San Grio looked absolutely perfect when Elaine first set her eyes on the small island. Pale yellow, nearly white sand that met clear, blue water that stretched out towards the horizon to meet the sky. Tropical plants and trees nearly everywhere outside if the town, and just a wonderful laid back feeling of the area. A kind of place she would like to take a holiday to.
Even the locals seemed friendly. One of them (what was his name again? Javier? Yes, that felt right) had actually pointed them in the right direction when they asked about the Azran Egg. True, it was a bit odd that he called it a 'popoño'. It sounded more like a tropical fruit. But the people probably just found the egg at one point and put it on display somewhere after naming it. Even if it was in the market place.
Though the sight of many, many, many popoños of various sizes and colours throughout all the stalls (and one or two mascots for some shops) quickly diminished any possibilities of finding the egg and getting it. Though to be fair, such fairness is either incredibly slim or non-existent.
"It seems we were too quick to assume there would just be one popoño," Professor Layton remarked as he looked around, frowning a bit at the more gaudy merchandise.
"Can you tell which is the real one, Aurora is?" asked Johanna. Aurora was frowning and shuck her head lightly before she said,
"I'm sorry. I can sense that there's an aura stone here, but I cannot tell you the exact location."
"Perhaps someone found the Azran egg 'ere at some point and all of this merchandise is based off of it," Elaine suggested as she looked at some passing boats with more popoños.
"It is possible," Professor Layton admitted. "Though if that were the case, it might be trickier to find the egg this time. However, we still have yet to find the actual origin of all these popoños, so it would be best to see if any of the people can shed light on this matter."
Walking around the small town, Elaine was reminded a little of a small town she had visited on her holiday to Greece some years ago. It felt a bit hotter here though, and there was a bit more plant life. But despite the pleasantries, they were still no closer to their main objective which was finding the second Azran Egg. Desmond had suggested earlier while they were still in the Bostonius that the egg may be in the waters surrounding San Grio. Hopefully that wasn't the case. Elaine wasn't sure how long it would take to give the airship some sort of submarine mode. Assuming it didn't have one already that is.
"Hey, guys! What's with those long faces?" called a middle aged man with round sunglasses as they nearly passed by a restaurant. Aurora looked at the man like he made some mistake.
"What? My face is not long."
"That so? Well, looks pretty long to me. Maybe it's these sunglasses, I dunno."
"Come to think of it, we have been so preoccupied with our enquiries that we haven't even had a proper meal," Professor Layton admitted. "I'm surprised Luke hasn't been reminding us every step of the way. Especially with all the talk of eggs," he added with mirth, and on cue Luke's stomach grumbled making the boy grin sheepishly while Emmy chuckled.
"Did you say you're running enquiries? No way! What's the occasion?" He held his hands up quickly then. "No, wait. None of my business, right? But, hey, if you would like a helpin' hand, just give you uncle Bud a shout. If there's something you need to know about the island or anyone on it, I can give you the info you're looking for. I guarantee it.
"But first thing first, a sunny welcome to San Grio, the Island of the Harmony Ring!"
"What's this 'Armony Ring?" Elaine asked. If there was history involved, Elaine was certainly the type of person to be interested.
"You don't know? Great!" Bud clapped his hands together. "I love telling this one! So, the popoño, right? That's what they call the 'beinger of happiness'."
"I'm sorry," Professor Layton interrupted. "But before we start, may I ask how it was that popoños rose to such immense popularity?"
"You mean… You want to know how they became so… 'Popoñnular'?" Elaine inwardly cringed at the Desmond-esque type joke. "Heh heh. That you may, sir.
"The popoños, you see, are models based on an ancient artefact. You might say it's the one true popoño."
"And where exactly was this artefact found, if you know?" Elaine inquired, glad that the egg wasn't in the ocean. That trip would possibly take months.
"It was found in a cave at the far side of the island. The entrance only shows up a couple times a year when the tide's especially low. But I know what you're thinking. Don't go risking your lives now, guys. Everything worth taking's already been taken. So my hunch that you're after 'popoño numero uno' is right, right?"
"Right!" agreed Luke happily.
"Well, if you really, really want it, you're gonna have to play by the rules."
"Rules?" Elaine repeated, a slight frown of confusion on her lips.
"It's a very special San Grio tradition. It gets passed around the island, spreading more and more happiness as it goes. And if you haven't guessed yet, that's why we call it the Harmony Ring. See? Everything comes back full circle!"
