Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Professor Layton franchise.
Chapter 22 Severed Connections
After their talk with the king, the princess decided she wanted to retreat to her chamber for a moment to collect her thoughts. Luke figured it would be a good time to check if the professor had woken up. Once he entered the room, he was surprised to find his mentor out of bed, stretching on the balcony.
''Professor?'' Luke called out.
He turned around and greeted Luke with a small, weak smile.
''Good morning.''
''Er...good morning to you too. What are you doing out of bed?'' Luke asked while walking up to the balcony.
''Well the doctor said some daylight and fresh air would do wonders. I have also been given some strong medicine. I should be back to my feverish state in a little over an hour.'' the professor explained with a chuckle.
''Oh, that's too bad then…''Luke sighed.
He sat down on the bench and peered out over the city. The professor recognized that stare, knowing all too well when the boy was shouldering something too heavy.
''Talk over breakfast?'' he suggested.
Luke glanced back and nodded. He had a lot of explaining to do.
''Hm.'' the professor hummed after hearing the story from the king through Luke.
''I thought it might help with Emmy's whole ordeal. You know...if we would try to get her memories back.''
''I don't know if we should Luke.'' the professor sighed while spreading a smudge of butter over his toast.
''What do you mean?''
''She did this because she wanted to forget about her past. This unfortunately includes us as well, but that doesn't mean we can just remove the previous intent.''
''I know...but don't you want the old Emmy back professor?''
''I…'' the professor started, unsure what to say.
The very thought made his head pulse painfully.
''Let's see how she is doing for now. We will decide what to do later.''
''Alright…'' Luke said with a frown.
He had already made up his mind about Emmy. He wanted to get rid of it. If that meant going against the professor's wishes, that's what he would do. Although that would be difficult...The two gentlemen finished their breakfast in relative peace. They continued to talk about different things that weren't related to their stay in Nemhat.
They talked about Luke's exams, about how they missed Flora, about life at Gressenheller and many more things. The professor was glad to get his mind off for a moment. His headache lessened as well. Once they were completely finished, they both got up to return to their chamber, until a certain feminine voice called out from the other side of the room.
''Professor, Luke!''
They turned around to find the princess leaning against a wall, completely out of breath.
''Princess, what is...?'' Luke started.
''She is awake!'' she yelled.
''She...is awake?'' The professor repeated.
That was faster than he had expected. The throbbing pain in his head returned with a vengeance He placed his fingers against his temple with a frown.
''Professor?'' Luke turned to his mentor concerned. ''Are you alright?''
''Yes, fine, just...a headache.''
The princess moved closer to the two boys and steadied her breathing.
''I was just about to enter her room to check if she had woken up when one of the doctors walked out. He told me that she had just recently woken up. He has explained most of the situation to her and did some tests. It looks like her eyes have permanently turned blue for some reason and she doesn't seem to remember anything. The doctor is not ruling out a minor head injury for now that might induce memory loss. So she might get it back!''
The princess had obviously grabbed that last bit of information as a small splinter of hope.
''I don't know Farah...it seems…'' The professor sighed.
''No, don't say it.'' the princess intervened. ''I don't want to hear it.''
Tears had started forming in the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to lose her friend either…
''Is it possible for us to see her right now?'' Luke asked.
''Hm...I think so. The doctor said he was done with the tests and ordered her to stay put. I haven't actually talked to her yet either. I wanted to tell you two the news as soon as I heard it.''
''Thank you.'' the professor smiled at her. ''I truly appreciate it.''
''How are you feeling Ustaaz? I hope my staff is treating you kindly.''
''Yes absolutely they are. I feel a little bit better, but I will probably need to rest up a some more before I head out on an adventure again.'' He chuckled.
The professor usually wasn't the type of man to linger on the state of his body, but he figured now would be a good moment to do otherwise. He truly needed the time to think after all.
They walked towards the hallway in silence. The princess stopped in front of the door and turned around.
''I will leave you three alone for now. I think it would be for the best that she saw you first Layton Ustaaz.''
The professor could only nod. She walked off towards her own room, agreeing to meet them later tonight for dinner.
''Professor…?'' Luke said softly.
''Yes?''
''I think you should go in alone for now.''
''Don't you want to see her as well?''
''I do. Really, I do, don't get me wrong. It's just...I think it would be better as well. For her to see you first. And alone.''
''Oh...alright. I won't take long.''
Luke nodded to his mentor and leaned back against the wall on the opposite side of the door. The professor turned around, now facing the door alone. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob. His heart was beating loudly in his ears, afraid of what was to come.
''You can do this.'' Luke whispered behind him, hoping to encourage the older man.
