To my father, Clark,

Shortly after my arrival back in London for my visit, the professor and I encountered a mystery like we had never seen before. Even stranger, it began with someone we knew…

Prologue

A Normal Day

Hershel Layton sat in his office, deep in thought. It was silent and still, much like a lake at midnight. He took a sip of his tea and looked back up at his notes on his latest case. It was nothing more than a simple murder case, so he was quite near the solution. He stood up and sighed, looking down at the floor.

Just from his appearance you could tell that the professor was the perfect model of the word “Gentleman”. He wore an orange long sleeved shirt underneath his long brown coat, with pants to match the coat color. His shoes were a deep black and shined to the point you could be blinded. But his most prominent feature most eyes are drawn to is his famous top hat. It was the same light brown as the rest of his outfit, with a large red stripe running around the hat just above the wide brim. He’s never taken it off since the day he got it, and for good reason. His famous hat was given to him by his old girlfriend, Claire.

Claire had died in an explosion in the lab she was working in many years ago. She was supposed to be the first human being to travel through time, as she was helping her colleagues research time travel. The explosion happened due to a fault in the machine, but the machine worked for a moment. Claire was shot forward in time to ten years after the accident, but she could not stay. Her body was unstable and was trying to return back to it’s own time, the moment before the explosion. Eventually, Layton had to say goodbye to her once again, this time for good.

Layton looked at the time on his old grandfather clock. It was nearing the time to pick up Luke for his month long visit. Luke’s father trusted Luke and Layton well enough to know they would be fine together for this long. After all, the two are practically inseparable, always writing letters back and forth to each other since Luke had moved away.

“Flora, I’m going out to pick up Luke. I’ll be back in a moment,” Layton said as he picked up his keys.

Flora looked up from the novel she was reading and gave the professor a smile. She looked down and kept reading. It was one of her favorites, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

Flora Reinhold was the daughter of the late Baron Augustus Reinhold. Her father had set up an elaborate plan to keep his daughter safe until a worthy guardian came forth, by building an entire village. Augustus had his close friend Bruno “create” the people for the village by making robots to fill the village. These villagers would test outsiders constantly, until they got to the top of the tower in the center of town.

There, they would find that the “Golden Apple” the Baron had stated in his will was none other than his daughter. Even after this, the Baron had set up one more requirement for finding his fortune, they had to make Flora laugh after losing those close to her. Doing so would cause an apple shaped birthmark to appear on Flora’s neck. By touching the painting of her where this birthmark was located, a passage would appear, revealing the Baron’s fortune.

Flora is sweet and curious most of the time, and loved to help out the professor and Luke whenever she could. She wore her light brown hair in a ponytail tied with a red ribbon, and her bangs appear to swirl upwards in a single curl. Her eyes are large and black, with small eyelashes to the side of each eye. She has bright rosy cheeks, and her smile shows her excitement towards the world. She wears a short coral dress with white sleeves and trimming and a red ribbon around her waist. She also wears an aged pair of gray boots that stop just below her knees. It’s also worth mentioning that she is quite young, being Luke’s age of fourteen.

As the professor walked out to his car, he was stopped in the hall by his friend Dean Delmona. Dean was an elderly man, who was also secretly bald underneath his wig.

“Ah Hershel, could you spare a moment? My granddaughter told me a puzzle the other day that I could not solve for the life of me. Think you could give it a shot?” Dean said, looking around to make sure no one else heard.

“Of course, Dean. Let me take a look at this here…” Layton trailed off as he stared at the paper before him. It was a diagram of an oddly shaped piece of wood, which needed to be cut to be made into a square. After studying it for a moment, the professor snapped his fingers. Showing the paper back to Dean, The professor made motions on the page while telling him the solution.

“Cut this piece here, and rotate it so that it fits perfectly within the other piece,” Layton said, looking back at Dean to make sure he understood.

“Thank you Hershel, you know who to keep this between if my granddaughter ever asks you how I solved it,” Dean said, putting the slip of paper back in his pocket.

“You, me, and the wall?”

“Exactly. I’ll be off then. Work calls. Thank you again Hershel,” Dean said as he waved goodbye to the professor.

Layton walked out to his car and unlocked the door. Starting up the car, he looked up at the main building of Gressenheller university. With its many windows and large green roof, it was quite a sight to see. Refocusing his mind on the road, he sped off towards the docks.

Chapter 1

A Girl in Peril

Layton was just on time as usual, if not a little early. Getting out of his car, he watched as Luke’s ship pulled into the docks. Walking up to the ship, Layton watched as people were being unloaded onto the docks. Standing there, he saw a small boy in a blue cap and coat walk out of the ship. The boy looked up at the professor, and his eyes lit up immediately as he recognized the face of his greatest friend. The boy ran straight up to the professor and gave him the biggest hug yet.

“Luke, my boy. It’s so nice to see you again,” Layton said, pulling Luke off him and looking him in the eye.

Luke was a young boy with quite the personality. He looked up to the professor in the highest regard, and wanted to become the model gentleman that Layton was. He always wore his trademark outfit of a blue cap and coat, with a white collar shirt underneath. He wore a pair of viridian shorts, with long white socks and brown shoes. He always carried a brown satchel over his left shoulder; that’s where he kept notes he would make during investigations. His special ability to speak to animals has helped the professor on many occasions and he thought of Flora as his best friend, the two were so close they were practically siblings. He was deeply upset when she was kidnapped by the villain of their investigations, and sometimes took it upon himself to save her.

“Likewise, professor! I’m so excited to be back in London!” Luke said, looking ready to explode with glee.

“Come on, now. Flora is waiting back at my office. She’s been excited to see you again as well, even if she doesn’t show it,” Layton let out a small chuckle.

The two loaded up Luke’s bags fairly quickly, and back to Layton’s office they went in the professor’s red car.

Back at Layton’s office, Flora had put down the novel she was reading and had started to tidy the place up. There was always a mess to clean in the professor’s office, as he didn’t have time to do it himself. As she put his archaeology books back on their shelves, she saw one had a peculiar bookmark, which appeared to be a necklace. It had a long, silver chain and a teal teardrop shaped pendant that was glowing slightly, like light reflecting off of a body of water, held in place by a single gold link. To say this necklace was beautiful would be an understatement.

“How pretty! I don’t think anyone would mind if I tried it on,” Flora said as she put the necklace around her neck. The instant she connected the chain the pendant let out a large burst of blue light and a sound not unlike a sonic boom, knocking her unconscious and the necklace off her neck.

Layton just pulled into his parking spot as he heard the sound go off and a huge amount of light come out of his office. No words had to be said between Layton and Luke as they left the bags behind and sprinted towards the professor’s office. They threw the door open to see Flora lying on the ground and the whole office a disaster. Flora had a strange aura about her, glowing like the pendant on the necklace had been, as the pendant was no longer giving off its shine.

“Luke, clear a path for me! We need to get her outside now!” Layton shouted over the commotion that was going down in the halls. Layton gently picked up Flora, who was glowing a bit brighter now.

“On it professor! Everyone, out of the way, now! We need to get outside,” Luke cupped his hands and yelled. People immediately understood and moved away, clearing a path towards the university’s courtyard.

“Follow me, Luke!” Said the professor as he sprinted down the path that was cleared for the two, holding Flora in his arms.

“Right behind you!” Luke yelled as he ran behind the professor in his usual semi zig zag running pattern, holding onto his cap the whole way.

The two of them burst through the doors into the courtyard and ran towards the center. Layton laid Flora down on the grass, breathing heavily.

“What’s wrong with her professor?” Luke asked, out of breath.

“I don’t know Luke. But it certainly can’t be natural,” Layton said, referring to the bright blue glow around her. The blue glow around her then disappeared, by being sucked into Flora’s body. The two jumped away as Flora began to grow, and grow, and grow. As she was growing, her hand smashed through the gardener’s shack. and her foot went through a wall. Luke hid behind the professor, while the professor simply stared in awe. He could hardly believe his own eyes, it had to be a hallucination like with the phantom town of Folsense, but looking at the damage that was done, it was clear there was no hallucination to be found. Flora had now stopped growing, and there was dust everywhere. When it settled, Flora awoke.

