Chapter 35: Farewell, Little One

Hershel stares at me while I tell him about everything that's happened since I left home. He doesn't say much, just mostly nods along to what I say. There's a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, making me tenser than normal. I decide to skip the part when Mr. Whistler had tried to use my body as a host for his daughter. My throat gets a little choked up as I mention my first meeting with Descole. He seemed so sarcastic, but I knew there was a soft side to him. I stop to clear my throat and shake off the weird feeling. Hershel gives me a confused look, but doesn't say anything about it. It feels very weird to talk about my past, especially after all that's happened. But I might as well get it off my chest; besides he's one of my closest friends so I can tell him everything. Well...not everything now that I think about it. There are some things I need to keep secret, for now at least. "Teresa, are you alright?" Hershel's voice breaks me out of my thoughts and I look up at him, blushing. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about something."

"So, Descole was your manager and then you...This is quite confusing, I must say." Hershel says lightheartedly. I laugh, scratching my head. "It can be difficult to keep track of." I reply. "But, there was a time when I felt something for him. You can see that didn't last too long." I mutter quietly. He sighs and nods a little. "That's not a crime, though. You didn't know what he was doing, Teresa." He takes my hand and smiles assuredly. I close my eyes, and grip his hand a little tighter. "I know that. But it didn't help when we fought all those times and made me question if he even...cared." I whisper. There's a long pause, as none of us speak a word. Why am I feeling like this? I don't even know how he feels about everything that's happened. It's so hard to tell what his emotions are. I run my fingers through my hair slowly. Did I even make the right choice? Was it a good decision that I betrayed him, and got myself into this mess? It must've been; I saved Arianna, as well as Loosha, and protected the town from further destruction. If it was right...then why do I feel regret about it?

I wrap the jacket tighter around myself, looking at the still damp ground. "I knew calling on you for help was the right choice to make." I say to break the silence. Hershel blinks for a moment at me, then his eyes widen. "You told Luke to send that letter then?" he asks in surprise. I try to remember what exactly I said to the boy that one night. "Well, sort of. I told him to ask for someone's help, anyone he could think of. And I suppose he decided to get you to Misthallery." I explain. He nods and grins at me happily. "It was a good thing you did that, too. Otherwise, you'd still be fighting Descole." He adds. I smirk a little and reply, "I did do most of the fighting, now that I think about it. I could've handled him without help." Hershel looks at me amusingly, shaking his head a little. "You were the one that asked for my assistance in the first place, need I remind you." I look down, pretending to be guilty. "I'd like to see you try fighting giant robots." I point out while playfully shoving him. We both laugh together, and it feels like nothing changed between us. I wish it could always be like this...

After laughing for a while, we walk towards the others and I ignore an interested look from Emmy. Arianna races towards us, with Luke and Tony a little ways behind her. "We defeated the specter!" she exclaims joyfully. It's hard to believe she's a sickly orphan that had to raise her brother alone. But I try not to dwell on it and smile cheerfully at the young girl. "So we have. And we saved the town." She looks at Luke, who is by her side, and lightly blushes. "Thank you, Luke. Thanks to all of you for helping Misthallery. I'm so happy Loosha was here with me..." The young boy laughs nervously and smiles at his friend. I look at Hershel and we try to hold in our laughter. "We need to thank Loosha as well." he points out. I nod in agreement and wink at Arianna. Her eyes get big and she turns around, trying to hide her embarrassment. Luke and Emmy walk over to us, leaving the two siblings to be alone with the blue animal. "We really did it..." Luke mutters. Emmy elbows the man next to her lightly, "That was quite a trial, Professor!" I stare over at Loosha with a small smile, but notice something odd. The creature looks a bit distressed, like she's not happy that we defeated Descole. I try to say something to the professor, but a loud cry from her silences my voice.

