre-Mystery Room, but roughly eight years after Lost Future.]]
Life Is A Journey
What better way was there to spend your birthday money than going shopping with your big sister?
…Even if it was shopping for formal wear.
"Dad said we could choose anything we wanted," Kat whined as Flora held a lacy blue dress against her.
"Yes," Flora said patiently, "but it has to suit the dress code."
They had been invited to a charity gala at Gressenheller. Dad said it was for the anniversary of the Mobile Fortress Attack. All the money they raised would go to people who were hurt. But how could people still be hurting after so long?
"Al said it's been eight years," Kat informed Flora as she found a flowery yellow dress. "He said the money should go to other places – like the police!"
Flora stiffened, gripping the yellow dress. Alfendi had been so frustrated that he'd refused to come shopping with them.
Slowly, Flora said, "Some people are still hurting."
Kat frowned slightly as her sister turned away in search of another dress.
"Are they still mad at Clive…?"
Flora dropped the yellow dress, spun around and shushed her.
"What? Why can't we talk about Clive? Dad's friends with him – "
Flora put a finger to her lips. She looked around before whispering, "Not… everyone is friends with him. He's like… like Lord Voldemort – "
"He Who Must Not Be Named," Kat corrected her.
"That's right." Flora went to pick up the dress.
"I must not tell lies," Kat murmured.
Flora still thought she was quoting Harry Potter, until she insisted, "Dad says we shouldn't lie."
"It's not lying…" Flora tried wording it like a cryptic riddle, as their father was prone to doing. "It's omitting the truth."
"What does that mean?"
"We know the truth, but others don't know we're keeping it from them."
Putting her hand to her chin, Kat pulled her riddle apart. "So… We're not lying, but we're not being truthful either. And that's ok?"
"In this case, it is," Flora assured her.
Clive always lied. Luke, the most honest man she knew, had suffered as a result. He had been mistaken for Clive when he was eighteen. Flora wasn't taking any chances with her eight-year-old sister.
Small arms wrapped around her waist. "I won't tell anyone," Kat promised.
Flora returned the hug and rested her chin on Kat's head.
After a few moments, Kat tugged her towards a rack of waistcoats. "Can I get a coat like Aunt Emmy?"
"Ready?"
Kat's fists clenched around the tasseled pink handle bars. "N-no…"
Emmy let go of the back of the bike and moved to the front before Kat could fall over. They weren't using training wheels anymore.
"We can take a break if you like – "
"No!" Kat exclaimed, determinedly this time. She glared down the pavement outside their house. (It had never seemed so far away…) "I need to learn."
"There's no rush," Emmy laughed. When Kat pouted, Emmy patted the white helmet on her head. (It looked just like Emmy's scooter helmet.) Emmy hummed. "It took me ages to learn how to ride."
Kat's eyes went as round as saucers. "Really?" That was impossible – Emmy was the bravest, strongest, fastest person in the world!
Emmy nodded wisely. "When I was little, the area I lived in… wasn't the safest." If you tripped in the Nest, chances are you would cut yourself on broken glass. No one would lift you back on your feet.
Shaking her head, she smiled for Kat. "It's nothing like your peaceful little neighborhood."
Kat looked down the pavement again. She let out a breath. "I want to go now."
"I'll be right behind you," Emmy promised. She returned to the back of the bike. Kat put her feet on the pedals.
"Three… two… one… Go!" Emmy pushed the bike.
Kat shrieked as she went flying forwards. Emmy sprinted alongside her. "Remember you breaks!"
Kat leaned over the handlebars, squeezing the breaks. The bike slowed – wobbled. "H-help!"
"Keep peddling! You can do it!"
Kat peddled. She gasped as she saw they were nearing the end of the pavement. Beyond that – a busy road.
"Stop now!" Emmy commanded. "Kat – BREAKS!"
She was about to swoop in and stop the bike, when Kat suddenly turned the handlebars, looping around Emmy at the end of the pavement. For a moment, Emmy could only stare after her in amazement.
"What's wrong?" Kat glanced over her shoulder, still riding towards the house. "Am I doing it wrong –?"
"No, you're doing grea – LAMPPOST! LOOK OUT FOR THAT LAMPPOST!"
At forty-seven years old, Hershel Layton still lacked decent tidying skills. He claimed his office was so cluttered because it contained many items of sentimental value. That was no excuse for Rosa. Wouldn't he rather keep everything in order, if that was the case?
Rosa was adamant that Layton's children would not inherit his uncleanliness. She wouldn't allow it.
First, there came Flora. She was immaculate in every area apart from the kitchen.
The morning Rosa met her, she had flooded Layton's kitchen with milk, trying to make pancakes. Several lessons in cooking and food hygiene had followed. Flora's food preparation skills had improved immensely over the decade. Rosa couldn't be prouder of her young pupil.
Then, Alfendi arrived. Alfendi, with his collection of newspapers and his penchant for chaos.
One day, Rosa had entered the Layton household to find a body on the floor. She cried out, dropping the box of strawberries she'd been carrying. Alfendi came to investigate the commotion, hummed at the crimson-splattered body – which was, in fact, a manikin – and crouched over it.
"It appears the victim was stabbed," he announced, turning to Rosa. "Were you the only witness?"
