This latest installment goes out to my wonderful new reader coolguy21jz2015 whose reviews have perked me up out of my slump and got me writing again, and to milady Chloemcg. This chapter is a longer read - my longest to date! - but if I'm going to start wrapping up some of the arcs, I can't keep splitting chapters up because of length. Consider this my humble atonement for my lengthy absence (sorry!) I hope you guys appreciate some sweetness and long-forgotten faces...back to the sting aftermath next chapter! 😊

In a lifetime
Made of memories
I believe
In destiny
Every moment returns again in time
When I've got the future on my mind
Know that you'll be the only one

Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Out where the world belongs
To only you and I

Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Make this a new beginning of another life.

In a lifetime
There is only love
Reaching for the lonely one
We are stronger when we are given love
When we put emotions on the line
Know that we are the timeless ones

Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Out where the world belongs
To only you and I

Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Make this a new beginning of another life.

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three: Meet Me Halfway

Phoenix Wright and Athena Cykes
Special Court, Labyrinthia Town Square
July 21, 2026

As the formerly (presumed) deceased victim completed the last of his damaging testimony, the thunderstruck, and somewhat queasy, Phoenix gripped the edge of the bench so hard, his knuckles turned white. At the same time, his frayed nerves were stretched to their limits while his ragged composure threatened to shatter like shards of brittle glass.

I am literally teetering on the tightrope edge of sanity … and snake-farkingly crazy!

"This case has been officially banjaxed!" Espella wailed in despair, although she was careful to speak in an undertone so only the pianist and Athena could hear. "Totally ruined beyond repair thanks to this totally pants testimony of that…mangled apricot hell beast!"

"And that's the nub and gist of it, as you lovely English folks would say," Wayland Payne concluded somberly as he wrapped up his statement. "The clearly indisputable proof that Miss Cykes tried to rob me is evidenced by the now missing diamond and gold tennis bracelet, which was very expensive, and given to me as my high school graduation present by Mother and Father."

Tennis bracelet? Phoenix eyed the rotund youth dubiously. What in the name of King Arthur's codpiece?! This kid has never held a racket in his entire overprivileged life, I'll bet! Those doughy arms are indicative he's never lifted anything heavier than a fork to his mouth!

Winston Payne's progeny waved his pudgy wrist at the court, so they could see the noticeably visible tan line left behind from the aforementioned jewelry on his otherwise carroty skin.

The former King of the Turnabout gawped at the boy like he'd turned into a talking egg, so borderline obscene was the stark contrast of white against the rest of that gelatinous orange flesh.

If he was a few inches shorter, he could pass for an Oompa-Loompa!

"This is an outrage, Mr. Wright!" Athena hissed out of the corner of her mouth. "Why are they all acting like this plonker's testimony is untenable?!"

The question caused the hobo to spring into action.

"Objection!" The poker champ called out. "Miss Cykes was frisked when she was apprehended, and there was no sign of this alleged bracelet found on her person! For all we know, it could have been lost in the woods due to the victim's own carelessness…"

"My mother was an acclaimed, wealthy psychologist at the Space Centre in California!" Athena added fervently. "I never wanted for anything growing up, and lack of money remains a non-issue with me! I've zero need to steal…"

The judge banged his gavel.

"Silence, accused! Sir Blue Knight, control your client! I will not tolerate such outbursts in my courtroom!"

"He's lying, Mr. Wright!" Athena insisted tearily as Espella put a comforting arm around the riled-up girl to soothe her. "I never took that horrendous, kitschy thing! Nobody in their right or left mind would want it! It's an eyesore from the Liberace House of Double Merde and Ordure and Poo!"

"I believe you, Athena, don't worry," Phoenix assured her. "But you can't interrupt the trial like this! You have to let me do my job and defend you!"

"It's true though!" Widget, who had watched far too many Friends re-runs, piped up. "That gaudy thing is the ultimate women repeller! It's a reject from the MR. T collection! I PITY THE FOOL who puts on my jewelry! I do, I do!"

Espella clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle as Phoenix turned back to the judge.

"Milord, if you simply had an investigations team comb over the woods again, I'm sure everything would pan out! And once that bracelet was found, the theft culpability from my client could easily be removed…"

"Even if the item in question was found in the forest, it doesn't prove anything. Miss Cykes simply could have tossed it aside when she heard Eve approaching," Barnham interjected flatly. "The issue of the bracelet isn't even the pressing matter here, Sir Blue Knight, merely an attempt of the victim to establish a motive for being attacked. Nevertheless, even if it's not the case, and this wasn't a robbery, the charge of aggravated assault and attempted murder still stands. Moreover, while it helps to have a motive, it is not a requirement, as you must know, to establish the burden of proving one's guilt."

"Yes, Prosecutor Barnham." Phoenix's shoulders slumped defeatedly. "I am certainly aware."

"Objection overruled," the judge decided. "You may continue, Mr. Payne."

"I wish he was here to defend my honor against the slight of being called a common thief!" Athena mumbled under her breath. "That Baciagaloop would be wearing his sword like a shish kebab!"

Wayland's thick, wormy lips curled into a sneer.

"Furthermore, this head injury of mine, while luckily not fatal, should be all the evidence you need that to prove I was gravely assaulted by that deranged broad, and barely escaped with my life! It's a cut and dry case – I should know, I'm studying law to be a prosecutor just like my father, the famed and esteemed Los Angeles prosecutor, Winston Payne."

Oh, my giddy aunt's brassiere! The card shark somehow suppressed a derisive snort. A future DA?! Seriously?! I had this Pinocchio Jabroni better pegged as an aspiring professional sociopath… or a Fox Channel newscaster!

But Wayland still wasn't done with the character assassination of his classmate.

"You know what they say about all redheads being a little insane, am I right, Your J-Ship?" He winked at the judge, then at the incredulous Barnham. "Relax, Mr. DA! I'm talking about the dames, not the dudes!"

The head wound victim heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Any road, Athene's been thirsty to get a piece of me for some time now, you see – although I never could've dreamed she'd ever resort to looting and attempted murder if she couldn't sink her teeth me though!"

As if! In your Incel dreams, Wayland, you – you witless effing cock-splat! Athena's hands, which were clenched so tightly into fists that her fingernails dug into her palms, were shaking with suppressed rage. Biting into you would not only give me rabies but shoot my cholesterol levels through the roof!

"Is he blooming barking?! Espella gasped in dismay. "Or is that Jammy Dodger just an unpardonable numpty?!"

Catching Phoenix's bewildered look, she hurriedly whispered a translation.

"The conk on the noggin' surely rendered the chap bonkers! How the ruddy is anyone believing any of this absolute rubbish of the first water from that septic numpty?!"

"Aye! Belt up, you bloviating flesh bag!" Widget agreed helpfully. "Even a half-wit wouldn't buy the bloody porkies flying out of that knob-jockey's oversized gob!"

Inauspiciously, like practically everything he blurted out, this latest insult was emitted at a stage-whisper level! To make matters worse, this time, the overly distraught Athena had been too boggled by the audacious perjury being committed to even bother with shushing of her outspoken AI.

Ergo, this time, the entire courtroom (now abuzz with unmistakable sniggering) had overheard everything, loud and clear!

Barnham shook his head and frowned at the defense bench but remained mum. However, the judge had also picked up on the slurs of the tactless robotic pendant, and looked decidedly unimpressed.

"What was that slagging off I just heard from your client, Sir Blue Knight?" The judge's heavy grey brows were already knitted in disapproval as his eyes bored into the cowering American teenager. "I would hear you repeat yourself, Miss Cykes, if you will?"

Athena shook her head violently and steadily dodged that probing, Arcric stare.

"Sir Blue Knight?" The judge persisted. "Do you care to do the honors and enlighten us?"

The spiky-haired man gauchely scratched the back of his neck and flashed a weak smile.

Did I say I was bound for Bedlam? Well, scratch that! I'm not just about to go batshit crazy … I am also fucked! We are both utterly and collaboratively fucked! Athena and I will be walking like cowboys for a week after this trial … we are so fucked!

"I'm afraid I didn't hear a thing, milord," he lied with his most innocuous expression.

"Please excuse Miss Cykes for her unseemly behavior, milord!" Espella affixed the irate magistrate with her most pleading, baby blue-eyed expression. "Surely you can understand how the chap making an unexpected rise from the dead would make the poor lass momentarily be in a ditherspaz! It jolly well even gave me quite a turn!"

Just as the judge seemed to be thawing out his icy demeanor, Widget dropped a clanger.

"Buggeration and blast! That poncy bloke's entire testimony is a load of waffles!" He bleeped indignantly, not about enough to be silenced, despite the mortified Athena clapping her hands around him this time. "Somebody hand that porky sod some maple syrup already!"

Phoenix closed his eyes and fought to keep the remains of his breakfast, now toiling heavily within his churning stomach, from coming up and taking a bow, right there and then!

Ngyunghf! I wouldn't go as far as to compare this travesty of a trial to an actual train wreck, per se. That isn't fair to train wrecks! Because people actually want to watch those…

"You insufferable Smurf!" The Yankee boy's piggy eyes shot daggers at both his nemesis and the glowing red pendant. "I'm not fat! I'm cultivating mass!"

"Which would make you the lardiest drip since the invention of water!" Widget riposted back, with gusto. "Not to mention any ill-fated future offspring would be considered interspecies breeding cuz you are irrefutable proof of HUMAN/MANATEE copulation!"

The courtroom practically went into cardiac arrest for a split-instant – before erupting into a collective roar of laughter. The judge had to bang his gavel three times to subdue the near-deafening chaos.

"Order! Order in the court!"

The judge slammed down his golden mallet one more time, then glowered at the titian-haired girl. The tremulous Athena's hands were clamped tightly around her mouthy little friend, and she shrank back under the withering stare.

"I swear by Her Royal Majesty, Miss Cykes – one more cheeky outburst like that and I will have you held in contempt of court!"

Never mind! The ex-defense lawyer corrected himself gloomily. This entire kangaroo court is, in fact, an accident waiting to happen…a.k.a an ill-fated TRAIN WRECK! And I somehow, inadvertently, have bought myself and poor Athena first-class tickets on this medieval train to this gargantuan, bloody mess of a train wreck!

"Not to mention I may have Prosecutor Barnham add slander to the mountain of allegations – attempted murder, aggravated assault, and robbery are only a few amongst those already stacked against you, Red!" Wayland revealed a nasty smile that was more of a hateful leer. "By all means, keep wagging that runaway tongue of yours! After all, that list of charges is already lengthier than a roll of loo paper, is it not?"

Espella and Athena both clapped their hands over their mouths in mutual expressions of abject petrification, while Phoenix's barely suppressed nausea threatened to come back with a vengeance!

Welp, there goes another blow to the concept of a fair and just universe! The anterior Ace Attorney barely stifled a groan as he dragged a hand down his now sweat-dropping face. But let's look on the bright side of this latest Hades inferno, shall we? At least there are no fiery pits of death if I fail this time around…

"Never mind compounding her follies, Mr. Payne. This trial has already endured enough sixes and sevens! However, I will agree that we need to put an end to all this faffing about, once and for all!" Barnham slammed his fist down on the desk. "Now then, milord! With this last testimony, we've got Miss Cykes bang to rights on all these accusations! I believe it is time. I ask that you render your unwavering verdict!"

"Very well." The judge raised his gavel and regarded Phoenix with an inquisitively raised eyebrow. "Based on Mr. Payne's declarations and the testimonies of the previous witnesses, Miss Eve Belduke and Wordsmith…

"Crikey! We can't forget that old blighter, can we?" Athena grumbled under her breath. "The man who should have been convicted of boring us beyond the Valley of the Dim and into the twilight world of the Elderly Mad!"

"… Sir Blue Knight, unless you have any more evidence or witnesses to bring forth, I do believe I have enough evidence to make my verdict right now…"

"No!" Athena shrieked in horror, clapping her hands to her cheeks. "Mr. Wright…it can't end like this! DO something – please!"

"I – I can't think of anything!" He cried, clutching his head and dropping forward onto the bench, bearing his own weight, as well as that of the whole world, upon his arms. "Athena… I'm so sorry!"

Phoenix tried to force down the bile as his stomach turned over while his mind spun with repudiation and self-loathing.

I can't believe it's all over already! I've lost! Athena, please forgive me! You were counting on me – and I've let you down! I've failed you – not because I stopped believing in you, but because I am nothing but a useless has-been… and utter failure! I'm a third rate, facsimile of a sham of a fax of an attorney! A disgrace! No – an even bigger disgrace than I already was, because I couldn't even cut it as a pseudo attorney! I've lost all my skills… I – I have no business ever setting foot in a courtroom!

He hung his head, nausea clawing like razor-sharp gryphon talons at his throat as he braced himself for that dreaded verdict to come from the judge's lips.

That was when he heard it. The sound that was music to his ears.

"OBJECTION!"

Raising his wary head, he focused his red-rimmed orbs on the vision that'd injected a ray of hope into that gloomy courtroom with just one word, and his eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.

"You!"

Pearl Fey
Lido Café and Bar, Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

Pearl paced back and forth in front of the café and for the umpteenth time, cast another glance at her watch, a concerned frown furrowing in her brow.

I'm so confused – it's been 20 minutes! Why am I still all aloney, on my owney here? I wonder if I should be worried?

The spirit medium nervously gnawed at her thumb, an old nervous habit from childhood she had yet to quell as she went over the intended order of events.

The gang's plan for operation Love Match meant that first, Flora and Anneliese would feign having breakfast here at the café as a ruse to ditch their parents. Next, I was to make some pretext to get out of there in order to give the Professor and Dr. Rudolf some privacy. Finally, Luke was supposed to come up with his own excuse to take leave, then come join me at Lido so the two of us could spend the day together!

She craned her neck to see if there was any sign of her beau being afoot within the vicinity but to her chagrin, still found none.

Well, the girls are nowhere in sight, and I am now by myself in this enormous park that I am completely unfamiliar with, and I'm starting to feel as overwhelmed as I was that first day we met when I was lost in the woods and was convinced I was all running solo and at the mercy of wolves! Where is my boyfriend?!

What was most disconcerting about Luke's conspicuous absence was not the amount of time that had lapsed – the necromancer had never been the impatient sort – but the fact that her other half was not answering any of her texts or calls, either!

Unlike that time when she had been in the forest by Layton's house last year, at least this time she was out in a public place, with a full battery and cell signal. She was not helpless; she could easily call Maya or the girls, and they could meet her at the cafe - where she would obviously stay put, as opposed to wandering aimlessly around the enormous tourist attraction - until they found her.

No, it wasn't her own safety and well-being that was making Pearl feel so antsy this time.

A quick peek at her watch indicated that it had been nearly half an hour now that she'd been waiting … Luke should have been there ages ago!

Oh, my giddy God's pajamas! Where are you, Luke?!

The brunette's imagination began to reel with possibilities about the lad's delayed arrival, none of them positive.

What if his mobile had been stolen? Or worse?!

