I feel like this hardly needs prefacing, but in case you don't know, this does contain spoilers for the game. You have been warned. Don't read if you plan on figuring this out by yourself.
Chasing after the professor on horseback was difficult for a boy much too small for the knight horses. It also didn't help that despite all Luke did to talk to the horse, he could still barely control the animal and could only hold on tightly with knuckles of white.
Fear was fuelling his need to catch up. Fear for Mr. Wright who wouldn't know he was in any danger of the witches and fear for his life being trampled underneath pounding hooves.
"Pro-professor! Wait… Wait for me!"
Yet the professor was still ahead of him. In fact Luke could already see the professor had dismounted and was rushing into the house.
Luke tried halting his stead, yanking on the reins and digging his heels in. Which did nothing at first but them the horse stopped with a loud snort. Luke hurried to get off, legs wobbling slightly when they hit the ground. He never wanted to jump on a creature like that ever again. It seemed the only reason the horse had stopped was because it had run to a bit of a dead end in the garden.
Luke urgently wanted to go in, he wanted to be with the professor. He wasn't scared of the witches… But he would definitely be safer with the professor by his side. These people out the front were getting in the way, telling him that the alchemist had already died. He knew that. He wasn't coming for him. He was coming to warn Mr. Wright of course.
When he finally got across his urgency, they allowed him past to enter the house. Running down the long corridor came a voice that made his blood run cold. A strange voice, almost sounding echo-y or computer generated yelling Goldor. And then a scream.
He froze for just a moment, fear paralysing his body before he pushed on.
He slammed the door open and his worse nightmare had been revealed.
A shiny gold professor, still with his finger extended greeted his eyes.
"Oh dearie dearie me!"
He could only watch, eyes wide as the statue leaned forwards, the normally elegant gentleman Hershel Layton falling flat on his face as solid gold.
"P-professor!"
And that girl, Maya, on the other side of the room, protesting it wasn't her even as the witch's staff dropped in front of her. He felt so entirely lonely, even in a room full of people.
Mr. Wright poked his head up. "Huh..? What the..?"
He was staring at the professor's face. He looked the same way he would when solving a puzzle. Tears prickled his eyes. What would the professor do at a time like this? What would the professor say to ease his pain? … 'Now Luke… A gentleman would…'
But the voice of the professor in his head faded out as his own sobs rung in his ears. He didn't know how to describe it. He didn't have the vocabulary. He only knew that he had lost someone so important to him. What would he do with himself?
It would take a miracle for him to recover.
So after the trial, Luke felt worse than he had before. He had nearly gotten Maya thrown into the fire. Mr Wright had worked so hard to prove that Maya had been innocent and Luke hadn't helped. Luke felt ashamed. He hadn't acted like a gentleman at all. He had let his anger and sadness get the better of him.
And then… When it was getting bad Espella had stepped up, voluntarily making herself into the sacrificial lamb so that no one else would have to die.
But Maya… Innocent Maya couldn't let someone die. She wasn't going to let her friend down. She wasn't going to condemn someone she believed in.
And although Luke didn't see because he was busy getting Espella out, he heard the commotion afterwards and soon heard that Maya had been cast into the fire by mistake anyway.
Luke felt like it was all his fault. He should've believed her. He knew it wasn't her, but he was just so angry. The professor would've been ashamed at his actions. His heart felt heavy. Only a miracle could've save Maya then and it seemed they were all out of miracles.
The weight of heavy guards draped in their cold metallic armour pressed upon his back in stark contrast to the heat in the room that was being stoked by the fires.
The clanking of the metal cage closing over, cutting of her desperate cries for help, calling is name. Only his name. She had believed in him.
His own voice breaking and begging for it to stop before he lost her. He struggled against his restraints, hoping, praying for a miracle.
The burst of flames erupting from the pit, consuming the cage in which she was. The feeling of part of losing his soul went with his as he screamed for her, disbelieving the sight before his eyes.
Phoenix felt cold sweat break over his body. He'd only closed his eyes for a few minutes, trying to get some sort of rest but the visions flooded his mind. His skin prickled remembering it all. He'd been secretly hoping it was a nightmare and that he'd wake up from it with Maya back and alive, asking him to go and grab burgers together and spend the money he worked hard for twice as fast as he could earn it. No such luck though. The only thing he was waking up to was the emptiness that was loss.
His head dropped into his hands. The aching hadn't yet eased in the slightest. Even seeing Espella safe couldn't erase the hurt. Of course he was glad she was alive, but the magnitude that was losing his best friend was much more pressing. They'd been through thick and thin. He'd saved her before, already a handful of times. It was so pressing that he couldn't save her this time. He'd fought so hard for her in court.
This was even worse than watching as his actions to prove Espella innocent indirectly doom another to an irreversible fate.
"Uh… Mr. Wright, are you doing ok?"
The voice of Luke brought his head up. The young boy had also endured much and was now doing his best to smile and keep cheerful.
For the sake of Luke, Phoenix managed a small smile. "Yeah, sorry, I'm spacing out a little. I'll be fine. Let's go find some clues to the Great Witch Bezella."
Uncertainty flashed on Luke's face. He seemed to recognise the hidden meaning behind Phoenix's words and understood them well.
Yet, he still smiled back, making no mention of the root cause of pain. "No clues can escape the professor's apprentice."
It was Luke who was first to bring up the professor. It was hard not to in ruins that reminded him so much of the professor. He knew the professor would've been telling him all about it if Luke had shown even the slight of interests.
The mood seemed saddened again as loss entered the hearts of teh companions.