“What happened?” She asked groggily, sitting up. She quickly regained her senses and began whipping her head around in a frenzy, trying to make sense of it all. She stopped when she saw the professor and Luke standing beside her. Layton spoke up.

“Are you alright, Flora?” The professor asked looking up at Flora’s face, which held quite the frightened expression.

“Um, yeah, but can someone explain what happened while I was out?” Flora asked with a scared tone to her voice.

“We don’t know much of what happened, but when we got here you were unconscious and had a blue glow around you. We brought you outside and you began to grow larger, stopping at this height. Using the surrounding buildings and our heights as reference, I would say that you’re about fourteen meters tall,” Layton said as he smiled at her to make her feel better.

Everyone turned around again as the courtyard door was barreled through again by three other men. These men were Inspector Chelmey, his assistant Barton, and the master of deception Don Paolo.

Chelmey wore a khaki suit with a white shirt and navy blue tie, and had on a pair of black shoes. He was very serious about his job at the Scotland Yard, and has a bit of a soft spot for his assistant Barton. His attitude towards most things is rather gruff and unfeeling, but he loves his wife Amelia deeply. He and Layton have worked on many cases together, with Layton besting him most of the time due to the inspector’s tendency to jump to conclusions, and the mention of his name is enough to send criminals running.

Barton wore his standard police uniform and is rather short and chubby. He is usually led by his stomach and often makes mistakes, but sometimes shows up the inspector in common sense. Barton does try his best around Chelmey, though. He is always trying to impress him one way or another, and hopes to move up from the rank of constable one day. He has always been loyal to any case he’s been assigned to, and sometimes even figures the answer out before Chelmey.

Don Paolo was Layton’s old classmate Paul. He swore himself Layton’s arch-rival the day he saw that Claire loved Layton instead of him. He is a master of disguise and has impersonated many characters before, such as Inspector Chelmey, Flora, and even Layton himself. He wears a purple coat with a red collar, with a white undershirt and turquoise tie. His trousers are orange and he wears flat brown shoes. His hair point upwards in two horns on either side of his head and he has a sense of evil around him. He is a mechanical genius and a scientist of the highest caliber, making use of contraptions to hinder Layton’s investigations. He has since reformed, however, and has gone back to work at his lab, building appliances to help with scientific research.

The three of them looked up at Flora, who gave them a smile. It was comforting to her to see such friendly faces in a frightening time like this. Well, semi friendly, as Don had kidnapped Flora before during the Professor’s search for the Elysian Box. The Inspector and Don looked at Flora with an indescribable expression while Barton looked mostly unimpressed, having seen stranger occurrences before.

“I.. I… Layton! You’ve got three seconds to explain to me just what in the blazes is going on!” The Inspector yelled at Layton.

“I’d like some answers too, whatever explosion went down over here shut off the power to my lab! And why is your adopted daughter enormous?!” Don said, giving the professor a serious expression.

“I wish I could answer your questions, but I haven’t the foggiest idea of how this happened,” Layton replied calmly.

“Really now? Are you telling me that Professor Layton, unparalleled mystery solver, doesn’t have a clue? That’s rich! So go ahead, Layton. Tell us what’s going on,” The Inspector said, laughing.

“I truly have no idea. As we arrived, an explosion occurred in my office and Flora was unconscious, glowing brightly. We took her outside and she started growing, stopping at around this height,” Layton replied.

The Inspector’s face went serious. “You mean to tell me we don’t have a lead?”

“Precisely,” Layton said, frowning.

“Um, if I may interject here, Why don’t we try asking Flora here what happened?” Barton proposed while munching on a cracker he had stored away in his pocket.

Luke slapped his hand on his face with a loud thwack. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner? Hey Flora, what can you tell us about what happened?” Luke said, turning around to look up at Flora.

“Well I was cleaning the professor’s office while he was gone and I found a necklace in one of his archaeology books. I tried it on, there was a loud sound and a flash of blue light, then everything just went black,” Flora said with her hand on her chin.

“What did this necklace look like?” Layton inquired.

“It was silver and had a blue water drop shaped pendant on it,” Flora recalled.

“Luke, would you please-” Layton turned to Luke, or rather where Luke had been standing. Layton looked about, worried of where Luke could have gone. He heard a door open, and Luke came rushing out with the necklace in hand.

“Already got it, Professor!” Luke said, handing him the necklace.

“My, that was certainly quick. Let me see here,” Layton said, looking the necklace over.

“Well, what’s the verdict?” Don asked.

“I have never seen this necklace before in my life. It was not in my office when I left to pick up Luke, either,” Layton said, looking up at the three.

“Flora, did anyone come in Layton’s office while he was gone?” Luke asked, walking closer to Flora.

“No, I didn’t see a soul come in. I heard a strange noise, but it was probably just a car outside,” Flora said, looking Luke over.

“Tell me Flora, what did this noise sound like?” Layton asked.

“Well it sounded a lot like a speeding motorcycle, but I don’t know how that helps at all,” Flora looked at Layton inquisitively.

“It may not be of much use, but it’s something to go on. Everyone, I suggest that we search the surrounding area for anything useful. Remember, all information is good information. Luke, you stay here with Flora while I go out and hunt down clues,” Layton said.

“Feh, I’m only helping so I can figure out what busted the electricity to my lab. I was in the middle of welding the final product together,” Don said, turning around sharply and walking out.

“Sounds like a good idea, Layton. Come Barton! We must get to work posthaste!” The Inspector said to Barton, who was busy staring at a butterfly.

“Hmm? Oh, yes sir!” Barton said, snapping back to reality. Chelmey simply shook his head.

“Professor, I want to come with you! The great Professor Layton has never been on a case without his apprentice!” Luke said, looking quite shocked that the professor would even consider going out without him.

“I’m sorry Luke, but someone has to keep Flora company. We can’t just leave her on her own, especially during a time like this. Remember, a true gentleman always helps a lady in need,” Layton said, adjusting his hat and giving a smile.

Luke thought this over for a moment, then looked back at the professor with a smile on his face.

“Of course, Professor!” Luke said cheerfully.

“That’s my boy,” Layton added as he started walking towards the door for the main building.

“Wait, Professor!” Flora called.

“Yes? What is it, my dear?” Layton said, turning back around.

“What about all the things I broke here? What do we do about that?” Flora asked with a rather sad expression.

Layton chuckled a bit and smiled. “Don’t you worry Flora. I’ll notify the correct individuals at once. The university has more than enough to pay for damages such as these,” Layton said.

“Oh, I guess I have nothing to worry about then,” Flora replied, looking relieved.

“You two have fun together. I’ll be back soon,” Layton said.

“As for the students gathered in the courtyard, back to class please. Pay no mind to what’s happened, and continue about your daily activities,” Layton said, turning to the small crowd of students that had assembled.

As the crowd dispersed, Layton walked towards the door to the main building and looked back at Luke and Flora one last time.

“I do hope they’ll be alright…” Layton muttered to himself as he turned around and entered the building.

Chapter 2

The Investigation Begins

Layton walked out of the main door of the university. He thought for a moment on where to begin the investigation. Since his two leads were a necklace and a strange sound, he thought trying the local jeweler would be a good place to start. The building wasn’t too far away, so he decided to walk there. It wasn’t long before he arrived, and as he pushed the door open, a bell rang signifying his arrival.

“Welcome Anne’s jewelry shop! How may I help-” The woman at the counter trailed off. “Wait a second, you’re Professor Layton!”

“Indeed I am. You must be Anne Korhing, are you not?” Layton replied.

“Yes, I am. But how did you know?” Anne said, looking puzzled.

