Chapter Two: The Acquaintance
"Are you alright, my dear? Can you hear me?"
I heard a familiar voice calling me as I began to wake. I opened my eyes, and I was met by the dark, mysterious eyes of Professor Layton. I blinked twice, then opened them wider.
So it's actually happened, I thought to myself, my DS actually sucked me into the game, and the Professor is actually looming over me at the minute. . .
"Oh, thank goodness," the Professor said with a sigh of relief as I began to sit up, "I thought I was going to have a deceased young girl on my hands."
"Hmm, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" I answered, a slight chuckle in my voice. The Professor smiled, then helped me to my feet.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he began, "I am Prof-"
"Professor Hershel Layton, world-renowned archaeologist and enthusiast of puzzles." I blurted out, finishing his sentence.
"Well. . .yes!" the Professor answered, sounding impressed, "How do you know that, young miss?"
"Erm. . ."
Because you're actually a character in a game I play way too much.
"Well, you know, the papers and that," I managed to answer, "You're quite well known, you know."
"Ha ha ha," rich laughter escaped his lips, "Yes, my apologises, I often forget that I've become quite the celebrity. A gentleman never lets success go his head, you know."
"Well, of course," I said, agreeing with him.
"Now, what do I call you?" the Professor asked me, "You seem like a fine young woman, I'm sure you have a fine name to match."
I paused. An sudden instinct told me that I shouldn't use my real name in this alternate world.
"Erm, Victoria," I replied, "Victoria Belladonna."
"Miss Victoria Belladonna," the Professor repeated, "And what a fine name it is."
The Professor took my hand and kissed it gently, in his most gentlemanly fashion. This made me blush. The finery of my new name could not be said for what I was wearing. To the Professor, a black t-shirt with baggy jeans probably didn't seem all that lady-like. But he hadn't said anything about my clothing yet. Unless that didn't matter to him.
"And how old would Miss Belladonna be?" the Professor questioned.
Better lie about that aswell.
"Well, I'm twenty," I answered.
"Really, my dear?" he asked, "You look younger."
Yeah. Three years younger.
"Now, I insist that you come back to my house for a nice cup of tea," the Professor explained, "Because, I really don't mean to offend you, young miss, but you look rather worse for wear."
"Oh, yeah, sorry," I apologised, "I wasn't expecting to just wake up in the middle of the street."
Not by a long shot.
"Well, come with me and you can talk about it," he insisted, "It's not far from here."
He extended his elbow to me, and I held onto it. As he guided me through the streets of London, a question popped into my head.
Where are Luke and Flora?