Puzzled Chapter 1: Hershel's Depression and Luke's College
Hershel Layton was heartbroken when he thought Randall had died. From failing to find a solution to save his friend, he starts to believe puzzles and archeology are not just uninteresting but absolutely horrid; thus he stops finding solutions to them. Months pass, and a boy with a blue hat suddenly shows up to go to College. Maybe, Hershel Layton will end up liking puzzles after all (AU) (Legal Luke x Young/College Layton)
Hershel Layton had never been so heartbroken in his life, usually he tried not to show his emotions to the outside world, but Randall's death had changed everything. Layton looked sad all the time.
He never had the right solution to any problem.
“The solution is four, right?” Layton stated.
“ No, it’s six.” said the blonde haired girl
“Oh….”
He had failed his English, Calculus, and archaeological class. Therefore, he had to drop out of school due to his grade point average being below a 2.1.
t’s not that Layton did not understand any of the material; he just stopped attending classes. How could he go to classes when they just reminded him of his best friend?
English was the class Randall constantly quoted Shakespeare to his girlfriend Angela,
When Anglea put her hand upon the side of her face, Randall said,
“See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!"
Angela blushed,
And Hershel would smile at how the two were so in love and how Randall was so silly.
Calculus was the class that Randall would constantly correct the teacher,
“The answer in the limit does not exist” Randall stated .
ldquo; Good job, Randall…it seems that my answer was wrong yet again.”
“ It’s okay Professor…”
orst of all, Hershel remembered his archeological class. Randall had always loved solving puzzles in that class, and thinking of that made his stomach churn.
“The solution is five” Randall said as a matter of fact
“ Yes, that is correct Randall” The professor said.
All of the memmories haunted Hershel, but nothing was as haunting as getting an email from the dean which read:
Dear Hershel Layton,
nbsp; You are a smart young man and were number two in your class during the fall semester. However, you failed all of your courses during this semester knocking your GPA to a 2.0. At this university you must have a 2.1 or higher to continue your education. Therefore, you must leave the university at once.
nbsp; All the best,
nbsp; Dean Picarat
Hershel scoffed at the letter, and immediately threw it into the fireplace downstairs. He watched it burn, and turn into ashes.. He was not himself. This was not who he used to be. The loyal best friend and the excellent student were gone just liked the letter ju like Randall.
When his parents had found out he failed out of school, they had questioned what had happened to their brilliant son.
“Hershel, my boy, what has happened to you?” his father stated in a worried tone.
“It is not of any of your concern, Father.”
“Concern why that reminds me of a puzzle-” his father stated happily but was quickly cut off by a furious Layton.
“I’m not interested in you puzzle, father. In fact, I’m not interested in any puzzles of late. I think I’ll retire to my room. Have a good night.”
“Alright, my boy, have pleasant dreams.”
Layton didn’t reply and quickly tried to walk up the stairs, but he saw his mother coming down with laundry. He just couldn’t catch a break tonight. Then his mother started to speak and he was sure he was going to get a head ache.
“ Ah, Hershel, I hear there is this great college south of here, maybe you should consider applying there?
Hershel didn’t even respond and hurried quickly upstairs.
Sadly, his parents did not realize a single event could cause a person's life to take a sharp turn. Even before Randall's death, the boy did not know what he wanted to do. Randall had always said that he should be an archeologist. He was t he was sure now he would never become an archaeologist. After all it was his archaeological journey that caused Randall's death. He didn’t want to think of Randall anymore, it was too painful especially his time with Angela before Randall had died.
It was dark and he could hear the crickets chirping, it was such a beautiful night, Hershel Layton thought as he walked down a straight path to a tree he, Angela, and Randall decided to meet at. Suddenly Anglea called out his name and he turned his head to where he had heard the noise. He was surprised he had run into her, but it was a great coincidence, so he said,
" Oh, Angela, perfect timing."
"Beautiful night, isn't it?," she replied with a smile on her face.
"Yes, it is." Layton said calmly.
As Angela began to walk with him she said, “Randall seems to be quite single-minded lately."
“Yup, that's Randall. I think his enthusiasm is one of the reasons I admire him."
Hershel really did admire Randall's passion. The way Randall believed he could do anything, which inspired Hershel to always be by
his side. Hershel hoped he could always see his best friend happy, and nothing made Randall happier than archeology and Angela. The girl he was walking right next to, the girl that looked more beautiful than the night was, and more kind than anyone he had ever met.
He hoped one day he could find his soulmate, but this wasn't the time to be thinking about those things. He just wanted to keep Randall safe and happy for now; however, Angela fulfilled that role quite nicely.
He was brought to reality when Anglea said,
“ I suppose.”
“ But that passion makes him easily excitable.” Layton replied as it was a fact that could not be denied and continued, “you know you’re really good for him. You keep him balanced”
Hershel knew he could never compete with Angela for Randall’s affection; She was the one who would protect Randall from sadness, fear, and failure. She was his light- his world. She could quell his archeological obsession to a mere interest because ultimately Randall was obsessed with her.
“ Is balanced the same as boring?” she replied sadly.
