Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton nor Rosa or Luke Triton since they both belong to Level-5 games and nobody else, in fact I own nobody of the professor layton franchise!
Down goes the apprentice.
Luke now slept soundly. His breathing was still hitched and rattled so he couldn't really say that his sleep was completely peaceful. All he could do was try and get as much sleep as possible as to make himself better much quicker and this would make the professor worry less hopefully.
The Professor's apprentice continued to drift in and out of consciousness but he couldn't help but be very aware of the pain that would swipe at his rib cage and leave a painful bristle against those slight line of bones caging his heart. His small, sweaty hands gripped on tightly to the sheets of his blanket as he gave soft gasps in his sleep, writhing his head from side to side in a slight panic.
Even though his mouth was open and his breathing was quickened, Luke could barely control that feeling that someone was there. Someone who wasn't the professor...
Luke opened his eyes at the sound of his window unwinding, allowing a cold breeze to capture his whole room in a drift. He shivered at the cold as it touched his sweaty skin and he lethargically turned his head to try and get a look at his intruder. He could barely make out a thing in his vision that was dotted with big, black blotches. All he could do was try and call out to the professor in fear but he could barely muster a single sound.
He felt so pathetic and useless.
What good was he if he could not even call out for help?
"Why what do we have here...?" A gentle, rough voice asked mockingly.
Luke's brows lowered and he sent the intruder a muted scowl of vehement, very meekly gritting his teeth in an effort to make himself look a little bit intimidating so the man would leave him be but he knew deep down that this would prove useless since he would never intimidate anyone no matter how hard he tried when in danger.
He knew exactly who this was!
Don Paolo grinned snidely, twiddling with one of the tips of his pointy hairstyle. He smiled so evilly that his broad moustache bristled with the same vehement that Luke had for him. The strange scientist wearing the purple coat with the red collar got down on one knee so he could meet the sick boy on eye level, grinning all the while. He seemed a little too happy to see the young apprentice of Professor Layton so weak and helpless right now as he could only play with the young whelp's cap in an effortless attempt to taunt him even further.
"Why hello there." Don Paolo grasped the rim of Luke's blue cap in two fingers before yoinking it from the latter's head "You don't look very well at all, little one."
If Luke was strong enough he would have smacked the smug look off of Don Paolo's face. He would have loved to try and get his hat back but, sadly for him, it seemed that the man was all too aware that Luke was too weak to try. The pointy-haired man clutched the cap tightly, making the headwear crumble like paper inside his crushing grip and he seemed very happy to be doing it, anyway.
"Too weak to get back your hat, are you?" He chuckled sinisterly "well then you shall be my most valued weapon against that sad excuse of a professor."
Luke contained a strangled gasp. He was almost scared to find out what this guy was planning but swallowed it with a heavy amount of strength. As a matter of fact, he was now so worried that more sweat was beginning to dribble down his face, soaking the bed around him in a puddle of body moisture.
Why did this have to happen? He couldn't even move, much else hide how worry he was for his situation...
Once again he tried the desperate act of rolling off his bed but he was quickly snagged by the arm, someone roughly grabbing on to the sleeve of his pyjamas and hurting the poor pneumonia-stricken boy's wrist in the process. Luke gave a wide-eyed glare towards the man as he was snatched up into the arms of the man who clearly had the intent of kidnapping him.
Luke struggled for what he was worth, whimpering and whining in protest as he wriggled a bit and tried to push out of the man's grip with all his feeble might. But it was all in vain as he could not muster such strength to escape the mad scientist's tight hold but he tried again to yell out for help even though his throat was dry and nothing would come out.
As Don Paolo proceeded back towards the window, Luke got a good look at the weather outside.
It was still raining heavily out there, explaining why Don's body heat was pretty much non existent and freezing with the cold wetness of the outdoor rain. The closer they got to the open window, the harder Luke wriggled in desperation. He was worried that going out there would harm his fragile state of health even further than necessary as he could feel himself be caught in a freezingly ice cold draft.
He may have been hot to the touch but now he could feel himself slip out of that momentary consciousness once more. Before he completely slipped away from the reach of reality, he felt himself be overcome with an abundance of sweat even though now he was ice cold at the moment. The last sensation he felt was the wind embracing him in a frigid glacial gust of breeze and the heavy drops of rain numb his body as they pelted him hard.
He also felt his mind scream for one person, the one person who he adored to serve and spend every second of every day with. The one person who gave him a compassion equal to that of his parents whom were mostly absent:
Professor Layton.
Professor Layton hummed a slight tune as he assisted Rosa, his lady's maid, in making some light tomato soup in the kitchen. It had been awhile since Luke had fallen back to sleep after reminiscing on past events with the boy and he had since returned back down the stairs and he had currently found himself stirring a wooden spoon into a mixing bowl so he could make sure the warm, red brew inside was soft enough and not too soupy and watery.
He kept his ears open even though he was very much occupied with the making of Luke's soup and he could hear Rosa cleaning and dusting behind him as she busied herself with carrying things, cleaning dishes stuffed in the sink...etcetera, etcetera.
"Professor," Rosa began cheerfully "You have been busy with this instead of focusing on your work." She wandered passed him "Why don't you do some things while I look after the poor little thing?"
The professor shook his head. He was grateful to have such a kind and compassionate house maid to look out for both Luke and himself but sometimes he felt like he was being somewhat babied by her so he thought that he should take some charge. Plus he didn't want to make the poor lady work herself achy.
He didn't bother to look away from the soup he was focusing on.
"I am sorry, Rosa, but I vowed to look after Luke." He gave a small smile of confidence as he resumed to stir in a clockwise circle "There have been many occasions whence he looked after me so I decided to assist him whenever I can."
