Oof. This chapter is late. Anyway! Prepare your butts for a load of OCs! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Musketeers

Luke woke up to the shrill ringing of his alarm clock. Begrudgingly he silenced it and slid out from under the covers. His dorm room was small and rather bleak, and his bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the one at home, but already this little hovel was a welcome retreat from university life; Freshers week had passed rather slowly for him. Not feeling comfortable or prepared for the traditional parties and shenanigans that everyone else seemed to throw themselves into, he spent his first week back in London catching up with old friends around the university, such as the Dean and Rosa. The rest of his time had been dedicated to preparing for his classes.

When he had announced to his family and friends that he wanted to go to Gressenheller, most assumed that Luke was going to study archaeology, as it was both the Professor's subject and what the university was famous for. However, Gressenheller also had fantastic courses in various sciences, from theoretical physics to botany. After much mulling over what profession he would like to pursue, Luke finally landed on Veterinary studies; having always had the ability to communicate with animals, he hoped that he would be able to diagnose and treat his patients with more accuracy than most (his parents had taken to affectionately nicknaming him 'Dr Doolittle' after he told them this).

On this, his first day of lectures, Luke's student life was finally about to begin. After getting dressed and having a quick breakfast he confidently made his way over to Gressenheller's Science Wing, an area of the university he had not visited as often in his youth, but he still knew the way around from the various errands he used to run. He had a little bit of time to kill, so he sat himself down on a creaky plastic chair by the door of his lecture hall and went over his textbook once more.

"Triton, isn't it?" Luke looked up to see his course leader, Professor Brook, smiling down at him with a kind, wrinkled face. He smiled back as he got to his feet, offering his hand.

"Indeed, Professor! It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" Brook shook his hand. During his application to the university, the two had exchanged many letters talking about the course. Luke had been nervous about her at first, Brook was relatively new to Gressenheller and had not been there when Luke was younger, but she gave off such an enthusiasm in her writing that Luke soon came to like her. She was a smartly dressed middle aged woman, with the sparkle of childish wander in her eye.

"The pleasure is mine. The Dean is very happy to have you around again." She chuckled. "I trust you'll be willing to help him with his granddaughters' puzzles." She glanced at the textbook under his arm. "I say, you're rather eager. You must be twenty minutes early! I haven't even started setting up yet." Luke laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah… I thought I should head out early, just to make sure I didn't get lost." He shrugged. "I haven't been here in years, but somehow, if I just switch my brain off and walk, I get to the right place. Does that make sense?" Brook laughed heartily.

"Of course it does! Muscle memory is a very reliable navigator." She headed for the door beside Luke. "I'd better make a start on the lecture resources. I'll see you soon!" Luke waved her off and was about to go back to his book when he received a light tap on the shoulder. He turned to see a nervous looking fellow, a little shorter than himself but appeared even more so as his shoulders were hunched. With his dark hair and tanned complexion, he almost blended in to the dimly lit gloom of the corridor, save for his piercingly green eyes that looked up at Luke with a small bit of worry.

"Uh-excuse me." He stammered uneasily. "But, um, do you know the way to the library?" Luke gave him a cheerful smile.

"I do! It's just down that way, and then… Um…" Luke knew that he knew the way, but he couldn't describe the journey. He glanced at the expectant young man. "… How about I just walk there with you."

"Oh, um… Well, if it's not too much trouble."

"Of course not!" The two of them set off, in uncomfortable silence at first. "I'm Luke by the way, Luke Triton." His companion smiled, shyly but politely.

"I'm Ralph De Vere. I'm a first-year student."

Despite the stagnant atmosphere, Luke made an effort to be friendly and conversational. "Nice! So am I!" Ralph looked worried again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I only asked you for directions because you looked like you knew your way around."

"No worries, I know this place very well. I pretty much grew up in this building."

"Oh, you grew up in London too?" Ralph's gaze wondered, as if lost in thought. "That's… Interesting…" Luke felt a little relieved when they turned a final corner and the door labelled 'Library' came into view. Pacing back and forth in front of it was another student. He spotted Luke and Ralph and marched up to them.

"Well! Look who's late." He mocked in an energetic Irish accent. Ralph scowled.

"Only by two minutes."

"S'that all? Well, just this once I'll let you off the hook." He teased with a grin, then clocked Luke with an interested raise of an eyebrow. "Especially since you're already making friends! Nice to meet ya! The name's Will Seymour." Will grabbed Luke's hand and gave it a vigorous shake. He then clapped a hand on Ralph's shoulder. "I take it you're already acquainted with my brother."

"Uh, yeah, I am." Luke tried not to show his surprise. For brothers, the two could hardly be less alike. Everything from Ralph's shy and passive demeanour to his dark appearance contrasted to Will, a ball of smiles and cheer, who was fair skinned and had a dusty blonde mop of hair falling in front of his bright blue eyes. Even their dress sense implied two entirely different types of people, Ralph looking tidy in a maroon waist coat and shirt, while Will rocked brighter colours and more casual garb. Only one conclusion could be drawn from these observations, but it would be rude to comment on it.

