Chapter Text
Layton, Luke, and Flora had just finished talking with the mayor of Dropstone, Mr. Anderson. He had just given a very heartfelt speech about Dropstone, his family, and how hard people had worked to make the town what it was. That’s the jist of what Flora overheard anyway; she was too engrossed in her surroundings to pay her full attention to the man. Thankfully, the Professor and Luke had that covered.
She was idly watching the farmer from earlier throwing a tantrum about losing the competition. She used her hand to cover her mouth as she silently laughed. Luke had gone through the effort to discern which cows were his based on puzzling lies and truths, just for his cows to lose anyway. The massive cow-shaped balloons also caught her eye; they really must’ve wanted this 50th anniversary to be special. She was brought back to reality by a small tug on her sleeve.
"Flora? Are you alright?" Spoke a concerned Luke. Flora gave her head a small shake before looking down at the boy. "Oh, sorry, I was just admiring the ingenuity of these balloons." She gestured to the previously mentioned cow balloons. Luke smiled, "They’re quite huge, aren’t they? I bet the Laytonmobile could fit in one! " The two had a nice chuckle at that one, even as Layton joined in. "Yes, I must agree, my vehicle is on the smaller side," he chuckled, "but we mustn’t forget our objective."
"What's the next objective, Professor?" Luke asked as he peered around the fair to maybe find a clue.
"Well," Layton began, "It would appear that we’ve gathered all the information this quaint town has to offer," he said whilst checking his pocket watch. "The train's repairs will be finished shortly. The best course of action is to reconvene on the train and go over this new information. Let's go. " Layton began walking towards a small road that led straight to the train.
"The sooner we get to the Molentary Express, the sooner we can get to solving this case." said an eager Luke as he followed close behind.
As they headed towards the street, Flora spoke up "Oh! Please, can we go through the main road, Professor? I’d like to see the stalls one more time. " She fidgeted awkwardly with her hands.
Before Layton could speak, Luke chimed in excitedly, "I’d like to see them too, Professor!" Layton tipped his hat slightly, as he chuckled "Well, I suppose as long as we’re moving in a timely manner, it doesn’t really matter which route we take. Let’s go then. " He turned to lead the two down the main road. As they walked, Flora gave Luke a light tap on the shoulder. "Thank you, Luke," she whispered. She noticed that Luke was a bit red, but concluded that it was from all the running around they were doing. "Oh, no problem, Flora." he said with a nod before focusing on the road. It was then that the trio realized that there had been a large influx of people, as the road was as crowded as could be.
"The place is positively crawling with people, isn’t it?" Flora noted as she avoided a collision with a passerby. "Be careful, Flora." Layton turned his head to face the girl. "If you don’t watch where you’re going, you’re likely to run right into someone."
"Sorry. This is all so new to me that I forget to pay attention to where I’m walking."
“Understandable. After all, it’s quite a change of pace from London."
Luke turned to look at Flora and saw her excitement as she looked around at the various attractions and stalls. "Wow, Flora, you sure are excited." Flora turned her attention to the boy. "Just don’t stand around gawking for too long, or we may accidentally leave you behind," he teased. Flora rolled her eyes before looking around once more. The variety of the stalls was stellar to say the least. She spotted one that sold hand knitted items like blankets and hats. Another one sold local delicacies, and next to that was a stall selling wood carvings. When she looked back at the Professor and Luke, to show them her findings however, she discovered that she had become separated from them.
"Uh oh," she thought. She suddenly became very afraid that Luke’s fake scenario might become a reality. She shuddered at the thought and became stiff, she didn’t want to be alone ever again after they found her. She reassured herself that they wouldn’t leave without her before calling out for them. "Professor! Luke!" But no response could be heard over the crowd around her. Furthermore, she couldn’t see the Professor's distinct top hat anywhere. Just as she was about to call out again, she felt a man grab her, restrain her arms with one of his and cover her mouth with a single hand. She screamed, but to no avail.
He leaned into his ear and threatened in a whisper. "Neyh heh heh... I suggest you calm down or else you’ll end up getting hurt." Flora was petrified as he maneuvered them around the crowd, away from where they were heading. Her eyes darted around for someone, anyone, to see what was going on, but no one was paying attention. She tried to fight back, but her body refused to obey as it just shambled along where ever the man was taking her. She was about to lose hope when suddenly someone called out.
"Flora! Where are you!?" She recognized the voice to be Luke's, and he sounded like he was nearby. The Professor called out soon after, "Luke! Slowly down my boy!" But she could faintly hear him at all. She felt herself turning in their direction, her captor must have heard them too. She then saw the Professor's top hat far back among the heads of the crowd, but nothing of Luke.
