Professor Layton: Love In All Adversities

27. Looks Can Be Deceiving

As the blood-red fire engulfed the group of friends, Hershel sank to his knees, his mouth unable to form any words.

He saw the flash of the ring. It must have been an illusion, but even so it didn't hurt any less.

To hear his friends scream, cries of utmost pain... It was too much to bear.

When the fire eventually died out, leaving only ashes in its wake, Oliver walked casually over the the Professor and patted him on the shoulder.

"I thought I should let you know... I feel sorry for you I do... I may have faked their deaths before, but now it's real... Look at you!"

He walked away, laughing an ice-cold laugh and it was then that Hershel found himself smiling.

Oliver didn't know that they knew his secret. He didn't know that Anton had actually found his diary. He had written about how Anton might find it, but he probably didn't think that Anton would actually leave the castle. He had told him so himself.

So as Oliver left the 'broken man' to wallow, Hershel rose slowly. Now was the time to make his move.

"Oliver!" He said firmly. Oliver spun around surprised, and saw the blank look on Hershel's face.

"Are you going to curse me? Tell me how much you hate me and how I will regret this?"

"No." A thin smile spread across his lips but he didn't reveal himself yet.

"Then what?"

"Just as we became aware because of you, you will become aware because of us. Looks can be deceiving. Just like how we thought all these friends our ours died. But it was an illusion. Created by your ring!"

Oliver started at that, but Hershel continued, his smile steadily widening.

"You thought I was surprised when you showed me the message from M. I said Martin, but I knew who M really was. Inspector Marauder. Just as I tricked you into believing I was hurt because of this. My friends are still there. They can hear us now!"

"Very clever, Professor Layton." Oliver chuckled, raising his arm. The ring flashed once more, but this time an illusion wasn't being created, but dismantled.

The ashes washed away and Hershel was greeted with the warm sight of his friends, all looking at him with big grins.

"But now what, Professor? So you know they aren't dead? How does that help you? My secret is discovered, but now it just means that I can kill you!"

"Not quite. Because I know one more thing! Something you made painfully clear of."

"And what is that?"

"Just as looks can be deceiving, so can people's alliances!"

As he finished his sentence, the Inspector stepped forward.

'NOW!" She cried.

As if they were waiting for that signal, the tied up group burst free from their ropes and were upon the Gatherers instantly.

Though the Gatherer men had guns, they were certainly not prepared for this.

Hershel took this moment to grab the dazed Oliver from behind. He grunted as he was overpowered, and Hershel found himself truly relieved for the first time in days.

Within seconds, Team Layton had control of the clearing and all was silent.

Now, the Gatherer men were tied up, not them.

Only Oliver remained out of the ropes. He had some answering to do.

Hershel smiled to the others, and then at Clive, who smiled back weakly at him.

"THIS CAN'T BE!" Oliver screamed in rage. "You can't win!"

"I'm afraid we have won, Oliver." Hershel grinned, taking a step forward to speak more directly to him.

"But how?! How did you know she would betray me?!"

"I spoke with the Inspector a few days ago. We had a long talk about her past. Then, we devised a few plans, including the one you witnessed at Gressenheller. But more importantly, was this one. As you were preoccupied with trying to torture me with the vision of them burning, the Inspector went around, quietly untying the ropes and whispering for the others to act upon her signal."

"Clever!" Oliver spat. "I always knew you were good, but even I didn't see this."

"You never really saw the true value of me." Hershel sighed. "You didn't even get to know me from the beginning. And from your diary, it is clear that you didn't want to get to know me. You are a selfish man, who cares only for power and revenge. That was always your downfall."

"Save me the 'my mistake' speech!"

"Next," Hershel continued, eager to tell the rest of the story. "we had to ensure that you believed she was working for you. She still sent you messages, but they were half-truths. Only Clive sent you more detailed messages, but the Inspector here was never going to be bought over by you."

"I should have known..." Oliver sighed, looking over to her. "I've known you for years, but I never knew you had this side to you. How did you pull this all off? Like you are an expert at it!"

"Allow me to tell him." The Inspector stated, stepping past the others and walking over beside Hershel.

"By all means." Hershel smiled.

"You see," She began, cracking her knuckles. "You really did teach me well when we first met. After I left your little gang, I got into some higher places. That was when I met two agents who I am proud to call friends. And one, who I am proud to call the love of my life."

She gestured over to Martin and then to Benedict, smiling broadly behind Oliver.

As they untied Benedict - careful to make sure no others escaped - he ran over to the Inspector and kissed her warmly on the lips.

The Professor smiled warmly at that and Flora cheered in the background.

"You traitor!" Oliver hissed, staring daggers at his ex-right-hand-man.

"Sorry, sir." Benedict laughed, breaking apart from the Inspector. "It's nothing personal." He thought over that for a second and then shook his head. "Actually, it's very personal. You are a real jerk! Look what you did to your last right-hand-man!"

He waved over to Martin who smiled uncomfortably.

"So I see that the two men I was supposed to trust the most this whole time were the ones I should trust the least!"

"Precisely!"

"Well..." Oliver sighed, shifting on his feet. "This has been a time of great deception. But unlike the double agents I see before me, I know I can at least trust one person here."

"And who is that?" Hershel inquired.

"Me!" Clive laughed, pressing something firmly into Layton's back. He had snuck up behind him as no one else was paying attention. "Now you better let them all go, or you might just get fifty-thousand volts of electricity up your spine!"

"Oh, Clive..." Hershel moaned.