Today was meant to be her day off. Emmy was supposed to rest and pack up for an important journey. Another professor by the name of Desmond Sycamore had requested Layton's assistance in what was supposed to be the biggest discovery to date: a living mummy. Her better senses told her that the idea sounded preposterous, but the way her superior reacted made her think differently.

She sighed as she listened to her debriefing.

"Emmeline, you do realize how close we are to uncovering the secrets to the Azran?" a middle aged man questioned her.

"From what I understand, it's just a turned stone away, sir," she answered.

"Yes! If not for you lifting some of the details off of my son, we wouldn't have come this far. And with how close you've gotten, you've even managed to get information from the rest of the archeological team at Gressenheller! A most impressive feat," he continued, scratching his pet ferret's ear.

The remark left a pang of guilt, one among many that she's swallowed down for her job.

"It's just as you've said, Uncle Bronev. No one has suspected a thing yet."

"Well. Enough flattery. Now I want to go over exactly how this trip entails. One factor you should know is about is about your new acquaintance."

"Professor Sycamore?"

"Yes, him. I have plenty of reasons to think that he and that theatrical fellow, Descole are one in the same. Especially with our recent run in with him."

She seemed astonished. "But wouldn't that mean he's your—"

"My boastful, idiot son? Yes. Without a doubt." Bronev rubbed at a temple with his fingers. "I can think of no one else that would be responsible other than he, as he has been quite familiar with our security and was the cause of our latest breach.."

"I've heard about that. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled in case he tries anything else suspicious."

"This leads me to my next statement: Because he's now working with Hershel, my best bet is that he's planning to get to the Azran before us. I need you to intercept him. Furthermore, if the mission is compromised, you realize what you must do… right?"

Emmy bit her bottom lip at the thought. "I… am to use whatever means necessary for the cause. The Azran must be found at all cost."

He gave a satisfied smile before sliding a file her way. "Good girl. I have no doubt you'll be able to do this much. Enclosed is the proposed location of this 'living mummy', your stipend, and details of your recon."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "But if I heard from the others, you were planning to mobilize our forces to this location and take said living mummy. What would I be needed for?"

"Do you think all we really need is the mummy? And our military to muscle wherever we please? If our research is correct, we'll never go far without these… powered databanks. Which I believe these professors would lead us straight to them."

"Right…"

"All you need to do is continue to monitor them. And should we cross paths, pretend that we're enemies. Just… don't rough up the boys too much like before, alright?"

Memories of her earlier years came to mind; when she began working for Layton. She remembered returning back some nights, guilt-ridden and frustrated with her recon work—which she used to take out said frustrations with martial arts practice. Her face flushed pink in mild embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'll be sure not to repeat those sparring matches."

"Dismissed. I'll be seeing you later."

Emmy gave a small salute before leaving his office.

It was a long walk out of their temporary headquarters and was and even longer drive home. She arrived at her flat and walked over to couch to flop down on it. It exhausted her, trying to keep her emotions neutral. That task became harder as of recent—not that the notion was surprising. She submitted to the ideas of guilt and woe the moment she had a chance to see to see her savior again.

Hah, her savior. She ran a hand through her wild mane of hair to calm herself. As if she deserved to meet him at this point, let alone refer to him as if he was her friend. The man selflessly saved her from jail time, and as repayment later in time, she stole his research and spied on him. She couldn't think to call herself a lady as he did.

What surprised her the most was that despite how she forced herself into his life, he never once seemed suspicious of her. Or if he did, those thoughts have then passed and he seemed to trust her as if she was an old friend. Why hasn't he found out yet? Why did he never confront her? He normally had a knack for pointing out the outlier in each case he's solved. How could he have not found out about what has been happening for about three years now?

Or maybe he already knew, and he's only waiting out to see what might be her next move? Maybe this trip would be his chance to corner her and finally—

A phone ring shocked her out of her paranoia. She took a moment to breathe before answering the call.

"H-Hello? Altava's residence."

"Ah, Emmy there you are!" a jarringly familiar voice answered.

"Professor! Hey, uh… how's it going?" she stuttered.

Why now? Did he know she was thinking of him?

"Quite well, we've just finished packing. I've been trying to get in touch with you the last— wait, are you alright? You sound quite frazzled."

