Paradox Lost: Part 10

Jun 10, 2008 09:16

And now comes the tendrils of things to complicate Luke's mission even further once he finally makes it to the right time. Keep  a sharp eye out and you'll spot the beginnings of the answer to this massive puzzle.

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Paradox Lost
~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hershel returned from school, taking a path that gave him wide berth around the fountain, then made his way into the house, looking pale and weary from the day. His head had hurt and he spent most of his time there worrying over Sir Luke. How was he supposed to stay safe if Hershel wasn't with him? Who else had the thieves' skill for noticing out-of-place things and people in certain environments? Certainly not Luke; he had that air to him that seemed to suggest he relied on his aloofness to deter interaction with people, but was a gem of a man if forced to speak with people.

He wasn't even certain how it was he'd fallen asleep the night before; he was in far too much of a panic to even think of it. All he wanted was to grab onto Sir Luke and make sure he didn't suddenly disappear or anything. That creepy man had been watching Luke the whole time, at the restaurant, at the manor... and the whole time he was smiling. Smiling! Like he was watching something he really, really liked and wanted to have. Such a dirty smile, such a dirty man. Why did he have to fall asleep like that? What if that man had come back to the house while they were all asleep and stolen Sir Luke away?!

Hershel dragged the school satchel behind him as he headed up the stairs, feeling sick and worried. Maybe they should have called a constable to come and look things over. Then he could find the creepy old man and take him away and Sir Luke would be safe with them forever! He managed a tiny smile at the thought, then trudged towards Luke's room, wanting to check in on him first before doing anything else. He knocked at the door, then pushed it open a crack to peek inside.

Sir Luke was pulling his blue coat on, glaring at himself in the mirror as he straightened it to look proper. He looked right angry and Hershel gulped, hoping he wasn't the reason Luke was so angry. After a moment, he had pulled on his blue cap and turned away from the mirror, spotting the door open and looking surprised.

"Hershel! How long have you been there?" he exclaimed, walking quickly towards the door and opening it completely. The boy fidgeted.

"Only a little bit. You looked very angry, Sir Luke." he murmured in response, "Was it something I did?" He blinked as the young man knelt before him and placed a hand on his shoulder, offering a small but reassuring smile.

"No, not you. I was angry with myself. There were some things I remembered that didn't make sense until now, and I was angry with myself for not realizing it then." he explained and chuckled, "Which is rather silly now that I think of it; there was no way of knowing back then things that I learned here and now." Hershel managed a smile in return, then let it fade as he reached up to touch the bandage on Luke's cheek.

"That scary man hurt you, didn't he?" he murmured and sniffled, feeling tears start up again. His fault, all his fault! Luke shook his head, still smiling.

"Not really. I only got a little hurt and that was because of my own carelessness. Don't worry; I'm fine and I'm here. I'm not going anywhere until my watch is repaired." he replied and stood at last, folding his arms over his chest with a smirk, "So, shortstuff, ready to work on your homework?" Hershel scrounged up a smile, trying his best to ignore his headache, and nodded. "All right. Let's go to the parlor; more light and open air will help you study."

--

They sat across from each other at a table in the parlor, Hershel working on the assignment given to him by his teachers and Luke taking down notes in his little book again. The young man looked grim as he carefully wrote down the new information. Things weren't going very well at all. Both Layton parents were growing more suspicious of him, considering his noncooperation in releasing any information to them about his past or his attacker. Luke clenched his teeth at the memory of the attack. Even without getting a clear look, even in half-delirium from water in his lungs and chloroform filling his senses, that smell of smoke cut through it all, a sharper clue of his attacker's identity than anything Scotland Yard could ask for.

Don Paolo.

How the blazes did that man follow him through time anyway?! As far as Luke knew, there was only one Time-Binder device and it was in his possession! And why bother with trying to kill Hershel in this time when he had already been successful in murdering Professor Layton later in the timeline? Unless.... He put a hand to his cheek, resting his fingertips against the bandage as he reconsidered that thought. Don Paolo hadn't fired on Hershel, and he hadn't paid any attention to him at the restaurant; Hershel proved it himself by causing a ruckus and being completely ignored. No, the scientist's focus had been entirely on Luke, which meant that his choice of targets had changed. Was he going to be next in being killed, and had he already done away with Flora?

Luke's hands clenched into fists as the thought of sweet Flora being murdered as brutally as Professor Layton had been sent chills down his spine. No, no! He couldn't let that happen either! Not now that he had realized, soon after the time-travel project was started, that he....

Hershel looked up at him worriedly and Luke shoved the thoughts away, forcing a smile for the sake of reassuring the boy. When he looked back down, Luke returned to his notes. That was it then; as soon as the pocket-watch was repaired, he would have to leave for the Professor's time right away. He'd draw Don Paolo's attentions away from the Layton Family here and allow them to live their lives. After that, Luke would commence his mission of protecting his mentor from harm for the duration of the Time-Binder's countdown. When the thirteenth hour struck, the future would be changed and the world would continue to have Professor Layton's puzzle-solving skills among the living. Luke smiled wistfully as he finished writing and closed the notepad. Everything would be all right in the end.

