Hershel headed to the bus stop as quickly as possible, he didn't have a moment to waste in figuring this mystery out. For all he knew, there could be a time limit, or a consequence to not solving it. And even if there wasn't, he missed his house. He made a quick detour on his way to pick up a newspaper from the stand. The man behind the counter was delighted to see that he'd kept his word about coming back.
As he continued to the bus stop he kept an eye out for other people that he knew, but hadn't seen anyone else around. He arrived at the stop, a little rundown shelter on the edge of town, just as the bus pulled up. He could see that it wasn't particularly busy, just a handful of passengers. There was a parent trying to control an over eager child, and an old woman with a cat on her lap. Hershel climbed aboard and paid the fare. The woman at the back was preoccupied with searching though her bag, clearly looking for something, so he figured he wouldn't be bothered if he chose a seat closer to her. The child was loudly explaining the bus route to her father. Hershel placed his luggage under his seat and flipped to the page in the paper.
"Renowned Professor Randall Ascot uncovers a Relic of the Ancient Azran Civilisation." Read the title. That certainly caught his attention. Hershel skimmed through the opening until he found the key paragraph he was looking for.
"After much research, Ascot and his associates were led to the town of Torido in America, where they recovered the artefact. Information is sparse in regards to the details of the relic currently, but it is to be on display at a local exhibition after professionals have examined it further. The Professor explains his theory on there being similar items scattered around the globe, based on information gathered in the Relic's former location."
The circumstances of Hershel's sudden appearance in Stansbury were starting to become clearer, even if they didn't make much sense to him.
He remembered Torido, a desert town he'd visited many years before. A reunion of a wolf and it's owner had led to the discovery of the first Azran egg. To his knowledge, this was the only Azran artefact there, and it had been lost with the other eggs long ago when they'd formed the key. No discredit to Randall, but he doubted there was another relic in the town that he, Targent and Aurora had all missed. This supposed artefact had to be the egg.
Something had changed. But he couldn't yet place his finger on exactly what it was, or how it had happened. He'd initially ruled out time travel, but it seemed as if the Azran Legacy had only just been discovered.
The Azran Legacy had never been close to being unleashed.
Perhaps that's what this was, some kind of Azran trick. The full extent of their powers had never been revealed to him. Maybe they had the ability to change the world.
But that still wouldn't explain everything.
There were a handful of other possibilities, but he had no reason to believe them. Only a small amount of people would have the ability to alter the world, and they were all incarcerated or gone.
Looking at the newspaper again, he had another thought. If Randall was now a professor, and he wasn't…
He shook the idea from his head, the only person that would benefit from changing the past was Randall, and he had no way of doing such a thing. And Hershel couldn't imagine the idea even crossing his mind when his current life was fine.
He supposed everything would be revealed when it was time. He just hoped that time was coming soon.
Hershel spent the rest of the journey reading the remainder of the paper, nothing else stood out particularly- though he did notice one article listed it's reporter as a Mr 'C.Dove'.
The bus eventually pulled up into the street, Hershel stood up, about to get off, when a voice behind him piped up.
"You're not in the right place, are you Sonny boy?" he turned round to see the old woman, he hadn't properly acknowledged her before, but on closer glance he noticed the pointed hat, and the cat whose fur was slightly too purple to ignore.
"What do you mean?"
"You're meant to leave at the next stop, you got up too early." Granny Riddleton winked, as if there was a lot more to her question that just his location. He looked out the window to see that she was correct, it would be a long walk from here to Angela's home.
"Thank you ma'am. Say, do you by any chance know how I get back?" he asked, leaning into her metaphors.
"Well, I'd reckon it's the same way you came in." she answered, tilting her head apologetically. Though there was a bemused smile on her face, as if she knew he'd figure it out.
"I wish I knew how I'd done that." He responded. Granny Riddleton laughed, wheezing.
"Well every puzzle has a solution." Hershel smiled politely; he'd expected that as an answer. She ran her hand across her cats back, Keats had started to become bored on her lap and was beginning to mewl loudly. She scratched behind his ears until he began to purr contently, then untied the piece of paper round his collar. "Speaking of, how about one for the road eh?"
She handed him the slip of paper, and he unfurled it to find a puzzle about time, how long it would take two different clocks to match up. He'd always had trouble solving those, but he placed it into his pocket.
The bus arrived at the next station and he was sure it was the right place, he could see the park he'd frequented during his days off work. He pulled the letter out from his bag and found the right street address, bidding farewell to Granny Riddleton, who was sorting through a small collection of puzzles she'd found in her purse, and he got off.
