Disclaimer: All the rights to the Professor Layton belong to Level 5 games, not me! I would never own ANYONE of that amazing franchise.
The legend of the Dragon sapphire.
A thousand years later...
Professor Hershel Layton sat on the sofa, raising a cup of tea to his lips and taking a small sip of the soothing, warm beverage inside. He sighed in contentment as the warm broth gently slipped down his throat and he closed his eyes in relaxation.
Some time had passed since his last adventure with Luke Triton, his apprentice. The boy had to move away with his family on account of the news that Brenda was with child a second time. Why they had to move away to France, though, was beyond him.
During that adventure Layton had gone through some real heart-wrenching turmoil over his lost love, Claire, and he had eventually managed to overcome those emotional obstacles and let her go.
He felt absolutely horrid about it but he decided to just focus on his work for now as an Archaeologist; it was the only thing keeping him both of sound mind and it was a somewhat effective coping mechanism in some small way.
He gently bent over and placed the tea cup down on a coaster resting atop the coffee table in his wake right before he reached up and adjusted the position of his top hat, gripping the rim softly and swivelling it whilst it was placed on his head. He smiled in satisfaction whence he got it in a nice proper position.
Needless to say, he felt content about this. He didn't feel the need to express himself to what was already obvious at a single glance of his rectangular face. His lips curled up into a small smile of satisfaction and he closed his eyes to relax.
However he was very unaware that he was about to come across something...something that should start something new entirely.
Nothing could destroy this nice atmosphere...except for some knocks of the door.
Several loud knocks suddenly rapped on the door, making Professor Layton lift his head up in confusion as he turned his head in the direction of the knocking. It was, indeed, the door.
He frowned and gave a sour face as he fought the urge to roll his eyes in utter annoyance. Why did this have to spoil such a peaceful morning for him, why couldn't they not wait until he felt more capable and not as lazy on the inside? But then he remembered, it was a Sunday! No post was supposed to have been delivered on a Sunday and he didn't really have anyone who would be willing to visit him right now, it was utterly impossible.
Slowly, realising the significance this knock on the door could have, the Professor stood up and he walked towards the door to answer the knocks that sounded rather hurried and flustered as if whoever was on the other side of the door was really nervous. But what would be so nerve-wracking about delivering the post, if that should be the time already?
The top hatted gent's hand hovered over the doorknob for seconds at a time, hesitating to dare touch it. He didn't have any knowledge of what could be on the other side and he could feel his heart quickening and his pulse stirring, as if they were both unanimously reacting to something on the other side of the door.
He took a deep breath in before redrawing it outwards.
Grasping it, he twisted the doorknob in a clockwise direction and he pulled the door open to unveil who was on the other side of the door.
Professor Layton was shocked to discover that his previous suspicions were correct. A very nervous postman, quaking where he stood from the tension in the air, was carrying one palm-sized package, contained in a plastic box, in one hand whilst the other was still held up into the air in a curled up position yet it was shaking in midair. It was like even after knocking he never lowered his fist and just left it hanging awkwardly in the air.
Layton felt unnerved by this ominous air lingering around the courier and he swallowed hard as he studied the young man standing just a centre metre away from himself, the two distanced quite a bit from each other.
Luckily the shaky mailman decided to speak and inadvertently shatter the eerie quiet "I-I-I've been t-t-t-told t-to g-give y-y-you this, m-m-mister Professor L-La-Layton."
The professor gladly accepted the package and examined it whilst inside of its little plastic container.
It was a very strange thing: post arrives on a Sunday and now he gets a very unsettling vibe coming from that parcel that he had been so generously set up to look after and study, that becoming all too readable by the fact that this shaken mail courier had obviously been told to give it to him and the fact that there was a label with his name written in very neat calligraphy.
Professor Layton reached a spare hand upwards to adjust the rim of his top hat, fidgeting with it a tiny bit before he let it be whence he was satisfied with the position his famous headwear on his head, whilst he examined what appeared to have been a gem wrapped inside some ill fitted piece of brown wrapping paper and this was judging by the size and shape alone.
He spoke to the mailman, after moments of hesitation, with his dot-like eyes stilled on the artefact "...Why thank you my good sir, but why has this arrived to me on a Sunday?"
Getting far more nervous by the query, the man suddenly started to worryingly hyperventilate as he held a hand to his quickening heart. He was shaking like a maraca and he had turned more white than a sheet of pristine paper, his teeth chattering was also so loud that it could probably be heard even from across the street!
