I'm back everyone! Sorry for beign gone so long! Be sure to check out my apology story, "The X Factor"!
The next face Taylor saw was that of Randall Ascot… Same old Randall. She looked at the picture and remembered a picture that had been taken just a week or two before Professor Layton died. His appearance was not very different, as the rest of the group, all that had changed was his hair color and wrinkles. His hair was red back then, now his hair had gone grayish, but still kept some of it's red color. He wore glasses both then and now, the difference being that then he wore them for style purposes and now he needed them if he wanted to see a thing. The face he was making in the older picture was as identical to the newer one as humanly possible. He had his eyes purposely crossed, one looking up and the other looking down. He had his tongue sticking out, his head tilted, and even his cheek had oddly the same puzzle written-out with a black marker. (Ever since he was discovered in the Miracle Mask, he would have someone write a puzzle on his face, when it came off, he would have it written again!) Randall always was the odd individual, and just couldn't manage to look on the pessimist's side of a situation, no matter what…
Taylor looked over behind Randall to see a woman with whitish-blond hair and a very youthful look, Angela Ascot. Taylor furrowed her brow. How could she look EXACTLY the same way as she did back then now? Then she remembered how she always uses that anti-aging cream stuff and where that didn't work she wore makeup. She wasn't obsessed with her looks, but she Randall told her she was beautiful and she never wanted that to fade. Perhaps a little too hard, but her intentions were pure. Taylor looked at little Luke, and laughed. Was THIS the army general that would never stop talking about his dangerous adventures with the Professor? A young, baby-faced boy wearing a blue sweater and hat? Once Taylor stopped laughing, she compared the face of little Luke to that of big Luke.
"That can't be the same person, can it?" She asked herself as she remembered the aging man who always wore an army uniform and an eye-patch over his left eye. Taylor couldn't stand to look at Luke anymore, so she instead looked at the last person in the picture. Flora Reinhold, now Flora Dove. Her hair was light brown and she looked like a teenager. She retained the hair over the years. And though she didn't look EXACTLY the same as she did back then, she still retained a youthful look thanks to Angela's miracle creams.
Taylor smiled as she thought of how these people were the Professor's true friends! They were there in the picture, they were there before the picture, they were there all through his life until they all stood, with three others, beside his grave weeping for him… The last ones to leave.
Taylor sighed, and turned to the desk. It was covered in little stickers of multiple things. Mainly magician's top-hats and rabbits. She looked on top of the desk where there was a pile of toys, the Professor's top-hat, a child sized magician's top-hat, and a notebook inscribed elegantly with an L. She hesitated to, but she reached out and grabbed the larger hat and put it on her head, after a couple of times of slipping, she finally managed to get it to stay on.
Taylor then picked up the note book, pushing aside the crayons from on top of it in order to do so. She opened it to see the remains of a ripped-off page, and on the next page, a puzzle absolutely COVERED in orange, green, blue, and red crayon marks which made it hard to read the puzzle itself.
"A fearless knight… made him quake in his boots… eight letters…" She mumbled under her breath as she struggled to read what the Professor had written. What creature had an eight letter name, and made it impossible to fight back against it without shedding your own blood? She went through all the forms of me, myself and I. None of them worked. When suddenly, she squealed. She'd figured it out!
"A MOSQUITO! IT'S A MOSQUITO!" She quickly counted the letters of mosquito… eight. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK IT'S A MOSQUITO!" It made so much sense! If a mosquito bites you, and you "fight back against it", then your own blood will shed! Very little of it, but still! Just then, Lucas ran into the room, followed by Alphendi, Luke, Emmy, Randall, and Henry.
"What's the matter? What's wrong?" Lucas asked in a worried tone.
"I solved the puzzle!" Taylor answered as she practically shoved the note book into his face. Luke started to laugh, followed by everyone else except Lucas, who still seemed dazed.
