Chapter 4

"Herminia Layton, you madwoman slow down!" Randall yelled as his body bumped against the car door.

Nine years had passed since Randall dragged Herminia to the Azran ruins. The two of them were now seventeen years-old. Herminia now wore a white sweater with rolled up sleeves, green pants, brown boots, and a blue scarf tied around her neck. Her hair had grown to such a very long length that she simply had it tied back in a ponytail which always prompted her friend Angela to refer to it as a untamed bush. The teenage girl laughed at her worrying friend as she sped down the road in her father's car. Randall had made her go with him to explore some new ruins but much to his displeasure it was too far to walk to.

"Oh come on, Randall. You're always are eager to get to the dig sites. Besides this is kind of what you get for constantly dragging me along." she smirked.

Randall let out a frustrated sigh as he fixed his glasses where they would be sitting properly on his face once again. His wardrobe had also changed from when he was a child. He now wore a purple jacket with a lavender shirt that had a white stripe, an orange neckerchief, gray pants, and brown shoes.

"Honestly I will never understand how you managed to get your license." he muttered under his breath.

At that moment before he could react Herminia had hit the breaks. Randall grunted as his body lunged forward, fortunately to be held back by his seat belt.

"We're here!" she proclaimed as she unbuckled herself, "Now let's see what silly thing you want me to see this time."

The red-headed teenager rolled his eyes upon hearing his friend's remark. He couldn't believe that after nine years of taking her on constant expeditions, she still insists that archeology is a boring subject that she shouldn't give her attention to. Randall was still convinced that his friend would make a great archeologist; he just wished he could finally convince her of that. Without a word he got out of the car as well and grabbed his bag that contained his books and some archeological tools.
Herminia placed her hands on her hips when she saw the site Randall had taken her to was a excavation sight that had pots, books, and many more old relics.

"I had to come here when I heard some archelogists had stumbled upon ancient relics of the Azran." Randall said in a proud tone.

"Again with the Azran?" Herminia asked with a dissatisfied groan, "Honestly everyone's been obsessing about this supposed ancient race even to the point Mr. Collins is starting to teach about it."

Upon hearing this Randall's body froze in shock. In an instant he spun around on his heel and jabbed his index finger toward the teenage girl.

"What are you talking about? You and I both found that Azran room in those ruins we explored when we were eight." he started but then frowned with his arms crossed as he continued, "Still wish we got credit for that discovery."

Herminia placed her hand on her forehead and shook her head. She thought Randall had already known that they couldn't had took credit for that discovery due to how young they were at the time. Finally deciding not to waste anymore time, Herminia began exploring the dig site with Randall, wanting to get back home soon so she could study. After all both she and Randall knew how strict their grumpy history teacher could be. The brown-headed teenage girl kept both of her hands stuffed in her pockets while she kicked around some pebbles as she walked. She didn't see magnificent marvels like her best friend, the only thing she saw was just old and broken things that got worn from age.

She was about to suggest for the two of them to go back until something shinning caught her eye. Taking her hands out of her pocket, Herminia knelt down on the ground to get a closer look. With a brow raised in interest she began dusting away the dirt surrounding the mysterious object. When the dirt was cleared she gasped at what she had found.

"Randall, come look at this!" she called out.

Without hesitation the red-headed teenager ran over as fast as he could.

Once he reached Hermina she turned toward him and revealed in her hands was a crystal dagger. Randall gasped in awe as he took the dagger from his friend's hands. Quickly he set his bag on the ground and got out one of his books. As he flipped through the pages his brows lowered in discouragement.

"None of my books have any details about this artefact." he said.

He let out a disappointed sigh as he slapped his book closed.
Herminia felt a little sorry to see her friend get so discouraged as she watched him toss the crystal dagger to the ground. Her brown eyes stared down at the mysterious relic she had found, once again a wave of dread washed over her just like the time when she and Randall had discovered the room with the carvings of the Azran. At that moment she shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the strange feeling.

"Oh come on, Randall, at least we found something. That's got to count for something right?" she said while giving him a pat on the back.

Randall glanced toward the smiling brown-haired teenager and couldn't help but smile himself.

"I suppose you're right, Herminia." he said.

The two teenagers got up off of the ground and dusted themselves off.

"Well now that's done let's head back to town." Herminia said before walking back to the car.