Concerned for the man's sudden panic attack, Professor Layton asked whilst he reached out to plant a hand on the poor guy's shoulder "My word, are you alright?"
But before any contact could be made, the mailman bolted off down the road whilst letting out small squeaks as he ran off into the far distance.
Many letters blew out from the unclipped satchel bag that hung loosely on his blue clad shoulder and waist and drifted down to the road below, being carried across the soft breeze to parts unknown while many people idly walking by on the sidewalk decided to gather the letters drifting along.
Giving a shrug, Professor Layton returned inside his house. He could very vaguely stumble about in the room since he had to be careful to avoid tripping over any items that may cause him any harm should any injury accidents transpire. He grunted while he expertly eluded those dangerous items scattered at his feet.
Eventually he made it back over towards the sofa and table. He planted the parcel atop his work desk before he sat back down on to the sofa and he sunk into the plush seat cushions, eyeing the tea in his wake.
Whilst he done this he hummed softly in contentment, a smile returning to his lips as he closed his eyes once again. He felt so relaxed that he could once again enjoy his tea but those same queries that had surfaced after those very confusing events took place danced around in his mind.
He couldn't answer them despite knowing that every puzzle had an answer.
...That's it! A puzzle would ease his mind!
Grinning at the idea, Professor Layton climbed back to his feet and walked towards his work desk to grab the paper from yesterday so he could find the puzzle section. He minded the apparent jewel he had just been handed over, eyes gluing to it momentarily, before he retreated back towards the sofa and plopped himself down.
"Hmmm..." He mumbled to himself, sitting back down on the sofa and opening the newspaper "Let's see what's on the puzzle section today." He begun scanning the pages for anything of interest but couldn't find a single, solitary thing. His thumb flicked through each thin page of the word-scribbled newspaper and he eventually found what he was looking for.
"Ah! Here it is!" He smirked in triumph before he read the puzzle aloud.
"Three men and a lady wanted a peach but only come across one. They soon come to an impasse whence the lady suggests that they try and share it but one of the halves, upon closer inspection, is somehow missing and there's only enough for three quarters of the peach now: How should the apricot be shared?"
Professor Layton's dot-like eyes lifted up to the ceiling in deep thought and he took a small swig of his tea and then he put it back down on the table and he thought through all possibilities and he frowned meaningfully. Cupping his chin to mull it over deeper, the professor hummed in deep thought and he drummed his foot against the floorboards below.
Suddenly, the solution came to mind and Professor Layton grinned whence he gave the answer: "Oh. Three pieces are cut and split between two men and the lady! The lady possibly has feelings of affection towards one of the men and slices the lower half of her quarter before giving it to the man who didn't get his share."
Professor Layton knew that he was probably overthinking the details but he didn't really care, this puzzle had just got its solution from the macgyver of all puzzles!
Snapping his fingers in triumph, Hershel Layton smirked in contentment and he once again reached up to fix the position of his top hat. When it was fixed, though, he glanced over to one side and looked towards the strange package that had been delivered to him.
His face turned from triumphant to childishly curious within the blink of an eye.
It caught his attention way more when it began to glow a deep blue, making him far more curious about the jewel.
He pushed himself up to his feet and wandered back towards his desk and when he stood over the artefact, his keen eyes studied it with great interest. The thing glowed bright and eagerly like a blue star in the indigo/pitch black skies at night and there were voices whispering to the top hat-wearing archeologist.
He couldn't quite hear what they were saying but he could most definitely hear voices...inside his head! The fact that they were talking to him in the void of his own mind was quite literally mind-boggling and it also, needless to say, startled him. If he didn't know how to keep a cool head then he would have started panicking the instant he heard those voices.
(Are you, by chance, the guardian of this Sapphire?) The oddly-projected voice asked, his tone like a whispering wind blowing into someones ear.
Professor Layton didn't exactly know how to answer that. He felt ready to faint from shock right there and then but, oddly enough, he breathed in deep and closed his eyes before he answered through a quaky tone "Um...I-Indeed, I suppose."
The voice spoke again, echoing inside the Gent's mind (Well, in that case, I shalt request that you touch the sapphire.)
Honestly, poor Layton didn't know how to react at this very moment.
He could make many assumptions on how this is even possible, such as this being some sort of telepathy, but nothing could really tell him whether this voice belonged to a being of honesty or not. Could he really trust this person speaking to him via telepathic means?
