Layton carefully penciled in her name to the corner of her paper, feeling over each crevice and carefully smoothing out each wrinkle. It was homework time. She needed to work on the project she shared with Keren, but she couldn't focus.

It had been months since she'd left the knighthood scene. Layton had traded in frilly outfits and a life of fighting for pencils and textbooks. It hadn't happened suddenly- she really had tried! She'd tried to make ends meet. Layton had really tried hard to be a good knight for Miss Chronos. A woman she'd personally never met, and yet they were all subject to fight for her whims.

Well it had been too much on her fragile composition. Countless nights had her returning sick, stressed, underslept, underfed. A tight ball of nerves that had her paranoid with every trepidatious step.

Amidst the papers and pens, Layton saw the Surrounding. Dazzling towers gleeming in the sun of an empty space background. Her mind wandered through the corridors to her wonder. It was such a small room, but a source of such comfort to her and those around her. Of course, though she'd given up knighthood, she found no offense in visiting the surrounding every so often. It made her feel somewhat guilty sometimes, but it was the most effort she could put in without hurting herself.

She was content to drift amongst the walls like a ghostly spectre; watching everyone mill about without ever causing impact. At times, she felt more ghost than human. Nobody noticed her, but she noticed them. Aimlessly, she drifted through halls and corridors, endlessly content to do nothing at all. Though she didn't contribute to fixing the problem, she didn't burden the others with a negative contribution either.

But it was lonely.

---

The house was empty, creaking with age and neglect. A rare occurence at the Quince household- with two children and two parents there almost always seemed to be someone around. If not in the house then in the garden or on the computer.

A crash sounded in her backyard, breaking the tension the quietness provided. Layton jolted up from the couch, but hesitated to go check. It could be an alien! Or an angry animal ... or something that would kill her regardless. She pulled her blanket a little closer.

It occurred to her that she could transform. Even after all this time, she hadn't forgotten her alter ego existed. That was sort of a hard thing to forget after all, and the transformation sequence still echoed in her bones.

But that would be ...

The sound rocked her house again. She couldn't hesitate anymore. A hand went into the air-

-and out came Page Peklos.

---

For a second time, she jolted up. Her regular pajamas fell limply on her body, followed shortly by her long, unruly braids.

"O-Oh my ..." A cool breeze filtered its way through her slightly broken window. It hadn't been anything at all, but ... It had felt so real. She'd forgotten the urgency her transformation brought about. Layton had forgotten the feeling of having something to protect. The desperation and seriousness of the problem at hand.

It wasn't like she was going back to sleep after that. With the quiet creak of the door, she was gone. She had someone she needed to talk to.