“Well, this store has quite the reputation. I hear talk of this place all the time among London’s higher up’s. If you wouldn’t mind, I need your help with a case I’m working on,” Layton said.

“Of course! How can I help?” Anne said.

“I need to know who bought this necklace, if it was purchased at your store,” Layton said, showing Anne the necklace.

“Hmm, I think I remember selling this necklace to a man, but I can’t remember his name. I’ll check the records we keep in the back,” Anne said, walking towards a door behind the counter. After a moment, Anne came out of the back room holding a manilla folder.

“It says here that the necklace was sold to a man named Jean Descole. He bought it almost a week ago,” Anne said, moving her finger along the page as she read. Layton frowned.

“Thank you, Ms. Korhing. This will be more than enough to go on. I’ll share this information with my colleagues helping me with the search,” Layton said, his smile returning to his face.

“It was my pleasure Mr. Layton. I do hope your investigation goes well,” Anne said. With that, Layton turned around and left the shop.

Back at the university, repairs were already being done to fix the damages done by Flora’s sudden growth spurt. The hole in the wall had been patched up temporarily with wood, and most of the tools and appliances were salvaged from the gardener's shack. Still, work was being done slowly, as most of the workers kept looking back at Flora.

“Wow, so much work has been done already. It’s impressive how fast these people can go,” Luke said, looking up at Flora. Flora had now adjusted herself to a more comfortable sitting pose that took up less space than before, and made her look a lot taller, as she was sitting on her legs now rather than laying down like before.

“Yes, it is quite splendid. Although most of them keep staring at me…” Flora said, hiding her face a bit from the eyes on her.

“Cheer up Flora! These people just aren’t used to seeing such strange things like this,” Luke said, adjusting his hat with a cheerful tone to his voice.

“I guess. I’m not really adjusted to this either,” Flora said.

“It must be hard to take this all in I suppose,” Luke said. Flora said nothing in return, but instead picked Luke up by his shirt collar.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” Luke yelled, kicking and flailing his arms.

Flora let out a small giggle. “Just admiring how tiny you are. It’s a strange feeling, holding another person in your hand.” Flora put Luke down on her dress.

“Well, it’s a strange feeling getting held like a bug by another person, as well,” Luke said, brushing himself off. Flora chuckled a bit.

“Hey Luke, what do you say we go exploring a little bit?” Flora said, her eyes lighting up mischievously.

“What? But I thought the Professor said not to go anywhere!” Luke said, shocked.

“He never said anything of the sort. Besides, I’m only going to be this big for a short while. So, why don’t we have some fun? We won’t go anywhere besides exploring the university, because I might accidentally step on people anywhere else,” Flora said.

“At least you’ve put some thought into it. I just don’t want you getting hurt,” Luke said, still worried.

“Me, getting hurt at this size? I think I’ll be fine, Luke,” Flora said.

“Alright, just try not to crash into anymore buildings,” Luke said jokingly.

Flora giggled again. “Agreed.” Flora picked up Luke again and put him on her shoulder, tying him in with a few strands of her hair. Standing up, she compared her height to the university’s buildings, finding that most of them came up to the bottom of her rib cage. Then, she started walking around the large courtyard, occasionally peeking in windows and waving at the students. Most of the students waved back at her, while others were too focused on their work to look back at what was going on.

“It’s quite the view up here, isn’t it Luke?” Flora said, making sure not to move her head to look at Luke.

“Definitely! I’m just glad I don’t have a fear of heights,” Luke said with a large smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Layton had met back up with Don and Inspector Chelmey. Each of them began explaining what they had found out so far.

“I’ve found zip so far. You two got anything?” Don said, referring to the Inspector and Barton.

“It seems that no one near the university heard the sound of a motorcycle, so it wasn’t a vehicle that made the noise. People also said there’s been a strange man wearing a white mask hanging around the place lately. So Layton, what have you found?” The Inspector reported.

“I found the original seller of the necklace, and she told me that the necklace was bought about a week ago by a man named Jean Descole, an antagonist from past investigations of mine,” Layton said.

“Well then, all we got to do is find this man, right?” The Inspector mused.

“I’m afraid it won’t be that simple, as Descole is crafty and able to slip away easily,” Layton said, frowning.

“So it sounds like we’re back to square one then,” Don said.

“Not quite. We know how we’re looking for now, and while Descole is crafty, he’s not totally impossible to find. He also couldn’t have made it in and out of my office undetected on his own, so he must have an accomplice,” Layton deduced. “We should stick together from here on out. I have a feeling we’ll need all of our skills put together if we’re to solve this mystery.”

“All right, lead the way Layton!” The Inspector said.

And so the four of them set off towards their next clue, unaware of what would await them down their path...

Chapter 3

The House of Riddles

As the party asked around town for anything of use, they came across an old shack that Layton knew quite well. It was the residence of Granny Riddleton, an old friend from the professor’s past adventures.

Granny Riddleton is a peculiar individual who claims she is beautiful and clairvoyant, though both can be doubted. She tells everyone her occupation is a puzzle keeper, someone who keeps puzzles that move from their original location as life moves on. They’re usually stored in colored bottles in a shack that travels everywhere with her, changing size to fit where it needs to be. The shack is usually housed in other buildings, adding to its strangeness. Granny Riddleton herself wears a witches hat, a blouse, and a skirt. This outfit changes in color every time you see her, but remains the same style. She’s a very eccentric woman, but also very kind to just about anyone. Rumors have it that she’s a witch, and her bizarre personality certainly adds to the rumors, but no one has seen anything to prove she’s a witch.

Layton knocked gingerly on the door, but no one answered. He then tried the knob, since Granny Riddleton always let Layton and Luke in uninvited, but the door was locked.

“Interesting, Ms. Riddleton is almost always home. Even when she’s not, there’s always someone she leaves in charge,” Layton said, puzzled.

“What’s that on the door there?” Don said, pointing to a strange object above the doorknob.

“It looks like a puzzle, and a sliding one at that. I’ll handle this one!” Barton said, saluting.

“You think you can solve this thing? Have a go at it then,” Chelmey said with a smirk.

Barton stepped up to the door and began shifting pieces around so fast it was almost impossible to tell what he was doing. Within a few seconds there was a loud click, and the door was open. Chelmey just stared.

“What? I’ve got to have something to keep me busy sometimes,” Barton answered nonchalantly.

“Fine job Barton. Now let’s see what’s happened inside,” Layton said with a beaming smile.

Barton pushed the door open and everyone looked inside to see that the place had been ransacked. Puzzle bottles were busted open on the floor, Granny Riddleton’s broom was snapped in half, and the door to her shack was hanging open on one hinge.

“My word. Who would have done this?” Layton said, astonished.

“I reckon it was that Descole fellow. He was obviously looking for something, but what on earth could it be?” Chelmey said.

“Or who could it be? There’s always been nothing more in Ms. Riddleton’s home than a broom, a bucket, and her shack full of puzzles,” Layton said deep in thought. Barton seemed to snap to attention and started looking around like a dog trying to find a strange smell.

“Oi Barton, what are you doing?” Chelmey said, taking notice of Barton’s strange behavior finally.

“Do none of you hear that?” Barton said.

“Hear what? There’s nothing to hear,” Don said, slightly annoyed.

Barton pushed through the group and began heading towards the back left corner. The group shrugged and followed him closely.

Barton suddenly stopped, leaving the inspector and Don to crash into him.

“Why the sudden stop?” Don said, even more annoyed now.

“Look at this,” Barton said, pointing to a dollhouse sized version of what looked like Granny Riddleton's shack, the shack was the same design, but looked more tidy and clean.

“What about it?” Chelmey said with his hand on his chin.

“I think I understand now that I am close enough to hear the sound Barton is speaking of,” Layton said, kneeling down to look at the house.

“Quit leaving us in the dark you two! Out with it! What’s so special about this dollhouse!?” Chelmey yelled.