"Oh why can't she just spare me and let me drive?" Randall whimpered to himself as he followed her.

Once the two teenagers got in the car and drove off, a man from Targent came out from his hiding spot behind some rocks. He walked over to where the dagger had been thrown to the ground and picked it up. He looked around the area to make sure no one else was there before stuffing the dagger in his coat and leaving the dig site.

Later that day Herminia and Randall had made it back to Stansbury. Once the car had stopped, Randall tumbled out of the car, landing fast first on the ground. But he wasn't angry about this; in fact he was actually quite happy.

"Oh how I missed you ground!" he exclaimed.

"Oh come on! My driving is not that bad." Herminia yelled in a slight insulted tone.

But much to her annoyance the red-headed teenager had ignored her. She let out an annoyed grunt as she swung upon the door. But when she did that her body froze when she heard a loud bang and someone fall to the ground. She quickly got out of the car to see Henry who was a dirty-blonde-haired teenage boy who wore a green shirt, white pants with red suspenders, and brown shoes lying on the ground while holding his hand on top of his head.

"Henry, I'm so sorry!" Herminia instantly exclaimed as she slammed the car door close.

She kneeled down and offered her hand to the teenager only for him bitterly swat it away from him.

"Should of known it was you who hit me, Layton." he grumbled as he stood back up.

Hermina frowned in confusion as she stood up as well. She never understood why she never was on Henry's good side. He always acted wary and accusing around her much to her disliking. She knew that Henry was very capable of being nice, after all she had always seen him be very kind to Randall as his servant.
Turning his attention away from the teenage girl, he directed his focus toward his master.

"Master Randall, I would like to inform that Angela is infuriated that you forgot about your lunch date." Henry said with a slight bow.

Randall clenched his teeth and grabbed his hair out of panic. He had forgotten all about how he promised he would have lunch with Angela.
Herminia had to hold back her laughter as she watched her friend dash off. She was fully aware how Randall and Angela were dating and she had expected them to get together for years. Though her smile quickly faded when she saw the icy glare Henry gave her.

"Again, I'm really sorry about the whole car door thing." she said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

The teenage boy let out a deep sigh before replying "Say no more, Layton. Say no more."

Herminia let her shoulders slump a bit as she watched Henry walk away.

"Guess there's some puzzles I can never solve." she thought to herself.

Without a word Herminia began heading for the school. Lately while alongside taking piano, Herminia had lately gained an interest in fencing. Ever since that night Descole had saved her from those strange men she had made up her mind she wanted to learn to defend herself and she believed fencing would be the perfect way to do so. It didn't take long for her to reach her school known as Kingsbrook Academy since it wasn't far from her house. But unfortunately for her before she could make it to the room where her fencing class was she was spotted by her history teacher Mr. Collins.

"I'm surprised to see you here after school hours, Ms. Layton." he said with a raised brow.

While Herminia kept a calm outward appearance, on the inside she was panicking. She knew Mr. Collins was infamous for springing test puzzles on students. Her and Randall seemed to get it the most due to the two of them being the most clever when it came to puzzles.

"Hello, Mr. Collins." she greeted in a kind manner, "I was headed to my fencing classroom to get my equipment. I was wanting to get in some practice. Hopefully I can get good enough so Randall can stop beating me in duels."

"Hmm, I suppose that's fine." the history teacher started, prompting Herminia to let out a sigh of relief, only for him to continue, "That is if you can solve this test puzzle."

The brown-headed teenage girl dropped her head with a groan. She figured that he would spring a puzzle on her and she couldn't believe that she actually thought for a moment he would actually let her off the hook for the first time. After she managed to solve his puzzle she headed over to the gym where her fencing class was. Once there she got her rapier and placed it in her bag. She had no intention to practice in the gym, instead she had her own place. After she gathered her things she left the school grounds and went to the lake where she had first met Descole. She didn't know why but she felt drawn to the spot where she had found him nine years ago.

Herminia sat her bag on the ground and got out her rapier. She took in a deep breath as she positioned her feet into her fighting stance. Feeling she was ready she began practicing her parries. She made sure her arms were positioned correctly as she stabbed her rapier around in the air. She made sure the stabs were quick and precise, wanting no more than perfection.

She had kept practicing until she heard a voice say "Keep swinging like that and your opponent would have already knocked you off your feet by this time."