"Awesome! Well, sorry he had to trouble ya, but thanks for getting him here!" Will beamed, pulling a struggling Ralph into a hug.

"Oh, it was no bother." Luke assured him. "I was just around the corner, waiting for my lecture to start."

"Huh, is that so?" Will let the disgruntled Ralph go, only to shake him by the shoulder and half whisper in his ear. "You hear that? He's studying science too! This could be it!"

"Uh…" The mutterings were completely audible to Luke. "This could be what, exactly?" Will drew himself up diplomatically. Ralph rolled his eyes and gave Luke an apologetic look.

"My good sir." Will said in a mock English accent. "Do you, perchance, study a subject that falls under the bracket of 'Physics'?"

"Not really, I do Veterinary studies." Will breathed a sigh of disappointment. "I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear."

"It's fine." Will reassured him. "It's a silly thing, really. I'm training to be a doctor, and Ralph here is a chemistry student. I do biology, he does chemistry, and I was hoping that maybe we could find a physicist, force them to be our friend, and then we'd have all the bases covered! We would become the Three Musketeers of Science! The Three Scien-teers!" He spoke with such passion and animation that Luke couldn't help but laugh.

"That's a shame, I think I would suit the musketeer life." Luke sniggered. "But it was still nice to meet you guys! I had better get to my lecture, but I'll see you around!"

"Go forth, my friend!" Will called dramatically as Luke walked away. "Be the musketeer you want to see in this world!"

The Elizabeth Tea Room was a quaint little spot to the west of the university campus. While most students opted to do their afternoon work in one of the various chain coffee shops littered around the accommodation, the tea room had been a favoured place for Luke, the Professor and Flora to enjoy a cup of tea on chilly autumn days of the past. Upon his return Luke found that, in the years he had been gone, almost nothing in the café had changed; the menu was still word for word the same, as were the moth bitten chairs, and most of the patrons were Professors looking for a moment's peace. It was another place of comfort, a slice of homeliness that Luke could enjoy as he wrote up his lecture notes. With the first few weeks of classes over, the period of adjustment seemed to be passing, and with the help of the calm environment of the tea room, Luke was mostly on top of his workload.

On this particular day, however, he was having trouble concentrating. Not due to a difficult essay question, but rather the arrival of another student. She had taken a booth for herself, several papers spread out across the table, and was glaring at them in frustration, her chin rested upon her fists. Luke had seen her around the campus before, another first year, no doubt. She was easily recognisable, for her dark skin was interrupted with patches of pale, drawing second glances where ever she went. Despite this everything she did was with unapologetic pride, her walk, her smile, an unbreakable confidence that Luke had come to admire from a distance. Now in such close proximity, Luke was noticing more; her sleek figure, her large brown eyes, her perfectly full lips. He could feel the redness in his cheeks, and no matter how hard he tried to distract himself his mind kept wandering, his eyes stealing glances. Eventually he had to admit defeat and began to pack up his things to continue studying in his room. On his way to the door he had to walk by her, trying way to hard to appear normal. Just as he had passed her, she gave an irritated growl and let her head fall onto the table. Startled, Luke froze for a moment before giving a polite cough.

"Excuse me, Miss, is everything alright?" He asked in his most gentlemanly tone. The girl turned her head to look up at him helplessly.

"Hm? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She sighed, sitting upright again. "It's just… My professor set us this puzzle as a 'warm up', but I can't get my head around it." Luke perked up.

"I see, well, if you would like a hand, I've done my fair share of puzzles." The girl smirked and pushed the paper towards him.

"Be my guest, Sherlock." She invited. Luke took the seat opposite her and looked over the paper. After a few moments he gave a smile. "Shut up!" She cried when she saw his expression. "You haven't solved it already!"

"No, not at all. I've already seen this one." He chuckled. "In fact, I am so familiar with it that I can tell you the man who invented it. You're a student of Professor Layton, I assume?"

"Yeah. Archaeology is my dig." Luke gave an embarrassingly loud snort in response, but the girl seemed pleased. "I've been following Layton's work for a while now, so it only seemed sensible to study here. Honestly, I fangirled a little the first time I met him. Are you an archaeology student too?"

"No, but I knew him when I was a kid." He held out his hand over the table. "My name is Luke Triton, by the way." The girl shook his hand with a grin.

"Amanda Sanha." She introduced herself. She looked at the puzzle once more and then up again sheepishly. "So, if you're so brainy, Sherlock, could you give me a hint or two? And don't tell the Professor you helped me."

"But of course." Luke laughed. "After all, a gentleman always helps a lady in need."

If you like my story telling style and want to see more of what I can do, why not check out my ORIGINAL web comic! Go to Tumblr and search nightnight-comic for the first few pages! Until next time!