Here's Chapter 7! I finished it faster that I thought I could. X3 Enjoy!

Chapter 7- More Problems Arise

"Uh, Luke? Did you know that you're growing cat ears?" Gracie said as she backed away and looked at Luke's head. She couldn't believe it. Cat ears…on Luke's head!

"And you're not even a villager!" Blythe exclaimed, backing away due to shock and surprise.

Luke patted his head and felt the cat ears to its tips. He gulped and went a bit pale. "I…I think I'm going to be sick…"Luke muttered, putting his hand on his forehead.

Blythe was really worried. "We should go get the Professor. I'll go get him!" she shouted and ran off. She didn't really mind it if she turned into a cat but it seemed too unnatural for Luke, especially since he wasn't a villager.

"Professor! Professor Layton!" Blythe kept shouting as she ran around the dark and pretty much deserted streets of Felinery. All of a sudden, searing pain shot through her hands. She screamed in pain as she crumpled to the ground. She looked at her hands and saw that it was starting to get all furry and claws had started to appear. She watched as her human hands were replaced with paw-like hands. Her first two transformations weren't this painful. Even if the pain was gone, she preferred if there was no pain at all like when her tail and ears grew. She slowly stood up and continued her search for the Professor in a slower pace.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Blythe! Wait!" Gracie shouted after but the blue-haired cat girl was already out of sight. She paced across Luke. "Oh, I knew going against the rules was a bad idea!" She took a deep breath then turned to Luke. "Do you need anything? Do you feel alright?" she asked.

Luke shook his head. "Aside from the fact that I have cat ears, I'm fine…Well, I think I am…"he muttered, checking his body for other abnormalities.

The cat dropped the blue hat. It meowed something at Luke and almost looked like it smirked.

"I am not!" Luke retorted to the cat. His shout startled it which made it hide behind Gracie. He picked up his blue hat and dusted it.

Gracie sighed, hating herself for not being able to help. "What did he say this time?"

"He called me a wimp." Luke muttered as he played with his new cat ears. Curious, Gracie went near Luke and touched one of the cat ears. It twitched.

"Hey! Those are sensitive, you know!" Luke said quickly, swatting Gracie's hand from his ears.

Gracie blinked, "Sorry! I was just curious!"

The cat hissed at Luke, as if to say 'don't hurt her'.

Luke glared back at the cat."Well excuse me princess!" He snapped, irritably.

"Stop shouting at me!" she retorted. "What kind of Layton's apprentice are you? You have no manners whatsoever! Plus, the cat's a boy!"

Luke folded his arms, "I perfectly know what gender he is!" He said, rudely.

"A lady doesn't like being yelled at by a boy!" she retorted again.

Luke frowned, his face was a bright red, he never got yelled at by a lady."You're making me feel uncomfortable." He whispered.

She looked away, her face matching Luke's shade of red. "W-Well I feel the same." A moment of silence passed between them.

Blythe arrived back at the fountain. "Arguing again? And Luke's not the only one who's changed." She held up her new paws. "Ta-dah…" she said grimly, "I couldn't find Layton. Plus, I just endured a painful werewolf-like transformation. "

Luke frowned a little bit."This is sooo not good..." He whispered sadly. He tried to flatten down his cat ears, failing miserably. He glanced at Blythe's paws and muttered, "I think I'm going to hate turning into a cat…"

"Are you alright?" Gracie asked concerned. Everyone around her were turning into cats…and she doesn't know what to do.

"I changed too…"Toshiro said quietly as he approached the group. He now had short, black cat whiskers.

Blythe blanched at the sight of Toshiro's whiskers. "Do those hurt like my paws do?" she asked quietly.

Gracie turned and looked at Toshiro and smiled, "So cute!" she said. "They suit you!"

Toshiro turned a little red in the face when he heard what Gracie said."I...I don't like them...they hurt my face..."

Her face dropped, "Oh, sorry! I didn't know..."

She held on tighter to the cat, who eyed every one of the 'humans'.

"You don't understand!" Blythe cried out more harshly than she meant too. "This is NOT fun. Within a few days, I probably will be stuck a cat the rest of my life! Luke and Toshiro too!" She sat down, holding her head in her paws. She glanced at her feet. Luckily, those were still human.

Gracie looked at the floor. She didn't think it was fun to turn into a cat and when she said that the whiskers looked cute on Toshiro, she didn't mean it if the comment hurt. Another moment of silence.

Luke sighed. Might as well do something useful for the case… "Toshiro, how did you get the necklace?" he asked quietly.

Soon, all eyes were trained on Toshiro, all curious to know the answer. "Yeah…where did that necklace from?" Blythe asked.

Toshiro looked at Luke."The day people turned into cats...I just woke up and it was on me. I can't seem to get it off."

Luke nodded."What about us? We don't have necklaces..." He pointed out.

"I don't know how I got it..."Toshiro pulled at the necklace. It wouldn't budge.

"I bet it's a clue!" Blythe cheered up a little. "Come here Toshiro, let me see it."

