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Paradox Lost
~*~*~*~*~*~*

While Hershel went to school for his usual studies, lessons on things that Luke had little interest in teaching, Luke himself walked the grounds of the Layton estate, puzzling over the dilemma set before him involving himself, the far future Don Paolo and Professor Layton's death. He just couldn't get it, and more than once he startled a maid as he passed by them, smacking his forehead with his palm. And that was another thing that was bothering him; the entire estate was covered in maids now! There were a few butlers here and there, and the gardeners of course, but whole flocks of maids seemed to appear whenever he stayed too long in one specific spot. Knowing Harold's disdain for him, Luke deduced that Helena had ordered them to stay close to him for his protection, which made Luke embarrassed and frustrated. He didn't need protection from women! That went against everything Professor Layton taught him about being a gentleman! Right?

But then Hershel would come home and Luke would join him in relief, suggesting they go elsewhere for relaxation. He had to be cautions about his approach, though; if he strayed too close to the fountain while walking towards him, the boy would shriek in alarm, rooted to the spot and pointing blindly until the young man snapped him out of it with a gentle shake of his shoulders and a stern lecture. What kind of gentleman was afraid of a fountain anyway? Either Luke figured out a way to get him to get over the trauma, or he was going to be stuck with the same fearful man in the future -past future-. Whatever. Time-travel's annoying. Bugger off.

"Where are we going today, Sir Luke?" Hershel asked, hugging his mentor from behind as Luke started up the scooter and headed down the street, "Not the park; that scary man from yesterday might still be there."

"I want to take another look at the Museum of Science. There may be some puzzles there you can work on if we examine a few things carefully enough." Luke replied over the sound of his scooter and other cars on the road, "My mentor said that the world was full of mysteries and puzzles, and we could find them if we just looked close enough."

So it was decided they would spend the rest of the afternoon at the museum, which also gave Luke a convenient excuse to check up on the Time-Binder. He parked the scooter just outside the building and helped Hershel climb off. The boy, upon setting feet to the ground again, carefully scanned the area, eyes darting about quickly and surely, taking stock of the people and objects around them. Luke found himself just as fascinated by this aspect of his future mentor as his other little quirks. Why hadn't he noticed more of these in the Professor when he was alive? As far as Luke could recall, Layton didn't scrutinize places and people like a thief in waiting. Such a thing just couldn't be conceived as something he'd do in Luke's mind. But there were other ways that he could search a place visually. The Professor often glanced around himself casually as he held conversations or gave lectures. It could have been to be sure he was holding people's attentions, but what if there was more to it?

Luke shook his head free of those thoughts, finding himself feeling more unsettled the more he dwelled on them. Hershel finally found things to his liking and eagerly tugged on Luke's hand, leading him up the steps to the museum's entrance.

"Let's go, Sir Luke!" he laughed cheerfully, "Let's find a puzzle!"

--

They didn't find a puzzle.

The two of them had peered at every display they could find and not even one picture puzzle would come to mind. Luke sat on a bench, exhausted and disappointed by the trip. Hershel sat by him, staring up at the ceiling and counting the cracks in the stone. Every now and then, he'd sit up and pull his hat off, scratching his head in a decidedly confused manner while his eyes scoured their surroundings again. Luke was beginning to grow nervous at the sight of him doing that.

"No puzzles?" Hershel finally asked him with a sigh. Luke echoed his sentiments, closing his eyes and shaking his head. That was worrying. He had seen a couple of displays that should have reminded him of a puzzle or two, but for the life of him, he couldn't bring them to mind. Was he really so out of touch with them that he'd started forgetting whole puzzles? Hershel sighed again, propping his cheeks onto his hands. "Bollocks." he grumbled and Luke's fingers instantly found his ear, tugging as the teen gave him a one-eyed glare.

"You do not swear! Do you understand me?!" he hissed and waited until Hershel nodded quickly before releasing him, "I'm trying not to use such language myself, but it's very hard for me. I won't allow you to even stoop to that level. You're too good for it." He sat back on the bench, dropping his head onto one hand as he fell back into a lounging position, watching Hershel rub at his ear gingerly before lighting up.

"Ah! Miss Hawkes!" he exclaimed and jumped down to bow and whisk off his hat, leaving Luke startled and rushing to catch up, "Good afternoon, madam!" The curator laughed cheerfully behind her hand, doing a small curtsy in return for the both of them.

"Good afternoon, Hershel, Sir Luke! Enjoying your visit here today?" she asked brightly, "We've had quite a few visitors so far, so I hope they haven't been any trouble to either of you." Luke shook his head with a smirk.

