Oh, dearest me. This chapter is probably the last of the "fun" kind. The rest are all buildup to a downfall. WILL THERE BE MORE DEATH? Oh yes, there will be, but not just yet. We're going to return to the present day after ONE more chapter, and then a mini one. More of an interlude, with no real purpose. You'll see.

Anyway, the puzzle in this chapter is NOT my own, but is from a set of visual puzzle cards that I got as a kid. I have tons of puzzles, puzzle cards, logic puzzles, number puzzles, etc. but ones like the one in this story are one of my favorite types, as the answer is so OBVIOUS, but you may not see it right off the bat unless you've solved one like it before. Hopefully you'll enjoy it… It involves one of my favorite things. :]

I actually illustrated a scene from this story. It's terrible, mind you. I drew it before I even knew what I wanted Laura to look like, and before I even envisioned this chapter! So, this chapter was inspired by a drawing. HAHA. It was drawn even before I had a grip on this story, and just was in the beginning of it all, thinking, "I'M SENDING THE PROFESSOR TO THE BEACH WITH ONE OF HIS STUDENTS." It's a bit more humorous than this chapter was, but…if you want to take a look….Go here, but remove the spaces:

008kenichijouji . deviantart . com/gallery/9048950#/d32epzc

Memorizing the Latin dictionary,

Kelsey

CHAPTER 17: MERCURY RISING

The death of Headmaster Ginlade inspired rumors to the most fantastical degree, tearing through the city at breakneck speed, like a falcon on the hunt. With no leads and little information to go on, the police hit a standstill, stating the case was a homicide, but with no suspects to speak of. The entire situation was tricky, and people had taken more to comforting Mrs. Ginlade rather than trying to solve the most infamous murder case the college campus had ever experienced.

Laura decided early on that funerals were not her thing. Not after her brother's. But the idea of paying last respects was something that she held to, and accompanied Professor Layton to the service. It drew in several thousand people, as the Headmaster was well-known and well-liked. She hoped going to the funeral would help nip her visions and bizarre dreams in the bud, to little avail.

But life went on, started up again as usual, regardless of whether the case had been solved. Another headmaster was instated, at least temporarily, and classes resumed as if nothing had ever happened.

A steady flow of students ambled down the hallway to the faculty offices at Gressenheller. Nothing particularly amiss, as it was a weekday, yet the clambering crowd outside Professor Layton's door was a bit uncanny, if not creepy. Perhaps it was because all of them were female. Laura rolled her eyes noiselessly, sitting outside on one of the many benches that lined the walls.

'Apparently, he has a fanbase…'

The Professor must have called from within, because in an instant the group of girls threw open the door and smashed through the frame, each frantically trying to get his attention first. Laura nonchalantly lent an ear to the whoops and congratulatory words thrown about.

"We're so excited, Professor! Congratulations on your promotion!"

"It's such a giant step in your career!"

"You'll let us know when your class schedule is out, won't you?"

"We need to sign up for your advanced level archaeology courses!"

Without actually visually witnessing the scene, Laura envisioned a perfumed set of ravenous, done-up beasts, all foaming at the mouth, crazed and obsessed, circling the poor man at his desk, all vying for a fraction of conversation with him. Fictional fantasies aside, the reality was scary enough

Layton coughed, continuing into a chuckle. "Ladies, I thank you kindly for your thoughts and well-wishes, but I have a meeting that I must attend soon. I'll have to ask you to continue on to your classes. I'm sure half of you are already late to your respective courses…"

Many nodded, others frowned. "But—!"

"Ah ah ah, no buts. I'll be available after 9 AM tomorrow morning if any of you need assistance with that ancient runes research I started you all off on."

Laura watched them all leave, heads downcast. The Professor stood in the doorway, hand to his mouth. "And don't forget to bring your guidebooks to class tomorrow! Many forgot last time. Ah, Laura, fancy seeing you here."

