Disclaimer: All the rights to the Professor Layton belong to Level 5 games, not me! I would never own ANYONE of that amazing franchise.
The legend of the Dragon sapphire.
Professor Layton, now back to his full self when Fenrir decided to go back into his mind, sat on a stool with Randal sitting opposite him with a puzzle box laid out in front of him and the two sat underneath the pale amber glowing of the ceiling lamp that hung overhead.
The top hatted archeologist knew all too well that it was probably only a matter of time before he reverted back into his dragon form so he decided to make this lesson quick and to the point so he wouldn't waste his precious moments of being a human again while it lasted; he had no experience of turning into a draco type beast.
Giving a determined glare, Professor Layton explained in a somewhat loud but calm voice to the voice in his mind "Now, Fenrir, as you have no clue about the concept of puzzles, I shall take it upon the chin to teach you the ways of how every puzzle has a solution."
The Professor couldn't hear Fenrir say anything so he just assumed that the youngest of a lost species was just being quiet to urge the top hat-wearing archeologist to continue. Professor Layton waited for a moment for the response but realised very quickly that he wasn't going to get one at this very moment in time. He had to admit it, talking to himself was something he only done when he was on an adventure by himself and he had a friend sitting in front of him.
How humiliating was that!?
Clearing his throat to be rid of the awkward silence lurking, Layton continued:
"Anyways. Say that there are 5 sharks and 3 fish sharing a tank, when three members of the staff of the aquarium go and check up on the sea life the next day; the fish are gone and the sharks remain...where would they have gone?"
This was but a simple puzzle only meant for a young child the Professor came up with. It was so simple for someone who never tried their hand at a puzzle before so hopefully that irritating voice inside his head would get this. And, while it had a slight malicious nature, there was also an innocent element to it that nobody could place their finger on.
The Professor went on to explain really quick "A puzzle is a riddle of some sorts that is supposed to not only give your mind a jolly exercise but it also keeps it as sharp as a blade. Should you think hard enough, the answer should come to you."
Again, no response.
Maybe Fenrir was just pondering on the solution by not saying a single word inside the Professor's mind. There was a somewhat deserted feeling left inside the Professor's soul, creating a deep crater for some reason, as memories of what had happened to him two nights ago burned straight into his mind. Should he have not been waiting for the answer from that voice in his head, he would have been screaming from pure emotional anguish.
It took a minute until Fenrir's voice was heard whispering inside Hershel Layton's head.
(Hmm, perhaps the sharks ate the fish during the night? Alas Sharks art predators whom only prey on fish to survive and they only need do that when the people catering to their needs neglect their duties.)
The Professor smiled inwardly. That was correct!
Nodding his head thrice, the gentleman reached up and tipped his top hat absent-mindedly as a feeling of pride swelled up inside his heart and he gave a small clap of his hands all while Randal was staring at the gent with a estranged look that basically said "you are beginning to look crazy" and he blinked.
Sighing at how crazy he was probably looking right now, Professor Layton ceased nodding and gazed down at his lap sadly yet awkwardly. He he felt so out of place right now. He felt like he had been tossed out of the world he knew and into one where all of his friends were finding this new side to him and where he was being forced into accepting these new changes. It was a feeling that he hated and wanted to be rid of.
It was a lonesome feeling, indeed.
Both Randal and Hershel's attentions were turned from the puzzle and switched towards the door when the sound of hammering footsteps mingling with a certain voice, muffled by the closed door, pierced through the quiet like a knife and the two smart people were confused about the source of the noise.
It was a very loud voice which sounded exasperated in a way and it had the same volume as the footsteps that probably pointed to the exact same source. It was a voice they both knew and it was one that startled them since the owner of those drums for sounds was supposed to have been asleep.
They looked at the door for two moments before Luke swung the door open (surprising the daylights out of Ascot and Layton) and he clutched a phone in one hand. The boy was clad in his blue-striped pyjamas and he had sweat sticking to his skin and making his brown-blonde hair stick and frizz slightly from how shocked himself he apparently was.
He was even panting heavily as if he was exhausted.