"I'm done." Hershel announced with a tired sigh, lifting a hand to his head, "My head hurts. May I have some tea and lie down for a bit?" Luke looked up at him worriedly, nodding his head in silence and watching the boy reach out to pour himself a cup and sip at it a few times. He set it down and lay back on the couch, gazing up at the ceiling. "Sir Luke, would it be all right if I asked you to stay, even after your watch was fixed?" he suddenly asked. Luke blinked again, startled by the question as he picked up his own cup. A melancholy look crossed his face, guilt creeping through him as he looked aside.

"I'm sorry, Hershel, but I can't." he murmured softly, "I would like to stay with you, but there are things I must do, and people I must help, and my presence is already proving to be dangerous here to you and your parents."

"Then come back when you're finished. If you don't have anyplace to live then you can live with us." Hershel supplied in a sleepy tone, "You can be my teacher. It'll be fun." Luke's grip on the teacup tightened and he closed his eyes, willing away the tears that threatened to form and fall.

"No, Hershel. When I leave, it will be for good. We'll meet again one day, I can promise you that, but I won't be coming back here for a very long time." he replied quietly and glanced over at the boy as he slowly began drifting to sleep, "And I won't remember you at all. I won't remember any of this. Because if I do things right... it will never have happened to me."

Hershel was fast asleep, so Luke felt safe in having said his last words. He took another sip of tea and gazed out the window at the lawn of the Layton estate. It was a calm and peaceful day, compared to the previous night. How long would that peace last, knowing Don Paolo was out there and waiting for another chance to strike?

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two days passed since the attack at the fountain, and Luke and Hershel continued their lessons together after the boy returned from school. They walked around the city or took rides on Luke's scooter, which Hershel called magic since it appeared only when his eyes closed and opened after a minute. They visited the park and the museums, carefully avoiding Harold's schedule so neither of them would get in trouble, the markets and libraries. And everywhere they went, Hershel pleaded for a puzzle, any kind of puzzle. So Luke would tell him many of the puzzles he remembered, the easier ones so Hershel wouldn't be overly frustrated with them. The boy loved them all, eagerly working on solving each one, declaring the answer with a dramatic thrust of his finger towards Luke, who looked startled at first, then laughed from then on. He made a note of it later; more of Professor Layton's quirks and idiosyncrasies were being developed before his very eyes and he was fascinated by it all.

Notes turned into small sketches as Luke sought to capture the essence of the young Hershel Layton on paper while the boy played with his newest puzzle, a set of blocks that he shifted and turned and rearranged to find the solution to a picture puzzle. The day was bright and sunny, and Hershel had begged for a trip to the park, dragging Luke to the door of the house before the young man really knew what had hit him; he'd been napping in the Sun Room after running an errand for Helena that seemed like another of her hints that she knew more than she let on. After all, she had him collect the broken pieces of that strange rifle in the yard and take them to the blacksmith to be melted down and reforged into a black rapier. He had suffered from a case of the screaming heebie-jeebies at that one; the design the blacksmith had drawn up and used on the black metal was identical to his own rapier back in his time, an eerie black thing that he had puzzled over and Professor Layton confessed to having no clue towards its origin. Simply that it belonged to his mother and she would smile that Cheshire Cat smile when asked about it.

Luke was beginning to despise time-travel.

But here and now, he could forget about it for a moment and enjoy the breezy spring day at the park, sketching away at his pad while Hershel tapped on the blocks, looking out of the corners of his eyes at something.... Luke froze in place.

"Keep writing." Hershel whispered, frowning slightly, "That creepy man is here." He turned the blocks again, but without the care he took before now that his attention was focused elsewhere. Luke resumed sketching, sweat breaking out across his forehead as he tried to keep his hand steady. "What should we do, Sir Luke? He's watching you like some beady-eyed vulture!" the boy growled, "Dirty old man!"

"I don't know. Can you tell me what he looks like again? Or... here, draw him for me." Luke murmured, tearing out a piece of paper from his notepad and passing it and his pencil to Hershel. The boy picked it up and began scribbling on it, glancing back and forth surreptitiously from the paper to the stalker and back. Finally, he passed the items back and resumed playing with his puzzle. Luke picked up the paper and flipped it over to see the drawing, his jaw dropping open.

