"Of course." Descole answered - or was he called Desmond now? He wasn't going to dwell on the answer.

"I will be here if you need to return." Raymond said supportively. The Scotsman's smile hid his nervousness - Targent had shot at Descole before. If they found that he wasn't meant to be there, they would have no qualms about shooting at him again. "Best of luck, master."

With them parting words, Descole stepped out of the Bostonius. Instantaneously, he was hit by the familiar, nauseating scent. As he inhaled, his chest seemed to tighten and his confidence was sucked out of him.

It was all too familiar. It was the same pungent scent that had filled his lungs the second he returned to his home on that day. The day that he refused to join Targent. The one that had signified the beginning of the end.


Much to the surprise of Layton and Luke, the guard never batted an eyelid as they walked past. Emmy knew that it was her being with them that was doing it - being so close to the boss meant that the other members had a tendency to go out of their way to do her a favour.

"Professor? How do we find out where Aurora is?" Luke asked as they stepped into the lift. His eyes widened as he saw the buttons for all of the floors. "Look how many floors there are - it will take forever to find the right one."

"Not quite that long, my boy." Layton answered light-heartedly before his tone switched back to being serious. "Well we can't very well try every floor. I propose that we find Bronev first - he should be easier to find."

"Easier?" Luke questioned. "He still could be anywhere!"

"Now now, Luke. He could be, but think for a moment." Layton said calmly. "If you were the boss of a big criminal organisation and had a tower like this then where would you be?"

"At the top, I guess." the boy shrugged. "So do we try that? What if he tries to make us leave before we can find her? We can't just leave her here!"

"It is a risk we will have to take." Layton said, pressing the button for the top floor and then adjusting his hat. "If it comes to that then we will have to try our best to find her on the way out."


He was surprised that he was still walking towards the headquarters. He was intoxicated by the sickly scent that was ingrained in his throat and lungs, the scent that still lingered long after he'd breathed it in.

Descole was still yet to have been confronted by anyone from Targent in the side streets of The Nest. It was probably a good thing - he would not be held responsible for his actions if they made the mistake of coming anywhere near him. At this moment, he wanted revenge on all of them - every single Targent member.

Upon reaching the headquarters, Descole walked in straight away - he wasn't going to remain outside and subject himself anymore to that scent of trauma. While he had noticed that there was no security at the doors, his mind was too preoccupied to consider what this meant. The last time he had walked through those doors, he couldn't have guessed the grief and bitterness that would follow.

The first couple of breaths he took inside the building were a godsend. Thankfully the air was much cleaner, and with a few slow breaths the man was able to relieve some of the torment that had followed him here.

Managing to compose himself a little more, Descole ran through what he was here to do in his head. He had to get to Bronev without any of the Targent underlings stopping him.


"Hmm. Have you two noticed how odd Bronev's actions have been?" Layton began, his chin resting on his hand as they travelled in the lift.

"What do you mean, professor?" Luke asked. Emmy remained silent. She had thought about it earlier and only hoped it didn't mean what she thought it meant.

"I mean, why did they take Aurora but tell us that we can take her back?" Layton explained. "Like Bronev said, they need her in their plans - I don't expect that they'd let her go that easily."

Luke looked down sadly. Did they even have a chance of saving her? He had promised her that she'd be safe. "So you think we have been lured here?" Luke asked worriedly, looking back up wide-eyed.

"I think so, yes." the professor stated. "However I have no idea why - they already have everything of Azran origin that was in our possession."

"That's what I thought too..." Luke said disappointedly. It always caused him concern when even the Professor didn't know what was happening. "Emmy what do you think?"

Emmy blinked. "I don' really have any ideas, Luke." Lies. "Let's just wait and see what happens when we get up there."


Descole recalled that there were two ways up to Bronev's office: the obvious way being the lift, and the long way being the corridor that ran around the main part of the tower. The long route just happened to be the safer option.

Slipping in through the door at the side, the man marched down the corridor, his goal at the front of his mind. He had gone from thinking of everything to practically nothing at all very quickly and never noticed the Targent officer's footsteps coming, echoing down the corridor in front of him.

As the the officer turned the corner, Descole, who had involuntarily tensed up the second that he saw the other man, continued to walk on. Avoiding eye contact with the officer didn't work, however.

"Oh you're- I haven't seen you around here in-"

"Years. Yes, I know." Descole cut in haughtily. Thank goodness Raymond had convinced him to wear the disguise - he would probably be dead by now if he wasn't. "Now if you don't mind." He continued, pushing past the officer. Hopefully the man wouldn't be a persistent pest.

The officer looked at him with scepticism as he pushed past. "Hold on!" The man said, stopping Descole before he could get much further. "We can't allow anyone up here at the moment." While the officer couldn't admit to knowing the researcher very well beforehand, he noticed that the man's personality had shifted drastically from how he had remembered him.

"You don't have the authority to tell me where I should or shouldn't be going." Descole said coldly, pushing his glasses up with his one hand. Hopefully this man wasn't one of them Targent members who liked to use their gun more than needed. Then he had a better idea. "Bronev asked me to meet him through this way."

"Nobody's told me that."

"Why would they?" The man in the professor's guise questioned. "It is private business."

"Sorry but I still have to stop you."

"Go ahead, but don't expect Bronev to be pleased with you." Descole retorted sharply. He was beginning to seriously consider using his sword on this man.

The man appeared to think for a moment. "W-well, so long as you go straight to where you need without then I'll let you." The officer said - he was going to get bashed by Bronev whichever way he looked at it.

"Thank you." Descole said with a smile before calmly walking off. It didn't take too much convincing to change the mind of that gullible nitwit.


"So do you think Bronev is going to be in there?" Luke asked. What stood before them was a high purple wall. Steps led up to a bronze-coloured door.

"Yes, this must be his office." Layton replied, holding his hat as he often did at times of caution.

Luke shivered. "It looks very...intimidating!" He felt Emmy put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't thi-" The boy stopped as one of the doors opened, and a man with a fair-coloured mop of bedraggled hair and orange neckerchief came out.

"Professor Hershel Layton." The man began, his words were slow and snake-like. Layton noticed that a huge scar ran right around his face. "Here to see the boss. Yes?" He turned to look at the door then back at Layton.

The Professor stared back. The man only seemed to be trying to intimidate them.

The Targent member smirked. "Go on then."

The trio glanced at each other then stepped forward to open the door.

It revealed a huge office. Blue carpet, mahogany bookshelves and desks, and large windows. Books were scattered everywhere.

Before they had time to really take in the surroundings, a voice came from the back of the room.

"Well, well! At long last, here you are. How do you like this Nest of ours?"