"No trouble at all. We did garner a few odd looks from examining some of the displays very closely, but that was my fault." he replied and gestured to the boy beside him, "I was hoping to find a puzzle for Hershel here, but I couldn't find a single one. And I couldn't remember any that would be relevant to the museum." Olivia lifted her fingers to her bottom lip, blinking rapidly.

"Oh! You're a puzzle solver, Sir Luke? I had no idea." she remarked and smiled, giving him a wink, "Well, in that case, I believe I have a puzzle for the two of you. I heard it as a child and I remember it quite well. Would you like to give it a go?" Hershel cheered as Luke smiled more warmly and tipped his hat.

"I'd love to try it. Please go on." he replied and the curator chuckled.

"All right! Here it comes!" she declared and held up a finger as though giving a stern lecture. "Three children are playing stickball in a yard. Their names are Larry, Gary and Jerry. They play too roughly and the ball breaks a neighbor's window. The neighbor comes to confront them and this is what the children say. Larry claims Gary did it, Gary says Jerry did it, and Jerry says he did. All of the boys are lying." She winked again, folding her arms over her chest, "So, can you tell me who broke the window?"

Hershel lifted his hand to his mouth, taking on his pensive expression and Luke closed his eyes for a moment, tilting his head back slightly in thought, then smirking as he opened them again. Olivia giggled softly, holding a finger to her lips to keep him quiet as Hershel began pacing back and forth, turning the puzzle over in his own mind. He stopped suddenly and whirled around, pointing at Olivia with a wide smile.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed and Olivia bent, cupping her ear.

"Whisper your answer to me, then Luke can do the same. I'll tell you if you're right." she told him and Hershel hurried forward, whispering into her ear. Her smile widened and she stood to do the same to Luke, who smirked wider and murmured his answer as well. With that, she stepped back and laughed, clapping her hands. "You're both absolutely right! Such sharp minds you have! You could be detectives!" she exclaimed.

"Perhaps, but I'm more suited to archival work. Though, I've been known to act as an affiliate to inspectors and true detectives when called upon." Luke remarked off-handedly, shrugging slightly.

"I want to be an achey-ologist, like my father." Hershel declared proudly and grinned, "But I also want to be a puzzle master now, too! I want to solve all the puzzles in the world and make new ones too!" Olivia laughed while Luke simply smiled more genuinely, hands tucked into his pockets as he gazed down at his temporary apprentice. He was going to miss this, but it would all be for the better. He turned to Olivia then, his smile turning a bit sadder.

"Miss Hawkes, how go the repairs of the watch? I know it isn't the end of the week yet, but...." he trailed off and Olivia sighed, tapping her cheek wistfully.

"Grandfather is insisting he should remove the gear for the thirteenth hour, but I tell him that such a thing is improper without your permission. And I suspect you won't be giving us that anytime soon, are you?" she asked and Luke shook his head, "I thought not. May I ask why you insist on it? It is a most wicked hour, full of bad luck. It's an ill omen, sir."

"Even so, leave it there. For me, when that hour tolls, the sound will be the sweetest song." he replied softly and tipped his hat again, "We should be going. Dinner will be soon and I need to get Hershel home before dark." He collected the boy, who had run off to share the puzzle with several other children standing with their parents. Both of them said their goodbyes and left the museum as Olivia remained standing in the room, a worried look on her face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dinner was quiet, save for the few instances where Helena and Hershel would trade puzzles over their meals, inviting Luke to join in their fun. He'd solve several with them in good jest, get stuck on one, then would spend a few minutes brooding over it, annoyed that he'd been foiled by something that sounded like a math problem when it wasn't. But it would pass and they would resume the exchange, dampened now and then by Harold clearing his throat for his son to quiet down some and watching Luke carefully. The young man wasn't fond of the staring, but resolved to bear with it for the time being. He wouldn't be under it for much longer anyway.

As the household began to wind down, Luke headed outside, making sure Hershel saw him head for the fountain. As he suspected, the boy began screaming again and he spun around to face him, a stern expression on his face.

"Hershel Layton, you will stop that at once! Screaming isn't going to solve this!" he shouted at the boy, "How can you become a good archaeologist and puzzle master if you let your fears control you like this?! Face them, boy, and don't back down!" With that, he ran for the fountain and leaped up to land on the surface of the marble that formed the lowest basin. Balanced there, he looked back at the small figure hurrying towards him, frowning when he halted several feet away, shaking violently and staring up at him. "Do you want to solve the puzzles of the world?! Solve the puzzle of your fears! Why are you so afraid of this place?!" Luke declared, gesturing at the fountain he stood on, "You told me this was your favorite place! You loved it here! Why would you throw away all your happy memories of this fountain over one foolish incident that was of my own fault?! You didn't force me into the water; that man did, and it wouldn't have happened if I had thought to move away from it!"

