A/N: So, here's the next chapter! I have a plan on updating every other day (except for Christmas and New Years). This story WILL be done before January 18th, promise!
Disclaimer: This story, as I'm sure you can tell from previous chapters, will take place in other Counties, not just Los Angeles. However, I will not be doing research on these, especially since the only Maze Stone I can find info on is the Hemet Stone. Because of this, there is no factual basis about these stones, except for the fact that they do exist.
Now that that's out of the way, we will continue!
…
Chapter Ten – Imperial County
The little red car, old fashioned, yet tall for its model, made good time as it followed the road southeast. Professor Layton, so used to the driving customs of London, was finding it strange to keep his car on the right side of the road. Phoenix watched out the window.
"What happened since we last met, Mr. Wright?" Hershal finally asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"What do you mean?" Phoenix asked, turning to look at the man.
"Well, you and Ms. Maya are a lot different from how I remember. And you have a daughter now. A ten year old daughter," the professor said. He had an idea, but not enough clues to put together the full story yet.
"Ah. That." Phoenix sighed, sitting up a little straighter in his seat. "It must have been about a month after Maya and I got back from London. Maya started her training to become the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique, and I… had another case. A murder case.
"This one was different. The defendant, Shadi Enigma, had another lawyer, but he fired him, then hired me after playing Poker with me. The morning of the trial, I got one last piece of evidence, delivered to me by Mr. Enigma's daughter."
"That sounds a little fishy," the professor said, watching the signs to find his exit.
"I should have realized that too," Phoenix said bitterly. "When I presented it in court… well, the prosecutor, Mr. Gavin, knew. He requested the courtroom cleared and bought in a special witness. A forger." Phoenix shook his head once more in disgust, thinking back to that day, and how backed into a corner he'd become in that moment.
"The evidence was fake," Hershal said.
"Yes. I believe my client wasn't aware of this, but he did prepare, just in case things went south. He escaped and disappeared. And abandoned his daughter."
"So you adopted her?" the professor asked.
"Yeah. I mean, what else could I do? A few days after that case, I was called into a hearing by the Lawyer Association, and they took my badge away from me. I know I should have looked closer at the evidence, but I made an honest mistake. One honest mistake, in a sea of other people making mistakes, and I'm the one punished," Phoenix vented, before realizing he was doing so. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. "Sorry…"
"It's okay, Mr. Wright. I understand your frustration. What are you doing now?" he asked.
"I play the piano," Phoenix said lightly.
"You're investigating though, aren't you? You're trying to find the one who forged the evidence and set you up," Professor Layton asked. Phoenix grinned sheepishly.
"How'd you guess?"
"You never seemed to be the type of man who would take something like that laying down."
"Ah."
"We are here, by the way," Professor Layton said. Phoenix nodded, looking around, trying to figure out where the stone would be.
"The website said 'Min Iscool Museum," Phoenix said. The professor nodded, and the two began their hunt.
…
"So, do we know where to start looking for the Maze Stone when we get there?" Pearl asked, swaying along with the motion of the train. The trip was a few hours long, and the two had played word games (which Luke mostly won), took naps, and watched the scenery flash past out the windows.
Now, they were nearing the end of their journey, and Pearl had bought up a very good point.
"Um… no," Luke said, quickly pulling out his notebook and flipping through it.
"You want the Min Iscool Museum," a voice said from above them. Both kids looked up to see a familiar face.
"Dr. Volca!" Luke and Pearl exclaimed at the same time. The older man smiled at the two.
"What are you two doing all the way out here?" the professor asked.
"We're going to try to solve the puzzles of the Maze Stones!" Luke said in determination.
"Oh? And what does your dad think of this?" the man asked, remembering that Luke's father had replaced Dr. Kingston. Luke froze, looking down.
"He, uh, doesn't know," Luke mumbled.
"He doesn't know? You ran away from home?" Dr. Volca demanded. Luke winced at the accusing town. Pearl, however, jumped to his defense.
"No, we didn't run away from home!" she snapped. "We… Luke's parents…" Pearl trailed off as Luke put a hand on her shoulder.
"We're trying to solve the puzzle for Mom and Dad. AND Dr. Kingston," he said. Dr. Volca studied the young man in front of him, realizing what must have happened.
"I'm trying to solve the puzzle as well," he admitted. "I thought, perhaps, these puzzles would lead to Dr. Kingston. We should join forces," Dr. Volca suggested.
Pearl and Luke glanced at each other, thinking about his idea. They both were smart enough to know that almost anywhere they went, they'd need adult supervision. In fact, it was a miracle they'd made it through the entire train ride without being questioned about their parents.
Also, Dr. Volca knew ancient languages, and Luke just realized that any puzzle, or any script at all on these puzzle stones, would be written in an ancient language.
Besides, they had a common goal, right? Power in numbers, Luke thought.
"Okay. Thanks," he said, smiling up at the man.
…
A quick taxi ride from the train station, and the group stood in front of the smallest museum Luke had ever seen.
"Here it is," Dr. Volca said. "Min Iscool Museum."
"Is that a different language?" Pearl asked, looking up at the college professor.
"I'm not sure, to be honest," Dr. Volca said, leading the way in and paying for one adult and two kid tickets.
"Can we also have a map, please?" Luke asked, tipping his hat back as he looked up at the person working behind the desk. The elderly lady smiled, pulling one out.
"There you go, young man. It's so nice to see young people interested in art and history these days," she said. Luke blushed slightly with a smile.
"Thanks," he said, before hurrying after Pearl and Dr. Volca. He quickly opened the map, studying it.
"It says here that the first floor is all art, and the second floor is history," Luke said.
"Well, then we're going in the right direction," Dr. Volca said with a grin, motioning towards a set of stairs.