''Thank you my boy.'' The professor turned his head half back to Luke with a nod.
He gathered every bit of courage inside of him, turned the knob to the side and entered. The inside of the room was darkly lit, with only the few rays of sunshine peering in from behind the closed curtains. The professor could tell the windows were opened, when a nice summer breeze blew past his ears. He looked over to the bed where she lay. A small figure with bright blue eyes was watching him, making his heart leap to his throat. He walked in and closed the door, waiting for a signal for him to proceed.
''Hello.'' he said softly.
''Hi.'' she answered calmly. ''Uhm...can I help you?''
The professor nodded and walked over to her bed. Somehow, her luminescent blue eyes frightened him. It wasn't her. It wasn't Emmy…
''So...you don't remember my name?'' he asked.
''I'm sorry...I don't even remember my own name to be honest.''
He took a seat on the chair next to the bed and smiled kindly. Innocence was written all over her face as she returned a smile of her own.
''Do you know?''
''What..?''
''My name?''
The question surprised him. It was clear she wasn't joking around from the tone of her voice.
''I do. It's...Emmy. Emmy Altava. Although I do recall someone mentioning your full name to be Emmeline Altava. We just...always called you Emmy.''
''Hm. Emmy Altava huh. I like the sound of that. I'm not sure about Emmeline though.'' she chuckled.
''So you don't remember anything from before you woke up here?'' he asked.
Somewhere he hoped the image of him would trigger something inside of her, but that didn't seem to be the case.
''No, I really don't. I woke up here this morning with a few people surrounding my bed. They explained to me that I put on this ring here,'' she said while pointing at the dark sliver of silver around her finger. ''Which caused my memories to disappear.''
''Did they mention anything else?''
He wanted to know if they mentioned that she had done so on purpose.
''Yes, a few other things. Like that this is a palace and they were doctors. They also said that I must have known about the ring's powers before I put it on.
So she knows…
''May I ask...are you alright?'' she looked at him with a worried expression.
''I'm...fine. Why do you ask?''
She pointed towards his face. He reached up his hand to his cheek and felt a wetness that wasn't there before. He had shed a few tears. He just hadn't realised…
''I suppose...it's because you seem to have forgotten about me too.''
''Oh...I'm sorry..''
''No. Don't apologize. It's alright.'' he smiled half-heartedly and wiped away his tears. ''This is what you wanted.''
The room fell silent, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Emmy studied the older man's face, trying hard to find something about him that she would recognize. She couldn't though. She had a feeling they used to be close from the way he spoke to her, but...she couldn't for the life of her remember him.
''Could you tell me your name?'' she asked softly.
''Yes...I can. My name is Hershel Layton. I am a professor of archeology at Gressenheller University in London.''
''Wow, a professor of archeology huh. Sounds neat.'' she chuckled.
''I suppose. I do enjoy it very much. You...were my assistant for a while.''
''I was? It sounds like I'm not anymore though.''
''No. We seperated a few years back. I...I uhm…''
He stared at his hands, wondering what to ask or say next. He could feel droplets of sweat forming on his temple. He wasn't sure if it was from the heat, the fever that still resided in his body or because of her.
She leaned forward to try and catch his gaze. He glanced upwords, eyes meeting eyes. Somewhere, it was beautiful how the blue seemed to glow inside of her, shifting through her lashes with every blink. It didn't take away from her beauty at all, but...she wasn't the same. She didn't remember and she was probably never going to anymore...
''I should get going.'' he mumbled.
He couldn't handle this anymore. Seeing her like this, like a completely different person, broke his heart. Maybe one day he would look back on this moment with regret. Maybe he should do everything in his power to get her memories back. But...that's not what she wanted. She wanted to forget about herself. About her past. About him.
''Oh...okay. Thanks for stopping by mister Layton. It was a pleasure. And...thank you...for telling me a little about myself. It's really strange to not remember anything. I know I probably did this on purpose...but I kind of hope I will get them back some day.''
The words stung at his heart.
''Perhaps. Get some rest my dear.''
And with that, he left the room. Outside, Luke had been waiting patiently. He waited for his friend and mentor to appear and tell him how she was doing. To tell him...if she had truly forgotten. Once the door opened, Luke quickly moved forward from the wall.
''How is she?'' he asked after the professor closed the door.
The professor sighed, not ready to meet the boy just yet.
''She...doesn't remember Luke.''
The older man's shoulders started trembling. He moved his face up to meet Luke's gaze, showing his tearfilled eyes to the boy.
''She has forgotten everything.''
''Everything…?''
''Yes...she has truly lost her memories.''
Well...I'm sad. Also, ROLL CREDITS. No just kidding, this story is FAR from over haha.