Now, ideally, there would be puzzles, this being Professor Layton and whatnot. It's rather difficult to describe in writing moving a red ball from one end of a puzzle to another and keep it interesting for long periods of time, though, so please feel free to use your imagination with whatever portions of the story a nice puzzle might fit in. Also, I've never written for Professor Layton, before, although I've been a fan of the games for a while, so please bear with me. :)
Professor Layton
Professor Layton and the Fire God
"GAH!" Luke jumped back in shock, while the person behind the ghoulish disguise only gave a giggle at his sudden surprise.
"Now, don't tell me you're afraid of a mask, Luke," came the professor's quiet chuckle as he tipped the brim of his top hat at a passing woman on the busy street of the Mediterranean style fishing village. The two gentlemen were met with little curiosity in the middle of the festive atmosphere, which included carts filled with sweets and trinkets, street performers, and brightly colored orange, red, and yellow decorations—Lanterns, in particular, seemed to be well liked by the people in the village, here, hanging from every possible corner of every roof they passed by.
"Of course not, Professor!" Luke stuttered, hurrying to keep closer to his mentor. "It wouldn't be very much like a gentleman to get scared of something so silly and childish!"
"Indeed. Oh!" Luke and Layton broke apart briefly as two children, wearing matching masks, ran through down the streets, giggling after one another in delight.
"...What's going on here, anyway, Professor? Some sort of party?"
"It appears to be some sort of festival, Luke. From what I recall, the town of Piras is famous for a week-long festival centered around some sort of ancient pagan fire deity, and we've been invited just in time for it. Why… The very name of the town comes from the word for fire!"
"Why's it so big a deal, Professor?"
"Legend has it that the gods built this sleepy fishing village on what was once an active volcano, Luke."
The boy stopped, and gave a deep gulp, "V-Volcano!?"
"Haha, no worries! It's been some time since the volcano's been active. It's also said that the gods now protect people from the volcano's wrath, so people pay tribute for a week, in a way to give thanks. We should be fine to enjoy the festival and while we're here meeting with Julio."
"He's a big-time historian here, right, Professor?"
"That's certainly one way to put it, Luke. Julio's renowned in his academic field and the study of ancient weaponry. We could stand to learn a few things from him while we're enjoying the scenery. ...Eh?" he stopped in the street, Luke giving a small grunt as he bumped into the professor.
Layton held an arm protectively out to Luke, and the young gentleman-in-training, at this point, realized that the screams of laughter had quickly turned to ones of those in sheer terror.
"Professor!" Luke shouted. "What... What's happening?! This isn't part of the celebration, too, is it?!"
"I'm not sure. This way!" Layton and Luke ran opposite of the bolting, bright crowd in the previously festive fishing village, and ducked into a narrow cobblestone alleyway. It was at this place Layton and Luke were able to regain a hold of their senses, and Layton peered around the corner in hopes to see what the cause for all of the screaming was. He quickly grabbed Luke once more, and both fell to the cobbled ground as a large fireball zoomed past them, the heat close enough for both to get a blast of it, and landed in the midst of the town and the shouting villagers.
And they both remained there, silent, until Luke felt Layton rise from his spot, and the young boy then found the courage to open his eyes and stand.
And they both peered out, in equal awe, at the blackened, smoky crater that had once been a vibrant part of the city.
"…I think we'll need to need to hurry to Julio's. I have a feeling he might be able to shed a bit of light on this."
Julio was a scrawny man, with equally long and straight dark hair pulled back, well dressed and seated at his mahogany desk, ill-looking, but a pleasant smile upon his face that just barely covered a deep, troubling concern in the back of his mind.
"So only since the celebration's started this has happened?" Layton sipped from the cup of tea Julio had poured for him, while Luke sat with his own cup resting on his lap.
"Yes," Julio sighed, and sipped his own cup of tea. "Herschel, everyone's at a loss as to what's happening here. Between that and… Well, the apparition."
"Apparition, you say?" Layton glanced up briefly, while Luke leaned forward, wide-eyed. "What sort of apparition are we talking about, Julio…?"
Julio set down his tea cup in the darkened office, on top of the desk, and stood at his window—The only source of light in the otherwise quiet office. From below, he had a view of the village—Not that he very much wanted to look at it, at this moment.
"…Herschel, I've heard about these tales of destruction before, from when I was a boy growing up in Piras… Some people are thinking that it's the very god the town was named for, coming back to seek some sort of vengeance upon the village."
"Why would he want to do that?" Luke asked, forsaking his tea and now leaned further in his red wingback chair.
"You haven't heard?" Julio turned around. "There have been talks of relocating the town."
"Relocating?"