Both Randal and Professor Layton were shocked that Luke stood in the doorway with such a horrified look plastered on his face. His mouth was open but no sound came out except the constant huffs and puffs of breath he took to calm his racing heart and pulse.
"L-Luke!" The Professor exclaimed "what's the matter?"
Luke swallowed hard and tried to calm himself down but he couldn't. He was just so startled by the phone call that had come into the former Ledore residence that he couldn't relax and a high pitched voice rang out from the other end of the phone and it was one that made the professor go pale.
Luke gave an urgent nod, telling the professor silently that he needed to take this call.
Professor Layton stood up and took the phone from his apprentice and he held it to his ear. "Flora, my dear, what are you doing up?" He asked, knowing exactly who it was before the recipient could even speak another word.
Flora, the Professor's adopted daughter, squeaked whilst ignoring the latter's question "Worrying my head off looking for you, Professor! Your office is in shambles and you didn't even leave so much as a note. You haven't come home...where are you?"
Poor Flora. She sounded so timid now. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying her sweet little eyes out and that broke the Professor's heart.
He hated it when she cried and it was something that made him feel utterly guilty. He swallowed the urge to cry himself and he replied with a croaky tone of voice even if he was fully aware of how pitifully remorseful it sounded as he continued to keep the phone pressed to his ear.
"Flora, something just came up, I'm so sorry I didn't leave a message and didn't tell you where I was going." He heaved a shaky breath from his throat and continued "I just needed to get Luke as quickly as possible and I didn't think about how you would feel. I'm so sorry, sweetheart..."
His voice sounded surprisingly genuine. It was true; he felt horrible for leaving Flora on her own once more and it cracked his heart like an eggshell being tapped against the hard rim of a mixing bowl. He did feel so bad that the realisation of how long this would probably take felt like a merciless slap across the face.
Flora would be on her own for awhile should his mathematics be accurate.
But a sudden question managed to slip out of his mouth before he could stop it "Flora. Where are you at this very moment?"
And at this, Flora's tone brightened as if she was never crying in the first place.
"Oh! Clive and I were picked up by this guy and now we're right on our way to you!"
"Oh, that's nice." The professor smiled with no regards of what was just said to him until the words actually sunk into his head. His smile quickly turned into a frown "...Wait a minute. What?"
Flora didn't really need to repeat herself since the Professor already asked before she could do so "Clive is with you?! When did he get out of prison!?"
Flora didn't reply for a few moments and this basically gave the Professor the answer he needed. He dipped his head so dangerously low that it almost fell off of his head and he processed this information quickly and without much difficulty to see if he could get this situation straight. He gave a sour frown and his eyes would have more than likely been narrowed with disbelief.
"...You broke him out, didn't you?"
Flora (again) didn't say a word.
That silence was what gave the professor the conclusion that his assumptions were spot on.
He resisted the urge to pinch two of his fingers on the bridge of his nose in agitation. He didn't think Flora would actually break Clive out of jail unless it was of absolute emergency...but to be fair on the poor lass, she was frightened out of her mind about the Professor's unknown whereabouts so him going missing would be considered "incredibly urgent" in her eyes. That and she didn't really know any better, she had grown up in a village full of robots where things like this she never learned.
Trying to ignore the fact that Flora had done something clearly illegal, he asked "How do you know where I am anyways?"
"Well-" Before Flora could say anymore, Henry and Angela came bursting into the room with looks of alarm on their faces.
Randal and the Professor actually fell out of their chairs this time from fright. Why does everyone have to have such a startling entry this evening!? Even though there was light in the room, their sudden arrival into the room wasn't reduced to a less shocking degree because of it.
While Professor Layton tumbled to the floor and landed on to his front, Randal landed on his back when he hit the floor and scrambled to his feet to meet his wife and his best friend/butler and he asked them worriedly;
"Henry, Angela, what's the matter?"
The Professor, feeling a bit sore in the muscles, pushed himself up in a similar way of someone doing press ups and he too got to his feet and he watched in confusion as Angela and Henry explained the apparent situation.
