Wow, I've been gone for so long! (Longer than Edward in New Moon, in your face you sparkly #&!%$) I've deleted nearly all my stories (didn't have many at all to begin with) because I feel that my writing has improved since last year. I've still been having ideas for stories, though honestly, I feel that my love for PL has been on and off recently. But I'm inspired to keep writing for it anyway, so that's what I'm gonna do. This takes place in Claire/Celeste's POV. It might be a bit long, but that's actually a big achievement for me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton.
"Meet at the old father's embrace... who is this "Old Father" you were talking about?" Don Paolo questioned, pondering over the instructions I had given Hershel. I really wished he would lower his voice more. Thanks to his magnificent escaping skills, we had managed to sneak out of the Family-surrounded warehouse, but now the real challenge was fleeing the actual institution, aware that there were a hundred goons on the guard.
"I was using a metaphor to hide our meeting place from the Family. The Old Father's embrace means the Thames, named after Old Father Thames." I explained.
"Hmm, very clever," Paul mused quite absent-mindedly. I didn't think he actually understood at all. To be honest, I didn't think that I would ever meet up with Paul in the future. He had always been so… non-relevant to my life. I wasn't even sure what he was doing down in future London. But then again, he had always seemed to appear and disappear out of nowhere, and whenever there was any commotion around, there was Paul.
We ran and crept along the corridor, dodging the sight of every Family member we encountered.
"You know…" He began after a minute. "You remind me of Claire a lot. I mean, it's crazy, you may as well be her." I smiled, glad to know that I hadn't changed and become insane like Dimitri, and even Paul himself. I had done my research and found out about the multiple crimes he'd committed, and his unwanted presence in London. I'd been completely stunned to find out that the nice man I used to know was now a villain.
"Well, people did used to say we were very alike," I told him. I hoped he wouldn't ask too many more questions, I didn't know how long I would be able to keep up the lies before the truth slipped. But if so, how would he react to the truth? I wondered.
"Did you know her well?" I asked.
"Well, kind of," he replied. "I attended the same university as her."
He had originally been the one escorting me, but in the end I had ended up taking over, as I knew the building better than he did.
We half ran, half walked down another hallway, before the familiar sound of Bostro ordering some unfortunate soul around filled my eardrums. He wasn't too far, probably just somewhere around the corner.
"Oi, Bonehead! Why're you standin' 'round doin' nothing?! Look for the intruders!" He demanded.
I couldn't see them, but I could imagine the poor fool shivering with fear before Bostro. I quickly grabbed Paul's arm and pressed my back against the wall tightly to make myself less visible. Paul followed suit, though with his oversized coat and pointy hair, he wasn't exactly hiding material.
Then I heard Bonehead talk. Ever since I had gotten to underground London, I'd been wondering who on earth had given the henchmen their nicknames. At least I hoped they were only nicknames.
"Uh, wh-what intruders, sir?" I heard Bonehead stammer.
"The ones that are escaping, you idiot! Layton, those kids, the pointy-haired man!" In the corner of my eye, I saw Paul lick his hand and use it to try to smoothen one of his hair horns down, which of course sprung back up instantly. I couldn't help but smile.
"…But more importantly, find the time traveler!" Bostro continued, causing me to quietly gasp.
"The lady?" Bonehead asked.
"Yes, she's escaping with the pointy-haired man! The boss says if we don't catch her, that'll be all our efforts wasted for nothin!'
But what about my efforts being wasted for nothing? I thought. Or the flow of time, how it may affect everyone else?
"Time Traveler?" Paul questioned. I slowly shook my head, forming a facial expression to say; 'Don't worry about it, they don't know what they're talking about.'
"Y-yes sir, I'm on it!" Bonehead exclaimed and I heard him start to walk off, worried he'd come our way. But I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the sound of the footsteps faded away in the opposite direction.
"Alright, come on!" I whispered to Paul. We then started walking at a much quicker pace, maybe even jogging.
