Wounded Future
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the original story to Professor Layton
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! This one took me a bit but, as I promised, this chapter will have CLIVE in it! Huzzah!
Chapter 4
Flora followed closely behind the Professor and Luke as they headed towards their next destination. They had spoken to Shipley earlier at the Arcade Restaurant and were now headed to the Park Observatory as they were instructed. Shipley had informed them that Future Luke was waiting for them there, and emphasized that they should not be followed.
As the group walked through the streets of Future London, Flora couldn't help but notice the various men dressed in black roaming around. They were all part of the crime syndicate known as The Family which was controlled by none other than Future Layton. People on the streets seemed terrified even at the mentioning of The Family while others seemed to simply ignore the whole situation. Flora felt uneasy as she realized that this was the future of London.
Layton and Luke finally came to a stop when they reached a grassy opening. A tall, beautiful observatory stood at the centre of the park, with access to the second floor that offered a city view. It was the first piece of inspiring architecture that Flora had seen since arriving in Future London. The trio climbed the spiral steps to the upper level where Future Luke was to meet them. As they reached the floor, Flora instantly noticed a tall standing figure looking away at the city view.
He seemed to be dressed in all blue, except for a pair of brown shorts. He even wore a blue cap that looked very similar to young Luke's.
"Thank you for meeting me here, I know it's a rather obscure area. I needed to find a place high enough so that I could see whether or not you were followed." The Future Luke started. "Anything new to report?"
"We've actually run into a few unexpected turns during our visit to our past," The Professor began to explain.
"Oh, wow, I can't believe it! Luke? Is that really you?" Flora suddenly interrupted. Flora's eyes widened as she stepped closer to the man. She narrowed in on him, leaning forwards on her toes to get a better look at his face. He had grown a lot and was now much taller than her.
"Eh? Oh, Flora it's you! I didn't recognize you for a moment," Future Luke said as the leaned away from her. "You'll have to excuse me, this is all very unexpected."
"It's nice to know some things never change. I see you're still very easily flustered!" Flora teased with a giggle.
"You're one to talk, as I recall, you're pretty easily flustered yourself," Future Luke shot back. "It's good to see you again, you look well."
"Yes, well this is one of the unexpected turns I've mentioned." Layton said as he gestured to Flora. "Inspector Chelmey and Barton are here as well."
"I'm not surprised that the Inspector followed you. I'm sure he's just as eager to find the Prime Minister as anyone." Future Luke nodded. "But never mind that now, while you were gone I did some more investigating around town. I've realized that we could probably get rid of those guards blocking the Chinatown entrance if we could get their boss to dismiss them."
"How are we going to do that?" Young Luke asked.
"Simple, we just have to find something to imitate the voice of their boss, Bostro."
"Oh! I have a new pet Parrot. Perhaps we could use him?" Young Luke chimed as he motioned to his Parrot.
"Perfect, now all we need to do is get to the Casino and wait for Bostro to say 'get lost'. Hopefully the parrot would pick up the dialogue and imitate it for the Chinatown guards." Future Luke seemed pleased by his new plan. The group nodded in agreement as they began to file out of the observatory. Young Luke and the Professor walked ahead as Flora and Future Luke followed behind.
"So, how do you know we would find Bostro at the Casino?" Flora asked Future Luke curiously. "Is he a heavy gambler?"
"I'm sure he is, but that is unrelated." Future Luke smiled. "The Casino is known as one of the Family's headquarters. A lot of dangerous criminal activities occur there."
"So we're walking straight into the most dangerous part of town? What if they see us?" Flora began to worry.
"Don't you worry Flora, I'm sure we're clever enough to outsmart those imbeciles."
"Aren't you scared they're going to catch you? What if they kill you?"
"I do what I need to. The Family has ruined my city and terrorized the people here long enough. I'm god damn sick of it."
Flora's eyes widened in surprise; swearing wasn't a very gentlemanly thing to do. He was very different from the young Luke she knew.
I guess living in a destroyed town for 10 years can do that to a person, Flora though.
The two stopped walking when they noticed the Professor and Luke chatting with another pedestrian. The stranger seemed to be troubled about a puzzle, and needed their help for a solution.