"Yes, Herschel… The beneath the village is a veritable gold mine of volcanic material. That's the very reason for the good crops here… The village in between the sea of plenty and the Garden of Eden. There are people who have been slowly buying out the town's properties, over the years. It started small enough, with the purchasing of small shacks and homes. They're still quite secretive about call themselves the Hammond Corporation. They're not very well liked, but that doesn't stop people from buying into their scheme… The people here are growing old. Their children are moving towards the larger cities… Many are seeing some sort of writing on the wall that the village is dying, and it's best to sell and move while there's still time."
"Do you think they could perhaps have something to do with this, Julio?"
"Think it? Herschel, I'd bet my very life upon it."
"I see…." Layton briefly touched the brim of his hat, and, after a moment of contemplating, set his teacup on the desk and rose. "I suppose that settles it, then. Luke, come on. We're going to go speak to someone from this… Hammond Corporation."
"You'll help us, then?"
"It would be my pleasure, Julio," Layton answered, giving the smallest of grins and exiting the office with Luke.
"Where is this Hammond Corporation, anyhow, Professor?" Luke asked as he hopped down the stone stairs just outside of Julio's large, white stucco covered house.
"Oh, I don't think we'll have that hard a time finding someone from there to speak with, Luke," Layton answered, watching a large pickup truck with the very name of the Hammond Corporation handwritten in red letters across it drive past a dirt road in front of Julio's house.
"W-Wow!" Luke gasped, staring up, and up, and up at the glass building, comprised of nearly all windows that reflected the forest around it, allowing no one an opportunity to peer inside, but plenty of opportunity to look down at the world below. "It's like… A miniature skyscraper!"
"Hrm… Come on, let's go then," Layton entered, and both were greeted by nothing but sheer gray and white. White floors, beams, and ceilings, along with silver-lined windows. At the end of the long, well-lit entryway was a single circular desk, and at it, a young woman with tightly braided hair sat typing on an electric typewriter.
She looked above her red glasses to them, dully, and sighed, resting her chin on the palm of one of her manicured hands, "…Can I help you?"
"Good afternoon, madam. We were hoping to see Mr. Hammond. Is he in?"
"He's in a meeting. Leave a message… He should be able to get back to you in June."
"June!? B-But it's October!" Luke yelped, and Layton held up a hand to Luke, signaling it was time for him to remain silent.
"Very well. Thank you for your time," he nodded, and she flashed a quick smile—More grateful they were leaving than anything.
"Professor, what was that all about?!" Luke huffed after they had exited the building. Layton didn't pay much heed to this, however, instead beginning to circle the building. "…Professor? Professor, what's wrong?"
"...I don't think our secretary is a secretary at all, Luke…"
"…Oh?"
"That typewriter she was working on. Did you notice anything about it?"
"It was red?"
"Yes, well, that. Anything else?"
"It was electric."
"And yet there was no spot, where she sat, to plug it into."
"Maybe a floor outlet?"
"On the contrary… I don't think this building has electricity at all… I think it was constructed recently… Very recently. If you notice, there isn't even a spot for anyone to park anywhere around here, and yet Mr. Hammond is in a meeting."
"Say! You're absolutely right about that! Oh! Professor! Look!" Luke gasped as they reached the back of the building, and, for the first time, they were able to see a straight line of trees mowed down. "It looks like someone was moving something heavy through there! …Now where will all of the poor squirrels live I wonder…"
"Not exactly the tire tracks I was hoping to find… Let's get back to our hotel room. We'll tell Julio of this in the morning… Until then, maybe a little looking around town is in order."
"Professor?"
"Yes, Luke?"
"Do you think we could get something to eat while we're walking around? I can't really investigate properly on an empty stomach…"
"Hehe… I think that would be just fine, Luke."
Layton tried not to think about the bill for the restaurant too hard as he worked on his crossword puzzle, while seated across from Luke, who sat in the midst of a sea of emptied plates.
"The fish is the best, Professor! You should really try some!"
"The mutton was enough for me, thank you," he answered, his eyes briefly scanning the restaurant around them. While they hadn't drawn much attention, before, now with the celebrations having died down, there were mutters about the British professor and his small assistant with the hearty appetite.
"Anything else I can do for you, love?" a heavyset woman who had served as their waitress walked over, a lone tray underneath her arm. "Maybe some dessert? Some more tea?"
"Pie might be nice…."
"Nothing for me, thank you, madam, but I would like to know if you know anything about this Hammond Corporation around town…."
The waitress rolled her eyes at the very mention, "Oh, them… They've been trying to buy us out forever. That's not going to happen with this place, though, I reassure you. Not as long as old Roselina's in charge around here!"