We were unfortunate enough to hear more Family member's footsteps, this time they were coming from both infront of us and behind. I quickly opened the door next to me, feeling a wave of relief as those rays of fake sunshine hit my face, and pulled Paul out with me, making sure to close the door behind us. We had finally escaped the hideout, but weren't out of the woods yet.
"Ok, now that we're finally out, we just need to find the entrance to the tunnel that leads under the river," I said, feeling it was my duty to give the orders.
"Tunnel?" Paul said, then a proud smile spread across his lips. "My dear Celeste, there's no need to go through that mucky tunnel, because I have a flying machine that will take us over the river in no time!"
He boastfully twirled the end of his moustache, just as I remember him doing in university as a way to say "hey everyone, I just came up with an ingenious idea!" No one would really ever pay attention though.
I wasn't surprised that he had something creative up his sleeve, Paul's skills had always been involved in mechanics and inventions.
"Ok, where is it?" I quickly asked. I felt like I was being a little rude, but I was worried that the Family would gain on us. And besides, I could thank Paul for all his help when the whole matter was over. Though at the back of my mind, I wondered how long it would be until I was completely dragged back to the past.
"Hmm," He thought aloud, looking at our surroundings. There wasn't much around us; just a rusty old fence, cardboard boxes, and what appeared to be an outhouse.
"Ok, before I landed my machine somewhere around there," he said, pointing in a direction.
"Let's not waste any time," I said, and we quickly set off to find it.
"So, Don Paulo…" I began, breaking the silence that had formed between us. We were in a hurry, but it wasn't as if talking was going to slow us down in any way.
"Yes?" He asked.
"…I don't mean for this to sound rude in any way, but…is there any particular reason you're here? Undergr- I mean, in Future London?" I asked, mentally scolding myself for the almost slip-up.
"Well…" Paul began. "I was originally following Layton around, just to see what he was up to this time. He gets led to the most bizarre places, I tell you!" He exclaimed, folding his arms.
"I suppose," I agreed. Despite the creepiness of it, Paul had always been one to stalk people.
"Wait," I then said. "What do you mean by "originally?" I asked him.
"Well, at first I was just spying on Layton and those brats, watching them go about in town, talking to people and solving puzzles, blech. Extremely boring stuff."
I wondered if this conversation was going anywhere.
"Long story short, I "assisted" Layton just a little bit, and found out something of interest to me while I did so, and intend to discover more data on the issue."
"Something of interest?" I repeated questionably.
"I...I found a bit of information surrounding your sister's death," he said. "I want to know who's behind it, and why they did it. It's the most we could do for Claire."
"So now the reason you're here is to find out more about my sister's death?" I asked. I was flattered, that was for sure. But I was still left a little puzzled.
"Just how much did you care about my sister?" I asked.
"Well..." He began. He fiddled with his fingers nervously, an uncomfortable expression appearing across his face. He seemed very hesitant, like there was something he was afraid to say.
"Paul?" I questioned gently.
"To be honest... a lot," he mumbled. I could feel my cheeks slightly burn, something that rarely occurred for me.
"Ok, Ok!" He suddenly blurted out in a tone like he was surrendering to a policeman.
"Wha-" I started to wonder aloud.
"I was completely in love with her!" He revealed, along with what seemed like an exasperated sigh, like a huge weight had been taken off his back. I, on the other hand, was not prepared for his sudden confession. Whatever pace I was walking at before had slowed a little, and I found myself staring at the man walking beside me.
"You…you were?" My voice had said a bit quieter. He nodded. And suddenly, it all made sense to me. It was as if Paul had metaphorically dropped a bomb on the whole past, leaving ruins of the truth behind. I felt so selfish, and just angry at myself. I had just been so wrapped up in my own world, that I'd forgotten about everyone else around me, never bothering about their feelings. All Paul had ever been to me was a plastic bag, the only time I ever wanted him, was when I needed him.
"The day I met her was the day that changed my life. She was just so... smart, pretty, kind, just... amazing," I smiled at the sweet words from the man walking next to me, baffled to find out what he had thought of me all those years... and never had the guts to tell me. I was also shocked as I'd never seen Paul talk or look like that before, just so… lovey-dovey and passionate.