"Heh, I forgot about this." Future Luke chuckled as he watched young Luke mull over the puzzle.
"Forgot about what?" Flora asked as she followed his gaze.
"The constant helping of random strangers." Future Luke answered.
"Of course they're helping them. That is what a true gentleman does!" Flora quoted with a proud smile. "You were once the Professor's apprentice, you should know this."
Future Luke suddenly gave a very stern look at Flora. Her heart jumped as his eyes burned into her.
"The Professor of my time is not like this. He is no gentleman at all. He abandoned all his morals and beliefs as soon as he gained power in the underground circuits." Future Luke reacted with bitterness. "I don't want to be anything like him."
"I-I'm sorry. I feel awful, I didn't mean to bring that up." Flora stammered an apology.
"It's fine. You didn't know." Future Luke shook his head. Flora sighed, she felt awful for upsetting Luke.
The group began to move again as they proceeded towards the Casino.
"Really, Luke, I'm very sorry." Flora apologized again.
"I said its fine."
"No, really," Flora suddenly stopped in her tracks. Future Luke stopped too and looked at her curiously. She reached out for his hands and squeezed them gently. "I should've brought it up, I was being stupid, I didn't realize what I was saying."
Future Luke's eyes widened as he looked down their hands. He looked back up, and into those sincere eyes.
"No, I shouldnt've snapped at you like that. Please accept my apology." Future Luke smiled at Flora. A wide smile grew on her face as she let go of his hands.
"Thank you, Luke."
Clive POV
What the hell was that? Clive thought to himself as he replayed what had just happened in his head. Who the fuck is this girl, and why is she holding my hand?
Clive watched Flora as she began to speed walk to catch up to the professor. He followed her pace all while keeping an eye on her suspiciously. She seemed to have a natural smile on her face and a small bounce in her step. She quickly noticed Clive watching her and gave him a warm smile. Clive forced a smile back and looked away awkwardly becoming increasingly nervous.
This wasn't part of the plan, Clive thought nervously. She could mess everything up. Damn, I can't believe I totally forgot about this new companion of Layton's.
Clive had learned about the girl during his during his research on the professor. He had easily accessed old news paper articles written about the professor during his employment with London Times. One of the articles he stumbled across mentioned the professor's work in the odd, mysterious town of Mt. Mystere. According to the article, the professor was called out to the town after the passing of Baron Augustus Reinhold. Reinhold had requested the professor's aid in searching for their family treasure known as the Golden Apple. The article went on to explain that the Golden Apple was actually his daughter, Flora Reinhold, and that Reinhold had set up an elaborate puzzle to find a suitable foster parent for Flora. He had even gone through the lengths of populating the town with robotic people to help test and aid the Professor and his abilities.
The professor and Luke are following the plans perfectly but this new element may be a problem. Clive concluded. She's just one girl. I'm sure I can keep her under control if I keep my eye on her.
Before long, the group arrived at the Gilded Casino 7. They approached the Casino with caution and hid themselves against the closest building. Luke was first to look over the corner curiously.
"Look! There's Bostro!" Luke exclaimed.
"Yes, I'd recongize that ridiculous pin-stripped suit anywhere. We need to get closer if we want the Parrot to pick up their conversation." Clive instructed. They watched the goons cautiously as they sneaked up to a nearby hedges. The Professor and Luke hid closer to the criminals while Clive and Flora kept bigger distance. The four remained low to the ground, watching the goons converse and waiting for Bostro to say the magic words.
Clive suddenly felt a tug against his left arm as Flora began to clutch it in fear.
"That is the Professor's right-hand man?" Flora whisper quietly. Clive's mouth began to dry as he felt Flora push his upper arm into her breasts.
"Yes, he is quite the foul man. It looks like hes arguing with that grunt." Clive managed to whisper back.
"My gosh, he's terribly big. Does he always yell like that?" Flora squeezed Clive's arm slightly.
"Almost constantly, I don't think this man has an indoor voice." Clive joked lightly. He glanced over at Flora who was now especially close to him. Her large, innocent eyes stared into his as she smiled brightly. Clive forced himself to look away again, trying to concentrate on the matter at hand. He listened closely to the argument and could tell that Bostro was about to lose his temper. Clive motioned to Luke to hold his parrot up closer to ensure that he captures the phrase.