Thankfully, Katrielle was not such a handful. Her biggest crime was leaving paper crown cutouts on her father's desk. She was more than willing to help Rosa with the spring-cleaning, and she even convinced Alfendi to join them.
"Why didn't you call Flora?" Alfendi grumbled as they trooped into the professor's office. "She should help too…"
"She's busy with her exams," Rosa reminded him for the umpteenth time.
"Hmph. I'm busy with my investigations – no, no, Kat, stop –! " He squealed as Kat swatted him with a blue feather duster.
"We have to help Rosa. It'll be a surprise for Dad!"
Alfendi sneezed as she tickled him under the nose. "It's too dusty in here!"
"Fine," Rosa sighed. "You can water the plants outside."
"But you said I could water the flowers," Kat protested as Rosa filled a watering can at the sink. "I practiced and everything!"
"In that case, you can both water them," Rosa settled. She handed Kat the watering can. Alfendi received a teapot full of water.
Drily, he pointed out, "This isn't a – "
"It'll do its job," Rosa retorted. Her tone brooked no arguments.
The siblings scurried outside as fast they could with their 'watering cans'.
There hadn't been any rain for the past week, so the plants were dry and wilting.
With a puff, Kat lifted her watering can and sprinkled it over a flowerbed. "There you go!" She paused when she saw Alfendi was practically drowning the plants. "That's enough, Al!"
"What?" he snorted. "They need all the water they can get."
Kat gasped when he almost drenched a pink tulip – the special one Uncle Luke said he had planted.
"I'll tell Rosa!"
"Don't…!" Alfendi whipped around to face her, throwing water.
Kat shrieked. "My clothes!"
Alfendi's laughter became a shout as she showered him with her own water supply. He smirked, hair dripping in his face. "You're in for it now."
Their screams brought Rosa rushing to the window. Her fears melted away when she realized they were having a water fight…
"S-stay back, Emmy! I'm trying to water the plants!"
"Oh, come on! You could use a bath – Hey! That's freezing!"
"Got you, haha!"
Rosa tutted, but she couldn't help smiling at the two of them.
At three in the morning, Alfendi received a fright (No, he did not shriek!) when he was awoken by two figures in white. A moment of bleariness passed before the Bed and Breakfast owner's ghost stories flooded his mind.
"During the summer solstice, the lines between the living and the dead become blurred…"
He fumbled for his bedside lamp, only to remember that there wasn't one. (Stupid, shoddy B&B!) The smaller figure grabbed his hand, dragging him out of bed. Alfendi screamed, "DAAAAAAD!"
"It's alright, Alfendi…"
His father flicked on the light switch. Alfendi slid one eye open and glanced up. Kat was the person holding his hand. Flora was stood beside her. Both of them were wearing long white cloaks with hoods.
Flora giggled, "Did we scare you –?"
"What are you wearing?"
"They're druids' robes," Kat explained. She tried to pull him off the floor. "Hurry up and get changed! We need to beat the sun!"
"I'm up," Alfendi snarled and surged into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he emerged, appearing no less sullen or disheveled. He'd thrown on a stripy T-shirt and some shorts. (He wouldn't be caught dead in a druid's robe.)
"Happy?" he huffed. His anger waned when a jacket was draped across his shoulders.
"The sun may rise early," their father said, "but it's still rather chilly outside – "
"Come on come on come on!" Kat cried.
They practically surfed their suitcases downstairs. Flora strapped them into the car while the professor said goodbye to the B&B staff.
Kat gasped when they hit traffic on the roads of Wiltshire. "We're not going to make it!"
The professor said, "Be patient."
"And positive," Flora added.
"Beep your horn, Dad," Alfendi suggested.
"I don't think that's going to help…"
They were already stuck in a sea of honking cars. Police officers had been deployed to help organize the flux of visitors.
Alfendi rolled down his window and called to one of the officers, "Could you clear a path for us? We're with Professor Layton – "
"Alfendi!" Layton chided.
The officer just directed them to a queue leading into a car park.
It was lucky the Laytonmobile was so thin, because after twenty minutes they managed to wedge between two cars. Kat took off her seatbelt before the car had even stopped, despite Flora's warnings. She leapt out of the car, lifted the hem of her robes and ran after a crowd of people.
"Get back here, Kat!" Alfendi yelled, leaping out after her.
"Wait, you two!"
Alfendi knew his father wasn't as fast as he once was and Flora would be slowed down by her robes. He couldn't lose Kat in this crowd…
Security was high surrounding the ancient site, but Alfendi managed to slip in amongst the masses crossing a field.
There were still a few minutes until sunrise, making it hard to pinpoint Kat in the dim light. His shouts were drowned out by the revelers' chatter, singing and their musical accompaniment of drums, flutes and rattles.
A splash of white caught his eye. "Kat?" He groaned when he realized there was an entire flock of 'druids' on their way to witness the sunrise. Shoving past them, he hurried to the front of the crowd.
Stonehenge was now in view, accented by pink clouds and the rising sun, but still no Kat…
Alfendi stopped, panting. Where the heck was she? They'd come all the way out here, and she wasn't even around to see it…
"Al!" Kat darted out from between two women Alfendi could only describe as hippies. Her breathing was heavy, like his, but her blue eyes were bright. "We made it," she whispered.
A cheer tore through the crowd as the sun peeked over Stonehenge.
"Yeah…" Alfendi smiled at her. "We did."