It feels like the whole plaza is shaking from Loosha's squeal. Something crashes, and I look around restlessly to find out what happened. Hershel attempts to ask the animal what happened, but she's already gone. I inhale nervously, and race after her. There's something not right with her...But what could it be? The others start to race after us, not too far back. I see her heading through the broken floodgate, towards the towering dam, and continue to run at a safe distance away. When I reach Loosha, she's pounding against the wooden door with all her strength. Blood is pounding in my ears as she grunts against the gate. Hershel and the rest of them arrive next to me, staring at the tall creature in confusion. There is a determined flicker in her eye as she batters the wood. Arianna steps forward, with a troubling expression on her face. "What are you doing? What's wrong, Loosha? It's all over, we won!" The organism doesn't listen to her human friend, continuing to slam against the door. I flinch as she smashes her head against it, grunting heavily. "Little one, what is wrong? You can tell me what it is." I mutter to her. She stops momentarily, staring at me pleadingly, but then starts to slam it again.

"Arianna, the flute!" Hershel reminds her. Tony nods determinedly, pulling the ocarina from his pocket and handing it to his older sister. She takes it from his hand and raises it to her mouth. Loosha still hammers away as the girl plays the same soothing melody. She gasps when she realizes it doesn't help. "It's not working!" The aquatic animal cries out again, slamming her head into the door. I can almost hear the water ripple from the motion. "Stop that right now! Loosha, if you break that gate, the entire town will be flooded!" A few water droplets come out from the cracks on the gate. "Please...Please stop doing that, Loosha!" There's a begging tone in her voice, but her animal friend doesn't listen. A stern expression takes over her face as she picks up a small rock. "Fine. I don't want to be your friend anymore! You hear me?!" Arianna hurls the rock towards Loosha, and it hits the side of her head. The creature looks up at her, crying questioningly, and Arianna stares back with a sniffle. She turns away, and begins to run into the large door again. "Loosha, please stop..." I mutter quietly.

Arianna moves back, with a saddened face. "Why won't she listen?!" Tony cries out confusedly. I hold my breath nervously, thinking what the animal is wanting to accomplish. "What do you want? What are you trying to do?!" Luke asks shrilly. Loosha looks towards the boy, bleating impatiently. "What? She said there's no time...No time?! What's that supposed to mean?!" he mutters. I stare at the creature, trying to understand what's going on. There must be something important behind those gates...And under the lake. I start to run closer to her, as she lets out a loud cry and bangs into the wooden door. The water begins to burst out from the cracks in the gate. I freeze in place, staring at the leaking door. "Get back! The gate is giving way," Hershel calls out, "Get to higher ground, everyone!" They run to one side of the dam, but I don't move. "Loosha...I'm helping you!" I yell out to her. My legs shake as I race to her side; the animal makes a final slam into the door before it bursts out. Before the water can crash over me, I leap to behind the wall, breathing heavily. I could've died...I need to see what it is she's trying to get to. A huge wave thunders down the hill, covering the aquatic mammal with water. I watch it pour into the town, praying nobody is out there while it's flooding.

Once the water level has lowered, Loosha flops towards the gate and into the now empty lake. I slowly edge out, peeking into the dam's hole. There are a few large puddles, but the ground looks pretty dry. I put a foot onto the platform, and it seems to be safe. I hurry over to Loosha, who is sliding towards something I can't see. She stands by it, beckoning us over with her squeaks. I notice the others sidestep down the cliff, and into the waterless pit. I wave them over, and I smile at Hershel's relieved face. When we get closer to the animal, they all stop abruptly. "What is this?" the professor mutters. Luke asks, "Is that...?" Emmy stands next to Hershel, with a puzzled look on her face. "It looks like an entrance of some sort. Professor, how on earth can we get it open?" I hide a grin as he raises his hand to his chin. Leave it to Hershel to figure this out. I walk over to the crest, and stare at Loosha. She won't look at me, only at the hatch in the ground. I follow her gaze and study the round door.

