Chapter 51: A Parade Gone Wrong

I hop off my motorcycle and pack the helmet I was wearing into the vehicle's baggage compartment. Ahead of me is a rather large sign with the words, "Have Fun in Monte D'or!" in bright red. It took a long time to get here since this city is so far out in the desert. I had to come as soon as possible when Emmy sent me a letter with directions on how to get here. She wasn't very specific with details, but it has something to do with one of Hershel's childhood friends. The name was Angela or something like that. I haven't heard of her before so that must mean Hershel knew her before meeting me. Mum almost refused to let me go. Luckily, Janiss was able to convince her to read the letter herself. I did have to stay home for another week though. They both made sure I take plenty of medication with me to ease the pain.

My wound's gotten better. The stitching has been taken out and now there's just an embarrassingly long scar. It still hurts occasionally but not as much as before I left home. I avert my eyes from the colorful welcome sign and notice the bright lights of what seems like Main Street. From what I've heard, there's some kind of celebration going on about the city's founding. I didn't look into it that much. Anyway, I'm not sure where Hershel, Emmy, or Luke are. They didn't even mention where they would be staying. I suppose the professor's assistant was in rush to write the letter. They might be in trouble...I take a deep breath, pick up my suitcase, and stride into the city entrance.

The people of Monte D'or sure know how to celebrate. Confetti flies down from the sky while the sidewalks are full of pedestrians. In the street, several performers parade down the street in all kinds of costumes. Most of the people are watching the actors go by on parade floats. A couple of multicolored balloons rise up above. It's all so distracting. I'd love to look around at some shops, but now is not the time. Finding the others is my top priority. Although, part of me can't help feeling suspicious about all this. Why would Hershel never tell me about this Angela? She must be important to him even if he hasn't seen her in a long time. I readjust the strap on my suitcase and continue coordinating through the crowds of tourists. It'd be best if I get out of the attractions area and go somewhere quieter where I can look for Hershel.

A few people around me gasp in awe, looking and pointing at the night sky. I raise my head to see what it is. Even more balloons slowly float above us as the main performers approach. I can't help smiling a little at how amazing it is. Suddenly, I hear a woman scream somewhere up ahead of where I am. The entertainers run down the street from something they saw. Almost everyone on the sidewalk catches on and joins them. I quickly race into a doorway as to not get trampled by anyone.

"Frozen...like stone!" somebody yells out into the crowd. My eyes widen at what I hear. What on earth could they be talking about? I need to see what's going on. Once there's a gap, I start making my way through the fleeing citizens to where the giant clown balloon is. It flails as the air is escaping it. One of the clown's arms crashes onto the road, bringing up dust everywhere. Two people jump over it quickly. The balloon stops for a moment then begins leaning in my direction. I speed up for a moment and dive through a small opening before it can collapse. The float's fall sends a gust of wind out, pushing me down onto the ground. I land face first and slide across the dirt. Pain from my stomach shoots out everywhere as soon as it makes impact. Wincing, I raise my head up to see Hershel and Luke lying on the street ahead of me.

"L-Luke!" I yelp. The boy instantly hears my voice and helps himself up to reach me. The professor notices his apprentice going back and he follows quickly.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?! You didn't get hurt did you?" Luke asks me with his eyes wide. His teacher stands behind him without making a sound.

I shake my head, still swallowing the pain from my wound. "N-no, I got out no problem. It's a good thing I came at the right time though." I smile at the two of them. Hershel puts his hand out for me to grab onto and pulls me up carefully. He lets out a sigh, turning away from the deflated balloon. Luke and I follow his gaze. My mouth drops in a heartbeat. There's a group of stone statues ahead of us, each one with a look of terror plastered on their faces. The one closest to us topples over on its side. "Weren't there people here just a second ago? What happened?" I whisper in shock.

"Statues?" Luke asks, looking around. A few other bystanders approach the scene.

A very flustered clown runs out of the hoard of statues. "Hey! I'm trying to escape here! Get out of the way, will you?!" he demands with his arms flailing. I barely missed a slap from his quick moving hands.

"Please, sir, try to remain calm," Hershel tells him, trying to be louder than the clown's voice. He stops moving erratically for a moment.

"Calm?! Are you blind?! Those people have been turned to stone!"

"How is that possible?" Luke asks, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. I stare at one of the petrified statues closely. Something about them seems...off. But what could it be? And who was able to pull something like this off? "Professor, look up there!" the boy's cry gets my attention. He points up at the sky, eyes wide. The professor grips the brim of his hat as he sees what his apprentice is gesturing to.

"One, two, three, four! Did you miss me, Monte D'or?" Someone dressed in almost entirely white stands on the top of a building. The man expertly flips his cane as he reaches the edge of the roof. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! I hoped you enjoyed tonight's Dark Miracle, courtesy of the Masked Gentleman! Consider what you have seen tonight as a warning. Monte D'or will soon be destroyed. Those who submit to the mask may be spared," he stomps lightly on the ground, his cape billowing in the wind. "Then again...they may not!" The man takes his cane, putting it between his hands, and pushes it together. Just as he does, a pair of spotless white wings spring out from his back. He folds his arms behind him and hops off the building, gliding above us. I watch him fly past us, completely awe struck. How could he...?