Granted, it was broad daylight in a bustling, happy, sunny park, where everything seemed non-threatening and safe. However, at almost 17, Pearl was no longer naïve and unaware of the evils and dangers of the world anymore. Madmen could be anywhere, even in Merry Olde England!

What if the reason he wasn't answering his phone was that he literally couldn't?

Her heart sank.

What if something unspeakable had happened to her darling Luke?

Phoenix Wright and Avenging Angel
Special Court, Labyrinthia Town Square
July 21, 2026

"That's Wright! It's none other than moi!"

The next thing he knew, his favorite sound in the world was drawing nearer and nearer until the owner of that mellifluous cadence, like a vision from a dream, swiftly joined him in her customary spot at his side behind the defense bench, as though she'd never left.

Phoenix's heart soared with so much love and hope, it took his breath away. His avenging wingless angel, with her mere presence, had immediately brightened up the atmosphere of what'd just seemed like the most abysmal, dreary place on earth like a burst of sunshine.

He would have been grinning like an idiot if he jowls still hadn't been somewhere in the vicinity of his chest!

"Pick that jaw up off the floor and shove those eyeballs back into your skull, Old Man! It's-a-me – Maya the Magnificent! Never fear, your Ace Assistant is here!"

Beaming at Espella and Athena, the Master winked at her awestruck lover, then the love of his life treated the courtroom to a dazzling smile before she curtsied prettily at both the judge and Barnham – a neat trick since she was wearing Capri pants!

"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, Maya Fey has arrived! Better yet, I have come to the defense's rescue with ultra-decisive, super-important evidence, so please, let's not be too hasty with that verdict, milord!"

"Maya Fey?" The judge's eyes widened. "Be you the same American lass from the witch trials ten years ago?"

"In the flesh! The very nearly charred flesh, last time we met, milord!" Maya grinned impishly. "You may not have recognized me a decade later without my face obscuring knight's helmet, though! Please forgive the abrupt intrusion – I don't just show up at these sorts of things… I always prefer to make an entrance!"

"Maya!" Phoenix croaked, at last, not giving two short flying mopeds about courtroom protocol and crushing her petite form against him in a bear hug. "I can't believe you're really here!"

"Lovely to see you again. Also, impeccable timing, mate!" Espella greeted Maya with a warmhearted smile. "I feared Mr. Wright might have gone off his trolley if you hadn't arrived!"

"Yes, great timing indubitably, since I was just about to throw myself into the fire pit – if they'd still had one!" The DILF exclaimed, finally releasing his girlfriend so she could hug Espella and discreetly introduce herself to the gobsmacked Athena. "Just one question though…"

"Yes?"

"What took you so long?!"

"I had a lot of fires to put out during the several adventures I experienced en route, Nick!" Maya replied cheerfully. "I swear, being a firefighter might be my true life's calling! Moreover, I had to make like an Olympic marathon athlete trying to pin down that pesky evidence I mentioned I'd brought! Although it's not so much evidence as it is… a decisive witness, shall we say?"

She turned back to the judge, a beatific smile on full display.

"Milord, my witness was…ah, a bit reluctant to appear here today. Ergo, I had to be … very persuasive in my methods to get them here. Presently, my witness is being detained by the bailiffs in the lobby. Just to assist the gentleman in their … subduing efforts, may I please request a brief recess?"

"I think all of us could use a break!" The judge agreed amicably, although he appeared as dazed and confused as Barnham and everyone else in the courtroom by this sudden turnabout. "Very well… the court is adjourned for a 30-minute recess!"

As soon as the gavel banged, Maya gave Phoenix a puckish grin.

"You looked like you were at the end of your rope there, Nick!" She teased. "Allow me to ease your mind with a little storytelling! Just wait till you hear about everything else that went down back in London today after I left you and the Wolf-Man in Miles' hotel room this morning…"

Pearl Fey
Lido Café and Bar, Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

Pearl gnawed at her lip and pushed the unpleasant speculations out of her mind. She was readying to march back to the café and ask the staff if anyone had seen a boy with Luke's description when she was suddenly accosted by two strawberry-blonde teenagers.

The baby-faced pair, around Pearl's age, were obviously brother and sister and appeared to be twins. Both were decked out in medieval-style apparel – the boy in green dungarees and the girl in a long, russet tent dress - with duplicate brown vests over their respective outfits. Both also wore matching open, friendly smiles as they loped towards her.

"Morning, miss!" The lanky male youth, who was sporting a bowl haircut and pushing an ice cream trolley greeted her pleasantly. "Perchance, is your name Pearl Fey?"

Before the dumbfounded girl could reply, he was immediately chastised by his twin.

The girl, evidently the stroppier sib, whose own hair was styled into a pageboy haircut, waved an exasperated hand, the one that wasn't carrying a large assortment of colorful helium balloons, at the flummoxed diviner.

"Don't be such a prat, Cecil! Obviously, she's one we've been seeking! I reckon it would be quite a fluke if there was another lass meandering about with that same queer pretzel hairstyle!"

The psychic's hand reflexively flew upward to self-consciously pat at her trademarked loops, while a slight rosy calescence crept over her cheeks.

"No need to get the hump, Petal!" Cecil snapped back. "There's hardly any harm in asking just to make sure!"

Petal ignored her twin and focused her attention back on the American.

"Alright, Pearl?" She asked kindly. "You looked like you were a bit put out before we came over. Sorry about that! We would have arrived sooner to meet you, but thanks to certain duff gits, who shall remain nameless…"

She curled her lip disdainfully at her twin, as though he was a crusty boogie that'd fallen out of her nose.

"...they opted to faff about, then take yonks in the khazi the second we got here!"

Cecil glared at his sister.

"Shut your mush, Petal! I reckon the poor lass looks so boggled is because some random, narky bint she's never met decided to throw a wobbler! And over something that wasn't even my fault!" He retorted defensively. "Are you so bleeding thick that I need to explain again, why I was in the lav so long?!"

"There's really no need for that…" Pearl interrupted hastily, but Cecil was on a roll now as he scowled at Petal.

"The reason we were tardy meeting the Yank lass was because of you, you daft cow! I was still feeling dicky this morning from that naff steak and kidney pie you made for supper last night! Better I got all the honking out of my system in the loo, rather than all over the little titches here today, yeah? Bloody miracle I even came into work today!"

"Um, excuse me?" Pearl interjected meekly. "But…who are you guys? You both seem to know who I am, but I haven't the foggiest idea who you might be? Have we met?"

The twins stopped their row abruptly and treated her to identical dazzling beams that lit up their ruddy faces.

"I'm Petal, and this is my brother, Cecil," the English girl replied graciously. "We're old mates of Luke's. We met him 10 years ago when we lived in Labyrinthia, but have long since moved to the mainland. We're working here at the park for the summer before we start uni."

"Luke recruited us because he has a big surprise for you," Cecil added eagerly, already digging around in his overall pockets. "We're here to give you the first clue you're going to need today!"

"Clue?" Pearl echoed blankly as she hesitantly took the rolled-up paper from the boy. "What do you mean?"

"Luke has planned a special scavenger hunt for you!" Petal informed convivially. "He said you're a clever lass, so it should be easy-peasy lemon squeezy to solve the puzzles he's left for you. But … should you get stuck, you need only text him the secret safe word: MEATLOAF, and he'll guide your way."

"Meatloaf?" The spirit medium knew she was starting to sound like a parrot, but her poor frazzled mind was still absorbing the bizarreness of the twosome before her, not to mention the unexpected turnabout in what she'd imagined today's game plan to be! "I wonder why he chose the word meatloaf – he hates that dish. His favorite food is roasted lamb."

"Not the food, pet," Cecil corrected cordially. "The singer. Quite brilliant, really! It means: "I Would Do Anything For Love" … (But I Won't Do That!)"

"Um, OK…" Pearl smiled in confusion, as she was unfamiliar with both the song and singer. "Thanks a lot, you two. I guess I'd better get cracking on this clue if I ever hope to locate my boyfriend!"

"Tara, love!" Petal gaily pranced away with her huge array of colorful balloons. "We both of us need to chivvy along and get to work now! Best of Britain to you!"

"Toodle pip!" Cecil was already pushing his trolley towards the big crowd of hungry children already rushing in the direction of the ice-cream vendor. "Regards to Luke, whenever you find him!"

"What a strange but endearing pair!" Pearl was smiling but shaking her head after the adorable siblings had departed. "Well, time to see if I can figure out what Layton's former apprentice has in store for me!"

Squizzing down at the scroll she'd just unrolled, she carefully read the inked message that was written in Luke's familiar loopy cursive for her first clue:

Our day of mystery has begun
It's time now to have some fun
So, go to the place
That reflects your face
And there you'll find the clue after this one

"Reflects your face…" She murmured to herself, tapping the parchment, which looked like something out of a Harry Potter film, against her chin. "Hmmm… That would have to be a mirror! The closest one would have to be… In the ladies' room!"

Tee hee! Now that I'm no longer scared out of my wits about his safety, this treasure hunt idea seems like it's going to be a lot of fun!

She eagerly dashed over to the facilities over by the café. Sure enough, tucked behind the first above sink looking glass, with just the slightest edge visible so as not to attract anyone else's attention, was another scroll tied up with a ribbon. Pearl hastily unraveled it, her heart pounding with anticipation.

Professor Layton and Katharina Rudolf
Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

Neither Flora nor Anneliese seemed even remotely stupefied to find their parents meshed in the compromising position of being bound together, knee to ankle, by the twin leashes of the effusive Constantine and Feyt. Father and son gleefully continued dashing in mindless circles around one another, which only pressed the psychologist and Professor into even further propinquity with each passing moment, much to their visible discomfiture.

Without a hint of shillyshallying, Layton's cheeky daughter then blithely informed the bonded duo that Luke and Pearl had taken off for some romantic couple time somewhere in the park, whilst she and her recently reunited mate now intended to watch a live concert at Barclaycard, subsequently sticking their parents with dog sitting duty – and giving Katharina and the Englishman zilch say in the matter whatsoever!

"Why don't you girls help un-tie us, and we can all go to the concert together?" Layton suggested. "It's an outdoor venue. I'm sure there wouldn't be any issues with having Constantine and Feyt with us."

His reasonable request was swiftly denied by the troublemaking teens, who decreed that the two professional geniuses would have to fend for themselves in finding a solution to Puzzle No. 1: Fit to be Tied! NO HINT COINS!

With that, the childhood chums skipped away merrily, leaving Katharina and conflicted Layton alone at that magnificent fountain, with only two reunified pups and one another for company.

After what seemed like eons of silence, the Professor finally spoke.

"I do believe that all four of them were involved in this grand conspiracy to have things end up this way, don't you, Dr. Rudolf?"

"Five, if you count a certain meddling spirit medium who purposely gave me erroneous information about where to meet everybody, which was evidently instrumental in making this whole stunt work!" Katharina responded with a wry grin, then looked down at their fastened legs and met his dark gaze unflinchingly. "Your daughter referred to you and me as geniuses, but I believe it is those children who are equally worthy of that title. After all, have they not finally found a way to ensure that you cannot run away from me this time, Professor?"

Layton could only blink furiously in response, as he was so taken aback by this unanticipated candor from the demure doctor.

Well, knock me down with a feather!

The Professor was a man of the world; cultured, well-traveled and very familiar with the behavioral customs of people from countless countries. Ergo, the forthright question shouldn't have astounded him as much as it did; it was a prime example of the typical directness that Germans were renowned for!

However, what he hadn't been prepared for was his tongue-tied inability to articulate an acceptable response, which was nigh impossible when he was in such intimate proximity to those captivating twin opals.

Her eyes are not merely gray; they were a sea. A stormy, perilous sea that could apart anyone who stared too long into them and dragged the onlooker down into their swirling depths…

A slightly coquettish smile played on the blonde's rosebud lips as she tilted her head slightly upward, giving him no choice but to meet her questioning orbs, which despite the solemnity of her question, now held a sanguine glimmer to them as she waited for a riposte to her inquiry.

Katharina was right, of course. There was no escaping from her this time… His canny daughter and equally culpable mates had surely ascertained that!

"Does the cat have your tongue, Professor?" She derided playfully. "Or would it be better if I had said dog instead, to be more fitting?"

The German Frau jutted her chin towards the furry co-conspirators in this matchmaking scheme.

The two were so tightly fused together that the mere act of shifting her head had resulted in her bosom becoming even further pressed against his chest, making the top-hatted gentleman's whole bonce turn scarlet with a hint of beetroot, and he cursed himself for such a jejune schoolboy reaction! While it was not at all an unpleasant sensation to feel soft, feminine curves against his form for the first time in almost two decades, it hardly erased the mortifying circumstances surrounding it!

Two rounded sets of twinkling black eyes were now watching him knowingly, and when he caught their glances, both pets emitted a wheezing sound that could only be construed as a canine snicker!

Odds bodkins! The top-hatted gentleman felt as though he was falling a few buttons short of a cardigan. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the Bichon Frises not only sensed my discomposure – but seemed to find it quite comical!

By now, father and son had stopped running amok and were plopped down languidly on the ground, directing identical goofy grins at the pair, as though wholly aware of what mischief they'd caused.

In all actuality, Layton cogitated with amused annoyance, in Feyt's case, considering his father is the Animal Whisperer, I jolly well wouldn't be surprised if Luke specifically did arrange for this outcome with the pup – and surely with Constantine, as well! After all, what are the odds of Barnham's dog even being here in the first place? That simply cannot be a coincidence! That meddling former apprentice of mine will be getting an earful when I see him again! Also, that hoyden I'm rearing is hopefully savoring all the merrymaking today, because this skullduggery will result in that little chit being indefinitely grounded the second we get home!

He'd been so lost in contemplation of Feyt and Constantine's canine psychology that he'd forgotten how he'd skived both Katharina's first and second questions, thereby coming across not as hospitably xenial to the foreigner to his homeland, but seemed to be ignoring her, instead!

The revelation of his perceived solecism became apparent when she spoke again, as her playful tone now had a dejected ring to it.

"The last time I was in the vicinity of a man who found my mere company so repugnant that he could no longer even speak to me, even when spoken to, was with my ex-husband, Günther," she lamented forlornly. "This reminds me all too much of the moment when I knew that our marriage was over – he was unable to look at me, either; like I was Medusa, and he feared to cast an eye on me would turn him to stone."

Her gaze was now downcast.

"Near the end, it was to the point where he would hardly even cast a passing glance in my direction. He would look through me rather than at me, even when together in the same room. So, one day, I grew tired of being treated like a specter in my own house. I flat out asked him: 'Do you still love me?' But he gave me no answer. Silence bounced, fell off his tongue and sat between us and clogged my throat. It slaughtered my trust – and this was even before I stumbled upon first-hand evidence that he had obviously been paying no heed to his marital vows. It tore the breath from my lungs. We exchanged blind words, yet I did allow myself to weep. I did not beg, but blackness filled my ears, blackness lunged in my heart, and something that had been good, a sort of kindly oxygen, morphed into a virulent gas oven."