Layton said nothing, but instead pushed the door to the dollhouse open. Out of it came the faint sound of muffled crying. Peeking inside, Layton saw a lone figure in the corner of the dollhouse that appeared to be tied up with rope. It was too small to make out what it looked like, but Layton understood immediately who it was. He tipped the dollhouse over carefully, so that the figure slid out onto the floor. The figure instantly reverted back to it’s normal size.

“Who’s this girl then!? What the heck is going on?!” Chelmey yelled, still confused. Layton kneeled down and began untying the girl, making sure not to harm her. The girl said nothing because of the gag in her mouth, but her eyes held the most hopeful expression. When she was fully untied, Layton spoke.

“Are you alright Puzzlette?” Layton said.

“I am, thank you. But my grandma, they took her away!” Puzzlette said, worried.

Puzzlette is Granny Riddleton’s granddaughter and occasionally takes over the puzzle keeping business when her grandmother goes on vacation. She is young and spaces out often, but is very playful and cheery. She wears a red dress over a brown shirt, which has a small lace bow on it. Her hair is done in a beehive-like style. She also wears a light purple scarf made of silk. Layton met her during their investigation of so called “Future London”, which was just a set created to make Layton and Luke believe they were in the future.

“Who took her? Where did they go? How long ago was she taken?” Layton asked calmly as to not upset Puzzlete more.

“These men in white masks and brown coats came in, trashed our home, tied me up, shoved me in my puzzle shack, and forced grandma to shrink it with me inside. I don’t know where they went with her, either. They were here about two days ago. I’ve been trying to get out of here the whole time. I had almost given up when I heard you all walk in,” Puzzlette said.

“Hold on a second, did you say they forced your grandmother to shrink the cabin? Are you telling me your grandmother can use magic?” Chelmey said in disbelief.

“Well yeah, she can use magic. How do you think she gets everywhere so quickly or brings her shack with her wherever she goes?” Puzzlette said. Chelmey simply stared.

“I suspected as much when we first met her,” Layton said with a confident smile.

“Do any of you have water or food? I haven’t had any for a couple days, and I’m starting to feel faint,” Puzzlette said.

“I have some here,” Barton said as he reached into his bag and produced a large bottle of water and a pack of crackers. Barton handed them to Puzzlette, who began to eat and drink ravenously.

“Good going, Barton!” Chelmey said, quite impressed with Barton’s recent actions.

“Thank you sir! Now we should get this young girl to the hospital, as she appears to be severely dehydrated and malnourished,” Barton said with a salute and rather large smile.

“I’ll take care of that! I can get her there the fastest,” Don said. Being the mechanical genius he was, Don had built himself a flying machine that was much like a helicopter, but very different in design from a standard chopper.

“I had almost forgotten about your flying contraption. We will meet you in front of the university when you return,” Layton said.

Don then rushed out with Puzzlette in his arms, leaving the other three behind.

“Well, I think that’s a pretty good lead to go on. We will have to continue tomorrow, however. It’s getting quite late and I must go check up on Flora and Luke. Let’s head back to the university,” Layton said. Chelmey checked his pocket watch to see Layton was indeed correct about the time, it was almost midnight.

The three of them left Granny Riddleton’s house and began the long walk back to the university, deep in thought about what they had just discovered.

Chapter 4

The Needs of a Lady

After meeting back up with Don and discussing their plan for tomorrow, the group disbanded and went back to their own homes. Layton went to the university’s courtyard to check up on Luke and Flora, only to find the two were fast asleep. Flora laid sprawled out across the courtyard,while Luke slept on her stomach. Layton simply laughed and went back to his office, where he would be spending the night. The couch wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but he had to be able to check up on Flora in case anything else happened.

The next morning Layton awoke to a rather loud crash coming from outside. He rushed to his window to see that one of the support beams going towards the new gardener’s shack had been dropped, and that was it. Flora was still sleeping peacefully, as was Luke, who was now sleeping on Flora’s chest. Layton let out a sigh of relief.

“I should probably go wake them up. They’ll need filling in on how it’s going, and I imagine Flora’s worried sick about me,” Layton said as he put on his coat and top hat. After a brief walk through the hall, Layton stepped out into the courtyard. Layton thought for a moment on how to go about waking Luke up, as he couldn’t go climbing Flora like a mountain. He eventually understood what he had to do, though he was not happy about it.

“It’s a bit simple, but it should work,” Layton said as he picked up a small rock lying next to his feet. He aimed his shot carefully and threw as hard as he could. The shot was a direct hit, harmlessly bouncing off Luke’s head. Luke slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“What time is it?” Luke asked sleepily. He took a look at his surroundings for a moment, crawled over to the edge of Flora’s chest, and looked down at the ground below him. The professor was standing there, looking up at Luke with a patient smile.

“Did you sleep well Luke?” Layton said.

“You bet professor! It’s surprising just how comfortable that was,” Luke said, fully awake.

“Ha ha, I bet it was Luke. Could you do me a favor and wake Flora up?” Layton said.

“Sure professor! One question, how exactly do I do that?” Luke said, looking over at Flora’s gigantic face.

“Flora is a very light sleeper, Luke. All we would need is a sound close enough to her ear to wake her up,” Layton said.

“All right. I’ll be down in a moment,” Luke said. He began climbing down, using Flora’s dress to support himself. As he neared the bottom he lost his footing and hit the ground with a thud.

“Ow. That really hurt,” Luke said as he stood up. “But I’m ready to go!”

“Alright then,” Layton said.

Layton walked over to Flora’s ear and gently told her to wake up. He backed away as she rose up and stretched out her arms.

“It’s really that easy?” Luke said in disbelief.

“You’d be surprised,” Layton said with a confident smile.

Flora let out a loud yawn that made Luke cover his ears and looked down at the professor and Luke. Her eyes lit up and she gave an excited smile, eager to hear the news.

“Good morning Flora. Did you sleep well?” Layton said as he adjusted his hat.

“I did, thank you for asking. So, what have you found out so far?  Can we get me back to normal soon?” Flora said, trying her hardest to hold back her excitement. It wasn’t going very well.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t found the slightest clue as to how to get you back to normal Flora. But I have found out who is behind all this, a man by the name of Jean Descole,” Layton said.

“Descole? Wasn’t he behind the specter in Misthallery and the Detragan at the Crown Petone? Also, why would he let us know it was him we were dealing with up front? No villain has ever let us know that,” Luke said, talking at the speed of light.

“I honestly have no idea Luke, but seeing as how he’s not going for subtlety this time, he must have something even bigger than usual planned for us,” Layton said, frowning.

“I can only imagine. But what would he stand to gain from making Flora gigantic?” Luke said with his hand on his chin.

“I don’t know Luke, but we’ll get to the bottom of this eventually,” Layton said.

“I hope so. I don’t think I can stand being this big for too much longer,” Flora said.

“Granny Riddleton has been kidnapped as well, presumably by Descole’s men. She may be a forced accomplice in this. I believe she enchanted the necklace,” Layton said.

“What?! But Granny Riddleton isn’t magic, is she? She might be a bit crazy, but I don’t see how she could use magic,”  Luke said, confused.

“Ha ha, well Luke, there are many powerful forces all around us, but we must always consider the forces of nature. Once harnessed correctly, these forces can be quite powerful,” Layton said.

“How come no one’s been able to use magic before then?” Flora said.

“Oh I’m certain people have. Just not people of this day and age,” Layton said.

“Is that all that’s been found out so far?” Luke said.

“Sadly, yes. I’ll be out for more time today, and you’ll have to stay with Flora, Luke,” Layton said.

“Alright professor!” Luke said, grinning.

“Alright, I’m off. You two have fun,” Layton said as he turned around and began to walk towards the door. Almost as quickly as he began walking away, a loud rumbling sound came from behind him. He turned around to see Flora looking quite embarrassed.

“I guess I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday…” Flora said while trying to hide her shame.

