Chapter 3 – The Other Counterparts
"I think you'd better just come in. And brace yourself. I think you may be in for a bit of a shock."
"Er... okay."Emmy followed Celeste into the house. Celeste leaded the way into the kitchen. Emmy followed, wondering what on earth Celeste could have meant.
"Celeste, has my uncle kept something from us about this case?" It wouldn't have been the first time he had done this.
"No. He doesn't know, at least, not yet. Here we are." Celeste opened the kitchen door and entered.
Emmy followed, and, like the last time she had entered a kitchen that day, she was shocked to see who was there. She simply couldn't believe her eyes.
Sat at the table were a young girl and a man, who she recognised right away. The man had wavy blonde hair and wore a brown jacket with a shirt and tie. And the young girl wore a very familiar-looking yellow sweater. Emmy's mouth fell open. It was like she was staring back a good ten years into the past. A younger Emmy and Bronev sat at the table, gaping back at her.
"... U-Uncle Leon?" Emmy gasped.
"... Emmeline?" he whispered.
The young Emmy flinched at that. She stared anxiously at Emmy, wondering what was to come next.
"... How... how did you get here?" Emmy asked.
"Where is 'here' exactly?" Leon asked.
"More like 'ven is here'," the young Emmy muttered.
Emmy took a good look at her younger counterpart. Her wavy hair was tied back in a braid and slung over one shoulder. She wore a turtle-neck sweater with a skirt – a garment which Emmy herself hadn't had the nerve to wear since she had finished school – and carried the familiar brown bag containing her camera – the exact same bag which Emmy herself had on her at all times, which was attached to the belt of her trench coat. When she spoke, she used a heavy Czech accent, one which Emmy distinctly recognised from her childhood. Young Emmy looked nervously down at her feet and Emmy, realising that she must have been weirding her littler self out, did the same.
"So," Leon smiled, placing an arm around his young niece's shoulder, "When exactly are we?"
"It is the 15th of May 2014," Celeste replied.
The young Emmy looked up in shock and Leon gaped at Celeste. "You what?!"
"What was the date when you were last at home?" Celeste asked.
"December 14th 2001," young Emmy replied.
"There," Celeste said. "You've travelled about twelve and a half years into the future."
"But how?" Leon asked. "The last thing I remember is Emmeline and I being in the kitchen at home having breakfast, and then all of a sudden we land in your attic with some bizarre-looking machine about to short-circuit on us. What on earth is the meaning of this?"
"We're not entirely sure," Celeste replied.
"The professor – Professor Hershel Layton – is going to see a poly-dimensional researcher who specialises in time travel. He should be able to offer us a way out of this."
"But... vy us?" the young Emmy asked. "If somevun vanted to hurt us, zen zey vould just go ahead and hurt you personally, no?"
Emmy paused, thinking. "Well, I don't remember anything about travelling to the past when I was fourteen with Uncle Leon, so I get the feeling that someone brought you both here to hurt us."
"More than hurt you, Emmeline," Celeste said, looking worried. "If this never happened to you, then this whole occurrence could alter the course of history."
"It could very well threaten our existence..." Emmy said slowly, remembering the words of the professor's older counterpart. "We need to get back. We need to speak to the other Emmy and Layton.