Her orbs clouded over as she became lost in the anguish of reminiscence.

"In my sleep, I relive it again and again. Me leaving him. Him leaving me. When did we leave each other? Obviously, the vagaries in his disposition were there long before either of us slammed the door. People always leave each other long before they finally leave. For the longest time, even though I was the one who walked out that door and never looked back, I still felt so lost for the longest time. I could not think clearly. You never can – it is nigh impossible are after you lose someone you love. But I could not even allow myself to break down or fall apart because I had to be strong for the sake of Anneliese. Such is the plight for far too many people, nein? Having to pretend that everything is fine when secretly dying a thousand deaths a minute."

With a soundless gasp, Katharina reeled back in horror and mentally lambasted herself for this unprecedented garrulousness.

Was zum Geier? Hör auf, Scheiße zu labern, du Dummkopf! Was zum Henker ist falsch mit mir?!

Like a mindless Trottel, without any preamble, she'd proceeded to bloviate inexorably, thus baring her soul to a total stranger! And worse, one who plainly couldn't even abide being in her presence!

Kackmist! What could have possessed her to carry on in such an appallingly dysthymic manner?!

It was his eyes, she realized belatedly. Those deep, intelligent, penetrating eyes of his, which had fleetingly allowed her to sense an affinity with him. Katharina's inner sapiosexual (how beautiful would it be to find someone who was in love with your mind? If man of intellect were to come along and stimulate her brain, her heart would surely follow!) had lowered her guard and caused her to speak from her feckless, ingenuous heart, rather than her logical psychologist brain!

When a person can see into your soul, it's hard. It forces you to be open. Vulnerable. But in this case, obviously, I was mistaken. I read too much into something stemmed from my own desires and fantasies, and now I am left exposed and vulnerable; as if my soul had been stripped bare!

This hapless sensation was only compounded by the growing substantiation that Layton palpably wanted to be anywhere but there!

The disheartened psychologist raised her palms and pressed them against his chest, trying to create a sophrosyne type of barrier between herself and his stiff form. At the same time, she scrambled to remedy the additional awkwardness she'd brought forth to the unwelcome scenario.

"I – I was not – I did not mean –" She pressed her lips together and closed her stinging eyes for a moment. "I am not – I do not easily . . . share my life . . . with other people. And I am so sorry if I . . ."

Layton's mien was unreadable as he then, to her great shock, took her hands in his own and held them close. Her dainty fingers were cold to the touch. They were also trembling somewhat, just like the rest of her, although it was hard to ascertain if it was due to her sudden outburst of emotion, or their unnerving situation.

"You don't have to be sorry, Dr. Rudolf," he said softly. "Please, don't be sorry about me, or for me."

Her breath caught in her throat as her saturnine gaze met Layton's.

The last man whose eyes I stared so deeply into was Günther's. I remember the first time I ever stared into those blue-green eyes and began to drown – right before I took my last breath, he extended his arm and reached for my grasp. I took his hand. Once at the surface, he kissed my forehead and told me he'd always be my rock. Little did I know he meant tied to my leg rather than being my loving, extended arm.

But the Professor's mesmerizing orbs were an entirely different story. They possessed an otherworldly depth of something incredible, yet unlike anything that she'd ever seen before.

Within those carob depths, she could clearly see unmasked kindness and sympathy, as well as something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

She focused on those eyes, which were darting back and forth, shining in the sunlight. They were a deep, terrain brown - the color of the earth after torrential rains. But there was something else in them, something glistening. Glistening like an old copper penny being examined in the warmth next to powerful flames that were licking the safety glass door of an old fireplace. They held secrets, the same way a pot holds layers of deep soil- cradling- because it is essential to keep the plant safe. The roots were held in place the same way his deep, intense eyes held so tightly onto his own secrets.

Mein Gott im Himmel. Hershel Layton hat schöne Augen.

"I – I do not know what came over me, rambling on about such personal matters with a man I have only just met!" She stammered, feeling like a sophomoric ninny to keep jabbering on so mindlessly, yet unable to stop herself. "Being voluble is not in character for me at all, Professor! I suppose it is due to the time of year. While the most fun and carefree period for most, summer, for me, has always been a most melancholy-inducing season."

She could've sworn that alongside the compassion brimming within them that there was also a distinctive atrabilious glint that flashed in Layton's eyes, but then it was gone before she could be sure. Even so, he gave a slight nod of his head, as if in silent agreement with the sentiment.

"The lead up to it, in spring – the times when days start to get longer, mornings, warmer. The association of freedom – of growth, of new experiences. The friend who leaves for five weeks and comes back with stories of her vacation adventures. The cotton minidresses and bikinis that you are too shy to wear but wear anyway because that is what everybody else is doing. Later, looking at photographs of that day and feeling that something is wrong because you look different to everybody else."

Encouraged by his intent expression, she continued breathlessly, unable to stop herself now.

"For me, and for the longest time, summer was not freeing. It was exposing. It exposed everything that I wanted to keep hidden from the world; my perceived loneliness; my listlessness with life; my discontent with my body and how it looked. It was a season where the sun became a spotlight and you either flourished or wilted to the ground. And, all too often, I found myself doing the latter."

"I understand getting washed away by the poignancy of memories and doubts," he stated quietly. "Believe me, I do. My advice to you would be to identify what is holding you back from flourishing and start from that."

She halted her tongue just in the nick of time, so the rest of the words were only spoken in her mind.

Since my divorce, I have lived the life of a nun. What has kept me from flourishing is my biggest, most crippling fear of all: giving my heart to someone who only sees me as a fleeting summer… but not the rest of the seasons of the year.

For a long moment, they contemplated each other. He could see although Katharina was a Lilliputian woman, just barely over five feet tall, she still carried herself with the redolence of a regal lady; even when presently flustered and rufescent, she exhibited an indelible, august demeanor. Her ash-blonde hair gleamed under the bright July sun and complimented her peaches and cream complexion while contrasting attractively against her dark blue, ankle-length dress with its tight waist and high collar. There were pearl buttons along the bodice and lace on the sleeves.

So radiantly pulchritudinous did she appear to him, with her big, light eyes and a mouth even an artist couldn't have drawn more perfectly, that he wondered how any man could have risked losing her love, or would even contemplate turning away from her, even for a short tryst.

I am so sorry someone loved you badly, and that he made you feel like you take up more space than you deserve. I am sorry he abandoned you when you needed him the most and thus affected your belief that love is an awful thing that hurts.

He took this rare opportunity to study those crystalline orbs. The first time, he'd labeled them simply gray. While waltzing, he'd been feeling particularly poetic and deemed them "silver." Neither word did them justice. They were so diaphanous, so bright, the exact lustrous color of a polished shard of metal. If you examined them closer, like he was just now, you'd see the swirls of glittering onyx black and tinges of blue at the edges. They could never be dubbed monochrome or boring – such would be terribly erroneous judgement. Because, just like the rest of her, Katharina's eyes were absolutely, heart-stoppingly exquisite.

I want you to feel free to unload your pent-up burdens at last with me. Allow me to be your confidante. Come with all your shame. Come with your swollen heart. I've never seen anything more breathtaking than you.

He felt like slowly, against his own free will, that he was going slightly mad. Caring was too difficult; these unexpected feelings were too much to handle. His unbridled train of thought was so off-piste that he reeled back as though physically struck – as much as one could reel back when tied up from the knees down on a leather lead against another person!

Nevertheless, he was unable to hold back the tide of emotions threatening to engulf him – ones his stubborn heart persisted on making him feel, even though his petrified mind was shrieking at him to eschew such off his trolley, potty thoughts and pull himself together! Still, his traitorous chest organ persisted, filling him with a beacon that'd remained cloaked for nearly a score, until his brain was spinning and his pulses were racing and then nothing mattered anymore and the smallest whisper would feel like an echo into the abyss and he was falling, falling, falling…

Pearl Fey
Lido Café and Bar, Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

Cancel plans and set time apart
I'll even give you a little head start
In the glove box is placed
A small foretaste
A delicious piece of my heart

"Glovebox?" She stared blankly at the page. "Oh, he must mean glove compartment, which is something that's found in … a vehicle!"

She snapped her fingers.

"And knowing Luke, the most applicable set of wheels that I need to steer myself towards is the Laytonmobile!"

A terrible thought crossed her mind then.

Uh-oh! As bad as it sounds, I really hope Flora's dad and Dr. Rudolf are still entangled in dog leashes, or at the very least, haven't strayed too far from the Princess Diana Fountain. That was where, according to plan, Luke was supposed to have left them to their own devices. The thing is, in order to get access to the Laytonmobile, I need to locate Professor Layton and ascertain not only where he parked, but somehow finagle the car keys from him, too! However, that may be easier said than done if he's super mad at us for ensnaring him with Anneliese's mother!

The spirit medium let out a distressed moan. The worst-case scenario was they'd all misread the mutual attraction signs betwixt Layton and Katharina, meaning there was a strong possibility that Pearl would get it with both barrels when she finally came across the two very cross adults for her own part in the conspiracy!

Oh, God's pyjamas and matching slippers! There's not only the risk I'll get an earful when I find the Professor – but the possibility I'll be in even more hot water if he thus opts not to help me!

Pearl wasn't about to take that gamble! She shot off a rapid-fire text to Flora.

Hi Flora. I'm not sure if you know that Luke has planned a scavenger hunt for me…

The English girl replied immediately.

Absobloodylootely I do, mate! But no cheating – it's supposed to be a DIY job!

Pearl sighed. Her completely thorough boyfriend had truly covered all his bases!

Don't worry! I'm not trying to cheat or spoil anything! I already have the second clue figured out, but just in case your dad is too mad to tell me the car's whereabouts, could you at least let me know where he parked this morning?

Flora messaged back instantly.

Blimey! I hadn't thought of that! I suppose if that's the case, you'll just have to pinch the keys from his jacket pocket! Fingers crossed that Daddy and Dr. Rudolf are still 'fit to be tied' and you can take advantage of that! Ha-ha! We're parked on West Carriage Drive!

Pearl expelled a breath of relief.

Thanks! You're the best, Flora! You girls have fun!

She barely refrained from typing in the rest of her thoughts about the mischievous duo.

…And at least try to keep out of trouble!

A quick look at the map she got from Visitors Information showed that the fountain was merely a two-minute jaunt from the café.

As she trotted over, Layton and Katharina were very easy to spot, what with the man's impossible-to-miss top hat … Plus the fact that they were the only two people tied together from the knees down with the leashes of two very comfortable-looking white dogs!

Constantine and Feyt had been lounging idly on the soft grass by their captives' feet when Pearl came upon them, but quickly jumped up and nuzzled against her calves the moment they saw her.

"Hi, Constantine! And hello, my baby boy!" Pearl squatted down and lovingly stroked both dogs' fluffy heads before rising back up and smiling sheepishly at the bound duo. "Erm, hello again, Professor. Good morning, Dr. Rudolf."

Rather than look annoyed, as she'd feared, or worse, relieved, as she had haltingly anticipated, by her presence, Layton and the psychologist quickly straightened up and immediately dropped their hands, which had been clasped together, back to their sides, both reddening and resembling a couple of guilty teenagers.

"Guten Morgen, Pearl," Katharina smiled awkwardly and self-consciously began patting at her immaculately coiffed chignon. "How lovely to see you again."

"Ahem, yes, top of the morning to you, dear girl." The gentleman cleared his throat, now conspicuously looking away from the tiny blonde he was still tethered to. "As you can see, your furry son and his sire have gotten the good doctor and me into a bit of a bind here! Could you lend us a hand?"

At times like this Pearl realized just how much she was like her cousin. As much as she prided herself on being polite, obedient and well-behaved compared to her much more sassy, daring and bold guardian, she was still a Fey at heart!

Moreover, the Fey girls were big believers in the power of love … Pearl and Maya's own romances were concrete proof that fairytales did exist!

"Oh wow, you two are really tangled up, aren't you?" Pearl affected her most concerned expression as she sidled up to Layton, nimble fingers already set in motion. "Professor, I promise you my naughty pet will not be getting any extra treats with his dinner tonight for being such a bad boy!"

She discreetly winked at Feyt and flashed a thumbs-up sign while mouthing the words "good boy" when she was sure neither adult was looking. The puppy flashed his mother a goofy, pink-tongued grin and wagged his tail, as if he understood that he wasn't in any trouble at all, then indolently plopped back down onto the ground.

"Yes, well … a canine is only as naughty as his owner … Obviously, this mischief was entirely the doing of his bipedal father, not you," Layton assured her. "Now then, if you wouldn't mind being a little love and helping to unravel us?"

Eureka! Nabbed the keys without him even noticing! I would make a really good pickpocket if I ever gave up spirit channeling and turned to a life of crime!

Unable to suppress a squeal of triumphant glee, Pearl snatched the coveted item from the unsuspecting man's jacket pocket, then stepped back and smiled innocently, injecting as much sincere regret into her dulcet tone as possible.

"Thanks a lot for these, Professor!" She beamed prettily. "I promise you; I will not be going for a joyride with these! I'd love to stay and help you, but I'm in a bit of a rush, sorry! Bye!"

With that, the teenage spirit medium scampered off before either Layton or Katharina could react, the filched keys clutched in her hot little hands as she booked off towards West Carriage Drive.

Layton looked like he didn't know what'd hit him as the girl fled the scene of the crime. In fact, he looked so comically gobsmacked that Katharina couldn't hold back a slight titter at the ludicrousness of the whole situation.

"I hate to say this, Professor, but I believe you just got mugged by a runaway pretzel!"

"She was like a ninja!" Layton sounded incredulous. "I don't even know at what moment she nicked them! I still can't believe she did that – Pearl is supposed to be the good one!"

The next few moments of attempted loosening of the leashes proved to be futile, and the Brit finally let out a resigned sigh.

"Care to place your bets now, Dr. Rudolf?"

"For what?" The doctor inquired mildly; her voice rich with amusement now from the sheer lunacy of it all. "About the two of us ever getting untangled anytime this century?"

"No, about when I'll ever see those keys again – I don't reckon she's coming back!"

Professor Layton and Katharina Rudolf
Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

"Are you not euchred?" She asked suddenly, without preamble.

"Of what?" He looked up.

"Just sick and tired of it. Everything being ephemeral rather than eternal." She heaved a gusty sigh. "All the endings. All the beginnings and the hoping and the dreaming and the wondering. All the happiness, and then all the uncertainty and heartbreak … all it does is make you retreat further and deeper into yourself, and away from the world, like a turtle hiding in its shell. My problem is that my actions are always mistaken as accismus; it takes me so long to open up and trust, that people always assume I am playing coy, or worse, not interested."

Layton was so taken aback that he couldn't seem to marshal a response. Katharina had utterly confounded him with her all too perspicacious analogy, as it'd obviously been on an entirely prescient level that she'd somehow ended up describing his own situation as well as her own!