“Not to worry, my dear. I’ll be back with food and water soon enough,” Layton said. He turned around and made a swift exit. Out in the university’s front lot Don, Chelmey, and Barton were all waiting for him.

“So we ready to kickstart this investigation again? The power’s not coming back on in my lab, even after multiple attempts to restart it. The power company doesn’t know what’s going on either,” Don said.

“Not quite, we must first attend to Flora’s needs, as she has not had any food or water for the past day,” Layton said.

“Well for a girl that size, we would need a large supply of food. But where will we get the money for that?” Barton said.

“Perhaps I can pull a few strings over at the Scotland Yard, just to set us up with some funds,” Chelmey said.

“That would be most appreciated Inspector,” Layton said.

“Alright then, I’ll be off. I’ll be back in a moment,” Chelmey said. He dashed off almost immediately after he was done speaking.

“Well, while he’s gone let’s go over what we’re doing after this problem is over,” Don said.

“Descole’s men are way more clumsy than Descole himself, so they must have left some clues behind. We’ll go search Ms. Riddleton’s house for anything useful,” Layton said. Chelmey had now returned and he looked rather happy.

“Scotland Yard said they’d pay for everything. After all, we’re helping keep the peace by doing this,” Chelmey said.

“Well then, shall we get going? The market should have everything we need, and I imagine the shopkeepers there will be more than happy to watch us clean out their stock,” Layton said. And they all set off for the market, which was about a block away. Once they got there, they entered the first large general store they found. Layton seemed quite surprised to see who was running it.

“Shipley! It’s been quite some time hasn’t it?” Layton said.

“Yeah it has, I had time to settle down here and open up a store to support myself,” Shipley said.

Shipley is a rough fellow who has a scar across one eye. He used to run as the postman for “Future London”, but has now settled down after it had been destroyed. He has a short black beard and an affection for cigars. His outfit resembles that of a prison uniform, but he seems to think it’s stylish.

“Shipley, we are in need of a quite large supply of food. Do you think you could help?” Layton said.

“Yeah, I heard about your daughter. I’ve got apples, bread, and ham that are currently in the stock you need. I’m guessing you want them all?” Shipley said.

“Why yes. That should be enough food for her for a couple days,” Layton said. “Payment will be sent to you soon from the Scotland Yard.”

“Right then, I’ll go load up a truck for you, shipping it to the university, right?” Shipley said.

“Yes, thank you Shipley,” Layton said. Shipley swiftly turned around and began barking orders in the back of his shop.

“Well that takes care of that, and we can get water from the fountain for the girl, now can we get back to figuring out what’s going on here?” Don said, sounding quite agitated.

“Almost, we’ll be returning to Ms. Riddleton’s once we check up on Flora and make sure she’s been fed,” Layton said. Don looked angry but said nothing.

Everyone began the walk back to the courtyard as a truck sped past them, no doubt headed for the university. They kept walking forwards after watching it drive off.

Back at the courtyard, crates were being unloaded from a small truck and stored away. A few crates were sitting in front of her while a crate of apples was open.

“Wow, they bought all this for me?” Flora said, looking amazed and embarrassed simultaneously.

“Well, you do need a lot more food than before,” Luke said, trying to make it sound as nice as possible. Things don’t exactly go well when you insult a forty-five foot tall girl whose weight can be calculated in tons.

“I guess, but I didn’t think it would be so much,” Flora said. Her stomach rumbled again and she gave a sheepish grin. “I guess I don’t have much choice.” She picked up the crate of apples with two fingers and emptied the contents into her mouth in one swift motion.

“Whoa,” Luke said, trembling a bit.

“What Luke? Did something frighten you?” Flora said, looking concerned.

“J-Just how easily you swallowed that,” Luke said.

“Do you think I’m going to eat you Luke?” Flora said, looking confused.

“N-No. Ok maybe a little,” Luke said, shrinking back in fear. Flora giggled a bit.

“I’d never do that, Luke. Besides, I thought the professor’s apprentice had to be brave,” Flora said. Luke looked determined.

“I am brave! I’d like to see you take down a mobile fortress!” Luke said. Flora just laughed.

“Fine, I’ll leave you alone,” Flora said as she emptied another crate into her mouth. When she looked back down she saw Layton and the rest of the group had entered the courtyard.

“I see the food we sent made it here safely,” Layton said.

“Yup! It’s surprisingly good, too,” Flora said.

“That’s great to hear. As for water, the water from the fountain will have to do. Sorry about that,” Layton said.

“Oh I don’t mind. I’ll be fine for a while now,” Flora said.

“Fantastic,” Layton said.

“Alright, you fed your daughter, what’s next? We going to go do the laundry as well?” Don said.

“We’ll get back to investigating now. Sorry about the minor detour,” Layton said to the group. They turned around and left the courtyard, heading for Granny Riddleton’s house to find some leads on the case.

Chapter 5

Descole’s Game

Once they arrived at Granny Riddleton’s, they noticed the lock had been taken off the door. Not wanting to intrude on anything, Layton knocked first. He heard a voice inside tell him to come in, so he did so. Puzzlette was waiting there, with Granny Riddleton’s shack all patched up behind her.

“Hi professor! What can I help you with?” Puzzlette said. There was so much sweetness in her voice that cookies could be made with it.

“We were wondering if you had found anything about the criminals while cleaning up,” Layton said.

“Well, I couldn’t find anything they left behind. But this was dropped off recently,” Puzzlette said. She handed him a green bottle with a rolled up slip of paper inside. The cork had a piece of parchment attached to it that read “For Hershel Layton”. Layton twisted off the cork and pulled out the paper inside. Opening the paper, another smaller piece of paper fell out of the larger one. Chelmey picked up the smaller piece as Layton read aloud what was on the larger piece.

“Layton, surely by now you have realized that what I’m after is no item or treasure. It is much larger than that. However, I’ve grown tired of disguises and hiding, so I’ve decided to take a more direct approach. The map that came with this message will lead you towards your next clue as to where I am located. It’s time to finish this Layton, once and for all. I can’t wait to defeat you in battle finally after all these years.” -Jean Descole

“So this thing’s a map, eh?” Chelmey said, unfolding the paper in front of him. “What’s this now?” The map he was looking at was incomplete, appearing to have pieces shuffled everywhere and some rotated.

“I think I can make some sense of it,” Layton said. Chelmey passed him the paper and Layton stared at it for a long while. He snapped his fingers and began putting the pieces back in place, one by one.

“I’ve got it. This map points to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town,” Layton said, pointing to where the map led.

“How can we be so sure this ain’t a trap? You said this Descole fellow is sneaky,” Chelmey said.

“Well I guess we won’t know until we get there. It’s definitely worth a try,” Layton said.

“You all can count me out of this one. I’ve just gotten word that the power to my lab has been restored. Apparently some prankster cut the cables,” Don said.

“Of course, Don. We will manage just fine without you here,” Layton said.

“Alright then, I’m outta here,” Don said with a wave, shutting the door behind him rather loudly.

“So you all are leaving then?’ Puzzlette asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Layton said.

“Ok then, Come back as soon as you get grandma back,” Puzzlette said.

“It’ll be our first stop,” Layton said. With that, he turned around and exited the building, with Chelmey and Barton following close behind.

...

They were there in almost no time at all, having nothing to distract them from the goal this time around. Pulling into the abandoned parking lot, Layton looked up at the massive building from his car. It was dull and gray, and had the feel of an old factory.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Barton asked from the backseat.

“Well, we won’t know until we go inside, will we?” Layton said, trying to bring back his positive attitude. The trio got out of the car and began walking to the building, with a sense of unease hanging over them all.

When they entered the main door, on the wall in front of them was a map that appeared to be painted onto the wall. There was no puzzle to it this time, it just pointed to the flower shop on the way to the university.

“It seems we have our next destination then,” Layton said with a confident smile. This was going better than he had hoped.

“Interesting choice of location. Let’s just get out of here before the building falls over,” Chelmey said. They walked back out towards the car, happy it wasn’t a trap after all. The car sped away, leaving the crumbling warehouse forgotten for another eternity.