Rosa smiled, a look of pride etching on her kindly face. Needless to say, she was very proud of her gentleman of a client. He was always so kind and polite and he always sought out the truth even though his obsessive nature could get in the way of how to solves mysteries and he is very often forgetful and even forgets to eat. Ever since Luke came about, Rosa had been very obliged to assist the both of them in anyway she could. Luke even helped remind him to eat and even helped with tasks around the house.
She sighed and shook her head with that same smile stilled on her lips. She couldn't convince the professor to side with the contrary of his decision so decided to leave the man to his devices even though she would still look over his shoulder and keep an eye on him.
The house maiden said a simple "I'll check back on you in a minute" and she wandered upstairs with the assumed intent to check on Luke.
Professor Layton was lost in the soothing hot broth he was mixing, now having only his thoughts to keep him company. He could only think about Luke and what he was going to tell the boy's parents, he needed to tell them!
Of course the puzzle enthusiast couldn't possibly, in a sane state of mind, tell Brenda and Clark Triton that their son has been brought down by a very frightening ailment that was quite deadly if not treated correctly or taken outside. The chill in the air, especially in this dreadful rainstorm, could prove catastrophically fatal for Luke if he gone too cold with the utmost severe temperature he has and he could go into shock. It was just some paranoid circumstances that the Professor thought up inside his brilliant head that had the same mechanism as a puzzle.
He felt very bad for his poor young charge that he admittedly thought of as a son in some sort of teacher-student sort of way.
Ever since meeting that boy for the second time, Professor Layton felt an instant bond tie itself like a knot. Both their destinies intertwined and created a fine duo who could make it through thick and thin, braving the storm like a pirate captain and his young buccaneer shipmate. Or even like a pirate captain and his trusty young parrot underling. It made the professor smirk at the thought of those awaiting adventures that they still had to have, many more teachings for Luke and how to be a refined gentleman.
However it was then that a shrill scream pierced the air and made the professor jerk a little, startled.
It was but a simple task to deduce that it was Rosa who screamed but the question that made the gears in his mind turn hurriedly to try and register what was going on was: Why?
Professor Layton abruptly halted his clockwise stirring of the tomato soup and whirled on his feet to glance back up at the stairs so he could meet the panicky eyes of Rosa who had no traces of that pride she had before, instead a huge amount of worry replaced it. She latched on to the safety banister while looking down at the top hat-wearing gent with what seemed to be a hand to her racing heart.
"LUKE IS GONE, PROFESSOR!" She cried out in worry, her voice echoing inside the professor's ears as she leant forwards.
The professor felt everything freeze, a sudden paralysis to every nerve in his body. His heart gave out steady, low beats as those flutters thumped through his whole body in a painstakingly slow rhythm like a single conga drum being pounded by a steady series of a repetitive cacophony. He shook himself out of this momentary trance and made a mad dash up the stairs, his mind a mess of queries, and he completely abandoned the soup he was making for the boy who apparently has gone missing.
It was like the slowest rush up the stairs ever but he threw open the door and was met with a sight that made his blood run ice cold. Luke was no longer in bed...
Overcome with a feeling of dread, the professor desperately rushed to Luke's empty bed to inspect it. He continuously blinked as if when he opened his eyes for one of those split seconds would come up with the sight of his apprentice sleeping with that heavy breathing he had come to recognise from hearing it many a time before.
No suck luck, sadly.
He noticed that it was all creased and still damp, most likely indicating that Luke had just disappeared not too long ago and this shown that there was some signs of what seemed to be a weak struggle.
It was then that something else caught professor Layton's attention. There was quite a cold draft in air and the distinct moisture mixing in the circulating current seemed to be originating from the open window...
The professor instantly rushed to it and looked out but only to find that a brick wall was obstructing most of his view and the draught outside was still pouring from the heavy downpour that plagued the outdoors since the early hours of this morning. He found something else that yet again made all feeling and motion break off from the world around him as he saw something that was stuck to the open window that appeared to have been forced open.
It was a note.
The professor didn't dare read most of the contents, despite his usual drive to read any and every piece of parchment he just wanted to see where his apprentice had gone. He only read the bits that said "revenge" and "how I wanted this for years" before he finally read the name that pointed to Luke's kidnapper:
"-Don Paolo"...
Professor Layton fought off giving a vicious growl since he knew that Gentlemen never behaved like such an animal but this foolish kidnapping of his young apprentice could put him in mortal danger!
The professor tore the paper off the window and tossed it to the floor of Luke's bedroom in a semi controlled rage that struck his body like an earthquake. He had to save his young ward whatever it took. He couldn't allow that foolish man to inadvertently kill that innocent boy if he could help it. A grey cloud of emotions planted a veil over his better judgement and his calm temperament and he stormed out of the bedroom, a rock solid expression of determination glued on his face.
He didn't even hesitate in rushing down the stairs, his footsteps leaving a lingering echo as the soles of his feet thunder against each step downwards. When he reached the front door, he snatched the keys to the auto mobile, affectionately named "the Layton mobile", off a coat rack and slammed the door behind him in a way that echoed throughout the whole building in an aftershock.
Rosa, confused and frightened for Luke, just stared at the door Professor Layton dashed out of with a look of grave concern on her face. She couldn't even begin to imagine what the poor professor was going through.
Even though he wouldn't admit this; he must have been worried sick.
She whispered one thing, even knowing that the professor or anyone else would hear her:
"Be careful, professor..."
A/N: Oh dear. Poor Luke has been captured by Don Paolo, it seems. Can the professor rescue his ailing apprentice from the clutches of that mad scientist? Can the professor save Luke before it's too late?
Find out in the next chapter!
-Chloemcg