"Since Günther, it takes so much for me to feel anything towards anyone anymore that by the time I start feeling something, they have already moved on," she continued mournfully. "Every time I feel like I am ready to start over, something pulls me back. That inescapable austerity, the lassitude, it always prevails in the end. And it wasn't even dispiritedness after a while. It was just overwhelming – nothingness. It wasn't even a tangible emotion. It was just that inescapable… nothingness and the desperate desire to stop feeling it."

Layton still didn't reply, and this latest silence only brought out a fresh surge of misery. No doubt he thought her to be a hollow, overly sangfroid shell of a woman now, just like the few men who'd taken her out over the years eventually did. The Von Karma curse prevailed – cold fish, unfeeling perfectionists. She'd heard it all. That was how the world had always seen them, even though in the case of both Katharina and her sister, nothing could have been further from the truth.

"Think what you will of me, but despite this anecdata relayed, Professor, I am not an unfeeling automaton without heart," she insisted plaintively. "Just because one has become accustomed to crapehanger tendencies and is not prone to readily demonstrating their emotions, it does not mean they do not feel them! If anything, I wish this debilitating numbness had negated the ability to feel anything else; alas, such is not the case for me, as accompanying it has been this never-ending void comes the pain. It comes back in waves, as fresh as though it were yesterday, without warning."

I know exactly how you feel, he yearned to tell her. I have loved. I have lost and I have changed. It has been arduous but I have learned so much from it. I have learned that people can wound you so deeply and not even worry about you. I learned good people can change in a minute when their hearts have been broken. I've met great people, but mean people as well. But the most important thing I have learned is that every person in this world is strong enough to let go. People come and go and that's life! But our situations are similar but separate – Claire did not leave me by choice, unlike that dithering prat you called a spouse! The most important thing, fair lady, is to stand up and realize that you deserve something better than a person that gives up on you.

"Believe me, I was not always like this, Professor. I used to be tender and giving with my heart; there was time I wore it on my sleeve, for the world to see. But that part of me died with my ex-husband. With him, there was no guile, no need to keep up a shield of defense. With him, I was soft. Always soft. I was so bloody soft for him and he ruined me."

You did the worst thing: you broke my spirit. You made me love you and then you dismissed it. You got me to trust you and then you broke it. You hurt me. You destroyed me, and worst of all, you led me to believe that I deserved it.

She closed her eyes against the prickling sensation behind her lids.

"Since then, the only consistent thing I seem to feel, other than the void, is pain. I feel such immeasurable pain, even at the smallest of things."

Things nobody would give two-short-flying-pigs'-Ärsche about! Things like feeling rejected by someone whose name I did not even know before yesterday! Any other woman would not even think twice about being slighted by a man they had just met. They would not take it personally in the least – merely shrug and laugh it off with their friend; cite it as being "that poor bastard's loss, not yours!"

The psychologist continued with her doleful reflection.

Unfortunately, I am not most women. This man's repeated dismissals have inexplicably cut me to the core; more so than any of the those who tried to court me have over the years. After a few weeks, when their seductions efforts were unsuccessful, and our dates remained chaste, they gave up the pursuit and wrote me off as frigid, ceasing to call me afterward and disappearing as though they had never existed. My reactions to the Professor – none of it makes a lick of sense! How is it this stranger from a foreign land has the power to bring me such heartache, yet at the same time, has also brought me more fleeting joy than I have ever known?

He found his speech ability at last, despite the thickness in his throat that had been building since she'd begun pouring her heart out.

"Don't try to replace your ex-husband," he told her. "You'll never be satisfied. No one will ever be as 'him' as he is. Realize that a part of you will always care about your first love, and that's perfectly fine. That doesn't make you crazy or weak, it just makes you human. When relationships end, it's not so cut and dry. You carry everyone you've ever loved into every relationship thereafter, but that doesn't mean you haven't or are unable, to let go. You're allowed to miss people who were bullets to you but you're not allowed to let them shoot you again. Letting go means realizing some people are part of your history, not your destiny."

The attempt at comfort only compelled her desire to cry out in protest, as by now the doctor was hopelessly lost in a sea of tormented ghosts of yesteryear.

On the contrary, it is not merely the love you felt for ex-husbands past which you are forced to carry around as part of your mental baggage though, Professor! You carry your own demons, as well. Your own tortured memories, your own self-loathing for allowing yourself to love such a cruel person. Of having to acknowledge that he was cruel and you loved him. But fine, fine, he wasn't always cruel.

Katharina felt a stabbing pang in her chest.

Sometimes he was nice, and he was gentle and sweet and everything you ever wanted in a boy. Sometimes he bought you flowers and called you beautiful and he kissed your fingertips to make up for the times he pulled your hair and called you a mess, causing you to bawl. Sometimes he apologized with tears in his eyes and you believed him. Sometimes you chose to believe him. The first time he took you to meet his friends he said, "isn't she a jewel?" And you felt your heart swell with pride and you wanted to kiss him right there and then like a smitten schoolgirl…

She swallowed back the sob building in her chest.

Then, later, when he called you an embarrassment, you felt your heart drop and your cheeks grow red and you thought you must have done something wrong. So subsequently, when he wouldn't talk to you and you began apologizing for nothing, it really got to your head. The problem was that he was cruel and he justified it by blaming his cruelty on you. "This is what you made me do," he said, and the first few times you almost apologized for it. And he almost had you, didn't he? A few more months and it would have ruined you. Sometimes you wonder if it was Gott's blessing in disguise to have discovered that he was a philandering, lying snake when you caught him with his trouser snake inside another writhing upon your own marital bed!

"In the end, I suppose I cannot fault Günther for something he could not feel," she choked out. "It was not his fault for not loving me. I say that honestly, without the smallest ounce of self-pity. It takes a whole lot for someone to love another person. Sometimes it is there and sometimes it is not. I should not have expected as much as I did. Perhaps it selfish to wish to be held, when you are too tired of holding on. Nonetheless, I thought if I gave him everything, it would be enough. I hoped, at least, it would be enough for him to love me back, even just a little bit, if I loved enough for both of us."

She thought for a minute before speaking again, her cadence so faint he almost had to strain his ears to hear her.

"I was very young when I married, and clearly full of naiveté to have believed such impossible, foolish fantasies. Now, I do not lament my decision to leave, but how long it took me to finally do so. Because then, I would have spared myself so much of that lengthy period of mental and emotional abuse from being in a loveless marriage. Perhaps then our parting of ways could have been a simple, clean break, and not the complicated sort of fracture that no number of bandages or plaster casts could ever properly mend even years later."

"Indeed, one doesn't have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding is sufficient," Layton susurrated. "Two people who were once very close can, without blame or grand betrayal, become distant strangers. Perhaps this is the saddest thing in the world."

Katharina's mouth went dry at this unexpected outpouring of compassion. She couldn't have mustered a response if her life had depended on it at that moment.

"Moreover, in the end, you did remove yourself and your daughter from that toxic environment," he reminded her gently. "That took a lot of strength, which it seems you are not crediting yourself enough for. Many never find the courage to leave; to realize they deserve better. You are selling yourself far too short, madam."

Her delicate hands, still in his clasp, had gone slack as she stared down at the grass. Feeling strangely emboldened, he squeezed her fingers ever so slightly to get her attention, and the unexpectedness of the gesture jolted her enough to raise her sepulchral gaze back onto his.

"Dr. Rudolf, may I ask a personal question?"

She nodded cautiously.

"What was it that finally prompted you to leave him in the end?"

"He did not wish for me to go," she admitted. "He claimed Anneliese should not have to come from a broken home. Günther ventured that perhaps we could remain together, in name only, even if it meant living separate lives and bedrooms, whilst living under the same roof. However, I could not agree to such … archaic, Victorian circumstances."

Katarina was misty-eyed now as she peered up at him with twin pools of glistening silver.

"Regardless of how pitifully soft I was when it came to myself and all the things I would endure in the name of kicky-wicky supererogation, it was a whole different story when I imagined how I would feel if any man treated my precious Tochter that way," she whispered brokenly. "I simply could not bear it. The mere thought of it made me start to cry."

There was a long silence as Layton studied her in reflective contemplation.

You remind me of the stars in the sky. Because I don't ever want to stop looking at the sky. And as terrifying as it is to admit, even to myself, I don't ever want to stop looking at you. Sometimes in life, the very people who are candy to our eyes can often be poison to our hearts, and one must study their ingredients before feeding them to their soul. But such is not the case with you, Dr. Rudolf. I sense this truth about you with every visceral proclivity I possess. You're a work of art. Not everyone will understand you but the ones who do will never forget about you. And despite having just met you, I simply know, without question, that your heart and my heart … they are very old friends.

When he finally did speak, they were the last words she'd expected to hear.

"I think you are right," he agreed quietly. "You are too gentle. That is why the world afflicts you so. Yet the good news is that things get better and hurt less over time…if you let them."

"You make it all sound so easy, Professor." The doctor shook her head sorrowfully. "I suppose it is, in theory, but sadly, not so much in actuality. One cannot change into a coarsely skinned, impervious pineapple overnight after a lifetime of being a thinly-skinned, quick to bruise peach."

"Despite the acclaim of pineapple upside-down cake, I find the famed crowned fruit to be far too acidic, myself, as well as the culprit that gives burning dyspepsia to many," the Brit stated with sham solemnly, the scintilla of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I've always fancied peach cobbler myself, for that reason alone."

Katharina blinked, feeling both bemused and a tad affronted. Had the normally staid Professor Layton just cracked a joke? Or was he making fun of her?

Catching the confusion on her face, he expiated his tone and countenance to express nothing but utmost sincerity.

Strewth! Until now, I've tried to protect my heart by encasing it in stone, but it appears that you're my chisel. No matter how hard I've tried to distance myself from you, my attraction to you remains constant. You could be at the ends of the earth and still, I would feel pulled toward you. There is something about you and me that matches, each half completing the other in such an unfathomable way that keeping separate lives would be meaningless. When times are dark, I know you would be the one that lifts me back into the light. When times are bright, you would the one who rejoices with me. Consequently, although it is your comely eyes, your skin, your face that I look upon, know that the attraction runs deep to my core. I don't do superficial, I never did. I don't believe in love at first sight but I do believe in seeing someone from across the room and knowing instantly that they're going to matter to you.

"Dr. Rudolf, verily, I hope you never get tired of being a good person with a pure heart. I know it can be devastating to be taken advantage of and feeling like it's better to be coldhearted but people like you matter so much and are so important to the world. Continue to be the person who cares. Never veer from being the person who makes an effort; who loves without hesitation. Be the person who makes people feel seen and heard and cared for. There is nothing stronger and doughtier than someone who continues to stay soft in the world that hasn't always been kind to them."

The look of wonder on her fair visage caused the next extemporaneous words of succor to fall from his mouth before he could stop them.

I can't help it if I wanted to. I wouldn't help it even if I could. I want to know you. You seem like someone worth knowing. Every day I feel like I'm surrounded by people with hard edges and sour phizogs but I get the sense that you're different. Too often people seem to think that they have the solution to everything, to every puzzle. Their miens are trapped in permanent scowls and they can't be bothered with anything besides their own narcissism. You aren't like that. You possess a sagacity that intrigues me. You still ask questions. You're still looking for the answers.

"It's most unfortunate that your marriage didn't work out, what with your former spouse proving himself to a knave in the end. And while I know that still stings, take it from me – you didn't lose. You had love, you had happiness, you opened your heart and connected with another human being and just because it didn't last forever doesn't mean it wasn't worthwhile. The people who lose are the ones who close their hearts or don't know how to love… The ones who lose are the people who will never have the happiness you've had because they live in emotional isolation and will never experience what it's like to have a connection with somebody. You may have been hurt, but you were brave enough to open your heart in the first place and one day, when you're ready, I hope you open it again for somebody else… because the only way you lose is if you don't."

Layton knew he had just lowered his long-standing emotional shield with these words; for this stranger who had literally been thrust upon him and collided into his world for all of five minutes. But after hearing her speak from her heart, he was even more enchanted than before after realizing she was one of those elusive, recherché creatures whose outer physical attributes couldn't even hold a candle to how ethereal her inner beauty was.

Katharina Rudolf is more than a good woman and a good person. She's a beautiful soul who carries light in her smile and love in her bones. She makes broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walks with the universe on her shoulders and makes it look like a pair of wings. Like a trip to heaven, she's an angel in disguise.

"There's something I've been meaning to say to you," he stated, his gaze never leaving hers. "I've been unspeakably rude to you these last few days, and there's no excuse for it, and I can only offer you my most humble apologies for my behavior. But Dr. Rudolf, I was unprepared for this…for any of this. For meeting you…"

He swallowed hard.

"When Flora was in primary school, I belatedly now recall her going on about a chum of hers from summer camp whom she only referred to as Anna. I realize now that she meant Anneliese, but I didn't put the pieces of the puzzle together until I met the two of you. And that was when I also recalled how my daughter had prattled on that her mate Anna's mum was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen."

His voice was hoarse as he whispered the next words.

"But there was no way I ever could've been prepared for the most beautiful woman… that I'd ever seen."

"Professor…" The dazed Katharina could barely speak; all she could do was stare helplessly into that intense gaze, feeling as though she were drowning in a warm pool of chocolate. "I –"

"If you only take away one thing from this conversation, Dr. Rudolf, please let it be this." His dark eyes bored into hers with an intensity that left her breathless. "Personally, I myself think that gentleness is one of the most disarmingly and captivatingly attractive qualities there are. Furthermore, with every fiber of my being, I believe that it is soft hearts, like yours, that make this universe one worth living in."

Pearl Fey
Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

Finding the distinctive car was a piece of cake, as was locating the next clue, which was, just as Pearl had surmised, in the glovebox. This scroll was attached to a small box with the Union Jack and House of Dorchester emblemed on it. Inside was the proverbial 'heart' the clue had referenced. She happily relished the scrumptious, heart-shaped, nougat-filled chocolate while she stood beside the car, reading the next hint.

Remember our song and first dance
If you search, you might find by chance
A sweet serenade
And music to be played
To prepare for enchanted romance

"Miss Pearl Fey?"

For the second time, Pearl looked up to see yet another person who knew her identity, while she had no clue who they were!

Standing behind her was a tall, slender man with lavender hair that fell just past his earlobes. He was dressed in the colorful costume of a medieval minstrel, including the feathered cap and lute, along with a blue and yellow parrot perched on his shoulder!

"Yes, hello?" Pearl greeted the man with a puzzled smile. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Birdly, one-time famed minstrel of Labyrinthia." The man flashed a disarming smile, "I was told to serenade you with the first song you lovebirds ever swayed to, so I'm hoping you recognize this piece…"

With that, Birdly began strumming his instrument and singing the enchanting, unforgettable melody from Iris and Larry's wedding that Pearl and Luke had danced to, "Love Is" by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight.

The bashful teen found herself singing along to the tune, very softly, so that nobody else could hear her.

In this world we've created
In this place that we live
In a blink of an eye, baby, the darkness slips in
Love lights the world
Unites the lovers for eternity

Love breaks the chain
Love aches for every one of us
Love takes the tears and the pain
And turns it into the beauty that remains…

She was so lost in the sweet memories the music elicited that she didn't even notice the vehicle pulling up beside her, or the short, portly, middle-aged man sporting police livery and muttonchops who greeted her with a salute.