"Do you know if they've purchased any other properties in neighboring regions?"
"I wouldn't know that… I'll get that pie for you. And… Between you and me, I'd hurry on out of here before sun fall. That's when all of the strange things start happening," Roselina replied, and hurried away from the table.
"Ohh…. I think I overate…." Luke moaned as he rubbed his stomach, and Layton couldn't help but give a little chuckle at this.
"I suppose learning one's physical capabilities are just as important as learning his mental ones."
"Emmy's going to be so upset she missed out on this when I tell her about that strawberry pie! I didn't even know you could get strawberries around this time of the year!"
"Well, that could be one of the benefits of living near an active volcano with amiable weather conditions, to boot," the two walked down the lantern lit street, the warmth from the lanterns nearly masking the autumn chill in the air. They weren't nearly alone, however. The townspeople walked around them, some giving small mutters here and there, but otherwise attempting to enjoy the festivities and not think about the burnt out section of the village.
"It is lovely here…."
"Very much agreed," Layton then stopped, in the midst of the busy street, and Luke took a moment away from focusing on his indigestion to notice the professor.
"Um… Professor? Are you all right?"
"Yes. I just thought I saw something peculiar…"
More screams, and a "not again" from Luke as he hurried with Layton, feeling more warmth upon them as they ducked into a small, darkened shop. More fireballs descended from the heavens, seemingly out of thin air, and over the screams, Layton and Luke could both hear a booming laugh.
Layton peered out through the thick glass, while the shop owner himself curled up in a shaking ball in a corner of the store.
"What the?!" Luke yelped, watching a set of two thin, tall legs stalk through the emptying streets. "Professor, what….?"
"Shh, keep quiet…. I looks like the fire's coming from the same direction as before... About the same direction as where the building stood..."
The face of the creature, dressed in red, craned downward on a long next, and its round red and white fore, contorted into a smile, let out another long half-wail, half-laugh.
Gentlemen weren't frightened, Luke reminded himself… Although if ever there were a time for a gentleman to be frightened… Now would have been the perfect opportunity.
The creature stalked through, leaving a wake of the fiery rain in its path, each of the fiery balls descending into the nearby ocean.
The two waited in the shop for the creature to disappear and the coast to clear before eventually succumbing to sleep during the now-still night, and Layton was the first to find himself awake in the corner, immobile as Luke slept sprawled out across him. There was not a blanket spread across the both of them, and the shopkeeper, an old man with thick glasses and suspenders, busied himself around the shop as he supported himself by leaning on a cane.
"I see you're awake!" he gave a nearly-toothless smile in the direction of the professor, "Some scare we had, last night! After we knew it was all clear, I just couldn't bring myself to wake up the both of you! Especially the little one, he looks so much like my grandson!"
"Thank you," Layton tipped his hat, and gently shook the said little boy awake.
"Professor…" Luke groaned groggily as he rubbed his eyes, "…I think that fish gave me a terrible nightmare."
"If you mean the masked person in the streets, Luke, I'm afraid that was no nightmare."
"E-Eh?! You mean that really happened?! Professor, who was that?"
"I'll tell you who," the shopkeeper called out, lifting up a wooden crate from underneath his checkout counter. "It was Piras, come back to life!"
"That's preposterous!" Luke snapped in return. "There's no such things as fire gods! Right, Professor?"
"Luke, I don't think it either wise nor polite to dismiss someone's beliefs so quickly," Layton answered and folded up the blanket they had used, and set it on the shopkeeper's counter. "I'm quite sorry for that."
"It's all right," the shopkeeper sighed. "My grandson's the same way about that, too…"
"…Sorry…" Luke whispered in a hushed voice, following the professor out like a crestfallen pup. "But… Professor… Do you really think that was a fire god?"
"Highly unlikely," Layton answered. "But that's my opinion. And there's more than one way for something to be real. It can be just as real in spirit as it is tangible."
"…Huh?"
"Oh, I think it will make sense, when the time comes," Layton replied, giving a small smile. "Now… I believe we owe Julio another visit."
"Really? Why's that?"
"Luke, we're going to go meet a fire god."
"Oh. Wait! WHAT?"
"Herschel, thank goodness you're all right!" Julio met them at his front door as soon as they'd arrived, "I hadn't heard anything about you, so I was beginning to worry! I heard there was another attack at the festival, last night!"
"Julio… I think both you and I know you did more than hear about the attack," Layton answered as he stood on the porch with the dumbfounded Luke. "Now, shall we go in and discuss this a little more?"
"…I think that would be best…" Julio answered, opening the door for the pair and leading them into the office.