"That's right, the professor was an Archaeologist," Phoenix said, head bowed.
Luke's head was down also, cap covering his eyes. "Yeah… Sometimes I can almost hear his kind words calling to me… Even now… I can still almost hear him." He snuffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
"I know what you mean… I can nearly hear him too… Maya too," Phoenix said slowly, unwilling to open up his own pain, but willing to empathise with the younger child in his presence.
"I think I hear them as well," Espella said sadly.
At that moment, something seemed to click. A small glimmer of hope started to shimmer.
"You know… Come to think of it," Luke said slowly.
"It really is…" Phoenix continued hesitantly.
"Like we can really…" Espella nodded slightly.
"Hear them." Luke finished, looking slightly brighter.
"Now then… Let's check over on this side…" Came a sensible voice.
"Right you are professor!" The other said brightly.
And as if by some miracle, a figures thought previously to be solid gold came into view, right arm attached to his body and all.
"Professor? PROFESSOR!" Luke's face completely lit up, the first genuine smile appearing on his face since he first found the statue in the room.
The professor in question, looked up, seeming startled before recognising the voice that had called to him. "Luke? Luke my boy, what are you doing here?"
Tears filled the small boy's eyes, happy to be addressed and seeing that he wasn't dreaming. He knew it! Deep down he had known the professor was going to come back. He always did, even though it was so hard. However Luke was just so relieved to finally see the professor moving again, talking again and most of all, human again.
"Professor!"
He ran towards him, his arms stretched wide as he gripped onto the professor tightly. His fingers gripped the professor's coat, hiding his face from view.
"Now Luke, you know a gentleman doesn't cry in public," The professor said lightly, adjusting the top hat on his head.
"I… I'm not crying professor!" Luke protested.
And then the professor's hand was on Luke's back, patting him comfortingly. "I'm sorry my boy, I must have caused you some amount of worry."
Luke shook his head and wiped his eyes. "I'm so happy to have you back professor! I didn't know I could miss you like that."
Hershel Layton offered Luke his kindest of smiles, only imagining the confusing thoughts to have been going through his head and the trauma too large for his young brain to comprehend. No boy as young as Luke should have to go through what he should've and as a true gentleman, Hershel understood the importance of Luke's emotional health foremost.
"It will be alright now Luke, as you can see, I am perfectly ok."
Luke wiped his face again and nodded, a determined look on his face. "And now we'll find clues and put a stop to all this witch happenings!"
"Indeed," Hershel agreed, a slight crease appearing as he thought, "I do believe these ruins may hold a key."
An awkward cough sounded off the side, Phoenix looking extremely uncomfortable. "Uh… Professor, do… You know maybe Maya… I thought I heard her too."
"Ah, yeah, rest assured Mr Wright, Miss Fey is-"
The professor was cut off when the young lady in question herself came into view again, frowning as she held the key in puzzlement. She glanced up, about to call to the professor when her grey blue eyes met Phoenix's stormy grey blue.
Her mouth dropped in surprise, but not for long. "NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!"
Phoenix Only had a few seconds of relief at seeing her before he had to brace himself for she had flung her entire body at him. He grunted and managed to catch her, stumbling back only a step or two. "Geez Maya, do you have to try and break me?"
Maya moved back, putting her hands behind her back and leaning forwards with a cheeky smile. "Well if you break, it's your fault for being such an old man."
"If I was an old man, you would've already given me a heart attack," Phoenix grumbled.
Maya laughed light heartedly, still quite happy to tease him. "Did you miss me Nick?"
To her surprise though, Phoenix looked at her seriously. "Yes."
When she blushed in slight embarrassment, Phoenix also seemed to realised, reaching his hand up to scratch the back of his head. "Well, I mean, I thought you were gone for good. Of course I was going to miss you."
Maya's eyes glazed over slightly, but she tried to brush it off. "Nick, you're just a big softie."
Phoenix looked away. "You're important to me. I couldn't get it out of my mind. You have no idea how relieved and happy I am to see you."
At this Maya became solemn and gave him a proper hug. "I'm sorry for worrying you so much. I just… I had to do something."
Phoenix shook his head. "I know… You wouldn't be the Maya I knew if you weren't putting up a fight for the innocent."
Maya sniffed into him. "Actually… It was really scary. I thought I'd never see you again."
Phoenix held her shoulders. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could've stopped it before that happened." He squeezed her shoulders just to let her know it was going to be alright.
Espella clasped her hands together gleefully and suddenly came between all of her friends. "I'm so happy that everyone is ok now."
"Yes, and it is quite a test to will that we have all ended up here on the same trail for the truth," Professor Layton chimed, "I do believe we have done our best and it has lead us to the same point which means we must be on the correct patch."
"Right you are professor!" Luke exclaimed, only too happy to have his beloved professor back.
"Good old Layton logic… Logic as good as gold, right professor?" Maya chipped in cheekily.
Professor Layton gave a humoured laugh. "Indeed, Miss Fey."
One might've said they all experienced a miracle. In amidst the hardships they yet did't know they would face, it was enough to give them hope for a better outcome for this town.
I feel like I haven't written much for quite a while. Feels strange to write this. However, I recently finished playing Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright and was inspired to write a little scene based on how I thought the reunion should've gone. It was lacking a little emotion. And to preface it I just rewrote a few different snippets from the game... Which in all honesty I probably didn't need, but I thought it would preface the feelings I imagine them experiencing. Gaping loss and hopelessness. Plus, Luke is a young boy. I think he's like 12 or 13 in the game? I imagine him not having the full emotional capacity to handle that kind of loss. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it!