"Hullo there, Pearl Fey?"

"Yes. Hi there…" She noted his blue uniform and bobby hat. "Inspector?"

"Constable Barton, at your service, lass." Barton saluted again and flung open the passenger door with a flourish. "Your chariot awaits."

As Birdly finished the tune, both Pearl and Barton applauded enthusiastically.

"That was wonderful!" The teen beamed happily. "Thank you so much!"

"My pleasure," the musician smiled back and bowed grandly. "Cheers!"

As Pearl climbed into Barton's car, he got into the driver's side, then passed her a small portable CD player.

"I was told to give this final treasure," he told her with a mysterious grin on his mustached lips. "There will be more music at your next destination, so this will be needed…but I cannot go anywhere until you solve the last puzzle."

I have no fingers, just hands and arms
To those in slumber, I cause alarm
You keep me right next to your bed
I bear a face but no hair or head
This face I bear neither smiles nor frowns
I have no mouth but I make a familiar sound

Pearl was bouncing in her seat so vivaciously that her loops hit the interior roof of the automobile.

"It's a clock!" She crowed excitedly. "The final place we must go – which has only a face and arms and hands, but no head or fingers – it has to be a clock! Moreover, it can only be one clock!"

She pointed her finger giddily.

"Take me to Big Ben, Constable Barton!"

When the day is done, when the race is won,
My life has only just begun.
When you're next to me, so much more I can see.
There's nowhere that I'd rather be!

When I'm away from you, and there's nothin I can do...
Do you think the same things to?
When the time has come, I don't want you to run...
You know that you're the only one!

All I need is you! For always and forever!
All you need is me! Remember when I say!
All we need is love, for us to be together!
'Cause you're my number one!

All I need is you! For always and forever!
All you need is me! Remember when I say!
All we need is love, for us to be together!
'Cause you're my number one!

At the end of each day, or whenever you're away,
There's always things I wanna say.
But wherever you go, you will always know,
That I have so much more to show.

It was such a surprise, when I looked into your eyes,
It's only then I realised.
You're the one for me, no-one else I wanna see!
There's no place I would rather be!

All I need is you! For always and forever!
All you need is me! Remember when I say!
All we need is love, for us to be together!
'Cause you're my number one!

Pearl Fey and Luke Triton
Big Ben, London
July 21, 2026

As Barton dropped off Pearl at Big Ben (which she was told was now named The Elizabeth Tower), which was attached to the Houses of Parliament, she was surprised to see Flora greet her as she exited the taxi.

"Welcome!" The English lass pulled her into a warm hug, as though they hadn't seen each other in ages instead of just a couple of hours ago. "I'm here to take you to meet your Prince Charming, lovely Princess Pearl, but although special allowances have been made to allow you to come up into the clock tower, I still need to be the one to escort you in, as normally going inside is a privilege that is only offered to residents of the UK. Luke isn't normally a bloke who will pull strings for getting what he wants – he doesn't like flexing the whole 'my father is the Mayor of Misthallery' and the whole 'I am the venerated former apprentice of world-famous, knighted Crown Archaeologist and University Professor, Hershel Layton!' – but when it comes to you, he has zero qualms flexing the nepotism muscle!"

As they skipped along towards Big Ben, Flora cast a relieved glance down at Pearl's trainers and sighed with relief.

"Thank heavens you're wearing practical shoes that are made for walking! There's no lift to go up there, and it's 340 steps to get all the way to the top! I tried to warn Anneliese about that – yes she's already up there, too, but don't fret, we shan't be staying long! I told her we should go shopping for a more comfortable pair prior to making the climb up! But of course, she's a bleeding stubborn chit, and insisted she would be fine in her strappy sandals! Big surprise! I've been listening to her grouse about her aching feet all morning!"

Her mind slightly whirling from all this information, Pearl clutched the small boombox she had been handed and bounced up the stairs after her friend, eager to see what was in store for her once they reached their intended destination.

She was not disappointed.

The entire room was bathed in candlelight…on the floors in every corner of the otherwise dark room, on the table, on the two meal carts…it was beyond stunning. The flickering flames were arcs of brilliant gold in the blackness. Though they were flames, Pearl imagined walking through them as if it were nothing more than an archway to somewhere beautiful. She imagined shrinking down and stepping into the light, golden and warm, yet not hot. At that moment, she stood in place, unmoving. Just drinking in the ambiance and being absolutely mesmerized, as still as she would be in a photograph.

"Pearl, love! You made it at last!"

Luke swooped over to her, bowing grandly and kissing her hand before leading her to the middle of the room, where he had set up a gorgeously decorated dinner table, with two small trolleys of scrumptious looking food beside it.

"Ma chère Mademoiselle, Pearl," Anneliese affected a corny French accent as she curtsied and gestured to the round, candlelit table. It was covered with a gleaming white table cloth, china, and silverware, and flanked by two cushy, Queen Anne dining chairs. "Flora and I now proudly present … your très romantique brunch, courtesy of zee even très romantique Monsieur Triton!"

"Ignore le terrible et fromage accent de mon amie," Flora cut in with a giggle while Luke tutted with slight exasperation as he held his girlfriend's chair out for her. "My dear friend has recruited me and my mate to search for and bring you the most scrummy fare that this side of the pond has to offer! Moreover, with a few exceptions, consider this feast to be the Best of Britain!"

Pearl's eyes widened first in surprise, then pleasure as she looked at the hand-written, calligraphy menus Luke had penned out on the same scrolls that she'd had as treasure hunt clues.

Appetizers

- Stuffed dates with almonds, rolled in powdered sugar

- A selection of fruits (strawberries, cherries, pineapple, and grapes)

- melon, prosciutto, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, artichokes skewers

- Devonshire cream served with savory (cheddar and chive) and sweet (cranberry) scones

- Best of Britain's various cheeses, Double Gloucester, Cornish Yarg, and Cheshire with an assortment of crackers

Mini sandwiches:

-Smoked Chicken and Apple Salad on Mini Brioche Bun

-Norwegian Salmon Gravlax on Pumpernickel Bread with Lemon and Dill

- Fresh Cucumber and Spinach Spread on Mini Bagels

-Thin Grilled Courgette (Zucchini) with Roasted Red Pepper Garnish and Olive Tapenade on Baguette Bread

- Poached Asparagus, Fresh Radish, Roasted Yellow Pepper Spread on Spelt and Wild Rice Bread

Dessert:

-Blackout Chocolate Cupcake with Belgian Chocolate

-Petite Lemon Meringue Tartlet

-Belgian Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry drizzled with Strawberry Chocolate

-Gold Leaf garnished French Macarons

-Coconut Panna Cotta with Seasonal Fruit Coulis

Beverages

-Sparkling grape juice

-Assorted teas (including Oasis Berry of course!)

-Sparkling water

"This is all so incredible!" Pearl exclaimed, clapping her hands rhapsodically. "But there's enough food here for all of Britain as well! Luke and I couldn't possibly eat all this ourselves … Will you girls be joining us?"

"Good heavens, no!" Luke blurted out, before coughing slightly as he realized just how ungentlemanly his response was – and even if he hadn't, the identically arched eyebrows of the unamused Flora and Anneliese would've been indication enough! "Erm, what I meant to say is, the girls can't stay, unfortunately. They have their own plans right after this, you see."

"He means we're merely the help!" Flora inserted merrily, without a trace of rancor as she took her place in the corner of the room, where a small keyboard on a stand had been set up, where the German girl was now standing. "As if this twit could arrange all of this without some outside assistance, which, seeing as how Luke is the brother I never had, I was only too happy to help with! But we're going to bog off as soon as this performance is over … Anneliese and I are strictly here for the entertainment!"

"Entertainment?" The psychic echoed blankly. "Performance?"

"Bien sûr, ma chère!" Anneliese tapped one elegantly manicured hand against one of the black and white keys, as though testing it, then beamed and nodded at Luke. "Sorry, I can't seem the turn the snooty waiter language of Froggy-a-go-go land off now! Ahem! Schöne Dame, Pearl, what is a romantic, candlelit meal, without la musique?"

"Just sit back and enjoy this amateur production, love." Luke strode over to where the girls were standing and picked up a shiny violin off the floor. "I know you and I first danced to the song "Love Is", at your sister's wedding last month. But as lovely as it was, I also remember we never got to finish that premier dance because of some misunderstandings between us at the time. Since then, I have been racking my brain trying to find a suitable song that would express our relationship and everything you've come to mean to me ever since. I'd like to make new memories with you going forward. And if you like this song, I'm hoping you'll come to consider it to be… ours."

"Awwwww!" Anneliese and Flora cooed, not without a hint of teasing inflection. "How sweet!"

Luke scowled at them.

"Oh, clear off!" He grumbled. "As much as I appreciate you lasses lending a hand, I could jolly well do without the background commentary!"

He held up his bow.

"Ready, Flora? Anneliese?"

The girls nodded, and then Luke and the blonde began playing the opening bars of a song Pearl knew very well.

[Luke:]
I wanna know
Whoever told you I was letting go
The only joy that I have ever known
Girl, they were lying

Just look around
And all of the people that we used to know
Have just given up, they wanna let it go
But we're still trying

So you should know this love we share was never made to die
I'm glad we're on this one-way street just you and I
Just you and I

Pearl had known Luke played the violin since childhood, but she'd never had a private recital before. Flora had mentioned vocal training and music lessons during all her boarding school years and Anneliese had joked that like her Mama, Tante Franziska, and Onkel Miles, in grand Von Karma tradition, she'd been forced to take piano lessons since she was in primary school. It all certainly explained the brilliant bravura performance she was being privy to.

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]

I'm never gonna say goodbye
Cos I never wanna see you cry
I swore to you my love would remain
And I swear it all over again and I
I'm never gonna treat you bad
Cos I never wanna see you sad
I swore to share your joy and your pain
And I swear it all over again

[Luke:]
All over again

Some people say
That everything has got its place in time
Even the day must give way to the night
But I'm not buying
Cos in your eyes
I see a love that burns eternally
And if you see how beautiful you are to me
You'll know I'm not lying

Sure there'll be times we wanna say goodbye
But even if we try
There are some things in this life won't be denied
Won't be denied…

However, as exquisite as the performance was, by all parties present, Pearl only had eyes for Luke. The others seemed to fade away in the background as she stared lovingly at this multi-talented young man. How lucky she was that he was all hers.

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]

I'm never gonna say goodbye
Cos I never wanna see you cry
I swore to you my love would remain
And I swear it all over again and I
I'm never gonna treat you bad
Cos I never wanna see you sad
I swore to share your joy and your pain
And I swear it all over again

He has the most wonderful eyes – serious, emotive, playful, passionate…all different and wonderful things he can express with just one look. They are medium brown, mostly, but darken to or lighten in correspondence to his mood. He not only smiles with his lips but with his eyes so that when he beams at me, they shine as well. It is this radiance that makes every man and woman who sees it feel the irresistible impulse to smile, too, for this smiling of the eyes is the most sincere and pure emotion that my boyfriend would show, even if he didn't want to show it. The eyes never lie – if I could say but four words to advise one on how to understand my Luke's thoughts, those would be the four I'd choose.

[Flora:]

The more I know of you is the more I know I love you
And the more that I'm sure I want you forever and evermore
And the more that you love me, the more that I know
Oh that I'm never gonna let you go
Gotta let you know that I

Oh God's shorty nightie, he's handsome. Pearl gazed at him with starry-eyes as she propped her elbows up on the table, her chin resting in her palms as she continued to admire him. He's handsome from the depth of his eyes to the gentle expressions of his voice. He is handsome from his generous opinions to the touch of his hand upon my own. I love the way his voice quickens when he's sparkled with a new idea or was so enjoying one of mine that he lost himself for a moment and quite forgot the stiff upper lip gentleman's mask he normally wears for others. Just over a year ago, I gave him my heart and kept his safe, and that's just the way it was. The way it's always been. The way I know it was meant to be.

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]

I'm never gonna say goodbye

[Flora:]
(I'm never gonna say goodbye)

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]
Cos I never wanna see you cry

[Flora:]
(never wanna see you cry)

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]
I swore to you my love would remain
And I swear it all over again and I

[Flora:]
(swear it all over again and I)

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]
I'm never gonna treat you bad

[Flora:]
(never gonna treat you bad)

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]
Cos I never wanna see you sad

[Flora:]
(never wanna see you sad)

[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]
I swore to share your joy and your pain

[Flora:]
(oh no, oh no)
[Anneliese/Flora/Luke:]
And I swear it all over again

[Luke:]
All over again
All over again
And I swear it all over again

The British lad's eyes never left his girlfriend's as the song came to an end. They were wide with awe and appreciation, as she applauded with zeal when they were done, but it was too dark to read anything else that may have been reflected in those doe orbs.

She was poetry but he couldn't read.

I saw in her eyes, all the poetry I didn't dare to write.

Illuminated by the candlelight, Pearl's delicate bone structure was swathed in its luminous hue, her ivory skin as mellow like a peach. In the dimness, her eyes turn from their soft gray to almost black, each pupil quite undetectable. She looked so different; as if she'd just stepped out of another era instead of the sunlight city of London which they'd both spent the last few days in.

Seated at the table, with only the sallow flame light illuminating her visage, she could be anyone in history, but she isn't. She's Pearl, my beloved Pearl.

Luke scarcely noticed when his background musicians murmured their polite exit excuses.

"Auf Wiedersehen! I need to … go buy new shoes that will not make me want to kill myself every time I take a walking step!"

"Cheerio! I'm away laughing on a fast camel – gotta check on the parents now!"

With that, the teen girls hastily made their exit from the tower, leaving the couple alone at last.

Flora Layton and Anneliese Rudolf
Outside Big Ben, London
July 21, 2026

"Top job, mate!" Flora gave a high-five to her friend when they'd finally reached the bottom of the seemingly infinite clock stairs. "Even though I had to listen to you whinge about your tender tootsies the entire way down, I shan't refrain from praising your keyboarding talents up there! That really was the bee's knees!"

"Not as ace as you were carrying that tune, my little songbird!" The blonde returned graciously. "That Luke is so romantic, pulling out the stops for Pearl in such a grand fashion! I hope she appreciates what a lucky girl she is!"

"I'm sure she does – I've never seen a more twitterpated couple in my life! At least, nobody around our age, anyway! Cor blimey! Those two give me cavities, they're so sickeningly sweet!" The English girl reflected with a fond smile. "I wish I could have been there to see the look on Pearl's face when Luke tells her the big news…but there was no chance of that! He was all too thrilled to be shot of us even before we left so he could have her all to himself!"

"Seeing a love like theirs makes me hopeful that there are still a few good ones out there, for whenever I am ready to put my future clothing designer plans on hold and seek out my own romance – or have already achieved my end goal!" Anneliese let out a wistful a sigh. "Have you ever experienced a sweep you off your feet sort of love that was even remotely close to theirs, Flora?"