“Why was there no trap? I mean, surely that would be the best place to put at least someone to try to stop us,” Chelmey questioned.

“I don’t know. Descole must have some larger plan,” Layton said, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Oi, Barton. You’re being very quiet back there. What gives?” Chelmey asked. No reply was given, so Chelmey turned around to look at the backseat. It was completely empty.

“What?! Barton’s missing!” Chelmey yelled. Layton pulled into the nearest parking lot upon hearing the news. After checking for himself, he turned to face Chelmey.

“He must still be at the warehouse. Let’s go back immediately,” Layton said in a surprisingly calm tone.

“Right then. Drive quickly,” Chelmey said.

After sitting in silence for a while on their drive back, Chelmey eventually turned to Layton.

“You know, I can’t think of when he got separated from us. He can’t have just wandered off on his own,” Chelmey said.

“Maybe not. I’d like to believe the two of us aren’t just that forgetful, but it may be possible we just didn’t see him when we left,” Layton said.

They pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse and ran inside, hoping Barton would still be there.

When they got inside, Barton was tied to a chair, and three men with white masks and brown coats jumped from behind the pillars.

“Inspector!” Barton yelled.

“We were hoping you’d come back later, but we’ll be happy to deal with you now!” said the tallest one. His coat was covered in dirt and his mask was on crooked.

“What is the meaning of all this? What does Descole want with Flora?!” Layton shouted back.

“Sorry prof, but we can’t tell you that. Don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Said the fat one. They took a couple steps toward Layton and Chelmey. All of them stopped when they heard a loud yell coming from all around.

“Oof!” All three said when the were barreled through by someone charging at them. The charge slammed all three of them into the wall, knocking their heads together and ultimately incapacitating the group. The mysterious person admired their handiwork for a moment, and then turned to face Layton and Chelmey.

“Inspector Grosky? What on earth are you doing here?” Chelmey asked.

“I expected more of a thank you, but I was here cause I heard there was trouble,” Grosky said.

Grosky is a huge man with a barrel sized chest that stick out from his figure. He’s notorious for being light on his feet despite his size, and being a walking powerhouse in general. Most of the time his chest hair sticks above the collar of his shirt, which are both as clean as his actual hair. He’s known for being a bit of a nutcase however, and quick to jump to conclusions, like Chelmey.

“Thank you for saving us, Inspector. Things would not have gone smoothly without you here,” Layton said, a relieved smile spreading over his face.

“Oh, it was no problem. Now then, I’ll be hauling these three back to the yard for questioning,” Grosky said.

“Considering their position as grunts for Descole’s team, they might not know much,” Layton said.

“True, but all info is good info. I’ll be going now, you three best get out of here. Grosky away!” Grosky said. With that, he hoisted the men up on his shoulders with minimal effort, and dashed out the door.

“How he runs so fast with so much weight will elude me forever…” Chelmey mused. Layton set to work untying Barton and they were soon driving to the yard. It was late night now, and the sky shone bright with the stars.

“Maybe we should take a bit of a break until tomorrow. If the next clue is also a trap, waiting may make them leave it unguarded. We should give ourselves time to collect our thoughts, as well,” Layton said.

“I’m up for it,” Barton agreed.

“Fine, I’ll set to questioning the men captured tonight. If they do know anything about Flora’s involvement in Descole’s plan, we may be able to leave her out of this. The problem is shrinking her back down again,” Chelmey said.

“I think Granny Riddleton would be glad to help with that. We must get her back,” Layton said.

They pulled into Scotland Yard, and Chelmey and Barton went inside. Layton drove back to the university, wondering how Luke was faring with keeping Flora entertained.

Chapter 6

London’s Local Giantess

Layton hadn’t even pulled into the parking lot before he was surprised by what he saw. Flora was staring at the road, leaning on the university's roof and holding her head up with one arm. She looked half asleep, barely being able to keep her head up. She’d evidently been there quite some time, and didn’t even notice when Layton pulled into the parking lot.

“Flora! I’m back!” Layton yelled to get her attention. Flora looked lazily in his direction, not looking any more awake than before.

“Oh, hi professor. Did you find anything?” Flora said just before she let out a yawn.

“Well, Descole has decided he wants to play a bit of a game with us by leading us around the city. Past that, we found nothing,” Layton said.

“I’m surprised, you were gone pretty long,” Flora said.

“Yes, I suppose we were out all day. Where did Luke go?” Layton said.

“He fell asleep a while ago, so I woke him up and sent him to your office,” Flora said.

“What have you been doing then?” Layton asked.

“Just watching cars go by. It’s very peaceful out here at night,” Flora said, looking back up at the road.

“It is indeed quite peaceful. You should get yourself some rest, however,” Layton said, looking at the road.

“Aren’t you going back to our house?” Flora asked.

“No, Flora. I will be sleeping in my office until this is resolved to keep watch over you,” Layton said.

“I think I’ll be fine on my own, professor,” Flora said.

“You are not as safe as you might think. With Descole using Ms. Riddleton to control magic, who knows what he can do?” Layton said sternly.

“Hm,” Flora muttered.

“Get some rest now. Knock on my window if you need me,” Layton said. Flora did as told and laid back down in the center of the courtyard. The roof she had been leaning on made a loud, worrying creaking sound for a few seconds. Then nothing but Flora’s breathing could be heard.

“I hope you will be safe, Flora…” Layton said. He opened the university’s doors, took one last look at the stars, and closed the door behind him.

The next morning, Layton awoke to a tapping at his window. Outside the window, he could see Flora poking the window gently and trying to see into the office, without much luck. He gave a knock on the window to let her know he was up. He heard rumbling, indicating Flora was sitting up. After getting ready, Layton headed outside to see Flora patiently waiting, staring down at the door that led to the courtyard.

“You needed me Flora?” Layton said.

“No, you just slept through your alarm,” Flora said with a smile. Layton looked at his watch to see that he had indeed slept in. He looked back up at Flora’s smiling face, happy to see her enjoying herself. Flora had never woken him up when he slept past his alarm before, cause she always knew he needed the sleep more than ever then. Maybe it’s because she has the power to do so easily now that she tried it for the first time.

“Thank you Flora. Has the inspector come by?” Layton asked.

“No, surprisingly. I would have thought he’d come looking for you,” Flora said.

“They must not be done with questioning yet. I’ll have to go to the Scotland Yard.” Layton looked up at Flora, “I hate to keep leaving you alone in this stressful time, but it’s our only option.”

The doors to the courtyard burst open, and out ran Luke, looking worried by something.

“What is it Luke? You look worried,” Layton said.

“I was wondering if I could come along with you today. Not being a part of this investigation is killing me!” Luke said.

“I’m sorry Luke, but-” Layton was interrupted.

“He can go. I’m tired anyhow, so I think I’ll just take a nap. Besides, with him helping the investigation will go faster.” Flora looked down at herself. “And the faster it goes, the faster I can get back to normal size.”

“If you say so. Alright then Luke, you can come along,” Layton said, happy to have his friend with him again.

“Yes! I’ll go get my stuff,” Luke said. He practically jumped for joy running back towards the building.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” Layton asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. If I need you that badly, I can just yell. You’ll probably be able to hear me anywhere,” Flora said.

“You make a fair point,” Layton said. Luke ran back out to Layton, ready to go.

“Ready Luke? Our first stop is the Scotland Yard,” Layton said, leading the way out to the car. After a brief drive, Layton pulled into the Scotland Yard parking lot. Chelmey was waiting by the front door.

“Layton! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting forever!” Chelmey snapped impatiently.

“I apologize, I slept in by accident. Did anything of use come from the questioning?” Layton asked.

“Nothing. All they could tell us was that Descole seemed focused on defeating you for good this time,” Chelmey said.

“Well that was sort of obvious, wasn’t it?” Luke said.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there Luke. Will you be coming with us today?” Chelmey asked.