Was she implying that Hershel kept Randall passionate or obsessed? Now Layton knew he was thinking too deeply into what Angela had said. He had no clue what to say after that point so he began with,
“Uh…..no. Randall’s lucky we’re both looking out for him.”
Maybe he did share an equal piece of Randall’s heart. She made Randall balanced, and Layton made Randall passionate. Wait…. wasn’t I supposed to be the other way around? Hershel learned from novels that passion was reserved for loved ones. Specifically ones significant other. Had Randall loved Layton? “ Probably some sort of brotherly love”, Layton thought.
“Yes, he is lucky, isn’t he?” Angela said as she looked down, “he’s got a kind girlfriend who’s concerned about his well-being, she paused and she looked at him, “and a loyal best friend.”
He did not know how to respond to what Angela said; thus he said “uh..” as he looked down and started to pull on his tie. “Randall….. she really does love you. However, she knows that I love you too. You are my brother. My best friend ”he thought.
Angela pulled her blue shaul over her shoulders. Then turned to stare directly at him and sincerely said, “You’ll always look out for him, won’t you, Hershel..” suddenly her tone got softer, “ Promise me?”
He stared directly at her angelic face, and said “Yes…..I promise.”
Layton was brought back to reality as he heard a cat meow from outside the window but that did not distract him from his negative thoughts.
“Angela….I failed you....Randall died. How can I look after him now? ” Layton thought.
His life was not going in any direction, and neither was Randall's.
They were both dead to the world. And a dead person was supposed to sleep forever, so maybe that's what Layton could do with his “life”. That’s what he planned to do as he crawled into bed and feel asleep.
His dreams were not pleasant ……
The ground started to shake as Randall and Layton were exploring the ruins. Hershel quickly found a solid piece of land to stand on, but Randall was not so lucky as he barely managed to grab on to the solid piece of land Hershel managed to stand on. Hershel tried to pull Randall up, but it was of no use.
“Randall hold on to me as tight as you can, you can’t fall. You just can’t!”
“ Layton I must fall, this is destiny it is meant to happen. This is a puzzle you cannot solve.”
“But every puzzle has a solution, and I will find an answer to this one.”
Layton couldn’t think since all of his strength and focus was being used to keep Randall from falling.
Then he suddenly heard a boy’s voice, he sounded as if he was seven.
“ Here use this rope, Professor!” a boy then threw down the rope and Randall quickly grabbed the rope with one hand still holding on to his best friend with his other hand. Then Randall let go of his best friend’s hand and grabbed on to the ropes. Two hands on the rope and safe.
Hershel then sighed with relief and then said,
“Thank you, Luke, my boy, you just saved my best friend with your deductive reasoning.”
ershel then wondered how had he known the boy’s name. Luke.
nd why had he said my boy after Luke? Luke, my boy
nd Why did he look so familiar? The blue hat was a dead giveaway for his apprentice.
He had an apprentice? What was happening? However, before Layton could continue his train of thought. The rope disappeared and Randall suddenly fell.
Layton cried out for him, but the young boy named Luke just smiled. Then he laughed with joy and as he laughed his voice started to grow deeper and deeper until the young boy sounded like a young man and then said
“Professor Layton’s apprentice saves the day”
Layton woke up and did not sleep for three days afterward. Perhaps he was not as dead to the world as he previously thought.
In the backseat of a car, a boy around eighteen years old was looking at a grand University. An older man, presumably his father was driving the car and turned up some classical music to listen to. The boy kept on smiling as they drove around the University. Everything about the school was attractive- the buildings, the weather, and the students. Luke definitely was excited he had decided to come to this University. He was shaking with glee and the boy could no longer contain his joy….
“This seems like the perfect university, doesn’t it professor?”
“Luke, who are you talking to now?” Clark, his father said angrily.
The boy had an estranged relationship with his father. His father used to be a jovial man, and a kind father. Due to his personality, he became mayor of Luke’s boyhood home. He loved his wife, and she loved him, and they both loved their son Luke. However, she became very ill and died when Luke was fifteen. When Clark’s wife died, it seemed darkness had clouded his once pure heart. Therefore, he became a lot more distant from his son Luke because Clark thought Luke was the spitting image of his wife. In actuality, Luke looked a lot like his father and not his mother. However, Clark just looked for an excuse to be depressed. His wife had meant everything to him and now she was gone. Forever.
“Father, have I not told you, my hamsters name is Professor. I think it’s suitable since he always looks like he’s deep in thought.”
The hamster then put his hand to his chin and looked as if he was about to solve a complicated puzzle. Luke laughed, and Clark frowned slightly at his son’s antics
“Luke, you do realize you are not a child anymore. I don’t expect you to act like this when you attend University.” Clark formally stated.
I know dad, I must be a proper English gentleman.” Luke replied seriously.
“Yes, you must be. For me and your mother.”
“For the professor as well”
Clark looked at Luke strangely and just sighed.
Luke smiled at his father and knew that Clark desperately wanted to drop Luke off at College. After all, Clark was constantly annoyed by Luke’s antics.
The professor was never annoyed by Luke’s behavior. Luke had never known why he had chosen to name his hamster Professor. But for some reason the name caused Luke’s breath to hitch, but why would a name ever do that to Luke?