Luke took out his notebook and pencil."I'll write it down!" He chirped. He continued to make sketches of the necklace.

Toshiro walked over to Blythe. He held up the chain and the charm at the end. It was shiny and red with the picture of a cat.

Blythe went towards Toshiro to inspect the necklace. She suddenly blushed as she realized how close she was to him. "Oh look! There's little cat heads on the necklace!" She quickly stepped away from Toshiro.

Toshiro blushed."U-uh...y...yeah...I think it might help in...This problem..."

"Problem is an understatement," Blythe said darkly. She looked up at the moon overhead. "Geez how late is it?"

Gracie felt a bit useless, so she looked around the town. "After midnight. Judging by the position of the moon... about three thirty."

"I'm tired..." Blythe yawns. Without thinking she curls up on the ground and goes to sleep. Like a cat.

Luke scribbled down notes."Well... I'm not the least bit tired. I think the instincts kicked in..." he muttered under his breath.

"M...me too."Toshiro yawned loudly. Like Blythe, he curled up and slept like a cat. Then his necklace started to glow. His hands started to turn into paws. His faced scrunched up a little but became peaceful when his hands were already turned into orange cat paws. The glow of the necklace also disappeared.

Luke sat down and yawned."I'm not the slightest bit... Tired..." He whispered rubbing his eyes sleepily.

Gracie started to panic, "Uh, g-guys. I-I don't think its best that you sleep in the street!" She let go of the cat and the cat went to sleep beside Blythe.

Luke yawned, "I would never sleep in the street..." He whispered, "There are too many germs..."

"Then get up," she said in a pleading voice. She looked around, "I'm starting to get..." She didn't want to say scared, but she was.

She hated the dark.

Luke staggered to his feet."What about Blythe and Toshiro?" He asked. His pupils shrunk, "Who now has cat paws..."

Gracie turned to look at Toshiro and she staggered backwards. "H-He has cat's pa-AWS!" She fell into the fountain, making a huge splash.

The splash awakened Blythe. "Huh? What's going on? Why are you in the fountain, Gracie?" She glanced over at Toshiro and saw his paws. "Toshiro! Wake up! You changed again!"

Luke let out a loud gasp."Gracie!" He shouted, trying to pull her out of the fountain."Way to go Gracie..."

Toshiro opened one of his eyes halfway."Hnnn...Zzzzzhm?"He yawned."What...is it..?"

She looked up at him... and she already had a cat tail. It was white as snow.

"Oh, great... This just keeps getting better and better..." Blythe sighed.

Luke sighed, "Gracie you need to be better with walking you know..." he whispered, sarcastically. His cat ears twitched a little bit.

"And the weirdness continues." Blythe looked at them all. "I don't know about you guys but I'm going home. See you tomorrow!" She walked off into the night.

Toshiro sat up quickly and looked at his paws."Aah!"

Gracie nodded, red from embarrassment, and stood up. "I-I'm soaked... and f-f-freezing."

"I would like to help you but these are the only clothes I have now." Luke said and pointed to his clothes. He hoped Layton would come soon and help them.

Gracie nodded, holding herself. Her tail wrapped around her leg in an attempt to heat it.

Toshiro shivered."There are times like this when I wish I had fur..."

Gracie nodded in agreement. "Y-Yeah..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lizzy woke up from her sleep and stretched in her bed. She glanced and saw the time. 4:05… "Oh god! I overslept!" she said and quickly got up. She planned to check the fountain around 2:00am. She must have slept through her alarm.

She went for a quick shower, brushed her teeth, got dressed and grabbed a slice of bread to eat. She raced out of her house and headed to the fountain.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Luke sighed, his attention was short."What will detective Stone say?' He asked quietly.

"That we're in trouble..." She looked at both of the boys. "Should we go somewhere?"

Lizzy then saw Luke and some other children in the fountain. "HEY! What did I say about being in the fountain!" Lizzy shouted and walked to them. She was quite mad again.

Gracie didn't hide the fact that she fell in, but was still ashamed.

Toshiro's cat ears twitched and he looked at Lizzy."...S...sorry...?"

Luke frowned, his cat ears twitched."The Professor was investigating it!" He defended.

"Oh is he now? Then where is your evidence? I will not let you take a step in the fountain until I see the evidence!" Lizzy told Luke.

Luke sighed. "Calm down. Here's the evidence." He said, handing over his notebook.

As soon as Luke mentioned the Professor, Gracie's mind went to Claire. Suddenly she remembered what was at the back of her mind: the reason she was here in the first place.

"Luke's right."Toshiro said irritably.

Lizzy took the notebook and read through it.

Luke smirked, "Told you!" He yelled, confident that he was able to convince Lizzy.

"Yes well. That still doesn't mean that you should be IN the fountain. You can just look at it." Lizzy said to Luke.

Gracie sat down on the ground. She was cold, scared, and missing her 'auntie'.

The cat meowed and nuzzled against her as Gracie put her head on her knees.