"Well, there was this one particular case. His name was Chip. It was back when I was in form four," Flora hedged, smiling coyly at her friend's expectant face. "Looking back now, I reckon I must have loved him a lot at some point. I met him at a party. There he was at the end of the buffet ... a loner; the last one available who hadn't been snatched up yet. He had a certain something ... a sweetness, a sensuality."

Her umber eyes glazed over with nostalgia.

"He was one hot cookie. I felt as if I'd always known him ... hungered for him. When he looked at me with those warm brown eyes, I melted. Before I knew it, I had my hands on him, my mouth on him ... in public! It may have been indecorous but I just didn't give a toss!"

Anneliese's jaw dropped open.

"After that night, we were inseparable. With him, I could be myself. He didn't seem to care what mood I was in, how I looked or even if I gained weight. Together we had the recipe for happiness. No other I had ever known satisfied me like Chip."

The corner of Flora's mouth twitched slightly, but the German girl was too poleaxed by this scandalous tale to notice.

"Go on!" Anneliese urged. "What happened then?"

"Eventually, things began to change," Flora shook her head sadly. "And not for the better. My mates all said he was no good for me. He started to give me heartburn. I felt crummy all the time. And like all good things, it had to end. Now, we've gone our separate ways. I hardly think of him anymore. Oh, if I see a certain TV commercial, a magazine ad, a coupon for cents off ... that old longing returns. And when we run into each other in the supermarket, we nod. We're friendly. But the fat lady hath sung! It's really and truly… over!"

There was a flabbergasted silence as Anneliese's mind struggled to process this ludicrous tale. Then she burst into gales of mirth and began swatting the already tittering Flora repeatedly with her handbag.

"Gotcha, Anna!" Flora crowed, trying unsuccessfully to dodge the repeated but harmless swatting of the laughing keyboarder's silk purse.

"Du lächerliches Mädchen!" The blonde howled, wiping the stray tears of laughter from her eyes. "I can't believe I actually fell for that! As you English say… that story really takes the biscuit!"

"What can I say?" Flora giggled, reaching into her rucksack and offering her friend a Chips Ahoy! cookie. "I guess I'm still not over the occasional urge to sink my teeth into my tasty ex! Aye, he was only a chocolate chip biscuit. But he was my chocolate chip biscuit!"

Pearl Fey and Luke Triton
Big Ben, London
July 21, 2026

As his gaze lingered on his swain, Layton's former apprentice knew, in his heart of hearts, that admiring the ethereal feature on that porcelain doll-like countenance was something he'd never, ever tire of.

You're so beautiful. You walk, talk, even breathe wonderfully and if I were here and saw you now for the first time, I'd still be in love with you. If I saw you for the first time, everything would turn over inside of me and I'd ache right through my chest.

Like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, Luke produced a large, long box from behind his back, as if from thin air, and placed it into the astonished girl's arms, squatting down so they were at eye level.

"Did you like the song?" He asked shyly, his red cheeks evident even in the dim lighting.

"I loved it! I'm more than happy to consider that our song from now on!" She nodded with fervor, her eyes bright, then looked at the box. "But what's this – a present? You didn't have to get me anything, Luke! The lovely surprise of this magical tower and the performance and this meal was more than enough!"

She was so gracious, so humble. Luke often wondered if it was illegal how much he loved this girl.

"Keeping up with the 'Best of Britain' theme, I was compelled to get you something for which the UK is acclaimed worldwide. I was thinking about your first time here last spring, and all the places we toured…"

Pearl let out a soft cry of delight as she opened the lid, to find a huge bouquet of fflowers heavenly redolent, with finely selected English roses, wildflowers, foliage, and herbs. The beauteous florals were all in various shades of pink and purple, her favorites colors, and consisted of a breathtaking array of exquisitely scented Margaret Merrill, Beautiful Romantic Antike, Pink Princess, Chandos Beauty, and Evelyn Rose.

"…And I recalled how at home you seemed in the Princess Street Gardens in Scotland. It was a perfectly sunny day, in a picturesque place, but even back then I recalled thinking all those flowers paled in comparison to you, Pearl. Despite this though, I wanted to try to recapture some of that new couple magic as best I could. Therefore, I bought you English roses … for my own American rose."

Luke took the flowers out of her hands, placed them aside, and pulled her to her feet so she was standing in front of him, staring up into his suddenly intense expression.

"Ever since that day in Edinburgh, I've mentally associated flowers with you," he whispered hoarsely. "Believe me, if I had a flower for every time that I thought of you, you could walk through my garden forever."

She raised her palm and placed it on his cheek.

"I feel the same the same way about you," she whispered back. "In fact, do not be surprised if one day the moon calls you by your name, for I have told her about you every night since the day we met."

"And what do you tell her?" He asked thickly, clutching the hand that was resting against his face.

Without any guile, Pearl's answer was simple, direct and straight from the heart.

"I tell her that your heartbeat is my favorite lullaby. And even though we have a song that's now ours, I have always said that whenever I hear your voice, I think, that's my song. I say that I think you're more than just my fairytale prince; I think that you're an actual fairytale. I think you're magical and brave and exquisite. And I hope you'll let me be in your story ever after."

Luke felt his throat beginning to clog with unshed tears of emotion.

Beautiful is a casual smile that is so freely given, tenderness of the soul you let show through, something that can make a real connection with others. "Beautiful" is the soul you were born with, the one that brings smiles to my face and loves music and dance and is everything I will ever want for the rest of the days of my life.

"Sometimes, even when Mystic Maya and I are traveling somewhere, and we get stuck in traffic or at a red traffic light, it still hits me like a clap of thunder: I can't believe you're mine. There was a time when we were complete strangers, and stealing looks like it was a crime. Now, you're a part of my soul and you have so much control over my heart, but instead of being scared, I've never felt safer in my whole life. Because you make me feel like home."

"Pearl … please." Luke's throat hurt to swallow now. He was about to start blubbering any minute now, and he still hadn't said what he so desperately needed to say! "Love…I need to say something. But first, investigate that flower box, please. There's something else that was in there that you really need to see."

He reached down for the discarded boombox she'd been carrying and pressed play. Immediately the song by Westlife that he had just performed with his friends filled the room with its sweet sound.

With a puzzled frown, as she was concerned that she'd somehow upset him with her declarative ardor, Pearl reached into the box and located a card that'd come with the bouquet, which she'd somehow missed.

It was a handwritten poem.

And now you are a part of me.
Although you must have always been.
For what can be other than everything
Just as it's meant?
You came into my world and blew me open
Just as you were destined to.
For eons and more, there will be scattered pieces of me (thanks to you)
hanging down from the sky,
watching over the children who came from the children of more of our children,
And though they won't know it, they will feel it
in the love that creeps through the night and into sleeping hearts.
Your presence has changed the future of humanity.
Now you are a part of me.

Pearl's lips parted into a startled O of amazement. The poem was lyrical and passionate and lovely all at the same time, and neatly summarized everything she'd ever wanted while establishing Luke wanted those very same things – a future, marriage, children.

So then why did her boyfriend still look so apprehensive? As though he was waiting for the other shoe to drop?

"Luke, what's wrong?" She asked softly. "I adore the poem. It means so much to me, especially after our fight last month. Since you mentioned our children, I feel safe to tell you this: I knew you were the one for me from the very start, because ever since I was a young girl, I'd always said that I am going to marry someone that makes me feel like a poem. This is it for me. Happily ever after or even just together ever after is not cheesy. It's the noblest, most courageous thing two people can shoot for."

With a shaky hand, Luke pointed to another scroll of paper, which she'd somehow missed, beside her dining plate. Somehow, it'd rolled under her menu.

"Open it, please." His tone was husky now. "It's the very last piece of the puzzle."

Biting her lip, Pearl carefully unrolled the paper, except this time, there was no writing on the parchment.

Instead what fell out was a welcome letter from UCLA, informing Mr. Lucas Triton that he'd been accepted into the university's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA as of this coming autumn season.

And tucked behind the college acceptance page was a copy of Luke's approved student visa for the United States of America. With the approval date stamped on it just from a few days ago.

"It finally came, but it took yonks!" He explained nervously to the speechless American, uncertain about how she would react to such a momentous, life-changing decision that affected them both. "It took forever to get it approved, even with the Professor pulling some strings with the consulate to expedite the paperwork! And then there was the complex matter of finding a suitable substitute in my stead as a teaching assistant at Gressenheller, as well as seeing how many of my credits I could transfer from there to UCLA. I plan on becoming a zoologist, specializing in husbandry, in hopes of helping preserve some endangered species. Flora is most keen to take over for me, though, as working at the uni will give her more time to finally spend with her father. I didn't want to say anything to you and get your hopes up until I got the visa approval – if I'd already gotten it last month, that whole fiasco at the wedding never would have happened! But then again, I'm jolly glad it did, since I thus got to meet your lovely cousin Mia and tell her all about my honorable intentions toward you and get her approval and blessing of our union…"

Luke knew he was babbling, but Pearl still hadn't uttered a peep and he felt an inane need to fill in the sounds of silence!

As the jittery lad continued to study her lovely visage with bated breath, there was a delicious moment where Pearl's face washed blank with confusion, like her brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information from her wide eyes. Every muscle of her body just froze before a huge ear-to-ear grin crept onto her mien, then soon stretched from one side to the other, showing every single tooth.

"Oh, my stars and garters! This is the bestest news in the whole wide world!" She squealed elatedly, throwing her arms around his neck and smothering his face with kisses. "I don't know how you didn't explode keeping this secret from me, Luke! I knew something was up at the restaurant; I saw the psyche locks spring up on both you and Flora when the subject came up of you being an assistant professor when she comes to Gressenheller University this fall. Mystic Maya mentioned it to me too, but I told her that I trusted you. After all, you and I did promise not to use our magatamas on each other!"

Her eyes were glowing with love as she smiled up at him.

"You've made me the happiest girl in the world, Lucas Gabriel Triton! How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye hard, but how blessed I am that now, soon, I won't have to say goodbye to you for great periods of time anymore! Not that I ever really thought of it as a true goodbye whenever we've parted in the past," she added quickly. "Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation."

Luke felt the wave of relief wash over him with the force of a tidal wave. All these agonizing months of hoping, and praying and planning the perfect moment…it'd all been worth it in the end. As he stared deeply into those beloved, shining gray orbs, he felt as though his heart would surely burst, it was so filled with joy.

"Oh, Pearl. My sweet Pearl." He cradled her radiant face in his hands. "I swear, I didn't fall in love with you because you're so lovely it hurts to look at you. I didn't fall in love with you because you make love seem like a dream. All of that is just a bonus."

She treated him to another glowing beam.

"I wish I could describe how happy; how special you've made me feel, Luke. Because you are handsome and brilliant and worldly and wonderful…the world is your oyster. You could have had anything else in the world, and you choose me."

She smiled up at him with her heart in her eyes. Till her dying day, she knew she would never cease thinking Luke Triton was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"But I don't want anything else in the world. I never will." He pulled her closer. "Try to elaborate to me, love," he coaxed. "Describe to me what happiness feels like."

"Like warmth," she said.

"You can't be happy while you're cold?" He seemed perplexed.

"Like simplicity," she explained.

"Happiness isn't ever hard?" He asked, more baffled now. "It's never complex?"

"Like success," she tried again. "Like achievement."

"Can't you stay happy in the face of failure?" He looked worried now.

"Like softness," she said. "Like gentleness. Like a tornado bursting through you; like a volcano erupting. Happiness… feels like gladness to be alive. It feels like, blanket forts and daisies, and sunshine and rainstorms, and old books and hidden bookstores."

Pearl was feeling a bit verbally overwrought now. She was nowhere near as articulate and well-read as he was, and it was showing.

He opened his mouth to inquire again.

"But no, that's still not it."

This was getting frustrating.

"What does happiness feel like…for you?" He struggled to understand.

Pearl sighed and snuggled into him.

"Like being loved," she whispered at last, and then he was finally silent. "Like loving and being loved in return."

She twined her arms around his neck, and the shock of sensation was so strong, so overpowering, that she shut her eyes against it as if she could hide in the darkness.

"I really need to kiss you now, Pearl Fey." His lips were already descending towards hers. "And I want to keep kissing you until our lips can't tell each other apart."

Don't just kiss somebody with an open mouth – kiss them with an open heart. A kiss should not be something that you do with your lips, but with the whole of your being. Do not kiss somebody absentmindedly or incidentally, kiss them like you are present; like there's nowhere else you'd rather be. Kiss them with a lingering that seems to last forever because in your heart of hearts you want it to… Kiss like you want this moment to last for eternity. Kiss them with everything that you have and everything that you are; be open, be vulnerable, be receptive but do not under any circumstances hold back. Kiss like you're dying of thirst and they are the purest water that has ever touched your lips… Kiss in a way they will never forget… with a fire and an intensity that will burn into their memory for the rest of their life. Because that is the difference between a touch of the lips and a kiss… one ends the moment you part… and the other stays with you forever.

And then they were kissing. He lost all thought as he gathered her against him. He kissed her like the world was ending tomorrow and he wanted to commit the taste of her mouth to his soul's memory. As soon as her lips were on his, his hand was at the back of her neck and he was pulling her against his chest like he'd been waiting for this forever and he was not going to let her escape. But she didn't want to go anywhere. She trembled with the need to touch him everywhere at once, to feel him touching her everywhere at once. He would give up everything to go with her. The two savored the kiss that knocked the world out from under them.

The kiss obliterated her. It was like coming home or being born or suddenly finding an entire half of herself that had been missing.

Home is not where you are from, it is where you belong. Some of us travel the world to find it. Others find it in a person. And Luke Triton, you are my home.

Sometime later…

Flora Layton and Anneliese Rudolf
Hyde Park
July 21, 2026

"Do you think they'll be able to see us?" Flora whispered as she peeked through the bushes to cast a furtive peek at her father and Katharina several hundred meters away by the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. "The jig is all up if they catch us spying on them!"

"With all these scads of people milling about? And from this far distance? Don't be daft!" Anneliese scoffed, craning her neck to take a gander at the still-bonded pair. "I am less concerned about us getting caught and more so about the fact that those two have not even had der Knutschen yet! We left them tied up ages ago so the Professor could not run away from Mama this time … so why has nothing still happened between them? Your Papa does fancy women, ja?"

"Daddy is not a bender!" Flora confirmed crossly, then frowned. "Moreover, he's a world-class gentleman! Surely you aren't expecting them to bonk in a public park!"

"Bonk?!" Anneliese stared at in her disbelief. "What in the name of Hitler's panties and matching bra set are you talking about?"

Flora's cheeks turned pink.

"Well, you said a word that had nut in it so I took that to mean…"

"Gott hilf mir, it's like talking to a lemming in a skirt!" Anneliese rolled her hazel eyes heavenward. "Flora, I am not expecting our parents to be doing anything X-rated – in public or private! When my Mama the nun last had Geschlechtsverkehr, Queen Elizabeth was still on the throne! On top of that, from what you tell me, the Professor has been living like a monk just as long if not longer! Nein, I merely meant I was shocked to see that our parents still had not even smooched. It is so obvious he is as hot for her as she is for him… so why are they resisting the inevitable?!"