Most people would panic at the idea of navigating London, but he found the street quite easily, having lived in the area for so long. After seeing such an odd Stansbury, he was glad to see that most of the city looked relatively normal. Just being back there had made him feel much more at ease than he had for the last day, there was comfort in the bustling crowds. But he missed having a child pull at his arm so they could go watch the street performer, or an apprentice to walk alongside him trying to talk to all the pigeons that were disgruntled about the quality of seeds they'd been thrown.
He approached the house at the end of the road and knocked on the door, feeling oddly nervous. He'd had the day planned but wasn't sure was awaited him after this point. A voice called from in the house, and Hershel straightened up his cap. The least he could do was make a good impression.
The door swung open, revealing a blonde woman who looked almost the same as he remembered, but much more casual than he'd ever seen her. Her usually tightly curled hair hung loosely round her shoulders, and she sported a pair of cut off jeans and a long blouse. The clothes didn't hide the most obvious difference. Hershel quickly averted his gaze, thinking it ungentlemanly to stare, but there was no ignoring the fact that she was pregnant.
Angela Ledore- No, Angela Ascot, looked confused as she saw his face.
"Hershel?" her confusion turned to a bright smile as soon as she confirmed who it was. She pulled him into a hug, and Hershel tried to cover his shock at how different she seemed. He'd never known her as anything but proper and sophisticated, the last time he'd seen her looking this relaxed was when they were teenagers. "What a surprise, please come in!" She stepped back as he entered, tipping his hat towards her.
"Lovely to see you again Angela."
"What are you doing here?" she ushered Hershel past her and shut the door "Not that I'm not happy to see you as well, I just didn't know you were in the area."
"Oh you know, I had some time off work so I figured a trip would be in order." Hershel tried to be as vague as possible, if this was indeed some alternate universe, he had no idea when he'd last seen her. No need to raise suspicion yet. "London seemed like a good option. I do hope I'm not intruding."
"Not at all. Please, make yourself at home." He felt bad for dropping in on them like this, but at the very least Angela didn't seem angry. "I'll put the kettle on"
"Oh you don't have to-"
"I insist, one sugar?" Hershel nodded, thankful that she'd offered. He hadn't technically drunk any all day and he usually be on his 3rd cup by now. As Angela made her way to the kitchen, Hershel took the opportunity to look round the room. While the house itself was relatively average the furnishings were very smart, definitely similar to that of the Ascot and Ledore households he'd visited.
There was a collection of photographs and documents on the wall opposite so he moved closer to investigate. A wedding photo took the centre, Randall and Angela in the middle with family and friends surrounding them. He could see himself in the crowd beside Randall. It was nice to know he was invited, even if he didn't recall being there. Stood next to him was a smiling Dalston and Henry. He was surprised that there weren't any other photos of them and Henry. In his memory, both Randall and Angela essentially regarded him as another partner. It looked as if that was another thing that had changed, maybe a reason for why he seemed so miserable in Stansbury.
He looked at the photos surrounding it, there was one of himself and Randall as teenagers, a photo from their prom, as well as one of Angela and her parents.
There were a few framed documents tacked onto the wall, several of them Archaeology based- They appeared to be certificates. He looked at the desk below them, finding a book entitled "The Mystery of the Towering Silence" The name beneath the title seemed to suggest Angela was the author. He flipped open it open and skim read the first few pages, finding it to be a rather well written Murder Mystery.
"That one isn't out yet" Hershel placed the book down as Angela entered with two mugs.
"It's very good" he admitted as he took his drink. He hadn't known Angela to write, but clearly he was meant to. "You must have been working on it a while." The tea was sickly sweet, but he drank it to be polite. Maybe he'd gotten too used to Rosa's bitter brew.
"Just over a year, I started it just after the first one was released" She sat down on the sofa and Hershel followed, sitting on the opposite armchair. "I've got another one planned if this one is well received, but heaven knows how I'll do it." She said jokingly as she placed a hand on her stomach.
"How long? If you don't mind me asking."
"3 months, I think Randall's getting nervous about it now" she laughs. "I don't think he's ready to be a dad."
"I'm sure you'll be wonderful parents, you're both much more suited to it that me."
"What do you mean?" she asked, taking another sip of tea. Heaven knows how she could drink it when it tasted that sugary.
"I struggle raising mine-" Angela stopped, the realisation of what he'd said dawned on her as it dawned on Hershel, though her reaction was much more positive.
"I didn't know you had children, oh Hershel that's wonderful!" he hadn't meant to let that slip, but he'd gotten carried away. Apparently this wasn't something he'd confided in her. But it seemed more suspicious to now drop the topic, so he continued to explain.
"Two of them, both lost their parents so they've been living with me for the last few years. And then my Apprentice Luke often stays with me while he's back in England."
"You must let me meet them all one day." Okay- So she didn't know Luke. He added that to the list of odd circumstances in his head.
