Back To The Future

Hershel Layton

A/N: I finally managed to write on a bit more :') I have written the majority of the next chapters, and there is one I hate myself for a LOT, but I hope you will enjoy this one! J x

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"The Professor is here!", my secretary announced over the telephone.
"Thank you, Tina!"

I hung up the phone and nervously made my way to the door of my office. Hershel Layton... I had been so impressed by what I had heard of him, and I deplored that I had to meet him under such circumstances.

A knock reawakened me from my thoughts.

"Oh, good morning!", I said while opening the door! "Pleased to meet you! I'm y/n!"

"Good morning! Professor Layton. It's very nice to finally meet you!" he said as he shook my hand, and my smile suddenly changed to shock when I saw a young boy standing behind him.
I gasped.

"You look just like him!", I whispered with my hand hiding my lips. "Clive! When he was a child, I mean. Oh... I'm sorry!"

That must have been way too straightforward, I thought. My weakness was that I couldn't keep my thoughts to myself, at least most of the time.

"Don't worry!", the boy said smilingly, "I thought he looked like me too when I first saw him! I'm Luke Triton." He looked up at the Professor and gave him a proud look, "his apprentice."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Luke Triton!", I smiled.

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"I'm terribly sorry that I had to consult you under such circumstances, Professor Layton. But I wanted to tell you about Clive."

"Please continue."

"You see, I did not have any contact to him for ten years until nearly two years ago when we unexpectedly met again. It's a long story!"

"We have time. I think Luke here agrees that the more we know about Clive, the easier it will be to be able to help him."

"You're right! I'll start where it all happened...
When we were children, we met at elementary school and immediately became friends. It was as if I had known him all my life. We had a special bond and nothing could seperate us, until one day my doctor told my parents that I was very sick. I did not understand it well at that time, the only thing it meant for me was that I had to go to a special clinic for several months which would separate me from my best friend. It was a goodbye for us that would last for way too many years.
When I was fortunately healt from my sickness, I searched everywhere for him. I went to his house, but I was shocked to see that it had been replaced by a new one, just like the whole street where he had been living and when I did some research about why it had been, I found something frightening. I found out about the explosion due to the time experiment. Since I could not find Clive's address anywhere, I started to believe that he had died in the incident. The following years were misery for me, since it was not only my best friend I had lost, but also the boy I had secretly loved and his parents whom I had looked up to."

"I'm sincerely sorry to hear that-"

"Oh Professor", I said, "I'm the one who is supposed to be sorry. I know that you have lost your loved one as well, and I'm terribly sorry that the recent events made that even worse for you. Maybe if I had asked Clive more about what he was hiding from me I could have prevented that from happening-"

"It's nowhere your fault, Miss .... Clive was not the only one involved in this plan. Please do continue."

I nodded. "In the following years, I started to write my feelings down. And that also started something entirely else, my career as an author and my love for the writing itself. I studied English literature in Gressenheller university but already wrote books at that time, and I've been doing that ever since. But last year, there was one day that deeply hit me. I met Clive in London, and we met again at my office. It all seemed so unreal- both of us had thought the other was dead. Since then, my life got so much happier. He was the light that I always needed in it. Not much longer and we decided to move in together.
After several months, I noticed that Clive grew a bit more distant from me. He was gone for the most part of the day and more stressed than ever before. It seemed like something was employing him- and I had the feeling that it was nothing good."

"His underground London."

I nodded.

"I secretly followed him on some days to see him taking photos of random buildings in London, which was just a puzzle to me. I feared that something more significant was behind it. One day, he was going to a clockshop in Midland Road, the one where Spring and Cogg, our friends, are working. I followed him again, but when I entered it, I nearly fell down a giant hole that was in the ground. I was also surprised to see that all three of them were gone- and I realised that Clive was hiding something big from me, and that he had been working on it for years. You see, Clive was always the kindest person to me. Everything he'd given me was a comforting warmth and love, so this change greatly occured to me, especially because we had talked so much about our future. But even that changed, and he grew silent, saying I would hate him one day.
During the past three months, Clive often got nightmares which had never been the case before, and that made me worry even more.
Last week, after I had seen the hole in Midland Road and discovered the second London, I decided to talk to him about it and finally question his plans. There was also something very important I had to tell him, but before I could, some of his people told him that it was time and he left again. That night was the most horrible night I had ever experienced, and it's also one you have experienced, even in a worse way than I have. It's the night that Clive decided to carry out his plans of leveling all of London. I could not believe my eyes when I saw that machine- I had never thought he was capable of doing something so terrible and I knew that he was not himself at this moment, he was led by grief and anger. And what follows is what both of you know and saw already."

"Miss, what did you have to tell him? You mentioned in the letter as well, and I believe that it is of great significance for you!", Luke suddenly asked in curiousness.

"Yes, it is", I said as my voice became more faint.

"I... well, the thing is, I..."

"Miss, you are..."

"Professor, you are an expert at puzzle solving as well as at making brilliant deductions. I'm certain you have already deduced my secret, isn't that so?"

He nodded.

I turned around to hide my face from them as I revealed it nonetheless.

"But yes... I am pregnant."

I heard a gasp from the little apprentice.
As I turned around again, I saw him being confused at how to react, possibly sharing my mixed feelings, not knowing how to feel in this current situation.

"I know I may be egoistic for wanting him out of prison, considering what he has done. It is just...", my voice started to brittle. "I just can't imagine how I am supposed to cope with life without him!" Tears started falling from my eyes. I had reached the weakest point, I could not hide my emotions anymore, all I could do was to bury my face in my hands.

Suddenly, I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. As I looked up again, I discovered Layton looking at me in understanding.

"We will try our best to help you."

"Thank you, Professor..."