"Perhaps some people don't move that fast?" Flora suggested. "I mean, it's only been a few hours…not everyone is ready to pucker up and snog at the drop of a hat! I don't know how life in the fast lane works in Germany, but English folks are not known for our loose lips!"

"Speaking with puritan authority, are we?" Anneliese drawled. "On that note, just how far have you gone, junge Dame?"

"How far? You mean aside from the time I went on a road trip with my biological father to Italy?"

"Ha-ha, very funny! I meant how far have you gone with a male – ugh, hopefully, a non-relative! – on the Rummachen scale, Flora?"

"Erm, that means snogging, yeah?" The brunette blushed furiously. "Hold it! There's a scale?"

"My friends and I came up with one a few years so – it's a more expansive version of the first, second, and third bases that seem to be the more universal way of measuring how far you have gone with a boy," the German girl explained, already pulling out her cell. "I posted this on my blog page, just for a laugh, and it seems to have become the unofficial measuring chart with my group over the years!"

She turned the mobile towards her friend and winked.

"Number five is admittedly bizarre. I don't know how Geoff got in here, but that is boys for you! I blame the Deutsche patriarchy, personally!"

Flora looked at the phone screen in Anneliese's hand and promptly cracked up.

Hahahahahaha! Once again, those Lederhosen types come up trumps on the mirth o'meter!

The Official Full-Frontal Knutschen Scale

1. Händchen halten (hold hands)

2. Arm umlegen (Turn your arm over)

3. Abschiedskuss (Goodbye kiss)

4. Kuss, der uber drei Minuten (Kiss that's over three minutes)

5. Kuss mit geöffneten Lippen (Kiss with open lips)

6. Zungenkuss (French kiss but can include ear snogging and neck nuzzling)

7. Oberkörper Knutschen – im Freien – (Upper body fondling – above clothing)

8. Oberkörper Knutschen – drinnen – (Upper body fondling – under clothing)

9. Rummachen unterhalb der Taille – Ja, oh ja baby! – (Below the waist activity)

10. AUFS GANZE GEHEN! (Go all the way!)

Anneliese patiently waited until Flora had ceased her giggling fit and was finally able to breathe again before she resumed prodding into the virtuous girl's non-baked goods related love life.

"Well then? Spill the tea!"

"I'm not quite sure," Flora admitted. "This scale seems a trifle confusing! You dish first!"

"Fine. My first kiss was awful! I was 12 and we were playing 7-Minutes In Heaven. That is the game where you go to a boys and girls co-ed party and get locked in a closet with a boy to do whatever you want with him in the allotted time. Well, my Junge, Friedrich, tried to be cute and do a little nibble on my lip – but he bit me! I remember bursting out of there holding my poor, injured mouth and shouting: Ich glaub michknutscht ein Hamster!"

Flora let out a loud guffaw.

"Let me guess… based on context alone, your injured adolescent self was protesting – I think I am smooching a hamster!"

Anneliese nodded and let out a loud snicker.

"Is it any wonder I have an aversion to rodents?! I would not even tolerate one as a pet. OK –your turn now!"

"Nothing too exciting, I'm afraid. Obviously, I'm the original Virgin Mary! I've never let a boy see me starkers, never mind had a leg over!"

"Was zum Teufel ist das?"

"A leg over … you know?! The Full Monty! Starkers… meaning I've not yet let any chap see me in my birthday suit! The furthest I've ever gone was two years ago, I let a bloke touch my strawberry creams!"

"Your what?!"

"My, um, basoomas." Flora awkwardly gestured to her modest bosom area.

"Aha!" Anneliese nodded her understanding. "Your Möpse, as we call them. Was it over the clothes or under?"

"Over."

"Virgin Mary mein Arsch! You have actually made it all the way to 7 on the snogging/ Knutschen scale, you minx!"

"In the grand scheme of things, I'm still pretty chaste though!" Flora insisted. "I've never even seen a bloke in his Y-fronts, never mind in the nuddy pants! The most I did was wildly snog Strawberry-Cream boy all night back in boarding school. I really fancied that fit, blond chap. He was a Norwegian exchange student named Bjørn…"

"Auf keinen Fall! Not another Nordic Junge! The last one I was with was a Swede named, Sven, he literally yodeled the moment he had … Blitzkrieg mit dem fleischgewehr!"

"Oo-er! If I'm a minx then you're a sex kitten!" Flora was impressed. "PHWOAR! Swedish, eh? I always imagined those gigantic, sexy Nordic types were huge in the… John Thomas area!"

"They are indeed quite tall and big," Anneliese conceded, then smirked. "But… as it turns out…Not everywhere!"

"Who's a naughty sex kitten then?" Flora couldn't resist taking the mickey out her friend just a bit. "I believe that would be you!"

"Please! Sven and I didn't AUFS GANZE GEHEN!" Anneliese loftily tossed back her golden curls. "But…I did see his Glied."

"Oo-er!"

Well, my hand did, anyway! He begged for me to give it ein Zungenkuss but I am no Schlampe and said Auf keinen Fall!"

"Was it because you weren't ready to go all the way? Or were you just not impressed enough with his two-bit tool to play How's Your Father? Don't tell me his tallywhacker was tiny?"

"Oh, Gott im Himmel and Donner and Blitzen! Nein, Flora, while it was not a Bratwurst, it was still no Vienna sausage! It was somewhere in between. Perhaps not quite tiny but more like… underwhelmingly unimpressive. The sort of below the belt, totally average Würstchen, which would have been adequate the first time you ever lay with a boy, to sort of ease you into it. So it should have proved to be sufficient, had I been ready to go that far at the time, which I was not. I guess you could have called it… a starter sausage."

"Blimey O'Reilly! This takes the bloody bee's pajamas!" Flora hooted. "An entry-level pecker then?"

"Ja, that's it! A beginner's bulge. Or, as you Brits like to say, a worthless willy."

"A trifling, one-eyed trouser trout."

"A rookie rod! I should have sent him down to the minors since he was not equipped for the Big Leagues!"

"Buggering Lucifer's bum! Todgers should always come with a résumé and a Google review!"

"Achtung, baby! You must first show me that Schwanz fax!"

And then the two childhood chums dissolved into fits of uninhibited girlish merriment, laughing like a couple of loons on loon tablets.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Kenny Loggins – Meet Me Halfway (chapter quote)
Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight – Love Is
TJ Davis – You're My Number One (Ending theme song for Sonic R. video game)
Westlife – Swear It Again
Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicholson (Snogging Scale)

Translations:

British

Cockney rhyming slang – "Septic"
If you are in London and you hear someone talk about a "septic" they are probably talking about you - because it's short for "septic tank" which equals "Yank" which is the English word for an American. How do you like them apples?Of course, in the case of Wayland, Espella could have very well just used "septic" in its literal sense too, and it would have been wholly applicable!

German
Was zum Geier? Hör auf, Scheiße zu labern, du Dummkopf! Was zum Henker ist falsch mit mir?! – (lit) What the vulture?!/What the hell?!/(fig) Stop babbling shit, you fool! (fig) What the heck (lit) What the hangman?! (is wrong with me?!)

Mein Gott im Himmel. Hershel Layton hat schöne Augen – My God in heaven, Hershel Layton's eyes are beautiful.

Trottel – Fool

Du lächerliches Mädchen! – You ridiculous girl!

Gott hilf mir-God help me

Auf keinen Fall! –hell no!

Blitzkrieg mit dem fleischgewehr! - Blitzkrieg of the flesh pipe

Quick shout out of thanks and replies to the following amazeballs readers/reviewers including PM's! Everyone else…thanks so much for reading! (Also, I've discovered emojis. Not sorry!) 😛

Chapter 191

Ilet Moratar

Apologies not needed hermana, your reviews are always worth waiting for! 💖

Ever since I played the game Full Throttle with the voice actor playing a biker gang leader having exactly what I always envisioned Tyrell Badd's voice to be like, I have only further exploded my head canons about my favourite Detective Badass! I made a passing line once that he prefers KISS and AC/DC to the depressing Spanish love songs and Nina Simone he has been forced to listen to while rooming with Nurse Ratched a.k.a. Franziska for a year, so if he's already into hard rock and everything else that is awesome I figure Manowar and Motörhead definitely round out the music tastes very nicely! Poor Lemmy was only 70 when he died and although Tyrell Badd's listed height is notably taller at 6 foot 2 to the late singer's 5 foot 8, the idea of him trying to emulate Lemmy's facial hair is hysterical! Of course given my slight crush on the Ace Attorney character I think Tyrell Badd (with his penchant for adopting his friends as his fellow kinsman like his wonderful bond with his niece Kay Faraday I've decided he is my spirit animal!) was better looking when he was younger you have no further to look than the second Miles game to get an idea of how well he is aged! 😍

One more thing about Tyrell Badd I can totally see him being a Lone Ranger type as in not the type to marry and settle down but I agree he may have had stories that would even curl Klavier's hair when it came to his crazy nights and he probably does enjoy regaling anyone that will listen with his crazy adventures… You don't get a Swiss cheese trench coat living a boring existence! I'm imagining he'd have too many lonely nights either, considering he's pretty strapping still and was even more so in both your imagination and in canon in his younger days, a.k.a. I have no doubt the sleepless nights were not solo! 😉

I am delighted that you enjoyed the action scenes they were very difficult to write in the whole chapter took about a week to put together especially since all the sequences were happening at the same time! Obviously, our heroes had to survive but I couldn't allow them to be completely unscathed which is why poor Agent Lang got a knife to the culo! Heads up there's no way Kay is going to let the Wolf Man live that down! 😆

Chapter 192

****SPOTLIGHT REVIEW****

TheFreelancerSeal

I have found that Murphy's Law tends to apply to music I remember after some scarring breakups in the past innocently wandering into a mall and hearing music playing that reminded me of my exes, or whenever turned on the radio or even went to a party… It's a reoccurring theme in this story that Ace Attorney gang is plagued with this musical curse (despite my headcanon that pretty much all the more musically gifted one way or another either instrumentally or singing lies except for the Payne brothers… their collective singing sounds like the howling of sick wallabies!) But I digress!

I find for any of my long-term readers who have been with me since day one being 192 chapters in is like being in a long-term relationship I gotta try to keep things fresh and interesting and unpredictable so my readers don't get bored just like I would if I was actually dating you all… So far since he told me I can still capture and captivate it means I haven't started slacking which by the way is an unpardonable sin as a writer and in all relationships! 😉

Trapped In The Drive-Thru was going to be my secondary chapter title except at press time there is no song by that name… Not even by Weird Al… I checked! And I do try to keep the theme of each chapter being a song title how obscure that tune may be with the occasional exception in my earlier chapters… Makes that YouTube music video playlist for this story all that much more colourful and eclectic!

I don't think Ema and Maya look as much alike as they did when they were teenagers and the character was first introduced in Rise from the Ashes, but since they made the former playful and kind of ditzy and pretty much made her character design Maya 2.0 (minus the murder charges) I'd like to think maybe the girls have some other latent character traits and seeing as how Ema can put away those Snackoos like a squirrel storing nuts for winter… I'm thinking maybe she could hold her own in an eating contest against Maya although I think it's obvious the Burger Queen would win! Ema would've gone for the Häagen-Dazs but it's still morning and it might be too early for her to have ice cream or perhaps none the parlays were open yet after all this is Los Angeles maybe they actually pay mind of those things over there since everyone supposed to be some kind a health nut or something…

"Also, being the hockey fan I am, nice burn on the Toronto Maple Leaves, although ouch all the same."

Sweet! Someone actually got that reference! Toronto's hockey team has not won the cup since 1967 which was light years from my own date of birth… And I am really skeptical but it will happen in my lifetime but stranger things have been known to happen… Like the second season of the Ace Attorney anime actually being drawn with decent artwork after being slammed by fans and critics harder than a screen during a hurricane after season one… (Personally I'm just happy to see my favourite characters being animated but I guess I'm easy to please?)

I wish I could be as creative in dealing with obnoxious drivers which are in no short of abundance since I live in a major city… But I'm only creative enough to blow him a kiss to piss them off Bugs Bunny style with my sweetness if they get belligerent and horny (as in beeping!) With me… For everything else is MasterCard… As well as the good old-fashioned bird! 😛

I'm really happy I made you root for Klavier and Ema especially in this new sound Ace Attorney universe where that turd golem Benedict Sadmahdi actually exists and has helped rock the boat of that ship known as the SS SkyeFop!

Klema's scenes were not supposed to be romantic but you're not going crazy if you picked up on the underlying message underneath the tragedy behind that phone call… It didn't really seem like there were about to have a moment before they got c-blocked by a certain rhinestone cowboy. Jake is tall dark and handsome but I was pretty amused when you called him EYE-TAL-LEE-YAN … is it because of his penchant for spaghetti? Or did I miss something in the character backstory?

It's so easy to root for these two… On the surface, they seem so different what with her being all serious and scientific and him being a playful, devil may care flirt, but they both have pretty tragic backstory's involving their siblings… (even though Ema's does not make Kanye's recently fingered butthole a real pip by comparison!), and to have the rug pulled out from underneath them! It's a good thing Klavier was there to catch her before she fell… And what girl wouldn't swoon at the idea falling into a pair of strong, muscular arms? Even though my heart belongs to Phoenix the fop is gorgeous! Nobody's that gay! 😆

Speaking of backstories that's one fine memory you got there pardner! When Miles was given the prosecutor's job which he back-burnered because of his Euro trip, he did ask the Honourable Jughead Chambers for two favors one was TBD and the other one was not revealed until now but now you know what Miles the Mirific did… Arrange for Jake to be released from prison despite that prison fight setback… The question, of course, is whether calling in this chit was done in vain or not since we don't know whether or not Miles and Lana made it out of their ordeal alive… Start sipping that psychic Polyjuice potion, pal! 😉

Psst! You were Wright about the Sonic Song! 😉

Ariastella

My wonderful friend and longtime loyal reader who inspired my initial dedication of Filling The Void and was the main reason it ever got off the ground after all those legging months of writer's block when I was forced to write a solo… It means the world to me that you were still reading the story! Thank you for taking the time to drop me a line, you have been missed! ❤

Moiloru

"... I think you have a word in English for this kind of emotion... Bittersweet? Yeah, that. Seeing poor Ema going through so much, it's honestly tough. Seeing Klavier loving her from the bottom of his heart, it's honestly beautiful. The world is made of these moments where your heart is split between opposite feelings like those of joy and sadness, however, having you of all people write about said feelings... it is truly special."

*sniff*

Once again I am humbled by your kindness and eloquence in your last review… I was a bit nervous about writing Klema after so long but I feel like I'm sitting on top of the world! As is tradition, I am humbled to the point where I'm at a loss for words to express how this review made me feel, but allow me to try….