"Oh 'fancy', indeed. I come every morning," she said with a wry smile, following him into the study. "A bit of freak weather, don't you think?"

"Being April, and having summer temperatures? I think so. Quite sunny, awfully pleasant. I sacrificed keeping my papers orderly and opened a window. Unfortunately, the breeze keeps blowing my things around, but…"

"You aren't clean anyway," she giggled, looking about the room, pointing piles of clutter out as examples for her case. "Exhibit A?"

He shook his head, sighing. "Do you always have to…never mind. With such irresistible weather, I've planned out a little holiday for us."

"A…holiday?" she asked uncertainly.

"Perhaps, more of a day trip. I thought we could head to the ocean for the day."

She shook her head. "But you have class, we have class—"

"Already canceled it."

"You can't just go around cancelling like that! You need to have utmost dedication to your students and your courses. If you want to be full-time professor, you have to act like it!"

He laughed, already set on his plans as he put textbooks away neatly on the shelf, which was uncustomary, Laura noticed. "So harsh! I do act like it! Or else I wouldn't have gotten the job. But I can also reserve time for myself. It's fine, the material was basic review for today anyway. Now then, we'll need a change of clothes, so I'll swing by your house for you to get something, and also something for lunch, so how about we head to the grocery and see if we can't find something to prepare."

With the weather briefly transforming the day into spring, Laura was in high spirits, carried by the breeze and the change in atmosphere. It whispered relaxation and enjoyment, warm wind blowing through the open car windows, a basket of sandwiches in the back. It would have been morally wrong to not laugh, make jokes, poke fun, smile. A day of salt water and sea zephyrs was a cure for either of their doubts, worries, cares. All was right in the world.

"Really, Hershel, take off that bloomin' hat. The wind will blow it off if you don't do it yourself!"

Layton took a large bite of a sandwich, using his slow chewing as a buffer to continuing the conversation. He shook his head.

"Eating your food isn't going to deter my thoughts. It's silly! Just remove it."

"It's like an appendage at this point," he muttered through a cough, swallowing a considerably thick piece of bread. "It's fine."

Laura directed a harsh glare in his direction, stuffing bits of corned beef into her mouth. "What, you think it completes your gentlemanly wardrobe? Honestly, Hershel, I bet you're just ashamed of your haircut."

"I say! There's nothing wrong with my hair!" He selfconsciously lifted his hat and smoothed his flattened hair, looking up as if he could actually see what it looked like.

"Then why do you sound so offended?" She gave a triumphant smile as he finished his sandwich, huffing to himself.

"I'm putting the supplies back in the car…"

The shoreline was craggy in some places, large jagged rocks and boulders taking the brunt of the waves as they sat heavily along the coast. Laura picked her way carefully across them, hopping from one gray slab to another. The Professor, not too keen on flirting with the possibility of slipping and cracking his skull open, hung behind by several leaps and gaps in the rocks.

"Come now, Hershel, it's really fun!"

"Laurie, I really don't think it's very safe, I really—whoa! Watch your step!—I really think you should stick to walking in the sand…" He yelled out as she took a particularly daring bound. "Now, see here, if you don't quit that nonsense—"

She looked at him crossly, lips in a frown. "Are you my father, or my professor?" He caught up with her, breathing heavily, hands on his knees.

"Right now, I just want you protected and safe, but with that sort of play, it's not going to end well!" He rested a hand on her back, nudging her towards the sand. "Walk along the water, on the sand. It's safer."

"Not my father," she sung out, crossing her arms snugly across her chest, but following his direction. "You're just being a killjoy."

"If it keeps you whole of mind and body, then so be it."

She smirked. "Well, if you don't want your fun 'on the rocks', then we'll have to try something different." She took several quick steps forward, turning halfway to catch his scowl. "Try to keep up!"

"That was a terrible pun, and this is awfully childish—hey, honestly?"

