A/N: Hey, y'all! Glad you guys liked the prologue. This is one of my favorite projects I'm working on, and the fact that people like it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Stephanie: ...Right...I just can't believe you're so proud of the title when it doesn't make any sense until chapter three...

Eh. Anyway, this scene was a bit of fun. Someone on tumblr pointed out that Layton asked who Emmy was, and then the next scene was her in the car with her scooter on top while he drove...and she was introducing herself. Yep, she managed to talk him into driving with her in the car and her scooter on top before even introducing herself.

Stephanie: ...You get amused by the weirdest things. We don't own anything-thank goodness for Luke.

~§¤§~

"A whole stack of memories never equal one little hope."

~Charles M. Schulz

~§¤§~

Emmy knew she never made the greatest of decisions.

Driving her scooter in front of an oncoming car to make the driver stop? Yeah, that was definitely in the top ten list of her stupidest ideas-Desperate times, though, right?

"What is going on here?"

Emmy simply took off her helmet and smiled at the professor-the same man whom had helped her so long ago, and hopefully would help her again.

"It's great to see you again, Professor Layton."

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

"You looked like you were in a hurry," she answered while strolling over to the back of the professor's car. "Why don't we talk on the way to wherever you're going?"

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I don't think that's the be-" Layton started before Emmy managed to pop open the boot of his car. "Excuse me, but what are you doing?"

"Well, we can't talk that well if I'm riding my scooter and you're driving your car, but there's no way I'm leaving my scooter here, so we need to find a way to tether the two." Emmy then slammed the boot shut before placing a finger on the side of her cheek in thought. "I don't suppose you have a tether in your cab, do you?"

"...What?" The professor attempted to grab Emmy's arm, though she moved away before he could. "Miss, what are you doing?"

"I realized that I may have something in my storage space we can use," she explained as she lifted up the seat on her scooter. "Yep, must have forgotten in all the excitement. Can help me get my scooter to the top of your car?"

"Do you mind if I ask who you are before doing such a thing?"

Emmy smiled up at the professor. "I promise that I'll answer any questions once we get going. Besides, don't you enjoy a little mystery now and then?"

Professor Layton pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh as Emmy pulled out a length of rope. "I take it you won't accept 'no' as an answer?"

"Of course not."

This was going to be a long day...

~§¤§~

"I still can't believe you weren't told. I'm Emmy Altava, your new assistant."

"My...what?"

Emmy let out a small laugh. "Assistant-Dean Delmona hired me since you've missed more department meetings than you've gone to. He's worried that you're working yourself too hard."

Layton let out a small sigh at the reasoning. Of course-Dean Delmona had mentioned before that he could perhaps use a bit more help with his work. That must have slipped his mind with the letter from Brenda.

"I'm sorry, Miss Altava. I do believe that Dean Delmona has mentioned this to me before. Unfortunately, this little expedition I'm going on right now is beyond what you were expecting."

"I'm always up for a little adventure, Professor. Oh, and please, call me Emmy-there's no need to be so formal."

"Okay, then, Emmy." Layton took one hand off the steering wheel and reached into his pocket. "Let me give you some of the details at least: Back in college, I was friends with a man named Clark Triton, who moved to a country village called Misthallery with his wife, Brenda, and their son, Luke. We haven't kept in touch as much as we all wish, but today I received a letter from Brenda." At this point, Layton had pulled out the letter he had read earlier, and was holding it out to Emmy. "Tell me, what do you make of it?"

Emmy accepted the letter and unfolded the paper to read through the writing.

Dear Hershel,

My, it's been a while, hasn't it? Misthallery is such a beautiful town, and perhaps you could come visit. I know this is short notice, but in sincerely hope that you can make your way out here. Clark won't admit it, but he does miss you dearly, and our son, Luke, hasn't seen you since before he could talk. Truly, I hope you can visit us soon.

Your friend,

Brenda Minella-Triton

"Very interesting writing style," Emmy remarked as she examined the envelope-simply the address of Layton's office at Gressenheller and the return address on one side, with a broken, light purple seal on the other. "Especially with the color switching..."

"What I find most peculiar is the second message within the letter," Layton answered without taking his eyes off the road. "What do you think?"

"'Second message'?" Emmy questioned with a closer look at the letter. "Oh!"

Puzzle 001: The Hidden Message (worth 15 picarats)

Below is a letter Professor Layton received from an old friend, though something seems off about it. Upon closer inspection, one can read a second message hidden within the first-can you help Emmy find it? [1]

Dear Hershel,

My, it's been a while, hasn't it? Misthallery is such a beautiful town, and perhaps you could come visit. I know this is short notice, but I sincerely hope that you can make your way out here. Clark won't admit it, but he does miss you dearly, and our son, Luke, hasn't seen you since before he could talk. Truly, I hope you can visit us soon.

Your friend,

Brenda Minella-Triton

Great job! What could this message mean, though?

~§¤§~

"'Meet me at the center come your arrival'...Well that's different...Why do you suppose she hid it like that, through?"

"That, I cannot say. However, I can't help but be concerned over the fact she felt the need to hide it so." Layton turned onto a road that lead outside of the city and spared a quick glance over at Emmy. "Do you think you're up for this mystery, Emmy?"

"Of course, Professor! You can count on me."

If only she knew what she was volunteering for...

~§¤§~

[1] It's mentioned that Brenda wrote some parts in purple, but I don't have that privilege...so pretend the letters in italics are purple

A/N: I spent WAAAAAAAY too long on that puzzle, so don't expect them in future chapters ^^' Anyhoo, Luke wasn't exactly able to write the letter in this AU, so I had Brenda doing it. "Minella" is meant to be her maiden name, which she namely added so she could have the message in there. If you can guess where I got it from, you win a preview of the next chapter.

Stephanie: Uh huh...And here are responses to our anonymous reveiwers. Aw, you guys are nicer than the ones from FNaM

Guest: I have a habit of writing short prologues. ^.^' Glad you like the AU already. And, yeah, Descole was a bit of a manipulator at times...Anything to discourage any escaping. Of course-as far as Descole was concerned-that wasn't a complete lie. Of course, more of this will make sense later. And it probably wasn't your imagination if you saw this on Ao3-I posted this on there at one point because I was super excited to put it up.

Pain silent: ...Isn't Descole the villain of the prequels, though? Yeah, they tried to justify it in the last game, but...