#it happened a bit with l.uke and g.rosky in the last part but it's more relevant here: sorry if the colors start to get a little confusing

[gible-love-nibles]

Eternal Diva Fic (Part 3)

This part's kinda of a downtime part before all the puzzles and action 'n' stuff. Still, things certainly do happen here. ...I don't know how to write descriptions at this point. Still, enjoy!

Nothing to warn for here, I think

Word Count: 1.1k / Previous / Next

Giant lurches accompanied our host’s words, and I was nearly thrown off the balcony.  If there was any time to leave, it was now.  I just had to hope the professor and Luke would be alright.

I threw open the balcony’s exit and rushed through the main hall, thankfully not spotting any masked men.  But exiting the opera house quickly sobered me to why.

The Crown Patone was shifting parts all around, transforming itself into something else: a ship.  And we were already heading out to sea.

My feet moved me out to the deck without me realizing.  I struggled to come up with words. “What-- How--”

“The theater…”

“It’s really a huge ship!”

Those two familiar voices made me turn and gave me a little relief.  Finally seeing Layton and Luke was a comfort; if anyone could solve what was going on, it would be those two.

“Professor Layton!  Luke!” I rushed over to greet them.  

The professor turned his head and watched my approach.  He quickly smiled and tipped his hat my way.  “Well, this is a pleasant surprise.  I’m afraid I almost didn’t recognize you in that outfit, Miss Clare.”

“Clare!” Luke had a big bright grin on his face.  I didn’t realize until now how much I missed the enthusiastic boy.

“Is it just me, or have you gotten taller Luke?” I joked, ruffling his cap.

“I certainly hope so!” We both laughed a bit.  The professor’s grin seemed to widen.

“Unfortunately, it seems we only meet during the most dire of circumstances,” Layton pulled me back to the situation at hand.

I sighed. “Yeah, you’ve got that right.  And after I got dressed so nicely.”

“On the positive Clare, I’m sure you will be a great ally to this mystery.”

“I was thinking just the same thing, Professor.”

We were interrupted by one of the patrons of the opera-- a red-haired man with an extremely long nose-- running past us and jumping onto the ship’s railing.

“What are you doing?  Do you see a way out?” A brown-haired woman in a dark blue dress asked him.

“I know what I’m doing.  I’m swimming back!” He said confidently.

“I’m not sure that’s altogether wise.” Layton stood by the railing and pointed down into the water.  

Looking down revealed a chilling sight: a large shiver of sharks was swimming around the boat with strange metal accessories attached firmly to their snouts.  

“Very strange,” said a man dressed like a sea captain. “You don’t often see sharks.  Well, not in these waters.”

“They’re being controlled.” My words slipped out in anger.  My hands gripped the railing tight. “Look at those weird things on their noses.  Sharks wouldn’t circle a boat like this.  Maybe a fishing boat, but definitely not something this big.”

“It must be some kind of precaution then,” Layton hypothesized. “One that makes sure we stay on the ship.” When I didn’t respond, the professor patted my shoulder sympathetically.

The sounds of a whole orchestra made everyone’s attention shoot squarely to the theater.  We all ran back to find that the opera writer Mr. Whistler was responsible for the music.  Needless to say, the thought of playing music at a time like this was in a bit of poor taste.  But the other passengers said it for me anyway.

“What are you doing?!  Someone threatens our lives and you play music!?” The red-haired man from earlier yelled.

“We’re sailing out to sea, and there are sharks all around us!” The brown-haired woman also from before pleaded, sounding on the brink of tears.

Mr. Whistler finally paused his playing, but otherwise refused to address the small crowd that had gathered around him.

“Mr. Whistler.” A man with dark hair and bright orange pants squinted hard at the opera writer. “You were the one behind this opera.  Tell me: did you also plan this deadly game?”

Oswald stood up and turned as he gave his vague answer: “I was asked to perform an opera.  That is all.”

The dark-haired man clearly wasn’t convinced.  The three of us shifted uncomfortably, but a voice calling out to the professor distracted us.  It was the opera singer Janice Quatlane.

As the professor and Janice chatted, Luke pulled on my sleeve. “Um, Clare?  Why are you… dressed like that?”

“Why am I wearing a suit, you mean?”

“Yeah.  I-I mean--!  I don’t mean you don’t look nice, I just-- Don’t boys usually wear suits?”

“Well, it’s real simple Luke: I wanted to look nice, but I also wanted to wear pants.”

“Oh… And you can just do that?”

“Sure.  Who’s gonna care?”

“Woah…”

“I don’t mean to interject…” Layton said politely. “But Clare, what are you doing here?  As I understand, the tickets for this opera were extremely expensive.”

“Well, here’s the thing Professor: You sent me a ticket to come here.  You invited me.  Supposedly.”

“Wot?!” Luke interjected. “That can’t be right!  Me and the professor got our tickets sent to us by Janice.  We didn’t buy any!”

“But I have a letter that says you wanted me to come.  Right here.” I quickly pulled it out of my bag and handed it to Layton.

Upon reading it, the professor’s face grew more serious. “This is not my handwriting.  Close to it, but a forgery nonetheless.”

A pit started to form in my stomach.  I was liking this less and less. “Then… is this ticket not real?” I pulled that out of my bag.

“No, that is genuine,” Janice perked up. “You can tell by the golden edges and the special ink.”

Layton gripped his hat brim and his face was grim. “I hate to say it Clare, but it seems someone lured you here to the opera tonight.  Someone wanted you to play this game.”

I felt a slight chill go down my back. “But who?  I don’t want eternal life!  I don’t have money to throw around.  Why me?”

“That, I’m not sure of.”

We didn’t have much to dwell on that unnerving revelation.  The game master’s voice on the speakers returned.

“Ladies and gentlemen.  Now we are all passengers together on the Crown Patone.  It is time for our little puzzle-solving game to begin.  The rules are very simple.  The winner-- meaning the last player left-- receives eternal life.”

“Professor…?” Luke asked Layton worriedly.

“I don’t see that any of us have a choice but to play the game Luke.”

He was right.  When you’re stuck on a ship sailing shark-infested waters, what else can you do but comply?

…I was getting a very bad feeling, and it had to do with the game master’s voice.

I felt like I had heard it somewhere before.

#🐉🎮.txt #clare's writing #eternal diva au #seen a lot of things; places you ain't ever been 🐉💫 #it happened a bit with l.uke and g.rosky in the last part but it's more relevant here: sorry if the colors start to get a little confusing #i'm trying to keep the colors to just like. the important characters and some of them are definitely gonna overlap #but up next: puzzle time! and some of my favorite bits in the whole story