Once on the second floor, the trio walked through three different rooms and, it felt like, three different eras.
"Where do you think the stone will be?" Pearl asked, looking up at a large, kite shaped shield.
"I think you mean when," Dr. Volca said with a smile, before looking at the shield with her. "This shield is from 15th century Europe," he said, launching into a lengthy description of its history, not looking once at the information card on the glass.
Meanwhile, Luke was studying the map once more, remembering the theories his dad had told him about the origin of the stone. Dr. Volca had confirmed the last theory, that it was from ancient Buddha tradition, but there were no rooms like that. The other two theories were of Native American origin and older-then-Mayan, the Cascadians.
The four rooms were Middle Age Europe, where they stood now, Soviet Era Russia, The Civil War era, and Native Americans.
"I think we should try the Native American room!" Luke exclaimed, looking up and interrupting the impromptu history lesson. Dr. Volca had just been telling Pearl about the jousting tournaments, and she was listening with huge, bright eyes, her hands in front of her mouth. They both turned to face him, and Luke's heart did a tap-dance at the excitement in Pearl's eyes.
"The Native American room?" Dr. Volca asked thoughtfully, before grinning. "Yes. That's the most likely candidate. Come on!" he said, swiftly leading the two.
"Are you okay?" Pearl asked her friend, having noticed the color rise to Luke's cheeks.
"Yeah," he said with a hasty smile.
"There it is," Dr. Volca said, spotting the large stone. Luke and Pearl quickly followed the man over, the former happy for the splint that let him walk almost normally.
"So, what puzzle do we solve?" Pearl asked.
"I think we have to figure out the maze!" Luke said. He'd given it much thought since they first translated the script on the back of the Kurain Stone. It only made sense, after all.
"But how? Where does it start?" Pearl asked, studying the stone. Luke studied it as well, pulling his notebook out and flipping to a blank page. He then opened his pen, holding the lid in his mouth and sketching the maze quickly.
"The start… the end… The end is what really matters, but we need the start," Luke mumbled, his words muffled by the lid. Dr. Volca looked over the boy's shoulder, curious as to what the boy was doing, before leaning back over to study the stone.
"This maze is made up of the Tibetan symbol for wisdom…" Dr. Volca mused.
"Wisdom… wisdom…" Luke muttered as he continued his sketch, making sure each detail was painstakingly correct. He had started from the middle, and was working his way out, carefully making sure the interlocked squares on his paper matched that of—
"That's it!" Luke suddenly exclaimed, ripping the lid from his mouth. "Wisdom lies at the end of knowledge, right?" he said, looking at the other two. They nodded. "But at the same time, Wisdom is also inherent, surrounded by knowledge. The end of this maze is in the center!" he said.
"Good job, Luke!" Dr. Volca said, feeling a slight twinge at the fact that a thirteen year old with an education no higher then middle school found the answer faster then him, with his own education. He hid it well, though, and neither kid noticed.
Glancing around and making sure no one was watching, Luke ducked under the guard rail and pressed the middle. There was a soft grinding around, and the square that held the maze suddenly flipped.
"Wow," Pearl gasped, her eyes wide. Dr. Volca leaned forward, reading the words on the new section of stone. It was in ancient Tibetan, of course.
"It's a riddle," he said. Luke's eyes lit up at the thought of another puzzle. "Can you read it aloud? I can write it down," he said. Dr. Volca nodded and started, his voice slow and halting as he translated and worded it to make sense.
"'A house based on a foundation like the skies,
A house one has covered with a veil like a secret box,
A house set on a base like a goose,
One enters it blind,
And leaves it seeing."
"That's confusing," Pearl said, nibbling on her thumbnail in thought. Luke studied the words on his page, letting Pearl see them too. They studied it together, trying to come up with the answer.
"Well, skies can also mean heavens," Dr. Volca said.
"Yeah, but how can someone whose blind see it just by walking in and out? Is it the home of a doctor?"
"What if that's a metaphor? Like the goose thing," Luke said, running his finger over words. "That must mean it's guarded. Geese guard their nests fiercely, right?"
"Yes," Dr. Volca said distractedly.
"Hey! This is the stone of wisdom, right? The answer might have something to do with that! And that's why "blind" people can see when they leave!" Pearl exclaimed.
"You're right!" Luke said. "And 'house' is probably just another word for 'building'. And what kind of building do you learn stuff in?" He grinned at Pearl.
"A school!" she exclaimed happily, before pouting. "But how do we tell a stone the an—" she got no further in her question. There was a soft grating noise again and, with that same twinge, just a little stronger, Dr. Volca watched as that same panel flipped to reveal the maze again. However, this time, there was something laying on top.
An old, stone key.
"A key?" Pearl asked. Dr. Volca took it quickly, stuffing it into his pocket.
"Probably to this unimaginable wisdom," he said, wrapping his arms around the kids and turning them from the stone. "Now come. Let us head out," he said. Luke and Pearl grinned at each other, letting the man propel them forward.
"I wonder if the Professor and Mr. Wright has found any keys yet," Luke said with a grin.
…
Phoenix and Professor Layton finally found the Min Iscool Museum, and entered, just as a large group of people came out.
"We sure this is the right place?" Phoenix asked, looking at the tiny building.
"Yes," Professor Layton said, entering the building. Neither glanced back at the group.
If they had, they might have noticed a tall, skinny, balding man with glasses, leading a boy with a blue had and a girl in odd clothes back to the train station.
…
A/N: And here we have it! Chapter ten, and the first solved maze stone! What do you think? The riddle is of Sumerian origin. Also, if you're curious about the symbol that made up the maze, Google Image search "Tibetan symbol for wisdom".
Onto the next chapter!