"But you almost drowned, Sir Luke!" Hershel wailed, stepping back.

"And what if I did drown?! Would staying away from this fountain bring me back?!" Luke snapped and jumped down to stand before the little boy, arms folded over his chest, "Don't throw away your happiness because of me. With or without me, you deserve to have all the happy moments you can get, and this fountain gave you so many happy thoughts and memories." He held a hand out towards the fountain as though to guide Hershel back to it. The boy looked up at him, then stared at the fountain before shaking his head, eyes still wide with fright.

"I'm sorry.... I'm sorry I can't. Not now." he whimpered, stepping back again, then another and another and before Luke knew it, he had fled from them back to the house, crying in fear. Luke watched him go and sighed harshly, glaring at the fountain. One way or another, he was going to cure his little apprentice of that fear. It wasn't fair for the Professor to harbor that bit of darkness because of his carelessness.

--

He returned to his notes later that night, recording the events of the day and what he had learned, when Luke noticed something odd about his notepad. The edges of the pages seemed cleaner than he last recalled, considering his excessive use of pen and pencil to scribble down anything he deemed important, so on a whim he flipped it to the first few pages, stopping with a startled gasp. The first five pages of his notepad were empty, blank, as if he'd never touched a writing implement to the paper. In suspicion, Luke picked up a pencil and carefully rubbed the lead across each blank page, but nothing emerged from the trick. The paper acted as though nothing had ever been written on it. He closed it with a frown, slipping it back into the pocket of his coat where it hung nearby and resumed puzzling over the unknown connection between himself, Don Paolo and the Professor's death.

Luke grabbed his satchel, pulling free several of the documents that he had stored there and looking over them carefully for any additional clues. Legal forms, certificates, notes of authority, letters of recommendation from the orphanage... wait. The orphanage had received two letters concerning his placement when he was of age for apprenticeship. One had been from the Professor, expressing his interest in him for his intellectual potential. The other had a signature too messy to make out, but suggested that he be placed as an intern for quantum field theory, a rather bold assumption of his intelligence. The orphanage had been delighted by both offers, but went with Professor Layton due to his fame, and the headmistress had a fondness for him that swayed her decision instantly. No one was sure what happened to the other interested party after the Professor picked Luke up. At Luke's insistence, the orphanage released the two letters to him for 'archival research purposes' and he visited the address listed on the second letter. A vacant lot stood there and Luke shrugged it off as a cruel prank that fell through.

What if that second letter had been from Don Paolo? The man was a scientist, albeit a rather bizarre and evil one, and quantum field theory was technically under a scientific category. In fact, it was what helped to form the theories that resulted in the development of the Time-Binder and the Temporal Slipstream Device, the machine that helped Luke travel through time. He rubbed his head, thinking hard. So, if Don Paolo had sent that letter, why would he be interested in having Luke study time-travel theory? Obviously, to create a way to go back in time and... do what? Wait, what if he wanted to go forward in time? To the future? Luke groaned softly, holding his head in his hands as he tried to make logic work with him. Start over. Assume Don Paolo wanted him first as his own apprentice. What would happen?

Luke would study time-travel theory, eventually building the Time-Binder and Temporal Slipstream (not himself but as head of a team, of course), and all of time would be free for Don Paolo to traverse. Don Paolo hated the Professor, so he would possibly use the invention to do away with him before he became the Professor. But in doing so, many events would be missed; St. Mystere, the Pandora's Box, Luke's... engagement... to Flora... and the Professor....

"Bloody hell." Luke cursed painfully, rubbing his head as he tried to straighten his thoughts, flushing at the thought of Flora again. Okay, so those would be missed and opportunities would be lost. Change tracks. The Professor got him first. Events continued as normal. The Professor is found murdered one day and the family falls apart. Luke becomes sole heir after Flora leaves, and goes on to help develop the Binder and Slipstream for his mission. It is a success, mostly. Progress forward from there, ignoring what he personally is doing. What happens?

Time travel becomes more stable but not widely used, of course. Don Paolo would gain access to it somehow and goes to this exact time where Luke accidentally landed... that doesn't seem right. What would the point be in that? And how would Don Paolo know exactly what time he was in when the jump was an accident?

Unless it wasn't an accident. Luke swore again, stuffing the papers back into his satchel. This was getting complicated, and now he was suspicious of the head of R & D back in his own time. Was it sabotage? Had he been sold out? What the hell was going on?!

"Deal with it in the morning." Luke growled to himself, "And when all this is done, that imbecile won't be my problem anymore!"