There must be a logical explanation to this but he had seen many strange things in his time so this really shouldn't be a shocker.
His eyes stared right at the airtight packaging of this Sapphire and he couldn't control himself but he suddenly found himself unwrapping the alleged sapphire from its parcelling. He didn't know if it was his undying curiosity or just plain instincts driving him to do this but before he knew it, he was staying right into the centre of this precious glowing gem.
Thanks to the un-peeling of the wrapping paper, the sapphire glew ever brighter and was even bright to match the light of a star in his office. He even had to cover his eyes with his sleeve whilst he backed off from the opposing gem shining relentless beams of razor bright lights into his currently hiding eyes.
He became startled by this sudden glowing and thus backed away even further from the desk before tumbling right into a bookshelf. Professor Layton fell to the floor in shock and gritted his teeth to try and suppress a cry of panic and pain from the stinging sensation in his eyes. He heard the books from the shelf he backed into fall to the floor with multiple heavy "thuds" around him but none of them hit him, at least.
Eventually, however, the blinding blue light subsided.
Cautiously and slowly, the Professor lowered his arm and sleeve and blinked his eyes many times to refresh his vision and to make his vision clearer and less painful each time he blinked. He gave a small hum of confusion as he frowned, squinting his eyes from the pain shooting through them no thanks to the light that had just engulfed his office.
"Arrrgh...Hm?" He looked back at the Sapphire and wandered towards it after carefully picking himself up off the floor.
The voice sounded in his head again whilst he finally stood over the gem again but this time, it sounded more comforting and soft (Now...touch the sapphire.)
Professor Layton, however, had a question of his own before he done anymore this person said...or thought...it was deeply confusing! He cleared his throat gruffly to make himself sound more polite yet there was a rather stern edge in his voice too.
"Wait. Before I do this...I must ask, who are you?" He breathed a deep sigh.
The voice inside the professor's head didn't sound for a few moments until it simply said (It doth not matter of whom I am, but rather this is of grave importance to carry on a lost race long thought to be simply folklore.)
Professor Layton sighed. He should have known that he would have gotten such a vague answer like that stereotypical way. So instead he decided to change the question a bit in hopes of yielding better results;
"Alright then, what is your name sir?"
This time the voice took a lot less longer to answer him, much to his chagrin, and it said (I am Fafnir, third brother of my race, youngest survivor of our kind and official first keeper of the Dragon's sapphire.)
Professor Layton was now confused. This artefact was called "the Dragon's sapphire" was it? That was, indeed, intriguing. However his question was answered but many more took their place and their relevance was utmost, he tried to calm his racing heart and his pulse as he reached down and touched the sapphire laying against the useless wrapping paper.
He decided to examine it whilst he had the chance and he started to study the gem itself as it rested in his tan hand. He only had a few seconds to look it over since something utterly unsettling had transpired within the next few seconds.
His hand abruptly burst into bright blue flames and he was forced to drop the sapphire out of pure shock.
He yelled in a mix of pain and surprise as he tumbled to the floor a second time but both eyes were on his hand that was set ablaze. He felt the burning sensation course through his whole body as he noticed the flames disappear as if to say his skin was absorbing the flames like a sponge. This horrified Professor Layton and he gritted his teeth sharply whilst he squeezed his eyes shut and writhed on the floor.
He fought off a scream of agony, he didn't want there to be a repeat of the Azran sanctuary.
All he could do was bear through the intense blazing coursing through his bloodstream, his veins, his heart, his lungs and even his bone ligaments. He just wanted to be knocked unconscious so he wouldn't have to endure the intense, excruciating pain anymore. His vision went in and out of focus like a camera lens and he eventually blacked out.
As his consciousness slipped away, he heard the voice named Fafnir say to him with an inappropriate kindly tone (Well done, professor Hershel Layton...) and, just like a weak candlelit flame, he was out.
A/N: Ooooh! What happened to the professor!? Well, if you looked at "the Soul of a dragon" then you should know EXACTLY what's going to happen next.
I also made up a little puzzle to make this story seem more Laytonesque, I hope you liked it and its solution. Take it easy on me, it's the first puzzle I came up with.
I even named the youngest dragon lord Fafnir, after the Fafnir from the Norse mythology. Look it up if your confused.
Let's see what happens next, shall we?
Please review!
-Chloemcg