Luke rolled his eyes, "We won't! Why would we? We already found out the consequences..." he muttered, bitterly.

"Yup."Toshiro agreed with Luke, and sighed.

"What was the last thing you said? I didn't quite hear you." Lizzy asked Luke.

Luke gave her a cold glare. "We already found out the consequences..." he said a little bit louder.

"You have did you? Well may you please tell me Luke?" Lizzy asked in a mocking tone.

Luke sighed, "Well gee... look at Gracie... there's a physical change, look at my head, another physical change. Look at Toshiro! I highly doubt you can't tell..." he said, sourly.

Toshiro's ears twitched. He nodded."I thought you'd know what the consequences are by now..."

"Ok then! Geez. I CAN tell that you all are turning into cats. Quite strange that is...I better write this down." Lizzy said and wrote what happened in her notebook.

Luke gave her a bitter look. "How you were responding didn't really seem that you knew..." he hissed."At all..." Lizzy just rolled her eyes.

Gracie looked up at him, "Luke. Don't answer back to Officer Stone." She smiled weakly, "The Professor would tell you to be polite."

"Hmm...Well I think you should leave things for the professionals." Lizzy said and gave Luke a cold look.

Luke sighed, "I'm somewhat professional!" he defended, quickly. He didn't really care if he stood up for his rights and got punished doing so. "What are you going to do? Bring me to prison? I am just a child... and Layton would save me! I know it!" he hissed, sticking out his tongue.

"Professor Layton is a professional..."Toshiro said quietly."He's in the paper all the time for mysteries he's solved..."

"I shall inform the professor on what you have done. That is all; after all, he shall do the punishment, not me."Lizzy told Luke and gazed him an even colder stare that could scare the life out of anyone.

Luke shrunk back, "Fine..." he hissed, quietly. He went behind Gracie. "She scares me..." he whispered.

"Me too..." Toshiro muttered.

Gracie shivered, from Stone and not from the cold. "M-Me three..." she whispered back.

"Listen. All that I am doing is my job of a detective to keep you all safe. You breaking the rules will just put you all in danger and I don't want that." Lizzy said to them all.

Luke smirked, "Can we have a list of the rules? So we y'know, don't get into THIS kind of predicament again?" he asked her before whispering something in Gracie and Toshiro's ears. "I have a plan."

Gracie remained silent for a moment. "... Go on."

Luke smiled his perfect little innocent smile. "Pretty please?" he asked, sweetly. He turned around and mouthed, 'I'll tell you when she's gone'

Gracie nodded, her face turning red a little.

Toshiro nodded.

"Of course. Though I thought for a boy for your age would know what to do and what not to do. But moving on. You must not go into the fountain, do not steal, no killing, you can stay up till midnight, don't go into the streets after midnight and final DO NOT go trespassing into people's homes and stuff like that. Follow the rules and I'm sure you will be fine." Lizzy explained and gave Luke a list of the rules.

Luke mentally took note of all the notes, "Well killing and stealing isn't what a gentleman does..." he whispered, before looking up."Why not after midnight?" he asked, quietly.

"Because when someone did that a week ago. He turned into a cat. There are many bad things that happen. So please don't go after midnight. Now I have a question for you. Have you seen the professor? I want to know if anything happened while I was gone." Lizzy asked Luke.

Luke shrugged. "How did you know that he turned into a cat? And Professor Layton went out past midnight and he isn't a cat..." he said with a small chuckle, before he sat on the stone edge to the fountain."I have no idea where he is either..."

"I talked to him yesterday when I was walking home."Toshiro said."He came here past midnight yesterday..."

"Well the person was one of my officers. Then I must find the professor now. Good day to you all." Lizzy said and went off to find the professor. Hm…The boy had some valuable information in this notebook. I'll give it back to him later…or not…she thought while she put it inside her pocket.

Gracie turned to Luke. "What was your plan?" she asked.

Luke sighed for the millionth time of the night…or day since the sun was barely on the horizon. "Well, my plan is ruined. She just scares me too much."

Gracie smiled sympathetically, "Never mind, Luke." She put a hand on his in reassurance, "And I think she scares everybody." She smiled brighter, trying to cheer him up.

Luke sighed, "Should we make a note of this?" he asked, quietly. He remembered he had given it to Lizzy…and she didn't give it back. "Oh dear…"

"What?"Toshiro said to Luke, a tad worried.

Luke frowned, "My notebook... she has my NOTEBOOK!"He said.

"Don't worry; I will make notes until you get your book back." Gracie said as she got out her notebook that was packed with notes and sticky post-it notes and photos.

"But she has everything we need for the investigation!" Luke shouted.

Gracie sighed, "I know, Luke! WE know! So just... just stop getting annoyed!"

Toshiro sighed."Then we need to get that notebook back..."

I'm a bit sorry if this chapter is too boring or too long for your liking. It will get better…I hope ^^; stay tuned for Chapter 8! Reviews are loved and Criticism is adored X3 Nya~