That night, Aurora snuggled down into bed. A light breeze stroked her cheek as it drifted through the open window - Emmy had said that it was too hot inside the room and so they decided to leave it open for the night. The aura stone that they had retrieved from Mossinia was sat on Aurora's bedside table. The warm aura that it gave off was a comforting sense of familiarity and she knew that so long as she didn't hold onto it, no sudden memories would be triggered. She could sleep in peace.

Emmy tossed in her bed on the opposite side of the room. Why was it so hot? She rolled onto her back, throwing the sheets off onto the floor. Uncle Leon had told her what Targent were planning to do tonight. For some reason, he wanted to lure Layton into The Nest and his way of doing so was going to be by kidnapping Aurora.

The clock ticked to half past 11, they could be there at any moment. Emmy had left the door to their room unlocked to prevent any disturbance, however they'd still have to get in through the main door by force. Nobody was going to be manning the front desk until 4am so the chance of them getting caught was slim.

Emmy waited. She tried to close her eyes but each time she did they somehow found themselves open again. Like everyone else who was aboard the Bostonius, she had formed a friendship with the Azran girl. She didn't want to have to watch Aurora suffer. While she had made a request for the kidnappers to be gentle with her, Emmy couldn't be sure that they would be.


"Raymond!"

Raymond jumped upon hearing the call. "Y-Yes master?" He should have been accustomed to his master's requests late at night - they were frequent before he had invited Layton aboard - but over the past few months with no calls at all he had forgotten how difficult it was to stay alert for his master when he was so tired. Getting up off the settee, the butler scurried into the master room.

"They've only gone and made off with the last egg." Descole snapped. He couldn't believe that even after knowing about the fake egg, he had mistaken the fake for a real one. He was just about to start planning how to get Aurora back to activate the eggs. "Now what am I to do? They're going to be keeping a tight hold on that last one."

"Don't you worry, master. You will think of something in time." Raymond encouraged, his slow speaking pace appearing to calm Descole somewhat. Hopefully this 'something' that he thought of didn't involve any sort of giant mechanisms that he would get dragged into helping build.

The other man laughed. He could tell from the butler's blank, neutral expression that he was dreading whatever plan his master was to come up with - but being so loyal and obedient he would never say so. "You don't have to pretend that you agree with me." Descole said with a grin - he knew that Raymond would do so anyway. "We will discuss this tomorrow."


Finally, the footfall that she had been dreadingly waiting for. Closer and closer the noise came until Emmy could hear them directly outside of their room.

She dragged the duvet back onto her bed, covering herself up to the neck. Her hands clasped the fabric, pulling it under her chin. She felt like she was about to overheat, but she didn't care.

The door was flung open, and in marched two Targent members, both fully uniformed. She vaguely recognised them both from when she had been at the headquarters. The two men headed straight towards Aurora. Emmy couldn't bear to watch, but couldn't tear her eyes away either.

The first man lifted up Aurora out of the bed. He wasn't gentle with her, but luckily wasn't rough either. The Azran girl never stirred, it was as if she had been completely shut off like some kind of robot.

Carrying her out aided by the second man, the first man noticed that Aurora had began to move. At first it was just a flinch, but then the girl opened her eyes. When she did, Emmy quickly shut her own.

"Wha-?" the girl said softly in confusion. *What was happening? Was this another dream or a memory?* She was being carried by someone. She moved her head up and saw Emmy lying asleep in her bed. Her head was pushed down by the man carrying her. "Emmy!" There was no reply."Emmy?" she called over and over again, but her quiet voice didn't seem to be able to wake the other girl up.

Not even the wind could drown out the girl's cry for help. Emmy curled up. She couldn't tell if Aurora was still there or if it was her mind was repeating it endlessly to plunge her into even more guilt.

Emmy opened her one eye. Aurora was gone, and the footsteps of the two men had disappeared, along with the girl's calls for help. She looked over to the bed which now lay empty, the sheets were strewn across the floor.

But there was somebody still there.

They were in a Targent uniform, but it looked as if had been customised - much like her own had. The crimson trench jacket was slightly too neat; the creases in the uniform still in tact.

Emmy watched as the woman replaced the egg with a note, before disappearing as quickly and soundlessly as she came.

It was over. Just like that.

Emmy rolled over and tugged the duvet further up over her, holding it even closer to her chest. Knowing that Aurora would be safe was the only comforting thought she had. As Leon had said, the Azran emissary played a vital role in Targent's plans - they had to keep her safe.


"Professor!" Emmy shouted, banging at the door to the room opposite. Emmy had barely got any sleep last night, and she had spent the past hour awake clock watching. The second that it turned 7 (the time that the professor was usually ready by) she was up.

The door opened. "Professor, is Aurora with you?" She knew the answer to that question.

"No. Why? What has happened?" Layton asked, detecting the urgency in the woman's voice. By now Luke had run over too.

"She's gone."

The trio rushed back into the room that Emmy and Aurora had been sharing. Aurora's bedsheets had been pulled from the side nearest to the door partway onto the floor.

"From the state of the bed she must have been kidnapped while she was still asleep..." Layton muttered.

"She had the egg too." Emmy added gravely.

"You don't suppose that Descole-"

"Professor! There's a note over here." Luke interupted, waving about a piece of paper in his hand. "Shall I read it?"

The professor nodded.

" Okay so, 'Hello Layton.' " Luke stopped. The complacency of just the first two words was enough to give a good idea of who it was. Kidnapping someone and then writing a smug note to announce it was just the sort of thing that Descole would do. Luke felt responsible for what had happened - he had not long before reassured her that everything would be okay.

Emmy stared drop-jawed. She too was thinking about how it sounded very much like Descole. What if that young woman in the Targent uniform was really him in another disguise? "Carry on reading, Luke." she said impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Luke answered. "It says: 'As I told you before, the girl is essential in our plans. If you want to get her back then I suggest you come and get her from Targent's headquarters in the Nest. We will be waiting.' Professor we have to go - we need to save her!"

"So it's Targent that took her..."

"What are you thinking, Professor?" Emmy asked with curiosity.

Layton rubbed his chin in thought. "I don't think we have any choice but to go there." He said. "We have to save Aurora."