"O traveler to paradise! The winged sleepers yearn to dance. Only by touching the four fruits can you awaken them. Bird of illusion, raise your beak high! And so you shall lead our traveler into sun-kissed paradise." I read quietly. The crest is gold, with four birds and fruit symbols etched into it. I run my hand on it, and curiously touch one of the fruits in the corner of the door. As soon as I tap it, one of the birds eyes light up. I withdraw my hand quickly and stare up at Loosha. She watches me intently, and doesn't try to tell me something. Hershel walks up from behind me, and crouches in front of the hatch. He silently reads the poem neatly carved in the wood. "Hmm, touching the four fruits awaken the winged sleepers." I nod distantly, still eyeing the bird's red glowing eye. Instinctively, I tap the other three fruit, and as the remaining eyes start to glow, Hershel stares at me with an understanding smile. He reaches toward a bird and turns it to another angle. He stops for a moment, and looks at me in silence. "I assume you know how to solve the rest of this, then." I sigh amusingly as he grins at me. "A gentleman never boasts about his knowledge." He replies, hiding a laugh. I roll my eyes playfully at him and gesture him to finish the puzzle.

As I watch him push the birds into certain positions, Loosha fidgets around impatiently. "Don't worry, little one. We'll open it." I whisper to her. She squeaks quietly and stands still. I smile at her assuredly, though I guess she doesn't notice since she's too focused on the door. I look back to Hershel, who is just finishing fumbling with the puzzle. The four birds are now in different positions, and I notice an outline of a bird with a fruit in front of it. A creaking sound comes from behind it, and Hershel lightly pulls me back. The others hang back behind us, staring in awe as the door slowly swings open. I walk a little closer to the edge, and Loosha flops next to me. The other side of the door has a dirt path and some glowing crystals surrounding it. "Fascinating..." Hershel murmurs. "Why is this here?" Luke asks determinedly. "That's not the question. The question is: Where does it lead?" Emmy replies. I nod at her in agreement silently, watching the two siblings look at each other curiously. What could Loosha be planning?

Emmy leads the way, with the three children trailing behind her, and me, along with Hershel and Loosha, take up the end. Everyone quietly gasps while looking around the passage. I rub my arms, suddenly getting a chill up my spine. Hershel casts me a questioning gaze and I shake my head at him. "Something about this place is different from up above..." I mutter quietly. I look up at Loosha, who is grunting while following us. She looks ahead, but I notice a pained flicker in her eye. We reach the end of the corridor, and Loosha squeaks a little before stopping. My eyes widen and we run forward to a cliff. An enormous lake is ahead of us; there are some crystals around the scenery of all different sizes. Lush greenery covers the seemingly endless land and small waterfalls trail down the hills. My heart leaps as the professor mutters, "The Golden Garden." I can't seem to keep my mouth shut while staring at the beauty of it all. "It is real...Descole; he was after this place all along." I whisper to myself. What would he have done to it if he had actually found it? I shiver at the thought of it being destroyed.

"WOW! Look at this place!" Luke exclaims in surprise. I begin to tear up as I stare up above me. "Light comes in through the earthen ceiling...and reflects off of these crystals." I mutter, amazed. It might no be golden, but the sight is breathtaking. "That sunlight has supported the vegetation here and turned it into a verdant paradise." Hershel adds on. Emmy mutters the name of the Golden Garden distantly. "It's an entirely untouched world...I pictured it so differently, with ancient ruins and gold everywhere!" she confesses. I look at down at the water and then to the two siblings, who are still in shock of the place. "This is worth much more than any amount of gold. But it means even more to Arianna..." I mutter in realization. The girl looks at me when I say her name. "W-what do you mean?" she stammers. My eyes start blurring and I can't help smiling. "Hershel, you understand, right?" I ask, choked up.

He nods in reply and explains, "The air here is untouched. As Emmy said, it is pure. Its properties may be able to cure your illness." I wipe my tears away as Luke stares at the professor. "I think Loosha knew this. She led Arianna here in order to cure her." He continues. "Had Descole found this place first, that would not have been possible." I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to think about the destruction of this beautiful place. And I was going to help him find it... "And so Loosha opposed Descole at every turn, trying to stop him from discovering this paradise. And she did it all to help cure Arianna of her illness." He looks at me as he speaks, making me look away. I tried to make up for my mistakes, but it won't help me. Nobody can forget I was helping the enemy try to discover this place, and he was going to destroy it! I fold my arms, and try to ignore the guilty feeling in my stomach. Best not to think about that now, with all this beauty in front of me. "That's amazing, Professor. Wow." Luke mutter, still looking at the scenery.