"Layton..." the man growled to himself, with disdain in his voice. Flora felt his grip loosen slightly around her mouth. It was now or never. She found her strength and bucked her head back into his and bit down on his finger. "Gah!" The man quickly retracted his hand to shake the pain away . She screamed as loud as she could. "Professor! Luke!" I’m right he-!" The man whipped the two of them back around and smacked her in the head before covering her mouth again.
"Foolish girl! Shut up or I’ll-"
"Hey! You let go of her!" She heard Luke call again, this time much closer. Before she could try to react or attack any further, however, she felt the man jolt forward as she was released and sent stumbling to the ground. She turned over to see her captor, the rotten Don Paolo, and Luke mounting his back with his feet planted firmly against it. Holding onto his horn-like hair like reigns, Luke was rearing him about like a rider on a horse. With the scientist under his thumb, Luke pulled at his hair to wield him around painfully. While Luke desperately tried to hold onto his position, Don Paolo thrashed around and violently grabbed at the boy.
"Get off of me you foul brat!" Don Paolo shouted as he futilely tried to grab Luke behind him. The crowd had backed up to watch the spectacle "Haha! I’ve got you this time, Don Polio!" Luke shouted triumphantly, as he yanked Don Paolo around. "It’s Paolo, you dimwit! Get over here!" Don Paolo tried to stand up straight and grab Luke’s head above him as Luke repositioned slightly to avoid falling over. Seeing his hands shooting to towards him, Luke threw his head back to avoid being them. After Don Paolo missed, Luke then flung his head forward whilst pulling Don Paolo's head back to smash his forehead into the scientist's massive nose, causing it to bleed profusely. Don Paolo grunted in pain. “You prepubescent twit! You’ll pay for this!" He roared as he reflexively closed his eyes and grabbed his nose.
"If you think you can hurt my friends, you've got another coming!" Flora remained on the ground and watched slack-jawed at Luke, who was beating an evil genius and making him look like a fool.
Luke willed the momentarily blinded Don Paolo forward. The man’s legs tried desperately to keep up avoid falling over, all the while picking up speed straight towards a brick wall. Just before impact, Luke let go and kicked off Don Paolo, sending the man even harder into the wall. Luke landed flat on his back while Don Paolo flattened into the wall and crumbled to the ground with a painful moan.
Luke got on his feet with a small groan while rubbing his back. He saw a bewildered inspector Chelmey and constable Barton out of the corner of his eye. "What on earth is going on here?" Chelmy demanded as he marched towards the two. "Uh, your orders, sir?" Barton asked from behind. Luke pointed to the discombobulated scientist. "Arrest him, inspector!" Luke shouted between his massive intakes of air. "He just tried to kidnap Flora!" He gestured over to Flora. The two cops looked expectantly at Flora, who was still stunned by what had happened. "It's true!" She said, while nodding her head frantically. Chelmy looked around for confirmation from the crowd before commanding Barton to apprehend the criminal.
Flora suddenly felt herself being lifted onto her feet. She looked up to see the professor. "Are you alright, my dear?" He asked, between breaths "I am now thanks to Luke." She replied happily while turning to look at her savior, who was still huffing and puffing whilst giving his back a rub.
“Excellent, sorry for taking so long. Navigating the crowd was quite a puzzle." He adjusted his hat and turned to approach Luke. "Please excuse me while I tend to this." Flora decided to follow and saw Barton cuffing Don Paolo with Luke watching with a smirk. Flora noticed that he had his chest puffed out with his hands on his hips. At a second glance, she found it quite adorable. The professor put his hand on Luke's shoulder.
"Luke, are you alright?" Luke turned and, upon seeing the Professor, beamed with joy. "Did you see that, Professor? No one bests Professor Layton's apprentice!" He smugly tried to adjust his cap, only to find it had fallen off during the scuffle. He looked around worriedly for the garment, but the Professor brought his attention back to himself.
“Now Luke," he began firmly. Luke's bravado and heroism dissolved at the Professor's stern voice. He looked up at the Professor while keeping his head down and his hands behind his back "You need to be more level-headed. Rushing into the fray like that was a sure way to get hurt or worse. You’re quite fortunate your only injury is that bruise." Luke rubbed the red spot on his forehead. As this was happening, Flora noticed Luke’s ruffled hat on the ground beside her. She picked it up and dusted it off before returning to the Professor and Luke "I’m s-sorry Professor, I couldn't control myself! I-I just felt something come over me and next thing I knew I was on his back and-"
"A gentleman keeps a level head and thinks before he acts." Layton interjected
"B-but a gentleman must always help a friend in need!" Luke responded desperately. A hint of irritation was in Luke’s voice, he certainly didn’t want to scolded about saving Flora. "He did save me, Professor." Flora said as she bashfully moved close to Luke’s side. "Who knows what that man could’ve done." Before Layton could speak again, Chelmy approached and put a hand on the boy's back.