"I'm fine! Just got home from a huge traffic jam. You know…"

"So sorry… I didn't mean to call you at such a late hour while you're exhausted, but I wanted to offer a ride at 8AM tomorrow morning. I'd rather you not waste the gas for such a short distance."

"Oh! Ahah… Yeah, sure. I'd like that a lot. Thank you," she held in her sigh of relief.

"Of course. Get plenty of rest, alright? We have quite the journey ahead of us, starting tomorrow."

"Will do. See ya tomorrow, professor."

"Good night, Emmy. See you tomorrow."

Emmy allowed the buzzing sound of the dial tone linger for a minute or so before placing the phone back on its receiver. How did he get her number anyway? She smacked her forehead upon realization. Duh, she gave it to him a while back so he'd call whenever he needed her. Although, now that she had the time to think, she never did receive a call from him until just now. Rarely did he ever have any urgency to call upon her.

There must be a reason behind it. Though he could also be looking out for her. She must be overthinking it.

"Get it together Emmy. If he doesn't know, he's going to think you're suspicious."

She decided to end the night with a much needed shower before bed. It was too late for guilt and sorrow of what will be. She knew all of that awaited her from the very beginning. So why did it hurt so much?

—

Somehow sleep managed to grace her, despite her panicked state the previous evening. However, she didn't spend as much time packing the day before. So when the good professor arrived, she lagged behind and apologized profusely as she did. Layton didn't seem to mind it at all. In fact, he smiled at her.

"I understand. You sounded quite tired yesterday. I'm sure Professor Sycamore wouldn't mind if we were a little late."

That wasn't fair! It wasn't fair at all! Why did he have the patience of a saint? He could at least sound a bit frustrated. The very fact he didn't bothered her for. She did her best to qualm all of her thoughts as she placed the last of her things in her luggage. She was not going to break down now.

"Hey Emmy!" a young voice chimed out.

She smiled as she placed her things away in the trunk. "Hi, Luke. Surprised you're up this early, considering it sometimes takes ten alarm clocks to wake you up."

"You're one to talk! I thought the professor said for eight! Unless he caught you with your monster bed head and penguin slippers," he grinned cheekily.

Emmy poked out her tongue as she made her way to the passenger seat. "Then I guess I must be seeing things and you don't still have breakfast crumbs all over your face."

"Huh!?"

She chuckled upon seeing him vigorously wiping his face. At the very least, Luke didn't seem too wary of her at all. There was a bit of comfort to take in that.

Layton did his best not to smile at the two of them. "Alright now, settle down you two. We're a bit behind schedule, so we'll have to get a move on."

"Would you rather I drive? I'm sure I can skirt through some shortcuts—"

"N-no!" Luke yelled out.

The two adults suddenly turned to him, astonished.

"I… I mean, I'm sure the professor can get there just fine, ahaha…"

Layton gave Luke a discouraged frown before flashing her an apologetic look. "It's quite alright, I'll drive."

Sometime later after their drive, they arrived at the air base without a single hitch. They walked through the crowds of men—presumably workers that were loading luggage and supplies onto the large airship in the center of the runway—to approach the stairway up into the ship. After handing off their luggage, Luke was the first to trot up the stair as he spoke.

"Hey, Professor? Do you really think that it's possible that he's found a living mummy?" he asked as he looked over the letter that was sent over to Layton for his presence.

Emmy answered in his stead. "Well, I've heard that Professor Sycamore is the authority on the excavation of ancient ruins. He wouldn't just make it up, would he?"

That much she was sure of. She knew from hearsay that Professor Sycamore, or that is, Descole had the largest fit after realizing his documentations on this discovery was poached. He took it upon himself to run into a crowd of armed men, vaulting over their heads and dodging a rain of bullets to reach Bronev at the end. Which the entire scene ended abruptly in one fell swoop when Bronev took him down, bare-handed.

She almost felt sorry for him. …Almost.

Hershel's voice brought her from her thoughts. "Certainly not. It is most curious, but we'll just have to see."

His face seemed thoughtful and distant. She looked to him, wondering if his mind was truly on the case at hand. If not, then what…?

"What do you think he means though? I hope it's not cursed!"

Emmy gave him best smile she could muster. "Don't worry Luke! I'll protect you!"

She could only wonder how long her friendship and the mask she wore would truly last.