The sound of hoofs approaches us quickly. Emmy, on the back of a white horse, looks down from above. "Professor, Luke, Teresa! What are you waiting for, a written invitation?" she points at some horses standing by an abandoned coach.

"Of course!" Hershel mutters and races over to them. I follow closely behind him. Luke has a surprised expression for a moment before hesitantly going after us. I quickly mount a chestnut colored horse and take the reigns. I try to ignore the fact that the last time I had ridden a horse was back in seventh grade and guide the animal after Emmy and the professor. "Let's go! Everyone follow me!" His assistant and I nod assertively, urging our horses to go faster. We reach a dim alleyway and enter it single file. It leads into a street. From here the Masked Gentleman is clearly visible. He seems to notice that we're following him but doesn't do much to get away. I stay behind Hershel so I don't interrupt him leading us.

The Masked Gentleman...sounds like something Descole would think of. Even the way he talks is like him. They must be connected, somehow. His voice feels familiar. I can't remember where I've heard it from but I know it's not just a false memory. He also reminds me a bit of the Guardian of Time in a way, only he's set on destroying a town while I wanted to save one. Why would he choose to destroy this town though? I supposed it's up to me, Hershel, Emmy, and Luke to figure it out. Maybe that friend of his, Angela, knows something about this. I wonder how she and Hershel met. Maybe they were childhood sweethearts or rivals back then. That could be why I've never heard of her. Something happened...a fight? Making different choices? Forgetting each other? Or, perhaps, I'm just over thinking all of it. They probably still talked even when Hershel and I were in college. I slide some of hair out of my face as we close in on the flying Masked Gentleman. His wings take him higher into the air and we watch him smoothly turn left.

The professor leads us into a side road in the direction the Masked Gentleman went. I urge my horse to go faster. The mystery man unfolds his arms from behind him and throws out a few white balls at us.

"Look out!" Hershel yells to us. The orbs bounce before exploding into thick smoke that covers the street. Emmy and I pull back. Luke continues on through the fog.

"Almost got him, Professor!" He says determinedly. The smoke clears pretty quickly. A white sheet slowly falls, landing on the ground before us. I sigh, putting an arm around my stomach. "He got away!" Luke looks very disappointed at the sight of the gentleman's cape.

"Yes, he had quite an advantage over us," the professor replies, arms folded.

"I suppose we can assume that was the Masked Gentleman," Emmy interjects. I hop off the horse and head over to the lone cloth. It doesn't look suspicious at all.

"How did he do it? There's no way he could pull all that off on his own," I ask to nobody in particular.

"To be honest...I don't know. But that's not to say we won't find out." I look at him and feel a bit of pity. Hershel looks so lost. I can't blame him; we have no idea what to think about what happened. Not to mention the fact that, somehow, an old friend of his, as well as Descole, is involved. The only real lead we have is the letter she supposedly sent him. Without that, there's almost no way we'd be able to figure it out on our own. Speaking of which, what did Angela's letter say? "Hershel, do you mind if I could take a look at the letter you received?" I inquire. The man in the top hat nods curtly and takes out a piece of paper from his coat. Once he hands it to me, I start reading.

Dearest Hershel,

I trust that this letter finds you well. I have wonderful things about your work, Hershel...or rather, Professor Layton! It's difficult to believe it has been nearly 18 years...I'm sure this letter comes as quite a surprise, but I must ask for your help. We have experienced a series of terrifying incidents here in Monte D'or. I must be cursed by the Mask of Chaos, for it is now threatening to destroy our city. I hope you can forgive me after all these years. I don't know who else I can turn to. I cannot give you the full details now. However, if you can spare the time, I shall tell you all upon your arrival. We are in desperate need of your help, Hershel. I've enclosed the address for the Ledore estate.

I hope to see you soon,

Angela Ledore

I study the letter for a few minutes once we come back to the main square and hand it back to Hershel. "Sounds like you're fond of her," I tease him. He shakes his head, a slight smile on his face.

"Nothing like that, Teresa. She's just a very old friend. I'm sure you two will get along once we find her." I smirk at his excuse, but can't help the weird feeling I have. Is it...jealousy? No, no, no, of course not! Why on earth would I be envious of a friend he hasn't seen for almost two decades? Maybe I'm just tired from the chase. Yeah, that's what it is.

"Either way, those people turning to stone must have some connection to what she was speaking about in her letter," I assume, trying to move on from whatever is bothering me.

"Yes, we need to find out how long this has been going on. Did you discover anything of note, Emmy?" Hershel turns to his assistant.

She pulls out a pale blue notebook and flips through it. "Yes. According to the witnesses I spoke with, the Masked Gentleman first appeared about a month ago. Since then, he has created several disturbances throughout town with these 'dark miracles' of his," Emmy reads from her book.

