Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Professor Layton franchise.
Chapter 17 Puzzling Revelations
''Tell us, professor!'' Luke shouted enthusiastically.
The ball of illumination above the boy's head dispersed into smaller bits of light, startled from the sudden shout and scattered throughout the room. It was a beautiful sight. The group stared at the phenomenon for a moment, before rekindling their concentration.
''Right, so looking at the facts that we have collected and the riddle on the door, I shall break it down.''
''Uhu...So the riddle reads; As old as the gods, the patterns never change. The invention that lasts forever. Find my gift to help you along the way.'' Emmy mumbled.
''Yes, your expertise helped me on the first part of the riddle my dear. You told me that Thoth was known to bring the compass into our world.''
''Yes...I suppose that would count as an invention that lasts forever, but what does a compass have to do with patterns. Also do we know if the compass is as old as the gods themselves?''
''A compass is used to navigate oneself around. Logic states that whatever the gods bring into the world would not be as old as the gods themselves. This got me thinking. How did people navigate in ancient times?''
Emmy and Luke thought deep about what the answer could be, when suddenly Emmy's face brightened up.
''The stars!''
''Exactly my dear. They used the position of the stars to make their way around. The stars are as old as the gods since they have been here since the beginning of time. Another clue in the riddle was the word pattern. The stars have a set pattern that hasn't changed. I believe this is the pattern we should use to figure out this puzzle.''
''Alright awesome! So, what about the next part? Would it have to have something to do with the pencil in his hand? Since he gifted that to the humankind or something?'' Emmy asked.
''That's what I thought at first as well, until you two came over with Luke's new friends.''
''Wait, the fireflies?'' Luke asked. ''How could they help?''
''Well my boy, from what I overheard you say, these little animals have been given eternal life have they not?
''Yes they have! So eternal life is the gift? How are we supposed to get that…?'' Luke asked, confused.
The professor chuckled and shaked his head.
''No Luke, the fireflies themselves are the gift.''
''A gift to who?'' Emmy asked.
''To whomever would need their help. Luke, may I please examine one of your friends up close?''
Luke mumbled softly to the firefly that was left on his shoulder, who quickly flew up into the air. The little ball of light slowly flew over to the professor and landed on his finger. The professor brought the creature close to his eyes and squinted.
''As I thought, these fireflies are mechanically enhanced. They are tiny so it's hard to see, but they seem to have almost been completely interchanged with a life sustaining mechanism. Whoever invented this must have been a genius with small parts. I believe it is the same person who created the rest of the puzzles.''
''You don't think it's Thoth, do you?'' Emmy asked.
''Maybe. We can never say for sure. Now, to continue my explanation, I discovered the pattern in the holes on the door, hold similar shape to the little fireflies at our disposal.''
''So the fireflies need to fly into the holes!?'' Luke almost shouted.
''Exactly.''
''But they would probably need to fly into certain holes...not all of them, right?'' Emmy asked while examining the holes.
''Correct. The pattern that aligns with the stars.''
''But that depends completely on the point of where you're standing, doesn't it? Plus we can't even see the stars from inside the cave…'' Luke sighed.
''I believe the final clue can be found in the room my boy. Emmy, have you noticed anything strange?''
Emmy looked back into the room once more and tried hard to spot whatever he was referring to. She thought back to her own investigation, finding it strange the statues had yet fulfilled a purpose. She eyed the three statues from top to bottom, when the realisation hit her.
''The statues are pointing in the direction in which we need to look!''
''Precisely. If you look around this room, you will actually see that this room is strangely shaped like a compass as well. The statues in the middle of the room are supposed to be the needle. From what I can tell, the door is supposed to be north. This would mean the needle is pointing either south-east or north-west. Emmy, would you be so kind to find the exact middle point of this room.''
Emmy walked back to the statues and looked around the room to find the center.
''I believe it's just behind the second statue professor.''
''Hm. If you look at a compass, the needle with the longer side always points north. This would mean our correct direction is north-west. Thank you my dear.''
Emmy moved back to the door with a small smile.
I don't think I could've made it this far without him.
''Now, if my internal compass is correct, I believe the city of Nemhat was actually first built in the north-west direction. Whether this was intentional or not, is a question for another time. From research, one can conclude the palace was the first buildings built in the nation. Back then it was probably not a palace and just a simple structure, but it had the exact view of the stars we are looking for.''
''The view from the palace...I don't think I remember that well enough. You professor?'' Emmy asked.
''No, unfortunately not my dear. But...isn't your little cottage perfectly aligned with the palace?''
Emmy gasped and nodded vigorously.
''It is! And I know exactly what the sky looks like from my balcony! I've...spent so many nights there…''
''I think I remember a little bit as well. From the evening we met.''