Suddenly, Loosha lets out a long cry and collapses into a low stream. Arianna and her brother run to her in fear; I stay back hesitantly, wondering what to do. I shake my head and follow the siblings to their fallen friend. The ginger haired girl reaches the animal's head, muttering her name. "You brought us here for me, didn't you? I'm sorry, I didn't understand." She says, pressing closer to Loosha. Tony rubs her cheek softly as I come closer. Her eyes focus onto me, and she lets out a quiet squeak. "You wanted to give me this gift. This beautiful gift." A few start to form in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry. Please, let's just go back to how things were." Her voice is breaking as she speaks. The creature's eye starts to waver and I rush to her side. "Loosha! Please don't die! You've got to get up! Loosha, get up so I can ride on your back again, please!" Tony pleads while lightly pounding on her skin. Her eye is drooping now, so I put a hand on her muzzle. "Little one...thanks for everything. It was fun to fight with you, and protect this wonderful place." I say my goodbyes. She nuzzles me gently as her head is falling. "And it was great to see you again. One last time." I whisper quietly.

Her eyes are fully shut now, and just as her body goes limp, I plant a kiss on her forehead. "Loosha?" Arianna asks shocked. "No! You can't die!" She shouts sadly. I step back from the body and close my eyes as well. The sobs of the two orphans fill my head, and I hold in tears tightly. She's done all she could. You need to understand that, and they will too, in time. The water shifts and I look up at Loosha's dead body slowly drifting down the river. The children start to run after her, but then stop abruptly. "Loosha, no!" Tony calls out, tears flooding down his face. He cries out into the open air, next to his sister, who is silently watching Loosha float away. I look back at the other three, staring on with saddened expressions. "Loosha..." Arianna turns to Luke. The boy walks into the river with a small smile. "She used her last ounce of strength to bring you to this wonderful place. She sacrificed her own life to be sure that yours would be saved." He continues. Arianna looks back to the river and mutters, "It's not fair..." Luke replies, "Did you hear what she said?" He pauses as the girl stares at him confusedly. "I understood it. Loosha said thank you to the three of you." I blink a few times, processing the information. Loosha...you will be missed by all of us.

I look over to Arianna, who has a distant expression. She turns toward the stream and begins to cry harder. Part of me wants to comfort her, but I know letting her emotions out will help her more. Once her sobs get softer, I crouch to her eye level and smile. She quickly embraces me, and I hug her back. Tony seems to have calmed down a bit, and helps comfort his sister. "Time stands still down here in this ancient paradise. Loosha must have been born here. I imagine she lost her parents while still young. It must have been lonely, being the last of her kind. So she ventured out through the tunnels into the lake where she met Arianna and Tony." Hershel explains. I silently add in where I helped the small creature find the orphans while he speaks. Tony rubs his neck and mutters, "She needed friends, after her parents died. So did we." Arianna goes to her brother's side, a few tears going down her cheeks. "It's true...Loosha came to visit us often. We were lonely, as well. We only had each other. Our father made a fortune off the backs of the townspeople. And after he died...nobody would come anywhere near us. The two of us were on our own. We were all on our own..." Luke steps in with watery eyes. "That's not true, Arianna! We were all worried about you! Please give us another chance." She looks up at the boy, a few tears rolling down her face. "Luke..."