My wonderful poetic reader… I do believe the word is bittersweet is the word you seek – BTW, is there such a term in French? You have no idea how happy I felt that my readers could pick up on the depth of the emotions I was trying to show, because although nothing physical has happened between them, I still was able to convey that despite the shortness of their alleged courtship (which was really only the briefest of friendships before she found out about his part in Nick's disbarment) Klavier really does love Ema.

As I was reading what was going on in the prosecutor's mind, I felt what he felt, the need to help someone you love so dearly, not because they need help, but because they need YOUR help.

Three of the most difficult things to say in any language are: "I love you," "I'm sorry" and "help me."

Sometimes though, you get really lucky and you meet someone who is able to sense the case in all three and no words are needed. In this case despite latest tragedy to the fall her, such was the case with Klavier who sensed that she needed his help even though she never said out loud.

Excellent guess…the Bambina caller at the end… that was indeed Ema's overprotective future brother-in-law Jake Marshall, who is no longer imprisoned! How did such a miracle happen? And how will he react to finding out that the love of his life may no longer be in this world the minute he had she became a free man? Am I going into a horrible Miego fateful consequences arc with the story since the Skye sisters and Jake were supposed to be analogues of the Fey sisters and Godot?! We'll find that out soon enough! 😉

Many hugs,

JP

Joeclone

I have missed writing Ema and to be honest I was a bit nervous writing SkyeFop again, since it's been a dog's age and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the flow of their dynamic which I'm I'm trying to portray right, but wonderful and reassuring feedback like yours had me grinning from ear to ear like I was the Grinch! I felt so pumped!

It's hard to say who came out worse for wear from that disastrous non-date brunch date… Ema who believes it is further conclusive proof that she will die a virgin, or Apollo, who is already jaded enough in life and this is before he finds out another two of his daddies are dead in his best friend joins the Twilight Realm! Poor sod! As for whether Polly will swear off romance for the rest of his life… Don't worry he will never be alone! For one thing until Athena enters the fray, he will always be Trucy's long-suffering, unwitting assistant, plus… Have you forgotten about the ultimate ship? Justley! Apollo X Charley! 😆

If you want to be like Klavier, I really hope you can just get right to the good stuff and have a girl admit she's got the hots for you rather than catapult you with rockhard chocolate missiles and tell everybody within 500 km radius that she would rather accept a drink from Bill Cosby than ever go out with you ! I also hope if you decide to become a glimmerous fop/prosecutor/rockstar, you wear a little bit less bling… Ema is only about 5 feet tall to Klavier 6 feet and I think the gaudy shiny big G around his neck tends to hit her right in the eye and temporarily blind her when it catches the light, which is probably the reason why is she so grumpy around him! After all, it's women who are supposed to blind men… At least with their beauty (and Ema's case of course, She Blinded Him With Science), so why upset the nature of things? 😝

Jokes aside, the biggest thing standing between Ema and Klavier right now isn't so much his womanizing and Ema believing he was sweet talking her the night he got drunk just to get into her pants, only to have all become invalidated by finding out he bedded a bimbo waitress the very next night, but the fact that he actually did have a huge part to play in Phoenix getting disbarred. That is a pink elephant in the room which is not going to stop resurfacing, but I'm going to have a lot of fun with golden boy's redemption arc and him being there for the nerdy science beauty when she was at her most devastated was definitely a starting point! I'm happy you enjoyed the way I portrayed his emotions… Since he's got more worldly experience, he would definitely be the one more in tune with his emotions and be the first want to know he's been bitten by the love bug… Not all he's got to do got to convince Ema that she does feel the same way and has been afflicted by the same love bite… While hoping she doesn't bite back… Hard! 😉

"WHAT THE HELL, JAKE MARSHAL! YOU LOW-DOWN PESKY BUZZARD! JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YER DOIN' KILLIN' THE SWEET MOMENT 'TWEEN EMA AND KLAVIER DEAD LIKE FRANK MILLER?! (From the classic movie "High Noon," not the controversial comic book writer) YOU DIRTY SHIP-SINKING SPITOON-DINGING COWBOY-TALKING PONCHO-TOUTING SON OF A RABID COYOTE!"

That was freaking glorious! LMFAO! My God your last few reviews have freaking killed me… I you trying to give CzarThwomp a run for his money is the funniest man in our fandom ? 😛

Sweetie, if the most I have to wait after posting a chapter is a mere 24 hours to hear from one my favourite readers (despite the chapter being a slightly triggering one) who is always one of the first ones drop me a line and is one people who consistently reminds me why I keep writing after all these years, then I am truly blessed. Not just as a writer, not just now during the holiday season but year-round!

I do believe you did mention the accident with your siblings and while I am apologetic to love even unintentionally have brought back harrowing memories, I am so happy to hear about your Christmas miracle and that they're both alive and well. This really is the time of year for miracles and anyone who claims that they don't believe in miracles seems to forget that they are one! Yes, that means YOU! 💖

chloemcg

Once again, apologies, I screwed up my own chapter names milady… Chapter 191 was Thy Kingdom Come chapter 192 was supposed to be called Call To Arms but it wasn't, it was One Call Away, so here we are chapter 193… I finally got it right! I hope you enjoyed the real Call To Arms when it comes next chapter or so. In the meantime, just to show how much weight I carry in reader suggestions, here is why this chapter was dedicated to you: (a suggestion you made so long ago you have forgotten it!)

"But I can definitely think of Luke and Pearl galavanting off and arriving in England and Luke sends Pearl on a puzzle-solving trip around London so Pearls can locate her missing heroic gentleman apprentice (kind of like a romantic treasure hunt) while he waits for her at the end of the day with a bouquet of rare flowers and a special night out as they have lovely a candlelit picnic inside Big Ben."

Thank you, milady!❤

I decided it was time to bring my favourite non-Fey female back onto the scene, since more than one reader has mentioned her and it is been criminal how long it's been since we saw her and Klavier, even though it's only been a few days in the storyline, I know it's been ages in actual real-life time!

I don't think you need to worry too much about Lana X Edgeworth (assuming if they do pull-through!) seeing as how her no longer in jail fiancé, Jake Marshall was the official SkyeFop knob-blocker last chapter, which means there's a new sheriff – er, cowboy in town! 😉

Forgreatcoffee

Your comment about Ema having more roles than a bakery reminded me of an absolutely god-awful song from the early 90's…it was by a bunch of mouth breathers in a Ska band called One and the offensive tune disguised as tolerance of fat-bottomed girls everywhere (which Queen managed to do with considerable panache and where these guys can only be described as epic fail) was called "Wide Load."

The lyrics were as follows:

Well, it sounds like Ema should have more rolls than a bakery at the rate she is going. She and Maya may each need to carry around a stick of butter with them to grease the doorways, as both could both end up in the "can't fit through the door" club.

Check out the size of that girl's caboose

I said, you try to get away but it ain't no use

Better run for cover or she'll trample you

She leaves footprints in the sidewalk as she passes through

And

Check out the size of that girl's backside
I ain't never seen nothin' so wide
When she walks by, the ground it does shake
When she runs, she cause an earthquake

Yep. I never been an uptight feminist sword and even I will concede that this song is so offensive to women that there's no way in hell they could've gotten away with it without major backlash from the Femi-Nazis and even non-Femi Nazis alike… Assuming even got on the air in the first place I'm wondering whose balls they had to rub to get that weak sauce shizz recorded? I'm sure they had a nice pair smooth ones…just like Mr. rhymes with Pullverine (also $10 internet dollars to whoever gets that reference!) . 😉

Ema had run out of Snackoos which is why she was at the bakery in the first place but being a trained detective armed and combat if Polly had stepped out of line! I'm sure she would've found some other way to show her displeasure, though, and either maimed him with that same swift foot which helped ensure the fop would not be having children many chapters ago when she found out about his part in Phoenix's disbarment, or just used whatever force multipliers were available… I think it would been comical but cruel if she had started off with pinging sugar packets off Herr Forehead's five head!

"So here we have a beautiful moment between Ema and the Fop, filled with raw emotion and then some wannabe rhinestone cowboy comes and interrupts. Marshall should at least be a useful walking mood killer and bring a dustpan to clean up all the glass."

Hee!

Yeah, even though Marshall is a rhinestone cowboy at best, all those years of doing hard time with nothing better to do but lift weights and play cards definitely means you would not want to be Klavier right now… Or else Jake would probably call him, one of them namby-pamby city slickers.

If Jake decided to let his fiscal flying I don't think it be any contest whatsoever as to who would be victorious… Not only is he more of a lover than a fighter most likely, but the fop has gym muscles which are probably decoration ul despite the aesthetically pleasing granite pecks he is rocking visibly in almost every shot… Jake's been in prison fight I reckon that coxcomb has merely the briefest of spells to either skedaddle or explain why the woman the ex-convict, who he's always seen as his little sister and as far as he knows, was supposed to be his future sister-in-law, was crying in his pretty boy Rockstar arms… Can you really blame him if he thought the fop was the cause? I mean you could, and the fop definitely does…but besides that? 😝

Ilet Moratar

I learned the best way to get over a hero worship crush on somebody is to get to know him better. Once Ema realizes, by befriending him and not just worshiping him from afar (a feat which insanely enough made her "suddenly feel like confessing to everything!") what a cranky pants curmudgeon the posh and princely tea drinking prosecutor really is beneath the surface, she'll realize she's better off with the Rock God… Who loves her unconditionally. At least in my story. In canon I will still give him kudos over Khura'in Galadriel because unlike Nahpoota, the rockstar God is not a pious monk/man of the cloth (which means he's allowed to use his mango which being a rockstar was probably used as much as Yarini's and probably matches the size🍆!) And he actually lets Ema fiddle around with her little scientific experiments before she actually got her forensics badge. AND he doesn't subject her to eight hour long sermons and threatened to cut her salary which is an international prosecutor and even know he was given the authority to do but I digress (I know you haven't played Spirit of Justice yet but those are the least of his sins trust me!) Instead he subjects her to outrageous flirting which always seems leave her flustered and tantalizing glimpses of his tanned granite pecks with his unbuttoned his shirt… I may be in love with Phoenix but even I will acknowledge that the blond Rock God is an Adonis! His biggest flaw is his incomprehensible to be Mr. Nice Guy and Mr. Perfect to everybody around him (to the point where some of the fandom sees him as a Gary Stu counterpart to Athena being a Mary Sue both of which I think are inaccurate by the way) when he's had his own issues to deal with. Ones which would definitely cause at least some temporary internal damage to his psyche… I mean seriously, canon wise, his creepsicle German dildo ends up being a homicidal maniac, and then three months later he finds out the same thing about his own best friend the literal dickhead (who is probably responsible for the Sharknado franchise) who apparently never really cared for him all too much anyway and hence, he lost his band and then his mentor gets murdered in the next game… Like okay I was mad at him too, for his part in Phoenix's disbarment but Capcom is out for blood with the poor guy! Like, slow down there, Satan!😱

But on a more serious note, scientifically speaking these two would make a great love story – as well as such gorgeous babies because they're both so pleasing to the eye and I'm such a big fan of opposites attracting and relationships it started out as a love-hate dynamic I think we all know Ema doesn't really hate the fop and it's more of a case of the lady doth protest too much! She genuinely gets angered and seemingly jealous by his rabid fangirls always stomping all over the crime scenes… while she has somehow managed to convince herself that his biggest flaw is that he's not Miles Edgeworth!

That being said, let's talk Klavier can literally dodge the bullet coming from Ema's overprotective recently sprung brother-in-law… Although he is built like a God I get the feeling being in the arts Klavier is more of a lover than a fighter whereas Jake has done some hard time with nothing to do but play cards, reflect on the last time he and Lana had sex which was literally seven years ago… And left a lot of heavyweights… I get the feeling his pythons could probably rival the Rock's! 😉

CzarThwomp

(THE SNAFLATULATING HATH BEGUN!)

"The lovechild of Winston and the Koopa Queen…"

I'm sure Winnie's wife would Diana (Lotta) Payne from that non-flattering description! Also, Tweedle Screechy, aka AA's head annoying pipsqueak with an unfortunate physique, would surely try to sue you for slander of his baby mama, even if it is true! I never did say Winnie married a looker…and given how I've described their unfortunate looking offspring; your surmising of his egg donor would be as accurate as any. Clearly, that lot got too much chlorine into the gene pool! 😆

Okay so here's little secret about me and how I generally regard the fop at least initially (obviously he's since grown on me). Considering his part in getting my husbando disbarred, I really couldn't stand him. Then I realized I liked him but only if I'm writing him with Ema, but now he's grown on me, period even though this gentlewoman doesn't usually prefer blonds. I know he's not liked by a lot of people for the same reason as Athena… She seen as a Mary Sue he is seen as a Gary Stu, but considering everything he's gone through, I can't say that's a fair thing to say anymore. You're Wright – he's gone through Hölle, what with Bloodthirsty Sharknado, (whose actions singlehanded galvanized the Gavinners into going tits up!) Killer Prissy Krissy and then getting his mentor get murdered in the next game I think Crapcom/karma has been hard enough on the poor guy as retribution for what happened to Nick… As Rayfa would say "That's enough!" Like, what in the name of Beelzebub's stamp collection could possibly be left to happen to the poor guy?! Even rock stars get the blues…although we have yet to see if a certain rhinestone cowboy will make him be singing permanent soprano once he gets his hands on Klavi-Kins for the alleged guilty act of upsetting his bambina!

I think the cowboy equivalent of Seppuku may be death by sticking a ginormous cactus where the sun don't shine… I tend to save my cliff diving scenarios for characters a bit more loathsome… Like in my drabble series were through Wocky Kitaki off a cliff under the entry called "Falling!" 😈

The idea of Gumshoe trying to force his noncompatible blood into the blue blood that is coursing through the veins of the princely Miles Edgeworth is hysterical! Although of course nowhere near as harrowing as the thought of Nurse Ratched/Franziska channeling her inner Cathy Bates… I don't know if you read the book version or only saw the movie but if not mistaken she actually hacked off his feet/legs not just broke them like in the film!😱

About Ema being back in the fray…Seriously, I try to bring back characters from the background back into the spotlight when it makes the most sense, and what with the way the sting storyline arc ended, that time hath cometh! I also have missed the whirlybird spinning of the tumultuous almost but not quite couple that is otherwise known as SkyeFop! If nothing else, surely the poor girl's Slice of Hell love life can make most people feel better about theirs? I mean, how on earth could one possibly fail in the romantic department with an uptight, 22-year-old virgin with a stick jammed so far up his needle-butt, you can see it when he yawns?! Not to mention one with a forehead you could project How The West Was Won upon?!

You're not alone in having missed the impeded, otherwise well-oiled engine of the S.S. Klema. The worst part was that said monkey-wrench was unwittingly caused by a regrettable onetime meaningless dalliance with a Frau of such questionable virtue that well, I'm not exactly saying was a Schlampe but has had more balls in her mouth than Hungry, Hungry Hippos! 😁