Mind transcended, Laura bolted along the water, waves lapping hungrily at the sand. Her feet tore fresh pits into the coast, creating little whirling puddles where the tide overtook them. The sun was warm, the water cool, and there was something about the place, the energy maybe, that made her feel as if she could do anything, anything at all, and get away with it. Whether her muscles were used to it or not, she sped down the coast, her thoughts dead set on absorbing everything the day had to offer, sans worries.

"Oi, Hershel! You're quite the fatty, taking so long!" She waved mockingly at her professor, breathing heavily up the small sand dune she was standing on. "It barely had any slope!"

"You do realize….that I'm 10 years older than you….and I'm not used to this….at all," he grumbled, cough and puffing between bits of his sentences.

"Maybe it's good for you then. You really should get out more, and not sit in that stuffy little office of yours. You're going to start putting on weight. You're going on 30, you know," Laura said sharply, wagging a warning finger at him. "Your metabolism is something you need to keep up. No one likes a pudge."

Layton glowered at her, finally catching his breath. "A pudge." He sucked his teeth and looked out at the Atlantic, vast and seemingly endless. "Ever been to America, Laurie?"

"I can't say I have. Why?"

"Just asking. I'd quite like to visit for real someday. May have a bit of culture shock, but…" He laughed, tipping his head to scratch his head. "I went to New York once to an archaeological dig, but ended up doing nothing more than getting mixed info in a hotel conference room. Rather disappointing. But the view: it was something else. Quite magnificent, if I do say so myself."

"Sounds lovely," she said with a warm smile, sun leaving red and gold streaks in her hair. Layton returned the grin, sighing.

"Well, I don't know what it is, but the weather has brought out something different in you. Something…youthful. Vim, vigor, and verve, if you will. Although that jaunt just about killed me, I must say your energy is catching."

She put her hands on her hips, a harsh glare in tow. "Well good! Because I won't have my time wasted by a lazy brute!" she exclaimed, transitioning into a laugh.

"What say we get some ice cream? There's a little village nearby that they shuttle beachgoers to throughout the day, full of shops and treats. It's really very quaint, very enjoyable. Shall we go see if transportation is running today?"

"Absolutely!"

Luck on their side, they boarded a mini-omnibus, packed shoulder to shoulder with beach visitors, ready for something new after burning in the sun all afternoon. Layton managed to land two seats when a particularly portly man left the bus after feeling it was "much too cramped for people of average size, this thing!," sending both professor and student into a fit of silent laughter—to which Professor Layton promptly corrected, "Now, Laura, you know that's not very ladylike…" ("You giggled too, hypocrite!" she whispered acidly).

The bus drowsily drove along the coast, swaying and swerving to the curvy road. Laura felt her eyes getting heavy when they finally stopped.

"Village of Mare Avenae, bus comes back around in 45 minutes!"

Taking the Professor's hand, Laura stepped down from the vehicle. "What a pretty little village!"

"I told you it was a lovely place. I used to come here in my younger days. Hopefully they still—oh they do!" He pulled her briskly to a little ice cream shop with a large glass window. There was barely any standing room inside, it was so full of people. "I absolutely love this place. Now, don't get the wrong idea—"

"What the weather has brought out in me, this kiddy place has brought out in you," Laura said, leering. "I don't want to hear another word about me being 'childish'…"

Defeated again, Layton sighed. "Fair enough. But this is nostalgic!"

They waited patiently in the long line, children and adults alike leaving with wide toothy grins and colored tongues as they each licked happily at their cones. The Professor ordered a large sundae with every topping imaginable, much to Laura's surprise, while she only requested a small cookies and cream frozen yogurt.

"I really….can't believe you just ordered that." Laura watched him take to his dessert like a child at Christmas. "I can't believe you've gone so loony over ice cream?"

He smiled, a trace of melted vanilla at the corners of his mouth. "You really, couldn't possibly understand. Coming here as a child was like a vacation. It's a very fond memory now, and I get to relive it. It's rather exciting, wouldn't you say?"