They waited impatiently, their legs beginning to cramp from the squatting, until their heard Bostro suddenly scream.
"GET LOST!" Bostro spat at the other member as he stormed back into the Casino. The grunt flinched and began to walk away towards the back of the Casino. After the grunt had fully disappeared, Luke shot up quickly and ran over to where Clive and Flora were hiding.
"I think he got it!" Luke smiled brightly as the professor caught up with him.
"Get Lost!" The parrot squawked loudly, matching Bostro's voice perfectly.
"It's perfect." Clive agreed as helped Flora to her feet. "Now all we have to do is get him to say it back to the guards standing at the Chinatown doors."
"No problem!" Luke said with confidence as he held onto the rim of his cap.
The group proceeded onwards towards Chinatown with Luke's parrot in tow. Clive continued to walk alongside with Flora, keeping an eye on her closely. He made her nervous, and he had no idea why.
She seems harmless enough. Maybe not even smart enough to figure things out, Clive thought to himself. Then why does she make me so damn nervous?
"So Luke," Flora suddenly chimed. "Tell me what the future is like. Not just in London, but around the world! Any new discoveries? Or new technology? Anything advances?"
"Well," Clive started. His mind began to race to come up with a plausible lie. "Uh, there are these new gadgets actually. Um, a new phone that was recently released in Japan! It's portable. And everyone there has one there! Also, they have a new robot that can help vacuum! It can detect dirt and knows where to go!"
"Oh, my dad was fascinated by robots!" Flora said excitedly. "He had this man make these fantastic robots for me to play with when I was younger."
Clive was suddenly intrigued. He had read the newspaper article, but that was hardly the full story. "Flora, remind me again about your dad and Mt. Mystere."
"Well, my mom passed away when I was very young." Flora reminisced. "She was very sweet, gentle, beautiful and very caring. Unfortunately, she fell ill with an incurable disease. When she passed away, my dad and I only had each other. Unfortunately, he was very busy and had to work a lot. I used to go to the garden where Mom was buried when I felt lonely and just talk to her grave."
Flora looked over at Clive who was completely fascinated by the story so far. "Then what happened?"
"My dad saw how lonely I was and used his resources to make a new robotic mother. I screamed and cried when I saw it. I hated that thing. It was so fake and looked so creepy. My dad went on to make even more robots and soon had a whole town of them just to keep me company while he was away."
Flora paused before she spoke again in a quieter voice.
"That's why I hate being alone, it reminds me of how my friends were all fake and how my dad never had time for me. I always felt like a nuisance in his eyes. He went to the lengths of building people to keep me company rather than just keeping me company himself. All my friends were fake and I've never actually connected with a real human being. The professor and Luke treat me the same way; as if I'm a nuisance."
Flora's eyes began to water as she reflected on her situation. Clive suddenly felt empathy for the girl.
"I know I'm bothersome, I know I'm annoying but still, I'd rather follow them around and force my way into the team because I hate being alone. Atleast when I'm following them around I don't think. Every time I'm alone, all I can think about is how no one wants me around. My dad, the professor; my whole life I've been treated like I'm troublesome! My whole life I've been dodged and abandoned by those who were suppose to take care of me and suppose to love me!"
Tears started to stream down Flora's cheeks as she began to tremble. She had stopped walking during her confession and was now far behind Luke and the Professor. Clive stood in front of Flora, unsure of what to do. She stepped closer to Clive and held him close, burying her face into his chest. He carefully wrapped his arms around her in attempt to comfort her. He felt empathetic for the girl and shocked by the Professor and Luke's behaviour towards her.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you this," Flora hiccupped. "I don't know what came over me."
She began to pull away but Clive held her tighter. Clive suddenly felt a connection to this crying girl. Like him, she also lost loved ones at a young age. Irregardless of that, she still seemed so pleasent and happy. She always wore a smile on her face, and was always gentle and polite. She had such an optomistic outlook on life even after all the pain and abandonment she had gone though. Clive admired this and was now intrigued with how she could possibly stay so positive.
"No, it's okay," Clive said in a calm voice. "I understand how you feel, Flora. I promise I'll never abandon you."
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