Elaine was surprised with how calm she was able to be despite knowing that Descole was somewhere out there. Maybe it was the fact she only stuck to familiar pathways when walking somewhere (She could drive, she just never bothered buying a car), or perhaps the way she would list all logical reasons why Descole would NOT come after her again. It could have also had something to do with the fact she had a precaution when in her home. Whenever answering the door for instance, she would hold a hatchet (That she used for cutting up some turf for her fireplace) just out of sight of the visitor at the door until she felt safe. Even if the door was open a crack or as far as the door chain would allow if Elaine wasn't planning on letting them in. A little drastic, maybe. Elaine could sort of admit to that. But it gave her a sense of security, so that's all that mattered.

She didn't have to use such precautions at work. Well, she was more or less forced to. She doubted she could have brought a hatchet into work without being questioned and possibly suspended or worse.

"Ms. Hawthorne?" Elaine looked back at her office door to see Joseph come in. He was a few years younger than Elaine, and shorter too. His face was a little effeminate too, a trait that according to him was caused by having a twin sister. Joseph was carrying a teacup while a few papers were held under his arm, and handed it to Elaine with a smile.

"Sugar no milk. Just how you like it."

"Merci." Elaine murmured as she took the cup and sipped from it. "Are those papers for me?"

"Oh, yeah." Joseph held them out. "They're on the Mauryan Empire. There were some copies sent in today so I thought I'd grab one for you."

"Very thoughtful of you. Who is it by?"

"A Professor Sycamore is what it said." Elaine skimmed through the first few pages before looking at the back on pausing. There was a small biography on the author and above it a headshot of Professor Sycamore. He didn't look much older than herself, and had red-brown eyes with red framed glasses and brown hair that curled a lot at the ends. Something seemed off though she couldn't put her finger on it.

"… Did we ever meet 'im?" Elaine asked as she tilted her head to the side. There was something about Professor Sycamore's (Admitably in Elaine's opinion, very handsome) face, but she just couldn't place her finger on it.

"I don't think so. Why?" Elaine looked at the picture a few more minutes before closing the papers and putting it down on her desk.

"Nothing. My mind's just messing with me I suppose. But merci on bringing it to me. I'll read through it later."

"Oh, and I passed Mr. Wilisier on my up here, and he wants to ask you about the date we're loaning some of the Celtic artefacts to the National Museum in Wales?"

"I think the men taking the artefacts should be 'ere on Wednesday." Elaine answered. "I think then they'll officially be on display in Wales on the following Monday."

"Do you want me to go tell him that now?"

"Don't feel you have to right away, but if you don't mind, it'll probably ease his mind. You know 'ow 'e tends to over think and worry over things." Elaine chuckled as Joseph gave a sheepish smile.

"I'm guessing Mr. Wilisier wouldn't be too happy if he knew you said that now."

"Only if 'e finds out. And if you value your job, 'e won't." joked Elaine. Joseph gave a small chuckle before he left the room.

Elaine thought that she had a fairly good work relationship with Joseph. She was reasonable enough with him workwise in her opinion, and he did his job well. He was punctual, polite. He was quick to memorise details with reports and such. He even brought her tea sometimes even when she didn't ask. Admitably, he tended to be a bit reserved with new people at first, but had grown comfortable enough with Elaine during their work time together.

He was someone Elaine had grown to have a trust in.

While Joseph was a good worker, Elaine never expected him to be a hundred percent perfect. Complete perfection was bland, pointless and dull according to her mother, and she understood it clearly. But Elaine was still surprised when Joseph came in half an hour late one morning. On the rare times he was late, it would only be by about five minutes.

"Sorry about being late Ms. Hawthorne." Joseph said sheepishly as he came into Elaine's office. "The traffic was really bad today."

"That's okay." Elaine waved it off. "I was just going to get some tea. Would you mind sorting these papers into the filing cabinet for me?"

"Not at all." Joseph said with a cheerful smile as he took the papers Elaine handed him. She gave a quick thank you before she left. She felt in good spirits as she walked. Nothing bad had happened. Everything was going smoothly. Like life before Misthallery. Before Descole. She had over reacted. He would be too busy plotting his own schemes then to give her a second thought. No. There was nothing to fear.

Returning back to her office with tea for herself and Joseph, she was surprised to see Joseph put her receiver down.

"Was there a call?" Joseph looked back to Elaine, looking a little startled for a brief moment.

"Y-yeah. From someone called Darcy."

"Oh, what did she say? Oh, I got you tea too."

"Thanks." Joseph took his cup. "She said she found what you were looking for and that you should get it sometime this week."

"Très bon." Elaine murmured as she looked through some paperwork she was looking through earlier.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you expecting?" Joseph asked as he glanced out the window.

"… It's… Nothing much really. Just a list of names."

"Names?" Joseph was frowning now. Looking a bit unsure. Elaine didn't notice however as she flicked a page over

"Oui."

"For what?"