"What reason could he have for doing such awful things to these people?" The young boy mutters. His hand is holding onto the bill of his hat firmly.

"Have you heard anything about the police? Have they procured any leads?" The professor asks Emmy, arms crossed. I put my hands on Luke's shoulders, a bit sorry for him. He's only a child...

The brunette answers, "Apparently they have a few, but it sounds like they're still clueless about the identity of the Masked Gentleman. Word is that their investigation is at a standstill. The police have no suspect, no motive, and no explanation."

"I see. Very well, I'd like to take a closer look at the scene here before we move on," Hershel announces. I don't hesitate to begin searching the area for possible clues. There are a couple statues around a fountain, each with the same shocked expression. It's a bit scary, not knowing what this guy is capable of. Emmy snaps some pictures of them. I get closer to one of them and cautiously run a hand down its outstretched arm. It doesn't feel any different from actual stone. The features are surprisingly more detailed than I thought, almost unsettling. Luke wanders over to me and stares at the statue with concern. I put an arm around his shoulder, flashing a comforting smile.

"It doesn't look like there's much here. Let's head over to that circus tent and see what we can find," I suggest to the others. Hershel agrees with a nod and we go on our way.

"This parade float is much bigger than it seemed earlier," Emmy says as we reach the tent.

"It must have deflated at some point during the commotion." Hershel looks at its remains. I nudge part of it with my foot. Most of the balloon is shredded from losing all its air. We continue on through the tent to an open plaza. There's a very large and official looking building ahead of us. It looks kind of crooked.

Luke spots something as we enter the square and points. "There's a policeman over there. Perhaps we should ask if he's seen anything strange." I ruffle the boy's hair, causing him to gaze up at me with a grin. The officer notices us approaching.

"We have reports of another sighting of the Masked Gentleman. Do you know anything about this?" He pulls his hat over his eyes.

"Actually, we were going to ask you the same thing. We pursued the Masked Gentleman earlier, but he escaped," Hershel explains.

"So I'm already too late...Curses! I'm always too late! Always!...Double curses! We do everything in our power, yet he continues to elude our grasp! How does he do it?! Nice weather today, eh? I investigated the incident at the museum but came up empty handed," the policeman grumbles.

"Hold on a moment. What happened at the museum?" I interrupt.

Emmy answers my question. "It was something about...some of the paintings coming to life?" She looks at the professor and my shocked expressions. "I'm sorry. In all of the chaos...I forgot to mention what I heard about this very strange incident."

"People jumped right out of the paintings that were on display! Sure had us in a pickle. Still does! Mmm...pickles. We removed every last painting just to be safe! No problems with the art there since!" I ignore the man's weird way of speaking and process all of the information.

"Is that why the museum's closed?" Emmy inquires.

"Well, it doesn't make much sense to keep an empty museum open, does it?! Shame...It's located right in the heart of town." He responds with a shrug.

I put my hands on my hips, thinking. "Why would Monte D'or even have a museum since it's so new?" I mutter to myself. Hershel seems to hear what I said.

"I can't imagine that transporting valuable pieces of art all the way out here would be an easy task," he points out.

The officer agrees with him. "You definitely learn to appreciate art when you're out in the middle of nowhere!"

Professor Layton moves into his classic thoughtful pose. "Yes, I wonder why the Masked Gentleman would choose to appear somewhere so remote. Why here? And with that mask..." he trails off, not really looking at anything. With a rush of concern I take his hand to snap him out of it. Hershel blinks a few times, then notices me staring. He gives me a smile and squeezes my hand a little.

"Let's continue onwards to the Ledore estate, Professor. I believe we take a right here at the crossroads," Emmy proposes. She seems oblivious to Hershel's minor 'zone-out'. Nevertheless, she shows the way to the right of the plaza into a narrow marketplace. "The Ledore estate should be down the street, just past this quaint shop here. It's so nice to finally find a peaceful area in this town." She has a point; it is nice to have some rest after what we had to go through with the Masked Gentleman. We pass through the shops and come upon a road. Over a wall I can see the top of a roof. Could it be Angela's house? I wrap my jacket closer around myself and breathe out slowly.

Sorry for the cut off ending. I just wanted to get this out as soon as possible since I'll be busy most of next week. I got a pretty big role in my school's play but we haven't started practice yet. So here we are! The Miracle Mask saga has begun! Just so you know, I will be skipping the puzzles that don't advance the plot or are too clunky to include in the story. This will be a permanent change to the story, since Teresa will now be featured in the whole adventures! I'm also still debating whether to make it into two parts because I'm ending at Unwound Future. Tell me what you think I should do about it. Yeah, I know it may be a long time for the story to end but once it's done, we'll all have something to look back on. I'm really proud of this so far and I'm looking forward to more in the future, especially with you guys! Leave a question for the next Q and A! Thanks for reading and keep those eyes on the screen for the next chapter!