''All of this is making my head hurt to be honest.'' Luke sighed.
''Luke, Emmy and I will point to which holes the fireflies need to be positioned in. Could you be so kind to ask them to do so?''
''Of course professor! That much I can do.''
And as said, Emmy and the professor thought of a way to map the stars together. The professor instructed the fireflies to the main points of the constellations. Emmy then continued to fill in the gaps with the lesser obvious stars, creating an intricate pattern on the door. After some moving around, the fireflies started to give off an eerie green glow.
''I think...we've come far enough to receive a little help.'' The professor stated. ''Luke, ask the fireflies without the glow to please get out of the holes. I believe the fireflies were also responsible for the glow outside earlier.''
Luke did as instructed and watched in awe as the positioned fireflies glowed even brighter. Emmy shielded her eyes, unable to look directly at the door any longer.
''Were definitely doing something right.''
The doors however, were still closed.
''What are we missing…'' The professor mumbled.
They could just have to move around some of the fireflies, but that didn't seem like the case.
''Luke, are they saying anything by chance?''
''The fireflies?''
''Yes.''
''Hm, just a moment.''
Luke walked closer to the doors with his eyes closed, trying hard to focus on the soft whispers in the air.
''I think...they...need to hear something?''
''Hear something? But...there is nothing left in the riddle to figure out.'' The professor said, confused.
He was running out of ideas. He glanced over to Emmy, who carried a fear struck expression.
What is she afraid of?
''I think...they...need to hear something?'' She heard Luke say.
''Hear something? But...there is nothing left in the riddle to figure out.''
Her heart skipped a beat. She took a step forward, her heart pounding in her ears.
This is it.
The blinding light burned her eyes. Her throat felt dry and extremely wet at the same time. She could see her vision blurr.
This is it.
No time for tears. No time for explanations.
Just do it. Get it over with. You wanted this didn't you?...Didn't you?
Emmy knew her face gave the fear in her heart away, but she couldn't control it any longer. She took another step forward towards the door and clasped her shirt close to her heart. Luke had taken a step back to the professor to discuss their next step, but turned around in surprise when the brunette passed him.
''Emmy...what are you?''
Emmy didn't respond. She walked up to the door and leaned her forehead against the crack. She knew this must look strange to the other two. She knew...this was going to be the end. She thought back to the time when she finally found information about this place...about it's treasure. The first few puzzles were not explained, but the phrases needed to pass had been written down. She was glad she had found those inscriptions. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get where she was now. She inhaled deeply and repeatedly started whispering softly against the door.
''I name and embrace thee. I wish to command the fury.''
''Professor, what is she doing?''
Luke turned to his mentor, who had a striking sadness in his eyes.
''I...think this is the moment we lose her, Luke.''
''What…?''
The light from the fireflies died down, leaving it faintly lit. Emmy removed her head from the doors and looked up, where the crack started to split. The doors slowly opened, revealing the next room.
She started to walk through the opening without looking back. Without another word. Luke didn't know what to do. His mentor seemed to have frozen in place and Emmy was being very mysterious all of a sudden.
She had almost completely disappeared into the next room, when Luke decided he could no longer stand still. He pulled onto the professor's sleeve and dragged him towards the door. The fireflies all started to shoot loose from their places in the wall and followed inside as well, now lighting the place alongside the walls. Luke had successfully dragged the gentleman further into the room and looked around astonished.
The room was relatively dark, except from the soft glow of the fireflies and the light blue hue originating from a small orb at the back of the room. The orb was stationarily set on a dark pedestal. Inside the orb, a delicate marble hand stuck up from out of the pedestal. Luke could tell, one of the fingers had a ring around it as well.
Emmy was standing right in front of the orb, staring at it with a hint of shock in her sorrowful eyes. The blue hue reflected coldly on her tanned skin. It almost seemed like she had forgotten the other two men were present in the room as well, until she turned around to face them.
The professor in the meantime, had finally come back to his senses. He adjusted his top hat to cover his eyes and cleared his throat. Luke looked up at him and waited for either one of them to start talking.
He didn't like this...It felt the same like it had all those years ago, when Emmy...had turned on them.
The professor raised his gaze to meet with his old assistant. Even though they had spent the last few days getting closer, he had never felt more far away from her than now.
''So, it has come to this.'' He said in a low voice.
''Yes, I suppose it has.'' Emmy answered.
Thinking of puzzles is hard yo. Sorry if these got a little convoluted...I'm really bad at explaining them as well haha :')
Excited to see what happens next? Tune in next monday for the update…
Ps: I'm going to start uploading every friday as well since I'm already so far ahead with the story in my drafts!