"There's something I'm looking into. I can't recall one person's name except for Lucy, so I thought maybe a list of names might help me recall."

"… I see." Joseph murmured. He seemed a little weary, but Elaine either brushed it off as nothing noteworthy or was just too absorbed in her work to notice. "Is it important?"

"In my opinion, oui." Elaine wasn't really lying so far. Just… Tweaking a bit and not going into great details is all. She hadn't noticed when Joseph looked wearily between herself and her desk.

"So, is it coming to your house or here?" Elaine looked up from her papers. That question got her attention.

"I always have my mail delivered 'ere. It saves me some time. You know that." Joseph cringed a little.

"S-sorry. I guess I forgot. You were… Missing for so long, I guess I…"

"Don't worry about it." Elaine told him. His explanation sounded reasonable enough. Perfectlly understandable if Elaine said so herself.

The week had gone on normally enough. Not too much excitement except for a possible excavation dig somewhere in Scotland. Elaine was feeling tempted to go, but wasn't entirely sure if she could right now after the Golden Garden. Maybe if there was a dig sometime next year she would sign up for it.

However, on a Thursday morning, Elaine was happy to see a thick envelope that she just had an itching feeling was from Darcy. Elaine sat at her desk to open the envelope, using her silver letter opener. She then stood and walked over to her small couch as she read the small letter that she spotted first.

Elaine,

It was a bit tricky to get this to you, but I did. Hope it was worth it.

Darcy.

Elaine then sat on her couch and pulled out the thicker papers. Elaine blinked with how many Lucy. S' or names Lucy was an abbreviation for there were. There were about twelve pages and almost too many names on each page, including their dates and cause of death. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but this…

"Are you alright, Ms. Hawthorne?" Elaine looked up to see Joseph peering in from behind the door. Elaine waved him in.

"Oui, oui. I just got that letter from Darcy."

"And how does it look?" Elaine was a bit surprised by how anxious Joseph sounded to know what was on the paper. But she replied back,

"More names then I expected. Much more."

"That's a shame." Joseph replied, slightly apathetically. "Maybe… How about I look through those names for you? You could take a rest. Maybe get some tea?" Elaine raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't I be telling you to get the tea?" Joseph frowned. Blushing a little as he appeared to overstepped a line. However, Elaine quickly smiled and stood up. Handing the list to him.

"'Ere you go. I won't be too long."

"Not like the list will go anywhere." Joseph commented dryly as Elaine left.

Everything had been going well. Elaine was happy. Content. Relaxed. Felt nothing negative unless you count tiredness after a day at work. Then she saw how it came tumbling down.

"Ms. Hawthorne, there's a phone call for you." Elaine was just passing reception when the receptionist, Ginerva, held a phone up towards her. Elaine was a bit startled but accepted the phone.

"Bonjour?"

"Ms. Hawthorne? It's Joseph."

Elaine's heart stopped.

"J-Joseph?"

"Yeah. I've been meaning to call you all week, but I was really busy."

Elaine glanced down the stairs she had just come down.

"I got this letter telling me my sister was kidnapped. I went to the place it told me to go, but when I didn't spot find her, I decided it was a hoax and went home. But then I found another letter, and it told me the first one was a test that this one was genuine. It said to go straight to this one place and to call a number when a week was up, and…

"I feel so stupid. Violet was alright. I know this doesn't make up for not being in all week, But I'm okay with my pay being docked or whatever. I was stupid for acting irrational and I-."

"Don't worry about it." Elaine said quickly, eyes still on the stairs. "You'll still get your pay."

"Really?"

"Oui." Elaine said as she stood a little straighter. "Why didn't you call my office phone?"

"I tried but I can't get through. Maybe the plug go knocked out?"

"Maybe." Elaine muttered. "I'm sorry, I 'ave to go, something's come up."

"That's alright. I'll be in-." Elaine put the receiver down and took off her black high heels to carry them before rushing back upstairs, briefly cursing her choice of footwear to work. She was thankful no one was out to see her running through the hall like this. They would think she had gone mad!

Elaine arrived outside her office door. Putting one heel on the ground, Elaine held the other with the heel out. Intending it to be a defensive weapon. Grabbing the door handle, Elaine took a deep breath and flung the door open, her shoe raised high.

The room was empty.

Elaine looked at corners to make sure of this before picking up her other shoe and closing the door behind her. Locking it.

Taking a proper look around her room now, she realised that her windows were wide open, letting in the cool breeze while on her desk was something Elaine had not seen in ages.

Her short blue scarf.

It had been so long since she had seen it in Misthallery before Descole kidnapped her that she had forgotten about its existence entirely. Elaine looked out the window again before shutting it tightly. She gripped the scarf in her clenched fist. Shaking at first before slowly moving to sit on her couch again.

Descole had been her. This entire week, Descole was in her presence, disguised as her assistant. She was caught between anger, fear and a feeling of stupidity. She should have known the moment he entered her office half an hour late. She should have noticed the small details here and there.

But she didn't.