Herminia gasped as she dropped her rapier; she had recognized that voice. She quickly turned to find herself face to face with none other than Descole.

"Descole, I hadn't seen you in a while." she exclaimed in surprise.

Upon examination Herminia saw he had changed a lot from when she last saw him. Instead of keeping his eyes in the shadows he now wore a white masquerade mask with a black hat. He wore a black jacket with a gray vest, black pants, and shoes that were half black and half white. Herminia saw that Descole was also now in his early twenties, but this time she did not make a comparison to her brother because her memories of him had been long forgotten.

"Same to you." he replied.

Descole had to use all his strength to fight back the urge to comment on his sister's appearance. He hadn't excepted to see her so much grown up but he did had to admit that she could probably afford to cut her hair due to the curls now being held back in a messy ponytail. He had stopped visiting his sister when he heard about a large room being discovered in some old Azran ruins. He wanted to get all the information from the ruins before Targent received the news. The information he got left him having to take a few years to decipher everything.

"So why were you saying my opponent would beat me?" Herminia asked, snapping Descole out of his thoughts.

"Well it's pretty simple, Layton." he said with a smug smile, "You were being predictable. The key to defeating your opponent is to be precise and unpredictable."

The teenage girl's brown eyes widened upon hearing this. She couldn't believe she was making herself too obivious, realizing now why Randall was able to beat her during all of their duels. She bit her lip nervously, wondering how she was suppose to get better at fencing. That was when she remembered Descole's skills. She remembered witnessing how skilled he was with a rapier when he was fighting off the men in black coats.

Without any second thoughts she exclaimed "Descole, train me!"

The masked man raised his brows in surprise. At first he thought his sister wasn't serious until he saw her pick up her rapier and hold it downward, repeating her plea once more. His surprise quickly turned into interest. He never thought he would see the day where he would have to teach his little sister fencing techniques.

"Alright, if that's what you wish." he replied.

Herminia nodded her head as Descole unsheathed his rapier and pointed his downwards were it was crisscrossed with her own. She lifted up her rapier but before she even got a chance to attack the masked man swiped one of his legs underneath her, sending her to the ground with a yelp within a second. When she tried to get up she found Descole's rapier pointed directly at her neck.

"You had poor stance. Always remember to keep your legs in the proper stance while fighting." he said.

He moved his rapier away, allowing his sister to stand up once more. He waited patiently as she made sure she got in the proper fighting stance before getting in his own.
Herminia jabbed her rapier forward but much to her shock Descole blocked the attack by slashing downward, causing her arm to get knocked back. Once again she found herself with Descole's rapier being aimed directly at her neck.

"Favor defense over offense. Learn your opponent's attacks before striking." he said before moving away his rapier once more.

Herminia grunted in annoyance as she once again got in her starting position. The minutes passed by as she kept trying to outdo Descole but every single time she found herself with the rapier being aimed at her throat. She didn't know why but she didn't like how Descole kept aiming his rapier there. It was similar to the feeling she always got when the masked man addressed her by her last name. It just felt wrong to her but she didn't know the reasons why.
Descole could easily tell his sister was growing frustrated and worried whenever he had pointed the rapier at her neck. A part of him didn't like doing it either but he had to constantly remind himself he couldn't show any hint of a bond with her otherwise she might piece together his identity. While he knew she had gotten to the age that remembering her memories from that young age was difficult, he still didn't want to take any chances.

"You're improving but you still lack the skills to win a duel." Descole commented as he sheathed his rapier.

"Wait, we're done?" Herminia asked in surprise.

"Yes, for now that is. If you wish to learn more, Layton, you will meet me here tomorrow once again." he said.

With that he turned his back toward her and walked off.
Herminia remained silent at she stared down at the rapier she grasped in her hand. She did want to be better at fencing and she considered Descole her best ticket in doing so. The teenage girl let out a tired sigh as she packed up her rapier, having grown tired from her practice session with Descole. She glanced at the direction he had left in before beginning to walk home, mulling over the new tips he had given her.

"With enough practice, one day I'll be as good as a fighter that Descole is in fencing." she thought out loud with a smile.

She bounced her bag a bit on her shoulder, planning to go home and get a good rest. She didn't want to be tired otherwise she would be sleeping in her classroom. Then she would end up having to not only do a lot of explaining to her parents but to her teacher Mr. Collins as well, and that was a scenario she wished to avoid.