"So, does that mean there's a chance that someone might give it to us?" Luke asked hopefully.
"Sure is, buddy. But people don't go passing it around to the first person they see. The whole thing follows a pattern."
"Which would mean that learning this pattern might allow us to intercept the exchange and acquired the true popoño?" asked Professor Layton.
"Correctamundo. It even found its way to me at one point," Bud admitted and Luke was quick to ask,
"What, really?! Who did you give it to?"
"Steady on there, kiddo," Bud laughed. "First rule of the Harmony Ring: you don't give names."
Glancing to Desmond, Elaine was certain he was as happy about having to work out who had the egg with logic as the Professor was. His tendency to be impatient certainly was of no benefit to him. Though to be fair, it wasn't as though Bud's hint as to who to ask wasn't very specific. Still, he was at least able to tell them that the word 'harmony' was bound to loosen tongues.
Though at the sight of two Targent soldiers made Elaine wish that those tongues would stay firmly tightened if in contact with them.
Huh. They seemed to be the same soldiers from Lake Kodh.
"You know how the boss wanted us to get our hands on all the Azran eggs?" the shorter of the two enquired as he looked around at all the stalls, looking fairly unsure what to do. What was his name again? Bishop, Elaine thought his partner mention. "I think we're going to need a bigger bag."
"Bishop… They're clearly fake."
Ah, it was Bishop.
"Most of them, probably, but how do you know the real one's not mixed in there?"
"They were never very bright," Johanna commented quietly as she tried to hide herself behind Desmond. He certainly had no troubles with that and held a hand behind his back to let her grip onto.
"You know them?" Luke asked, looking a little surprised.
"They had to babysit me once or twice," Johanna explained, looking down. "Though it was easy enough to get away from them sometimes. I just had to distract Mr. Bishop who would then distract Mr. Rook while I left them alone. I always got caught in the end though by someone else." Johanna paused, thinking something over. "It was sometimes fun playing some games with them though. But I'd rather be with papa then them. Always."
"Even so, swiping them up with a massive bag won't help us find the real one quicker," Rook sighed in exasperation. "We'd have no way of knowing when the real one was in the bag. No, we're going to have to check them all one at a time."
"Oh, right. I s'pose that makes sense." Bishop began looking at all the popoños around him. "This egg's fake… That egg's fake…" "He looked over the group and with his sole concentration on Azran eggs, he barely noticed who they were, and just simply commented as he glanced over the professor, "… and that egg's wearing a top hat, so it's got to be fake!"
"What? An egg with a top hat?" Rook was sharply alert, his focus on the group far quicker than Bishop's. Professor Layton the, 'egg wearing a top hat', spoke up calmly.
"Hello again, gentleman."
"Oh, not you again," Bishop whined.
"We know you're after the eggs. You won't be getting your hands on this one," Rook stated, chin high as though he just said they already found the artefact.
"Yeah!" Bishop agreed. "And when we find it, you'll have no chance of catching us. I won the egg-and-spoon race at our school sports day five years in a row. No one runs with eggs like I do!"
"So, as long as you 'ave spoons to carry them, you'll find all the Azran eggs?" Elaine asked with a raised brow. "I didn't realise that the Azrans made special spoons for them. Although, I wouldn't get my 'opes up for you to be able to 'old the spoon let alone balance an egg shaped artefact on it."
"Hey!" Bishop shouted, looking very flustered from Elaine's comment. "I-I'll show you!" Frustrated, he ran off ahead before Rook could stop him.
"Bishop, wait a min-... Good grief." Rook ran after him at a fast pace, leaving the group alone in peace after their strangely peaceful enough encounter.
"A mismatched duo, if ever there was one," remarked Professor Layton as he watched the two run to one of the many stores. Elaine had to agree with him. She could only imagine what they were like outside of work.
"Well, Professor, I'd say the race is one to see who can find the egg first!" Luke declared.
"Yes, but in order to do so, we'll need to gather clues from the people of San Grio."
"I suppose it's fortunate that it doesn't appear to take long to travel the breadth of the island then," Elaine noted. "We may even bump into the person carrying the egg during our questioning."
It would be a little nerve wracking to try and find the real egg, but with the Targent soldiers distracted by all the souvenirs, Professor Layton and co were pretty much ahead once again.
How long 'til such luck began to cease?