“Sure am!” Luke said.

“Right then, let me go get Barton and Don,” Chelmey said.

“Don’s here too?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, he wanted to hear what they had to say too,” Chelmey said. With that, he went inside and returned with Barton and Don a minute later.

“It’s off to the flower shop with us, then. That’s all we’ve got,” Don said. They all piled into the car, and began the drive to the flower shop.

“What do you think Descole has planned?” Chelmey said.

“I have no idea, but it can’t be good. He must need Flora for some reason, but I can’t figure it out,” Layton said.

“It’s odd. I’ve never seen you so clueless on a case before Layton. You’ve usually got it all figured out,” Chelmey said.

“This isn’t really a mystery to understand however. It doesn’t seem like Descole has a motive, besides defeating me,” Layton said. The rest of the drive was spent in silence as everyone racked their brains for any info. When they got to the flower shop, the cashier was waiting for them.

“You look like the people I was told to give this to. Here you go,” The cashier said as he handed Layton a note. Layton opened the crumpled piece of paper.

“My location? I’m right behind you,” was all the note read. In the distance, they heard Flora scream loudly. No one said a word as they ran for the car.

Chapter 7

The Final Showdown

Practically drifting the streets of London, Layton rushed back to the university in record time. Everyone got out of the car to watch Flora stand up to her full height. She turned around, and stared at them with a glazed over, cold leer. Her eyes had gone from their usual black to a deep, blood red. Her smile had turned into a hateful sneer, and her once gentle hands had become rage-filled fists. She took one look at the group, uttered a deep guttural growl, and brought her fist down upon the newly rebuilt gardeners shack. As she looked down at the wreckage, the group could see a figure standing on her shoulder, wearing a familiar white mask. He turned to face the group.

“Ah, Layton! Glad you could make it to the show!” Descole remarked.

“Desmond! How could you be this heartless? You said you were done with all this!” Layton yelled.

Descole smirked. “Desmond? My name is Jean Descole! Address me as such!” He reached for his sword, but thought better of it. “Servant!” He said, thrusting his finger towards the group. “Crush these insolent fools!”

Flora said nothing, and began to walk towards the group, shaking the earth with every step of hers.

“Everyone, scatter!” Layton yelled. Everyone ran as the debris from the the main entrance came flying at them.

“I’ll get my old prize jewel out! We’ll see how she deals with something that can fly!” Don yelled, as he took off as fast as possible for his workshop.

“Luke, to the LaytonMobile!” Layton yelled. They ran for the car, and jumped in as a chunk of wood flew past them. Layton pressed the button on the dashboard, and out of the car came a pair of wings and a propeller. The car’s roof receded, and Layton floored the gas pedal. The car bumped its way across the grass, until it had gained enough speed to take off. The car took to the skies, with Flora bringing her hand down where it was moments ago.

“Professor! She’s trying to kill us! What do we do!?” Luke asked, frightened.

“Desmond’s clearly controlling her. We’ll need to get in close to him,” Layton said, dodging Flora’s swipes.

On the ground, Barton  and Chelmey were running as fast as they could. As soon as they saw they weren’t being chased, they stopped to catch their breath.

“What are we going to do Barton? We can’t fight that bloody thing!” Chelmey said.

“She’s clearly being controlled…” Barton trailed off.

“Oy? What are you goin’ on about Barton?” Chelmey asked.

“We need to find Granny Riddleton. Descole must have her somewhere around here,” Barton said with a commanding tone. His expression said enough to Chelmey, who had never seen Barton so passionate before. Chelmey nodded, and the two took off to try and find her.

The sound of an engine revving could be heard in the distance, and then the sound of an explosion.

“Come on, old piece of junk! I need you now more than ever!” Don said, beating the side of the machine. He gave the engine one last try, and the copter roared to life. The hatch in his workshop opened, and he flew the contraption up and out, shouting with glee.

Layton saw the copter approaching in the distance, and began to formulate a plan. Dodging Flora’s hand again, he kept flying around her.

“How is she so fast, Professor? Aren’t large things usually slow?” Luke asked.

“You must remember Luke, she was enchanted with magic. That may be increasing her speed to that of a normal sized human,” Layton explained.

Don flew past the pair in his machine, yelling back at the two as he went.

“I’m going to keep her distracted, you two go for Descole!” Don yelled. With that said, he pressed a button on the dash of his machine, and from below came a spiked ball and chain. He launched the ball and chain at Flora, barely missing on purpose.

“We heard him, let’s move in Luke,” Layton said, turning the car inwards towards Flora.

Back on the ground, Barton and Chelmey had found no trace of Granny Riddleton. Both were extremely out of breath, and not sure where to look next.

“I can sense you looking for me. I’m behind the building,” Came a disembodied voice around them.

“You heard that to, yeah?” Chelmey asked Barton. Barton simply nodded. The pair took off to the back of the building, thankful they weren’t too far away. They saw a cage with Ms. Riddleton inside, and a bunch of goons guarding it.

“Hey! You there! You look like the people our boss told us to keep away. I’ll teach you both a lesson. Solve this puzzle for me, and I might let you guys off,” One of the goons yelled.

“Oh, blast it all. I’ve had enough with puzzles! It’s time for some fisticuffs!” Chelmey yelled. He ran at the goon, and gave him a nasty uppercut to the jaw. The goon went flying, and landed flat on his back, out cold. The other goons looked at him, and then at Chelmey.

“Anyone else want some?” Chelmey yelled, ready for a fight. Two goons rushed him. He punched one in the face with a hook, and Barton kicked the other in the stomach, then delivered a punch square to the face. Both goons were out cold in seconds. The last goon looked at them, then ran off. They rushed to the cage.

“You heard my message, did you? Thank you for helping rescue me!” Granny Riddleton said, rushing to the bars of her cage. “Get that lock off, and I’ll help you get Descole.”

What in blimey is goin’ on out there? I thought Layton told me his brother Desmond gave up the Descole thing years ago.” Chelmey asked.

“That’s not the real Desmond. Magic had worked its way into Desmond, most likely from the Azran experience, and his Descole personality split from him. That being is not the real thing.” Riddleton said. “Now, can you get me out of here?”

“No offense miss, but why aren’t you able to do it yourself? You have your magic,” Barton asked.

“That lock is built to be magic proof. I can’t tamper with it,” Riddleton said. “I also can’t touch the lock, the bars are too close together for me to fit my hands through.”

“Fair enough then. This lock’s got a puzzle on it, inspector. Should I handle it?” Barton asked Chelmey. Chelmey looked angry.

“Forget puzzles! Everyone back away from the lock!” Chelmey ordered. Barton and Riddleton complied, and Chelmey pulled out a revolver. “Only one shot in it, gotta make it count.” Aiming carefully, Chelmey shot the lock off, and opened the cage door.

“A bit brutish, but certainly effective. Now, let’s take down Descole!” Riddleton said. “I’ll try to stop his control of Flora, as much as I can. He has a strong grip on her mind.” With that, she conjured a broom, and flew off towards Flora, cackling the whole time.

A sickening crunch could be heard ring through the air as another piece of the university was destroyed. Descole laughed at the destruction.

“This is exactly what I wanted to see! How does it feel Layton? To watch someone so close to you destroy all you hold dear?” Descole yelled. Flora began to move again, and Descole steadied himself once more. Flora then suddenly stopped, causing Descole to fall. Descole grabbed wildly at her dress, trying to stop his fall, but only ended up slowing himself down. In the end, Descole hit the ground unharmed.

“Servant! What is the meaning of this!?” Flora stared back blankly, as if she was caught in an internal struggle.

“Can’t keep hold of your puppet, Descole?” Riddleton yelled from her broom. A green beam was coming from her hand, connecting with Flora’s temple.

Descole growled. “Servant! Crush her!” The green thread-like beam snapped, and Flora’s eyes turned towards Riddleton, who was swatted out of the sky by her hand not a moment later. She crashed into the building below.

