Chapter 3

Layton flinched as smoke filled the area as someone set off a smoke bomb amongst the crowd. He retreated back inside, heading to the library where the remaining staff and students were hiding. Glass shards littered the lobby, the remnants of the shattered windows destroyed by the mob's rocks.

The professor was starting to understand the reason behind the violence. The mob had nothing against the school or anyone inside. They were making an example of them. These people were angry at the government and somehow their answer to it was hurting others.

He moved into the library, looking at the other students. A few of the janitors, two or three students and the librarians were huddled in the librarian's office, away from the windows.

A crash came from the lobby. Smoke started to creep into the cramped library. The professor flinched, holding his breath.

The university was on fire.

...

The two soon left the flat, despite it being completely dark out. The power had managed to go out yet again for the second time in the past four days. It was silent between the two for most of the time. Clive was especially quiet as he walked by groups of homeless people. They glared at him and he couldn't blame them. It was his fault they were in the situation.

"All this is my fault?" He whispered, unable to look away. In a few years, he'd turn from the man who was able to trick the great professor Layton and was able to create an underground London in only three years. Now he couldn't look at any of the victims of his crimes without wanting to run and hide.

The girl beside him frowned, shaking her head. "Please stop doing that."

"Stop doing what?"

"You need to stop thinking about what you did and look straight ahead." She said in a husky tone, sounding ticked off at him. "It's not healthy."

"I think I'm far from healthy, Katarina." He snapped, starting to regain some of his sharpness. He didn't mean to hurt her, yet the words fell out anyway. She didn't seem to mind though, at least as far as he could tell.

Katarina kept her eyes ahead of her, her stride quickening a little. The young man was secretly hoping she wasn't offended by what he said. Yet soon enough, he soon realized that that wasn't why she speeded up.

Flames lit up the sky as terrified citizens ran away from the burning university. Rioters were gathered around the university, shouting all sorts of vile words in all sorts of languages.

"Oh my god…" She whispered. "We have to do something!"

Clive was unable to think. The smoke was starting to get to his head. This was all too familiar. This time though, it would be his fault if he let another one of his guardians die on him. This time, he was an adult and no one would be able to stop him.

While Katarina was still distracted, he took of his jacket and pushed away the rioters and dashed into the building.

a/n: wow, short, but my computer was kind of blech today, so it took me a while to get Word to work. Sorry guys. I'll have a longer update tomorrow when I write more during school. If you would like to give ideas/OCs, you can either PM me or review. Either works.