I nudge her lightly and whisper, "I told you he cares about you. Now you know for yourself." The young girl blushes a little and mutters, "If you do that for me, then I will do the same for you." A smile forms on her saddened face. She looks down with concern at her hand, blinking away forming tears. "I used my illness as an excuse to close myself off from the world. I see that now. The people in town didn't push me away; it was my own doing." she says in realization. Luke adds cheerfully, "When you get better, you'll be able to open yourself up again. The whole town will be waiting for you. I think Loosha knew that somehow. She wanted you to be happy again." I smile down at her and it feels like she's grown so much already. Arianna isn't the same isolated sickly girl she was when I first met her. Her eyes look so much lighter and happier than before. "She knew...that we all need other people in our lives." Emmy mutters. I flinch a little, getting a sick reminder of Descole's betrayal. I push it to the back of my head for now, and listen to Luke's words. "Loosha was the last of her kind. Loneliness was all she knew, but she wasn't alone when she was with you! That's why she said thank you." He looks at me with a small smile and I grin back at him. "Now it's my turn." The girl replies. Luke stares at her surprisingly as she walks forward a bit. She looks down the river and shouts quietly, "Thank you Loosha." Arianna takes out her ocarina and begins to play her song.

Everything was silent as the music filled the air. I stare at the young girl, feeling pride for how far she's come. I close my eyes, and stand still as a small gust of wind blows over the land. I move backward until I'm in front of the professor by a foot or two. Tony stands next to his older sister, his hands in his pockets and a teary smile spread across his face. Hershel comes next to me and sighs quietly. I don't look at him as the thought Emmy talking about having someone in our lives comes back to me. I need to stop feeling like this; but that's easier said then done. I pull my shirt a little, frustrated at myself for dwelling on this too much. "You shouldn't be upset at yourself." Hershel says quietly, holding the brim of his hat. I look at him quickly and then back to Arianna without saying a word. "Even if Descole is gone, we found each other again, and now that Brenda is alright, she'll be thrilled to see you after all that time. Along with Clark, too." He stops to laugh a little at my expression. "You seemed to make quite a connection with Luke and Emmy as well. You always made friends very easily." He adds. I blush at his praise and reply, "And you were always too kind." I elbow him playfully.

As the young girl finishes her song, I walk up to the cliff, which isn't too far away from the low river. Hershel stands on a rock, holding his hat firmly. "Looks like it's all over, Professor. So, who do we alert first? I mean, we just discovered the Golden Garden!" Emmy exclaims. I look at the professor to see what his answer will be. "No, Emmy. We must keep this place a secret." A sense of relief floods over me as his assistant looks at him incredulously. "Well, at least until Arianna recovers." He adds quickly. The woman's face saddens and mutters, "That's a bit of a shame. Clearly, something like this...This could launch your career. You'll be in all the newspapers! Wouldn't that be great, Professor?" A flicker of encouragement is in her eyes as she talks. Hershel laughs at her excitement and gets down from the rock. "I suppose so. But don't worry Emmy. I doubt this will be the last mystery we solve. There are countless puzzles out there in the world. And I will solve as many of them as I can." He closes his eyes quickly and a serious look takes over his face. "Someday, I will solve that great puzzle...meant only for me."

I stare at him curiously and can't help smiling at his confidence. He really has grown so much since I last saw him. And I'm proud of him. "Professor..." Luke grabs the older man's sleeve. We all look at the boy, but he doesn't make eye contact with us. "Please, sir...Let me go with you! I can learn from you!" he pleads seriously. Hershel looks at him in astonishment and silence. "Please! I could be Professor Layton's apprentice!" Luke continues with a determined expression. "I..." he starts but looks down. The young boy is still focusing on the professor intently. We all look at each other in surprise and then back to Luke. Silence envelops the four of us and a breeze blows again, this time more roughly.

My goodness, did this chapter take long or what?! Well at least for me it did. Of course I'm not gonna make chapters THIS long. Unless you guys want them to be longer. If you do, don't be afraid to tell me what you think. R.I.P. Loosha She was always one of my favorites in the last specter and I'll always miss her. And now the first game is done! YAYYYYYY! *insert confetti* I had so much fun making this part of the series and I bet the next one will be just as good, maybe even better! Don't forget to leave a question for the Q and A, or just tell me what you think of the story. Thanks for reading and keep those eyes on the screen for the next chapter!