Layton had landed the car, and was rushing for Descole with a sword he kept from his previous adventure in Folsense. Chelmey ran alongside him for a moment.

“Layton, that isn’t your brother! Magic split his Descole personality out of him. Kill him, and it should release his hold on Flora!” Chelmey said. Chelmey stopped running, and ran back for Barton.

Layton kept going, with Luke beside him. Descole had gotten up, and noticed the two coming for him. He drew his sword, and prepared himself.

“It’s time Layton. I’ll kill you myself!” Descole shouted. He didn’t waste a moment in slashing at Layton, which Layton parried away. Layton thrusted his sword back, which Descole dodged. The two clashed swords again and again, sending sparks flying with each hit. Flora regained her senses, and tried to bring her fist down on Layton, nearly crushing Descole in the process.

“Idiot! Did I tell you to attack? Get the rest of them! He’s mine!” Descole yelled at Flora. Flora tilted her head, as if considering the command, then walked off toward Don, who was still flying around her head.

Descole slashed at Layton again, this time cutting his arm. Layton winced, but fought through the pain. Layton lunged at Descole, but Descole jumped away. Descole tried a jumping slash. Layton dodged, and then thrusted the sword into Descole’s chest. Descole recoiled, screaming in intense pain. Smoke poured out from his wound, instead of blood. Descole looked up at Layton, a sneer on his face.

“I hate you…” Descole said, before disappearing into ash entirely. With Descole gone, Flora was released from her hypnosis, and began to fall. She crashed through another part of the university, bringing down a large chunk of it with her weight. When she hit the ground, an intense quake was released across London. Luke rushed towards Flora, as did Layton.

“Is she okay Professor?” Luke asked, worried.

“She’s fine, just unconscious.” Layton said, feeling her wrist for a pulse.

Chelmey and Barton ran towards Layton. Relieved that they were unharmed, Chelmey spoke up.

“Well then, that was certainly something,” Chelmey said. Barton stood speechless, in awe over the events that just occurred.

The sound of Don’s machine could be heard in the distance, as it was making its landing. Don jumped out of the cockpit and ran over towards the group.

“Layton!” Don shouted. Layton turned around, wondering what Don would possibly be trying to start after the events that just occurred.

“When she wakes up, you are so grounding her!” Don said with a smile on his face. Layton smirked at the remark, while Luke, Barton, and Chelmey laughed.

“Wait a minute, where’s Riddleton?” Chelmey asked, straightening his suit. “Was she with any of you?” Everyone simply shook their head.

“We’ve got to find her then! Everyone split up, and search the grounds, and what’s left of the building.” Barton ordered. Chelmey thought of interjecting, but realized it was a fine order.

“Well? You heard the man! Let’s get going!” Chelmey said. Everyone nodded, and ran off in different directions, with Luke staying behind to watch over Flora. Layton and Don searched the building, while Chelmey and Barton searched the grounds. Looking throughout the building, the pair eventually found her buried beneath some rubble.

“Thank goodness you both found me. I thought I was a goner when she hit me,” Riddleton said, smiling at the two.

“Help me lift this board,” Don asked. Together, the two lifted the wreckage away, piece by piece. Eventually, the wreckage was clear enough to pull her out of the rubble, which proceeded to recollapse without her as its support. Riddleton screamed in pain, and the pair noticed her leg was broken.

“What are we going to do now? I doubt she can fix Flora with a broken leg,” Don said, frowning intensely.

“No, I-I’ll be fine. I can fix her. Just,” she winced in pain again. “Just carry me over to her.”

Layton offered to be the one to carry her. After picking her up, Layton made his way outside, being careful to not strain her leg by moving it too much. Chelmey and Barton were just returning from their search when they noticed Layton carrying Riddleton.

“Oh, ya found her, then. Where was she at?” Chelmey asked.

“Under some rubble inside, her leg’s messed up pretty bad,” Don said. Chelmey simply nodded.

The group had made it to Flora. Luke turned around for a moment, noticed Riddleton’s leg, and was about to say something about it when he thought it better to just let it go. Riddleton held out her arm, and began to chant in an unknown language. As she chanted, a blue beam came from her arm, and connected with Flora’s chest. She continued chanting, and Flora began to shrink. She got smaller and smaller, until she was at her normal size once again.

“Now then, we should get you to the hospital,” Don said. After talking briefly with Riddleton, Layton gracefully handed her off to Don, who took her out to his flying contraption, and began to fly towards the nearest hospital. Layton walked towards Flora, and picked her up in a princess carry. He began to walk towards his car with Luke following closely behind, as Barton and Chelmey made plans on how to deal with the wreckage. Layton started the car, and began to drive towards his apartment, with Flora sleeping peacefully in the backseat.

Epilogue

The Girl With the Golden Heart

Flora awoke in her room. Sitting up in her bed, she looked around. Everything was the same, except she had been changed into her nightgown, and her dress was on the chair next to her along with the silver drop necklace. Morning light streamed in through her curtains, stinging her eyes. A knock came at her door.

“Flora, may I come in?” Came a familiar voice.

“Yes, of course Professor,” Flora said. The door opened, and Hershel Layton stood there, with a tray of tea and biscuits. He brought the tray over, set it down in front of her, and sat on the bed next to her.

“I thought you might want something to eat. You were out for two full days, you know,” Layton said. Flora picked up her teacup and took a sip. It was a light, sweet flavor. Layton knew it was her favorite.

“So, was that whole adventure a dream?” Flora asked.

“No no, my dear. That was quite real. I’m not sure how much you know of what you did while being controlled, but rest assured, everyone is helping fix the damages,” Layton said. Flora sighed.

“I was aware of what was happening, but I was not able to control myself at all. I became like a machine. Trying to kill you all broke my heart, and I could do nothing about it. I was so helpless, and I didn’t mean to-”

“You’re fine Flora. Those actions were not your doing,” Layton interrupted. “No one blames you.”

Layton pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Flora. She wiped her tears from her face with it, then handed it back.

“Thank you Professor. I’ll be out with you in a moment,” Layton got up and left the room, giving the young lady privacy. After finishing her tea and biscuits, Flora got out of her bed, and began changing out of her nightgown. Looking in the mirror, Flora noticed a lot more bruises and scratches on her unclothed body than she had originally thought, specifically around her arms and hands.

“I guess I had gotten hurt more in that battle than I thought,” Flora muttered to herself. She had put on her famous dress, which looked brand new.

“He must have had it patched up for me while I was out.” Flora thought. Looking apprehensively at the necklace still on the chair, Flora considered the consequences of putting it back on. Eventually, she decided to leave the necklace be. All dressed, she opened the door to her room, to see Layton in his favorite chair reading the newspaper, which unsurprisingly had a picture of her on it, and Luke idly sitting on the couch, watching the sunrise. Layton and Luke heard the door open, and Luke practically jumped off the couch to talk to her.

“Flora! I’m so glad to see you’re alright. I was so worried,” Luke said. Layton folded up his newspaper and put it to the side.

“Yes, she did give us quite the scare. Maybe for now, we can put this issue to the side, however,” Layton said. “It’s a beautiful morning outside, and I heard they’re progressing well on repairs to the university. The Prime Minister will be holding a speech there later today, to commemorate our efforts in saving the city.” Flora looked saddened by this news.

“Oh, they’re not just honoring us. You’re going to be part of the speech as well, in fact. Everyone knows that you truly meant no harm, and wants you to know that no one’s angry with you. There will be quite the party afterwards, I heard,” Layton said. Flora’s frown turned into a bright smile instantly.

“A party!? Oh man, I can’t wait!” Luke said, excited.

“It is quite exciting, is it not? Regardless, I need to pick up some things in town, and was wondering if you both would be willing to come along.” Layton said.

“Another adventure with the Professor? Sounds fun!” Flora said. They all laughed, and left to explore London once again, in the famous red car of Professor Hershel Layton.