Even though they were talking loud enough so he should be able to hear, his ears just weren't picking up on their voices for whatever reason. It could have been the result of his mind going cloudy-! Quickly whipping his head towards the clock to look at the time, he realised that it was 5:30 in the morning.
A feeling of dread settled in the top-hat-wearing gentleman's stomach as he went pale and sweaty. The paleness was from how shocked he was at how the time flew by but the sweatiness was probably from the fact that he was feeling symptoms similar of two nights ago when this all started.
He gnashed his teeth to conceal his aching bones and muscles as he was instantly whisked outside by Angela and Henry with Randal following close behind them.
The Professor was beyond confused. His world whirled by and his foggy mind was barely able to comprehend anything that was going on right now. What was happening now? That was what only his mind could ask as his own voice drummed inside his mind and bounced around to give him a major headache.
A white mist even surrounded the corners of his vision as he was pulled into the outdoor front garden and he got a good look at the plaza not so far at first glance.
Everything looked the same although Dalston, Angela, Henry and Randal's attentions were directed up to the skies. The red and yellow neon lights flashed and blinked in the against the dark purple and cyan blue mixed skies that had been dotted with faint glowing stars that slowly began to make way for sunrise upon the horizon.
The Professor, confused about what everyone was looking up at, looked up with Luke and everyone else and found that his jaw had just about dropped to the floor at what he saw floating in the skyline but ever so deftly beginning to ascend down towards the Ledore mansion below.
It was a very familiar blimp which the Professor knew all too well what it was and who it belonged to but his attention was more so directed at the rope ladder beneath and the people dangling off of them.
"FLORA AND CLIVE!?" Luke exclaimed in disbelief.
Flora and Clive waved cheerfully. While Clive held on to Flora, making sure she wouldn't fall off the rope ladder, they both seemed oblivious to the fact that the Professor was about to go through something of the most intense nature.
They both wore happy-go-lucky smirks and were both very unknowing of what the gent was about to go through.
Professor Layton felt the intense agonizing pain stab every inch of his body and he fell to the floor on all fours, crying out in pain and growling through clenched teeth as he clawed the ground beneath him. He clenched his dot-like eyes shut as he squeezed his face tight when he felt his shoulder blades spasm, the electrifying wave of acute discomfort inwardly impaling making him writhe right there on the concrete ground.
Luke exclaimed urgently "P-Professor!"
Before the young boy could rush to his spasming mentor's side, Henry and Randal both helped the poor man up to his feet while supporting him on both sides. The Professor hung his head low whilst sweat trickled down his face and dripped like dew drops off a leaf to the ground below.
He gritted his teeth and continued to close his eyes as his skin began to get visibly darker and the trembling intensified.
Through the pain, Professor Layton managed through his trembling voice going very much deeper and growly "G-G-Get me o-out the b-b-back, nobody m-must see me!"
Looking at the man with deep concern etched upon their faces, Randal and Henry both assisted the gentleman archeologist around to the back of the house and into the garden. They could both feel the sweat basically seeping through the layers of Professor Layton's refined outfit and trademark jacket as it touched their skins, instantly making them realise that their friend was in buckets of pain.
Luke and Angela hurriedly trailed along behind them and leaving Clive and Flora to look down at the scene below with worry etched on their own faces.
And, as the sun began to rise into the sky, one last scream pierced the air of that eventful dawn.
The Professor's scream.
It sounded so loud and so uncharacteristically high-pitched to rival a screech that it would sent shivers down even the bravest of mens spine. Nobody could even describe how disturbing it felt to hear the top hatted archeologist scream like that.
Was the Professor alright?
A/N: Cliffhanger! I think you all know what is happening to Layton, don't you?
Clive and Flora are here and there's a slight chance that someone you all wanted in this story is on that "blimp" (something I think you all know) and there's also a very slim chance that Emmy will be here too.
We never know, she MIGHT come in later in the story! ;)
Please review. And we might just get a Professor Layton, Luke and Flora moment in the next chapter.
...And we may just get a shipping I've never done before but think I can make work. :)
-Chloemcg