Another cup of tea, but the cold in the room was merely replaced with a sort of palpable tension Luke felt between the two as he ignored his own tea.
"There's never been a Hammond Corporation, has there?"
"Now what would be your first guess?"
"You said they were secretive in their buying up properties, and yet the moment Luke and I step out, there's a truck with their logo written on it. What sort of large corporation that specializes in buying up properties uses a common delivery truck as a means of transportation, much less one that has a handwritten logo?"
"...I want it on the record that no one was willing to have their perfectly good cars painted on."
"Professor, what's going on here?"
"Luke, that building we saw the day before… You know how I mentioned earlier that Julio was an expert at weapons?"
"Well, yes…"
"…If you wanted to make it appear as though it was raining fire, what sort of weapon would you use?"
"A…. Well… A catapult, I suppose!"
"Precisely. But you'd need a large one, correct?"
"I… I guess so."
"I believe that's where our glassed-in office came from. Is that right, Julio?"
"…Go on, Herschel. I'm not going to stop you while you're on a roll…"
"Hrm. The fire came from the west both times, never in random directions. It was always a stationary direction, at different lengths."
"So they have a catapult hidden in that building?"
"It would make sense. The leveled trees would suggest that something heavy had been moved near or into that building, recently."
"But… Why, Professor?"
"I think Julio can provide the best answer for us, there."
Juiio was quiet in collecting his thoughts for a while, before finally sighed and lowering his shoulders, "…I wasn't lying when I said people were leaving. This place has been slowly drying up, over the last twenty years or so. Many of my friends have moved, while their parents have remained… And they just don't know what they're doing to their parents. I… I figured if I brought one of the world's best puzzle solvers here, and was able to successfully fool him, that people would flock to see the town with the living fire god…"
"S-So you used us?!" Luke snapped. "And what about the day before?! We could have been killed!"
"That was a mistake!" Julio reassured them. "I have to leave my invention in the hands of a few locals in order to meet you both here… It was meant to go into the water, just like ones last night did!"
"…While I'm honored you think so highly of my skills and my word, Julio, if this had gone on for very long, your credibility could have very well been damaged, not to mention my own. And some of those friends you mentioned might be tempted to move their parents away to somewhere safer."
"I suppose… I just... I had to try something…." Julio sighed.
"Why not do the Fire Festival more, then?" Luke suggested, his legs swinging from the chair. "Like… Hold special events like that for tourists. I bet no one's ever seen something like rain made out of fire, before…."
"That could very well be a fine idea you're onto there, Luke," Layton agreed, and stood from his seat. "Julio… I wish you the best."
"Herschel, please don't think I've wasted your time with this. Please tell me you forgive me."
"You were simply attempting to save your village. I can find honor in that, even though I may not agree with the methods you took in order to do so. You're a brilliant man, Julio. I'm certain you and the rest of the village will be able to think of something."
"Perhaps marketing the festival might not be such a bad idea… At any rate, it could be worth a shot."
"You can get that man on the stilts back, too!" Luke giggled, rising from his seat. Julio, at this moment, tilted his head, puzzled. "The one from last night, you know! He had the red and white mask on, and wore a red outfit!"
"…There wasn't anyone like that…" Julio answered. "No, really! I swear to you! That apparition is as big a mystery to us! You... You mean you saw it?!"
"…Oh, dear," Layton adjusted his top hat, while Luke paled a few shades. "...There may be something to the gods still watching over your town, after all, Julio."
"I leave for two weeks to meet with some old college friends and you get to meet a fire god? And have a delicious meal like that!?" Emmy gasped with envy.
"One would think the fire god was more impressive…" Layton muttered, turning a page in the newspaper. The three sat in a small coffee shop, choosing the outdoor seating in order to enjoy the cool autumn London air. "..What's this?"
"Huh? What is it, Professor?" Luke took another bite of his croissant, and both Emmy and Luke leaned over either of the professor's shoulders, focusing in on the largest article in the paper.
"It'd appear that Julio's village has wasted little time in letting people know about the "Flight of the Fire God"," Layton replied, a small smile coming across his face as he read the caption underneath the black and white photograph of Julio and a few of the other villagers standing around a large wooden catapult. "Perhaps we should take another trip to Piras, next opportunity we get for a holiday."
"And you're both taking me to that restaurant, or I'll never forgive either of you…" Emmy huffed.
"Now it's nothing to have hurt feelings over, Emmy. And Luke, you might be able to run into your friend with the mask again…"
"…I'd rather a holiday in the mountains, Professor…" Luke admitted with a shudder, and Layton gave a laugh which the boy was quick to follow, while Emmy focused on what she would first order from the restaurant when they returned, this in tow, this time around.