It was crude but conveyed enough to let Luke know that this was not the Don Paolo he knew. The man in the drawing had additional 'horns' of hair growing around his bald head, plenty of wrinkles on his face from what he could see of the sketch, and a scar on one cheek. No, this was not his time's Don Paolo, who changed only a little since he was last seen in Luke's time, cackling like a maniac from his whirlybird as he escaped the authorities yet again. This man was far older -'like Grandpa Layton'- which meant.... Luke's vision seemed to dim and tunnel in horrible realization. This Don Paolo came from a future even further than Luke! But why?! And why was he after him, following him through time?!

'If he wanted to target me, why didn't he come after me in my own time?! Before I traveled through the stream?!' he thought in a panic, running his hand through his hair as he tried calming himself down, 'What the bloody hell is going on here?! I just wanted to save Professor Layton, not become his rival's new obsession!'

"Luke!" Hershel's voice snapped suddenly and the teen jumped slightly at hearing his name, focusing on the here and now once more. The boy was looking up at him with a firm gaze, an expression Luke remembered seeing on the Professor's face just before he first dove into that battle with Anthony. Hershel wanted a fight.

"Run!" Luke suddenly whispered with wide eyes and grabbed Hershel by the hand, bolting from the table and leaving behind the unfinished puzzle. He didn't care; the puzzle was native to that time period, so there was no harm in it. But the two of them had to get out of there, fast! Hershel darted alongside him, his speed enabling him to keep up with Luke's longer strides. They dodged people and vendors, following the path until Hershel yelped and swerved to dive into a clump of bushes. Luke had little choice but to follow him; he was responsible for the boy, after all. He crashed into the bushes, collapsing into a heap and gasping for air as Hershel crawled up to him.

"Shhh!" he hissed, putting a finger up to his lips, "Stay quiet and don't move. He'll pass by us and we'll be safe." So Luke followed his advice, feeling rather foolish for depending on this young version of his mentor to keep him out of trouble. Shouldn't it be the other way around? But the sound of heavy footsteps came dangerously close to them and Luke hugged Hershel tightly, shutting his eyes and holding his breath and praying to the heavens that they be overlooked. There was heavy breathing as well, for the old Don Paolo must not be in prime condition any longer, and then his voice roared out in frustration.

"I'll get you yet, you little brat! Layton's legacy will be mine for the taking!" the old man's voice bellowed and then the footsteps began again, moving away from them. The mentor and apprentice stayed put in the safety of the bushes until it felt like an age had passed before emerging. Luke went first, reasoning that if anything happened, it was best if it happened to himself. He could withstand greater physical punishment than Hershel and Hershel was needed alive to ensure Professor Layton lived at all. Nothing happened, no one jumped him, so he called out to Hershel and they walked back to their table to collect the puzzle and leave the park. There would be no more outings for the rest of the day.

--

That night, Luke added the new information to his notebook. The rapier he possessed in his time was made from metal that was brought from the far future and left behind in the far past. Lady Layton definitely knew something was not quite right with him. The Don Paolo from the far future had followed him into the past for the sole purpose of kidnapping him. Layton's legacy was in danger of being stolen, so Luke had to make every effort to prevent that. Legally speaking, it was impossible to do unless Luke himself gave the order to relinquish it, as Flora had declined her portion of the Professor's estate. However, Flora also wielded the wealth of her own inheritance in St. Mystere, and the village was in isolation from the outside world due to her grief. There was no way of getting to her unless by air or water. So with Flora a greater, wealthier target, why would Don Paolo set his sights on himself, Layton's apprentice?

Luke tapped his pencil against his bottom lip as his thoughts trailed to Flora with a warm feeling, and then paused as he came to a stunning conclusion. The old Don Paolo came from further in his own future, and perhaps in that future, he was... and Flora.... Luke blushed fiercely as he forced himself to consider the possibility that he and Flora would be... married... in that time. That meant that Flora's wealth would be poured into the coffers that supported the Layton estate; Luke assumed that by that point a way of preserving the villagers would be discovered and enacted, otherwise, Flora would never consent, as her inheritance was her dowry and removing it would destroy St. Mystere.

Now if Flora's dowry was given to Luke for the marriage, and Luke placed it with his own inheritance from the Professor... Luke dropped his pen and staggered back from his notepad, staring at it with horror. That must be why Don Paolo wanted him! But then, was that also why the Professor was killed? How could it be? No one had any clue that Luke and Flora would be his inheritors, far less that Luke would be the sole heir once Flora abandoned London in anguish, and it was a shock to all of them when the documents came in that bound Luke permanently to the estate. He hadn't been given a choice, and a tiny part of Luke resented the Professor for it. So why was the Professor killed? Don Paolo would have benefited from it immediately by being rid of his hated rival, but in time Luke would have stepped up to take his place and the scientist would be foiled again. And no one even dreamed that he would resort to time-travel to prevent the whole affair from even happening in the first place! So what was the connection between Don Paolo, himself and Professor Layton's murder?

Luke found himself wishing his spare hint coin would give him some insight on this.

layton, luke, professor layton

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