"Master? Master, what has happened?" Raymond called out.

Aurora whimpered slightly - directly in front of her a mirror had been smashed, and underneath the broken pieces lay Sycamore's glasses. The breakage somehow shocked Aurora, like a sign of hostility. *Maybe what Luke said really was true...*

And then she saw Professor Sycamore.

The man's hair which, had been dragged onto his face, was tangled in his quivering hands. Upon hearing Raymond, the professor looked up. His eyes looked red, puffy and sore, but Aurora felt certain that was something else she could see in them too: sadness, regret and a pleading for help.

"Master...?" Raymond repeated, his voice softening. Unlike Aurora, the man didn't seem very surprised by the situation - maybe this was a common ocurence for the man.

Desmond looked at both of them, he could see the concern on their faces. He shook his head slightly before putting his face back into his hand, exhaling professor lifted his other hand and motioned for them to leave. Aurora looked at Raymond - he also seemed reluctant to go and leave the man in such a state.

"Please..." Sycamore said, his voice wavering. He felt like he had lost sight of what he wanted to do in the first place - back when he was a trembling little twelve-year-old: keeping his little brother safe. Now Targent was on to them there was no guarantee of Layton's safety. It felt as if everyone he had loved had been taken from him - first his parents, then his wife and daughter, soon it would be Layton - and it would be his fault.

He shut his eyes tightly. It was too late for him to back out now. Targent knew about Layton, so even if he were to tell him that he wanted to work alone again, he would still be under the threat of the corrupt organisation. There was no option: he'd just have to use Layton like a tool used for his revenge, just like he - no, Descole - wanted.

*Except it was him. Despite trying to separate the two personas, Desmond Sycamore had turned into Descole.*

The professor looked up, his eyes dried but still red. "Why are you still standing here?" he hissed between grit teeth.

Aurora flinched and stepped back behind Raymond warily - she couldn't help but notice that what he said wasn't matching up with how he appeared. He seemed so... *overwhelmed*. But by what? His own mind?* She bowed her head and tried not to watch in case her eye contact inadvertently worked him up even more.

Raymond took a step forward as Aurora took some back. "Master?" His voice was calm and direct in the hope of getting his master to become more at peace.

"Raymond!" the man snapped back. He was looking down and appeared to have started crying again. "Do as I say, will you? And leave me alone."

"Let's do as he wants." Raymond whispered to Aurora before leading her out of the room and closing the door gently. While the man's harsh words were like Descole's, his actions were not, and Raymond knew that Desmond must have been reminded about something in Mossinia. "I'm sorry about him." The Scotsman said to Aurora, his voice still hushed. "He has had a lot of... stress, lately. He hasn't said anything unusual to you has he?"

Aurora looked up to stare the man directly in the eyes, her large eyes looking almost void of emotion. "Unusual?" she repeated, "No, I don't think so."

"Nothing at all? Not about when he was younger?" Raymond asked in a controlled tone. He focused on the far end of the corridor, finding the girl's curious but at the same time emotionless eyes were making him feel a little uncomfortable.

Aurora blinked slowly to give herself time to think. She was unaware that her not doing so tended to make humans unsettled - to her she was doing a great job of being like one.

"He mentioned a daughter." The Azran girl answered calmly. "Is that true?"

Raymond closed his weary eyes and nodded. He had guessed that it was a memory of his daughter that had triggered this - it usually was. "I will speak to him." he concluded.

Aurora guessed that she was meant to return to her room, but instead made her way to Luke's like she was going to to begin with. She still didn't know how to feel about everything. *Was Professor Sycamore really that bad? Or was he just angry?*


Raymond pushed open the door, glad to see that the man hadn't broken anything else in the time that he had been away for. "Desmond? ...Master." The air was tense as he awaited a response.

The man stood up and turned to face Raymond, his face a picture of desolation. He let out a large sigh, drying off his damp eyes. "I"m sorry." he paused, "I didn't scare Aurora, did I?"

The shorter man reached out a hand to rest on Desmond's shoulder. "No need to appologise, Master." He said with a reassuring smile. "As for the girl, however, I don't know."

The professor looked down and took off his jacket, throwing it over a chair, then turned back to Raymond.

"Was it about S- I mean, about your daughter?" The butler asked after a few seconds. He knew that saying his daughter's name was enough to upset the man again, and stopped himself from saying it.

"It always is..." Sycamore replied solemnly. "Amongst other things."

"Other things?" Asked the butler in confusion, the only other thing he could think of was his wife, but it sounded like there was something more.

"It's Layton." He began. "I feel like I shouldn't keep lying to him." He moved his fingertips to the side of his face and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"But won"t that ruin your plan, Master?" Raymond sighed internally - while he didn't always agree with the crazy ideas that Descole came up with, he had promised to always suport them.

Desmond shook his head. "No, it isn't that..." The man took a deep intake of breath. "Remember I told you I had a brother?"


Quick apology for this chapter taking longer than others. Also, if you spot any errors (spelling, grammar, anything) please mention it so I can edit it.