OMAKE THEATER Theatre: Where Layton characters are chibi-fied!

Chapter 2 of Elliella

Elliella was scrubbing the floor after Anton dropped a small pot of nail polish on it and only told her after it had fully dried into the floor. She was grumbling, cursing her step'mother' and questioning how her father could not have known Anton's gender. It was obvious to her at the time and she had been maybe… Eight? Nine? At the time. One or the other, it didn't make too much difference.

"Do you want some help?" Elliella gave a grateful smile to her two stepsisters, Angela and Claire as they came in.

"Oui, that would be nice."

"Well it's marble so have you tried scrapping it off?" Claire asked as she knelt down as she started picking at the bright purple stain. Elliella wanted to slap herself silly when she saw that was much more effective then scrubbing.

"Merci. I 'adn't thought of that."

"STOP HELPING THE HELP, YOU STUPID GIRLS!" All three women winced as Anton stomped in. He was wearing one of those old west saloon dress, with a big peacock's feather in his hair and sparkly blue earrings.

"We were just-."

"Shut it, you Britney wannabe!" Anton snapped at Angela.

"If she's Britney, does that make you Kim Kardashian?" Elliella asked in an innocent tone. Anton gave a sharp gasp.

"No, he isn't." Claire shuck her head. "I believe Miley Cyrus would be a better comparison." No, Anton gave a sharper gasp here.

"What about a love-child of Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian?" Angela suggested. Anton gasped so much from the insults that he promptly fainted.

"That was anti-climactic." Elliella remarked. Then there was a knock at the door, and Angela answered.

"Can we help you?"

"Yes, I'm…" Clive the messenger boy frowned in confusion as he looked inside. Three hot girls and a man in a dress on the ground. The last was definitely not what he was expecting. "Is he okay?"

"He's fin-." Angela was promptly shoved out of the way by Anton. His got boy senses had tingled in… places, just enough to wake him up and see the now uncomfortable looking Clive.

"Well, hellooooo~." Anton purred as he tried to lean closer and closer to Clive. "What have we here? A scrumptious looking young man with a fine ass coming to my home, to see me? Must be my lucky day~."

"Er, no… Sir." Clive as hesitant to use sir, since he wasn't sure of Anton's state of mind. "I'm actually here to announce a royal ball-."

"A ROYA BALL?!" Anton squealed louder than humanly possible. "WHERE?! WHEN?!"

"Tomorrow night!" Clive said quickly, desperate to leave now. "It's to help find Princes Descole, Randall and Hershel a bride each!" Anton stared at Clive, his mouth gapping.

"Oh. Em. Ef. GEE!" Anton glomped Clive as if he had given Anton a cure for an illness. "BEST. NEWS. EVER!" Anton then smothered kisses on Clive's face before shoving him out and closing the door.

"Well, girls. Guess who's becoming the future queen~." Anton smirked at them all. Elliella was tempted to make a joke there, but felt that it was too easy. "I'm going to marry one of those princes, and then I'll be the top dog, bitches!"

"But, wouldn't that mean trying to marry the eldest one if you want to be queen?" Claire asked in confusion.

"I plan to marry Descole! If not him, then one of the others and I'll kill the rest off. Then I'll kill the king, become official queen and kill the husband I marry. Unless it is Descole."

"… And why are you telling us this?" Angela asked, dumbfounded as to why Anton would admit to such a heinous act.

"Duh, because no one will believe you sillies." Anton giggled and skipped out. Singing about all the things he would do as queen, from creating a real life Willy Wonka style chocolate factory to opening gays bars.

"Well… I hope you two 'ave a good time." Elliella told her stepsisters. "I doubt I'll be able to go."

"Nonsense." Claire scoffed. "He never said you couldn't go. All we have to do is lend you one of our dresses."

"Really? Merci!" Elliella felt excited now. She would get to have fun for once. No Anton to stop her! That dress wearing creep could suck it!

An hour later, all three women were in pretty dress. Angela's was a peach colour, Claire's a pale blue and Elliella's violet.

"Alrighty, let's go-!" Anton had just come in, wearing a really gaudy lilac coloured dress with bows and nothing covering his butt. How such a dress existed is still a mystery. Either way, he had stopped speaking the moment he saw Elliella.

"… What are you doing?"

"Desole?" Elliella asked, not sure what the problem was.

"… You're wearing purple." Anton said calmly. "You can't go."

"Wha-?"

"YOU CAN'T GO! WE CAN'T BOTH GO IF WE'RE WEARING THE SAME COLOUR! EVEN IF THEY ARE DIFFERENT SHADES!"

"I'll just cha-."

"No time!" Anton snapped and ripped the skirt of Elliella's dress, much to her chagrin.

"What the 'ell?!"

"HEY! That was my dress!"

"Shut it, Angela! We're going! It's time for me, to meet destiny!" Anton declared before shoving Angela and Claire outside with him, and slamming the door shut and leaving Elliella with nothing but a ruined dress.

"… Well fuck."