"And you never told Claire this?" I asked. He shook his head.
"No, I didn't want to interfere with her life. She was just too happy without me troubling her," he said.
Flashbacks from ten years ago appeared before me, memories from our days at university. Paul holding the door open for me, offering to carry my books, hiding behind the corner whilst trying to pick up the nerve to talk to me and banging his head against a door when he missed his opportunity, complimenting me almost everyday, comforting me on the rare occasions I was upset, helping me complete work even though he knew nothing about the topic it was focused on. And through all of that, all I had ever thought of him was just a creepy guy in the year above me at university. How could I have been so shallow?
"I'm sorry," I said apologetically, my head lowered.
"Huh?" he said, confused.
"I…I meant on behalf of my sister. I'm sorry you had to go on for so long, feeling this way. I'm sure if Claire were here, that's what she'd say."
He shook his head. "Forget it, it wasn't her fault." He folded his arms over his chest and sighed heavily.
"Layton was the one who stole her from me, and who didn't even protect her that day," he said with a raised tone. It hurt when he said that. I know that after the explosion Hershel would have been beating himself up over my death, though there was nothing he could've done to prevent it. I didn't want him to go the rest of his life thinking it was his entire fault that I died.
"Don't blame Hersh- I mean, the professor for any of it," I said.
"All he ever did was love her and make her happy, that's no reason to hate him." By the expression on Paul's face and the sudden silence coming from him, I knew he was a little surprised at my sudden outburst. I too, was surprised.
"If anything, you're the problem," I kept talking. "You gave up on your whole life just because Claire chose the professor instead of you." I had to admit, my words at the current time did sound a little harsh. But I just wanted to get my point across.
"She just wasn't the right one for you, Paul," I said, my voice a little more gentle.
"When this is all over, I want you to move on from Claire and find the one who is. It's not too late. It's time you found someone who will love you as much as you deserve to be, and stop clinging onto the past." I found myself feeling a bit hypocritical after I said this, as when I had first arrived in the future, I'd been desperate to go back to the past.
"Who would want me?" He asked, discouraged.
My heart broke for him. If I had've known ten years ago how pitiful his life would turn out, I would've done something for him. Tried to help in any way I could. I knew this was my last chance to do so.
"Paul, underneath that villainous behaviour there's a sweet, intelligent gentleman. And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better, I really know it. I also know that lots of ladies are after someone just like you. Just keep searching, and don't give up like you did ten years ago. There's someone out there for everyone." My thoughts quickly flickered to Hershel and I. How it wasn't possible for us to have our wonderful future together, how it was destroyed, just like my life in the explosion.
"Life is shorter than you think, and you never know when it's going to end," I continued, my eyes focused on the ground in front of me.
Don Paulo nodded very slowly, and seemed to be deep in reflection. I was glad he was actually processing my words. This whole "Future London" thing was what everyone needed, it was a perfect chance to start fresh and make positive changes.
"Oh and one more thing," I said to Paul.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"I know you have a lot of potential. Too much in fact, to be running around causing trouble. You don't have to be Don Paulo anymore. You can be a hero if you wanted to. You have a lot of amazing skills, and I know you can do great things if you just put them to good uses. You can be whatever you want, and do whatever you want to do. But committing crimes just to get revenge on the professor isn't going to make you any happier or more successful in life. Do you understand?" I asked softly.
"Y-yes," He said, and I could feel the change of attitude in him.
"Thankyou," he then said. It was unexpected and sounded like it hadn't come out of his mouth in a long time. But it was the starting point for him to become a better person.
"It's no problem," I replied, and smiled at him.
We said nothing more for a few seconds, before he started talking again.
"You know, it's funny," he said. I looked back up at him.
"What is?" I asked.
"It wasn't even fifteen minutes ago that I met you and here I am, talking freely about things that I've barely talked about with anyone before, as if I've… known you for longer."
I just smiled at him and said nothing more. If he only knew...