Professor Layton and the Memories Of A Time Gone By

15. Heartbreaker

As they made their way silently through the forest, Katia looked towards Flora and the Professor. As worried as she was, she could not muster all the energy she needed. She had already taken a lot out of herself rushing to find the Professor and then the plaza incident had taken even more. Now she trailed slightly behind them, and as much as that irritated her, it had given her the chance to reflect over the Professor's choice. It would have made far more sense to bring along Dimitri who was a scientist. She had learned many things about him the night that the Professor's group had stayed and she was confident that this man was intelligent enough to make the right choices. It just didn't seem logical to bring Flora.

Not to say that Flora wasn't clever, she thought in rebuttal. On the contrary, she is one of the brightest young girls I know. It may not appear logical, but Katia knew that it was the right choice. This was the Professor's daughter. The only person he had in the world to look out for right now. Their bond had even strengthened thanks to that attack and it was obvious the Professor would not let her out of his sight. If she wasn't here right now, the Professor would not be in the right state of mind to help. Something terrible had happened to the Professor recently, and she could see it every time she looked into his eyes. He had lost someone and it was hurting him more than she could even realise.

He had Flora and that was what was most important. Sure, she was behind, but if she wasn't, she wouldn't have been able to see what was in front of her. The two ran side by side, hand in hand and their grip seemed eternal. It was a promise. A promise that he would never let go of her again. Truly the Professor was a better man than before, and that was saying something!

*****

The boat jammed roughly into the grass and instantly the small group was out of the boat and fast approaching the grand doors. Glancing up, Hershel and Flora could see the faint outline of a man standing on a high balcony. Anton was still alive, Hershel sighed in relief, but he felt that if he didn't make haste, then the old man might jump then and there.

It almost took everything out of Katia climbing those great stairs. Sure they had got a short rest in the boat, but the Professor had been relentless in his rowing, carving a path through the water with the speed and easy of a knife through butter.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the Professor and Flora too were just as exhausted as she. They had even fallen back to her pace, and still their hands were linked. In fact, their hands had not even come apart in the boat. The Professor and Flora had sailed the boat together while Katia rested. She felt a small sense of guilt as she wasn't helping, but she knew that the Professor would have insisted anyway. 'It is the duty of every gentleman!' he would tell her and she had smiled slightly thinking about that. She also knew that the Professor was taking into account her great feeling of dread as her grandfather was on the verge of something truly terrible.

"Why... couldn't.... you have... installed an elevator?" Flora panted, using her free hand to wipe a great bead of sweat from her head.

Despite the grim situation, Katia couldn't help but laugh at Flora's comment. Even the Professor's lips fell into a small grin.

"I'll tell... you what," Katia gleefully wheezed back. "I'll put it... on the top of... our to-do list."

Flora beamed back at her and Katia felt as though everything might be alright. Then as she turned her head right, her smile vanished. They were in front of the door to the balcony.

"Here we go..." she muttered, swallowing, summoning what little strength she had left.

She jumped slightly as she felt someone grab her hand. She saw that it was Flora, beaming up at her still.