She looked carefully into her own treat, somehow contemplative, despite the Professor's obvious joy. "I really don't know what you mean. I don't look back on my childhood fondly, and what little that I did consider enjoyable, is gone. I never get to relive it. But," she added, not wanting him to fret over her, "I'm glad you get to have your fun again."

"Mostly…I'm just tickled that you get to share in it, even if you don't quite feel the same about it as me." He spooned around his bowl, trying to catch the dregs on the lip of his utensil.

"Wouldn't you rather I feel the same, rather than just share as a sort of bystander? I wish you felt the same about some of the things I find enjoyable…"

Tossing the Styrofoam container into a bin, Layton chuckled. "Well, I mostly am just satiated for now. Some day, I think we'd come to enjoy what the other does. Don't you think?"

"Hmm, maybe… I don't see you playing the piano fondly anytime soon."

"I just don't practice enough, is all!" He picked up her trash, throwing it away, then taking her by the hand. "Let's go look around a bit before the bus comes back."

They walked lazily through the small town, their shoes clacking against the cobblestone. It wasn't long before Laura found a souvenir for herself. She began trying on hats at a little corner store, its doors open wide to let the warm air flow through.

"Oh, I do enjoy hats, even though I'm not one for being fashionable," she said, trying on a white sunhat. "Such a wide brim, it'd be nice to garden in. Should my parents ever allow me to garden… Oh, there you are, Hershel. Could I borrow some money off of you? I'll pay you back when I get home. I wasn't expecting to come out here today, after all."

The Professor paid, laughing at how ecstatic his student seemed to be over a simple accessory. "You don't have to worry about paying me back. Spending the day with me is payment in full."

"But I must, that's not really fair!"

"Seeing you happy clears your debt. That's all you need to do. Be happy."

She grinned wide, glancing up at the brim of the hat almost pridefully. "It's really nice. Thank you."

Laura removed her hat as they all crammed into the bus once more for a final time, sardines being shuttled back to the coast. Stomach full, the warm breeze wafting through the bus, she felt her eyes finally giving way, her head hanging down until she'd sense herself dropping off, when she'd wake herself up unceremoniously. She laid her head against the Professor's shoulder without another thought.

He glanced to his side, face red. Surely, others would blame the heat. Sighing, he smiled.

'I suppose there's nothing really awkward about it at all. No one here knows us from Adam anyhow…'

"Laurie. Laurie dear, we've returned."

Eyes blurred, Laura looked across from her, empty seats triggering her mind back to reality. "Oh, has everyone else left the bus?"

"Yes, you're a bit, well, attached."

She flung back, realizing she'd slumped over onto him, holding his arm for support. "I'm…I'm really sorry, you should have nudged me, someone could have seen and—"

"Relax, I don't recognize anyone. It's fine. Now, let's bid the sea goodbye. You seem to be keen on drifting off elsewhere."

They climbed a final dune and decided to call it a day. Laura removed her sandals and dug her bare feet into the sand, letting the grains wedge between her toes.

"I love the ocean. I never get to come here. It's so lovely, so humbling."

"Couldn't have said it any better myself. Humbling, that's a nice way to put it. We're rather small compared to the vast stretches of the sea. But…I think we're a bit more important, in the end." He turned away and began walking down the sandy slope. "Ready to head off?"

Laura whined as the car pulled up to the curb in front of her house. "Goodness, the day's over already. It's really a shame, it is!"

Layton laughed. "It's only 2 o'clock, hardly the end of the day."

"The end of my day. I won't be doing anything but studies and sitting indoors. My parents are dictators! As soon as they come home from work and socializing, it'll be complete lock-down."

"Well, request their permission to go on a walk, say, a few blocks from here this evening." He smiled, stepping out from the car. He walked around to open her door.

"Well, I suppose. Say, do you have a puzzle for me today?"