“Now Layton, you may call me crazy, but I believe you should cut the boy some slack." He started, as he rubbed his chin. "Stopping a kidnapping is no small feat. Thanks to him, this hooligan won’t be harming anyone anymore." he gestured to Barton, who was struggling to keep a hold of Don Paolo. Just as their eyes fell on the two, Don Paolo had broken free of Barton's grasp and tossed him aside. "This isn’t over, Layton! You and that brat will suffer my wrath!" He sprinted away while laughing at the downed constable. "Don’t let him escape you imbecile!" Chelmy roared as he gave chase after the fugitive. "Y-yes sir! Right away sir!" Barton fumbled a bit before running behind the inspector. The trio stood and stared wide-eyed for for a few seconds before Luke took action.
"Professor! He's getting away!" Luke went to follow but was stopped by Layton grabbing his arm. "They’re much too far ahead to chase now. And even if we could catch up, we very well might miss the train. Not to mention what danger that would entail." Flora felt dread build up within her as her grip tightened on Luke’s cap. The thought of Don Paolo on the loose and as vengeful as he was deeply concerned her. He's sure to make poor Luke pay after what he did to him. Could he defend himself if he was caught off guard? What if she or the Professor aren't able to save him? Her breathing quickened "What will we do if he comes back?" She tensed up as she awaited a hopefully comforting response. Luke turned around and beamed brightly at her.
"Don't worry, Flora, the Professor and I will protect you." He tried to adjust his cap again with a grin, as he always did when he was confident, but was reminded that he didn't have it. He looked around in a panic to find it, somehow missing Flora holding it right in front of him. She felt the tension within her dissipate. She smiled and rolled her eyes as she put the cap on his head and adjusted it to fit just right. "You’re adorable," she said with a giggle. Luke was wide-eyed and red. Flora mentally kicked herself and turned red herself. How could she say that out loud? Furthermore, why was she even thinking that? Maybe that smack on her head was making her dizzy.
"Uh-" was all Luke could mumble. Before he could try to put a coherent response together, Layton intervened with a chuckle. "Flora, my dear, let’s not torment Luke any further." Flora nodded while avoiding eye contact with either of them as the professor focused on Luke "And Luke,"
Luke composed himself best he could. “er-Yes, Professor?”
"Promise me you’ll be more careful next time, ok? Think before you act. I know you want to help, but you can’t help if you’re injured." Luke smiled and nodded, "I promise Professor." Flora hadn’t noticed before, but he looked rather cute when he was so happy. Has he always looked this way? Once again she thought the cause to be the smack on the head Don Paolo had given her. But even then, it wasn’t that hard a slap. She was snapped back to reality by the Professor. "And as for you Flora," Flora turned to the professor nervously. "I’ve told you earlier to be extra careful due to danger, and part of that is sticking close to us. Understand?" Flora nodded, "Yes Professor, I’m sorry," she said with a bowed head. "Good then, let’s get going. We’re going to miss our train if we waste any more-"
“Oh, Yoo-hoo! Professor Guy!”
“-time” The Professor sighed and turned to the voice calling for him as Luke and Flora hid their chuckles. "Yes, young lady? How can I help you? " He bent down on his knee to accommodate the young lady in question, who was a little girl. She swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet while her hands hid behind her back.
“I think I saw you blue friend drop this while he was on that wicked man’s back”
She thrust her hands up in the Professor's face, revealing the item to be the Elysian box. “It looked awfully important so here you go!”
Layton was certainly surprised. "Well, thank you young lady” He gingerly took the box, and the young girl skipped away. Layton inspected the box as Flora and Luke gathered on either side of him with awe in their eyes. Obviously the girl was mistaken, Luke hadn’t dropped the box because he didn’t have it in the first place, meaning the only person who could’ve dropped it was Don Paolo. Luke’s awe quickly turned to concern. Once he considered how Don Paolo must’ve acquired the box.
"So, if Don Paolo had the box,” He looked at the Professor anxiously. “Does that mean he killed poor doctor Schrader?"
Flora gasped, "He killed a man?" And to think he almost kidnapped her, it caused her to shudder. Layton was quick to comfort the two, "Calm down, it’s alright. It's a possibility, to be sure. But being that the doctor and I were close friends, Don Paolo would’ve known that if he’d done his research. If he had killed him, he would’ve made it known to me to cause as much pain as possible. " Flora felt a little bit at ease but was still quite tense that such a vile man was on the loose and targeting them.