"Of course, and I'll definitely be visiting the newest member of your family." They sat in a calm silence for a while as Hershel finished his cup of hot sugar water, he mentally reprimanded himself for being too specific with his life details. They spoke for a little while about topics that Hershel deemed easy to fake knowledge of, such as his parents or the recent newspaper article.
"You know, Randall's lecture finishes soon, if you head to Gressenheller I'm sure you'd be able to surprise him after class." Angela said, after Hershel mentioned waiting for him to get back.
"I think that would be a nice plan." He stood up, placing his mug on the side.
"Feel free to pop round again anytime whilst you're staying in London." Right, he was staying in London. He'd forgotten to plan that part.
"About that. I know this is asking a bit much but…"Angela raised an eyebrow.
"Do you have somewhere to stay?"
"Not exactly, I had a reservation..." his lie trailed off as Angela smiled.
"We have a spare room if you'd like a bed for the night." Hershel blushed and lowered his hat, embarrassed at her kindness. "Leave your bags here and I'll sort the room while you're out."
"This is incredibly appreciated."
He made his way to Gressenheller very easily, he knew this part of town like the back of his hand. The building was just as grand as ever, and students filed in and out of the doors. The atmosphere was cheerful and slightly tense, even in whatever world this was there were deadlines coming up. Hershel was at least thankful that he didn't have to mark papers.
He went through all of the new information in his head, he didn't want to make any claims yet but he could definitely see himself leaning more towards one theory, though it seemed the most unlikely.
He made his way through the campus but unfortunately didn't recognise a lot of the classrooms. He found his old one, but it appeared to now belong to someone teaching geology. He continued along the rooms, trying to sneak glances through the doors without it seeming odd.
He looked through the window of what he knew to be the History room, and spotted a table covered in ancient vases, and saw a class intently staring at the front of the classroom, where a man very enthusiastically gestured to the board behind him. When he caught sight of Hershel through the window he stopped, grinned, and held up a finger as if telling him to hold on.
Hershel leant against the wall, waiting for the class to end. He pulled out the puzzle about clocks and had another go at solving it.
"Well hello." A voice he recognised, but would rather forget. He tucked the puzzle back into his pocket as a woman with short blonde hair stepped in front of him, too close for comfort. Rosetta Stone, a student who'd made her feelings for him very clear. "Are you a new teacher or something? I'm sure I would've noticed you if I'd seen you before." She smiled slyly, closing the distance between them. He'd have thought a world where Rosetta didn't recognise him would be a blessing, but this wasn't an improvement.
"Shouldn't you be in class? The lecture is still going." Hershel gestured to the room behind, he'd never known her to skip.
"Professor Ascot's classes are so boring. I'm sure they're just talking about rocks and fossils."
"Well it is an Archaeology class."
"Yeh but he could make it sooo much more interesting, I'm sure you'd be able to." He took a step backwards, and was relieved to see other students beginning to pack away and file out. Rosetta continued trying to talk to him as he approached the classroom, getting caught behind other chatting students who were walking the other direction. He was thankful to see her tutor walk across the room as she appeared in the doorway.
"Miss Stone, you seem to have missed the end of the lecture. As well as the beginning, and the middle. Any explanation?" Randall Ascot smirked, arms crossed as the student beside Hershel turned bright red.
"I'm sorry, I got distracted and forgot the time." She lied. Hershel turned his face to hide his amusement. He'd never been able to see what these kind of conversations were like, since she'd always insist on staying behind late for his classes.
"I'm sure you did. I'll let it slide for now, but make sure you're in on time tomorrow." She muttered something about having to go and left promptly. Randall shook his head and raised his eyebrows as she left. "And YOU-" he pointed at Hershel before running and pulling him into a hug. "What in the world are you doing here?"
"You don't sound happy to see me" he laughed as he pushed him off. "Are you too famous now that you don't have time for an old friend?"
Randall stuck his tongue out mockingly as he walked towards the door, gesturing for Hershel to follow him. He got a proper look at Randall for the first time, his change really wasn't all too different. His…unique sense of style was still there, with a button up green vest over a purple shirt and jeans. The only difference was that he still wore his fake glasses, which to Hershel's knowledge he'd discarded after learning the identity of the archaeologist he'd modelled himself after. He also seemed a lot less tired, everytime he'd met up with him in Monte D'Or he was exhausted. A mix of busy socialite schedules and restless nights. The man standing in front of him now seemed much more like the teenager he knew.
"You know I always have time for you, life's just a little weird right now." Hershel couldn't help but grin, he was sure his life was nowhere near as weird as the morning he'd had "How long's it been, 2 years? We have a LOT of catching up to do. Let's head to the office and I'll put the kettle on."
"Oh no need, I've just had one with Angela." Randall turned back to him, cocking his head.
"Not to be mean to Angela, but her tea is disgusting. I'll make a proper one."