"I do indeed. This one may be a bit tougher than before, but I'm sure you'll get it:

Leona Noel, Edna Lalande, and Nella Allen are best friends.

What do they have in common?"

—Don't read further if you want to solve it! There's a couple hints ahead just before the answer…—

"Well, how should I know? That's the most obscure one yet!" Laura moaned. She thought about it for a second, then sighed. "I need a hint."

"It's actually easier if you write it out." He handed the piece of paper over with the puzzle written out. "Take a good hard look at the names."

She glanced at the names over and over, trying to count the vowels to see if they each had the same amount, the same with the consonants. "I…I feel really dumb…"

Layton laughed. "It's fine. We all come to puzzles we struggle with. Read the names backwards."

With a slap to the forehead, Laura laughed. "Oh! They're all palindromes! What a joke!"

"Indeed!"

"Well, I have one for you as well, but I was actually planning on stopping by your house later anyway, so it's written out in my room. I'll convince my parents I have a study group session with some random set of girls and need to join if I want my grades to improve."

Professor Layton pocketed the paper with the puzzle on it, pulling out a small leather box. He handed it to Laura. "Just a little something."

Laura punched herself mentally, in silent hysterics how the little box and the whole aura of the scene was very reminiscent of a marriage proposal.

'GOOD GOD, I really don't expect that, but how odd for it to resemble such a thing!'

She opened it carefully, soon staring at a silver locket. It was in the shape of an oval, a word etched across it.

"It says 'solution' in Latin."

"How'd I know that you would recognize that… Open it."

"But that's such an ugly word to have on a necklace…" She stopped, looking wistfully at the picture inside. "Oh it's…a picture of… How did you get this?"

"Seems that someone snapped a shot at the conference. I thought it turned out rather well. I found it in one of the newsletters that Gressenheller puts out monthly."

Although small, it was a rather photogenic shot of the both of them, having accepted their respective awards, sitting at one of the many tables in the large banquet hall during the conference months ago. It was one of the rare times that she'd smiled that evening, grinning at something the Professor had said. He seemed to have found it humorous as well, an amused smile complementing his pleasant expression.

"Who would have taken this…? It's from across the table. No one sat across from us."

"I'm uncertain myself, but whoever it was, they did a smashing job. I thought it was a lovely photo."

She smiled, looking at him contemplatively. "It's been some time since then, although it feels like yesterday. When did you have this done?"

"What, the necklace? Just this afternoon, if you'll believe it. While you were having your fun with the hats, I snuck off to a jeweler. I'd been meaning to do it for quite some time, but never was able to get around to it. I got it etched for free, quite a decent fellow, the jeweler, I must say."

Laura let the silky chain run through her fingers, connecting and unconnecting the clasp numerous times. "Why the word 'solution'? Solution to what?"

"That's your bonus puzzle for today. I haven't teased you in a while. It may be irksome to you, but it's rather addictive on my end, seeing you confused." With a slight tip of his hat, he bent down and kissed her cheek, chuckling at her annoyed expression. "What's with that repulsive grimace? Repayment for last time."

"Last time?"

"You never told me to stop, so…"

"You wouldn't listen if I did!" she spat, shoving the locket back into its box.

"You have me all wrong, Laurie. A gentleman always caters to a lady's needs. You have my word." He winked, walking back to his car.

Even though her insides just felt as if they had melted, they immediately froze over. She gave him a reproving look. "Oh, why don't you just shut up and dust some rocks or something!" Turning towards her house, she took a few stomps before spinning back around. "But thank you for today, all the same!"

With a quick wave and a laugh, the Professor drove the little car, its whirring and chugging audible as it rolled to the intersection and turned out of sight.

Yeah, that puzzle? I looooooooooooooove palindromes. I even have a favorite: lonely Tylenol. HAHAHA. And I look for palindromes on digital clocks too. I'm such a loser.