"But enough speculation. Let's get moving before anything else stops us"
Luke and Flora anxiously nodded as they began to make their way through the crowd once more. It had dispersed somewhat, but people were still out and about in large numbers. Fearing a repeat of today's earlier event, Flora tapped Luke on the shoulder hesitantly. "Luke? Would you mind...holding my hand, if that’s alright?" She fiddled with her hands "Only until we reach the train." Her eyes took a sudden interest in the ground instead of the person she was speaking to. "I don’t want to get separated again," she said as she forced her eyes to meet his.
Luke looked rosy and avoided eye contact. One hand rubbed the back of his neck as another rubbed his back "It can’t be helped, can it? A gentleman prioritizes a lady’s needs after all." He adjusted his cap, made a small bow, and offered his hand, which Flora happily took. "Thank you," she said, whilst doing a small curtsy.
As they slowly maneuvered towards the train station, Flora had time to think about what had happened so far today. One thing that was puzzling her was her nervousness around Luke. She hadn’t been this bashful around him before. She was shy when they first met, but she quickly came around after a few days, once she had gotten to know him. She was now getting flushed over just asking him to hold her hand through a crowd and thinking him cute or attractive when she otherwise wouldn’t. What had gotten into her? If her story books had taught her anything, it was that she was falling in love. Flora’s face flushed at the mere thought of it. It just didn’t seem possible.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became about the prospect. It wasn’t a bad thing, it just seemed unlikely. However, there certainly were a lot of redeeming qualities about the boy. He was a bit younger than she was, and landed more on the cute side. She could tell he would be handsome soon enough, if not now with these mysterious new feelings for him. Of course, looks are only skin deep, and even then, the boy had a heart of gold. As proven earlier, he wouldn’t hesitate to jump to her defense no matter the threat.
That then reminded her that she hadn't properly thanked Luke for saving her. She kicked herself for being so absent-minded. She went further down this rabbit hole and realized that he had warned her about gawking for too long and she hadn’t listened. Even further still, if she had just stayed quiet and didn’t ask to go down the busy road, Luke wouldn’t have taken her side and influenced the Professor's decision. If she had listened to them, then none of this would have happened and Luke wouldn’t have been hurt.
She tried to sneak a quick glance at Luke to see how bad his injury was. He was rubbing his back with a slightly pained expression. He noticed her gaze and quickly returned it with an inquisitive one. She was caught off guard and felt her face redden as she gave him a warm smile. As he returned the gesture, she felt her face burn even hotter. Her bashfulness was quickly overshadowed with guilt as she saw that his bruise was quite large and already turning purple. Her smile faltered as she hung her head. She shuddered at the thought of him putting himself in danger for her sake and getting seriously injured, or worse. All because she couldn’t follow a simple instruction.
"What’s wrong, Flora?" Flora could hear the concern in his voice.
" I’m what’s wrong. " She thought, " Had I listened to you or the Professor, you wouldn’t have to go through all that. I’m so sorry, Luke."
"Flora?" He had leaned over to look up at her face.
Upon seeing his face, she straightened back up "Nothing, Why?" She fibbed. Lying to him was the last thing she wanted to do, but it came out without her input. She thought it better this way anyways, as she didn’t want to cause him any more trouble.
Luke pulled back "Oh, well, it just doesn’t seem like nothing. You slowed down and squeezed my hand, so I thought I’d ask."
Flora hadn’t noticed these changes and quickly corrected them. She was perturbed that her lie didn’t deter him, but was grateful too. It allowed her to get a little of what was on her mind off her chest.
"Oh sorry, I guess I just feel drained after what happened, and I’m still afraid of that Don Paolo. But, thank you for your concern. " She smiled weakly.
Luke didn’t return the smile immediately. The concern was still present on his face. Flora tried to keep her calm but grew nervous and embarrassed under his stare. Had he seen through her lie? Why was his gaze so intense? She calmed down soon after a smile and the look of realization spread over Luke's face.
"Oh! The Professor and I got a tea set from a nice old lady! Maybe I can brew you a cup of tea to help?" He said, with hopeful eyes.
Flora was touched by the gesture, his enthusiasm was infectious as she couldn’t help but give a full one back. "I'd love that. Thank you."
"Great! We’re nearly there as well." Flora could hear Luke had begun to hum a tune softly as he swayed his hand that held hers back and forth gently. There was even an extra pip in his step as they stepped into the stone-tiled train station. There was no possibility that she couldn’t adore him now. Maybe she did love him after all. However, she still didn’t fully believe it was happening.
" You’re absolutely precious, " she thought tenderly to herself " I swear to you, Luke Triton, I’ll find a way to properly show my appreciation. Not only for saving me today, but also for making every other day a little bit sweeter."