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A Taste of Despair
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A Taste of Despair
(also on the Professor Layton Wiki)
Link to the template page
Despair
Investigation team
Phoenix Wright
Luke Triton
Espella Cantabella
Hershel Layton
Maya Fey
Other individuals
Zacharias Barnham
Ridelle Mystere
Cutter
Rouge
Cooper
Mary
Snowy
Knightle
Kira
Darklaw
Shades
Locations
Road to the court
Marketplace
Seedy alley
Tavern
Sculptor's room
Court entrance
Fire pit mechanism
Wagon station
Forest of Lost Way
Village outskirts
Shades' Village east
Shades' Village west
Red Flower Lake
Great Witch's abode
Shades' workshop
Great Witch's room
Puzzles
Puzzle 40: Espionage Action
Puzzle 41: Alley Allowance
Puzzle 42: Chalice Challenge
Puzzle 43: Stomp on It! 2
Puzzle 44: More Chalices!
Puzzle 45: Parrot Pairs
Puzzle 46: Odd Box Out
Puzzle 47: Magical Window
Puzzle 48: Sewer Sneakin'
Puzzle 49: A Hot Secret
Puzzle 50: Tight Squeeze
Puzzle 51: Great Escape
Puzzle 52: That's Just Vine
Puzzle 53: Bridge the Gaps
Puzzle 54: Mysterious Mixture
Puzzle 55: Whodunnit?
Phoenix Wright
I can never forgive myself for letting this happen... I couldn't do anything... not a single thing! I did nothing to help Maya at all... Maya... She gave her own life to save Espella! If only I'd been quicker... If only I could've done something... Maya would still be... She'd still be here by my side...

Chapter 5: A Taste of Despair is the fifth chapter of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. After the apparent death of Maya Fey, Luke Triton, Espella Cantabella, and Phoenix Wright flee from the Witches' Court to go into hiding. They then resume their investigation, which leads them to a strange forest outside Labyrinthia and closer to the truth behind the medieval town.

Runaways[]

A devastated Phoenix Wright caught up with Luke Triton and Espella Cantabella, and the three escaped to the road to the court. Cantabella blamed herself for Maya Fey's death, but Triton and Wright assured her otherwise. While they were wondering where to head next, Zacharias Barnham encountered them. He apologized to Wright for Fey's death, and Wright lashed out at him, asking him if what had happened a short while ago was "justice". As nearby people heard the commotion, Barnham told them to hurry to the marketplace on the other side of the forest, where they would find Rouge's tavern.

The three made it to the marketplace, at which point Cantabella knew where to go. As they were heading there, Triton assured Wright that perhaps they would be able to bring Fey back somehow. He also believed that Hershel Layton could be brought back if the Goldor spell could be reversed. This hope helped him to keep moving forward, and Wright thanked him for making him remember that he was not the only one who had lost someone close to him.


The tavern was in the seedy alley. Triton tripped over a barrel of potatoes, attracting the attention of Cutter. Cutter thanked Triton for saving him back at the knights' garrison. After being told that they were looking for Rouge's tavern, Cutter guided them inside.


Cutter introduced Rouge to the group. Rouge was resistant at first after seeing Cantabella among them, but after being told that Barnham had sent them here, she relented and allowed them to sleep in one of the rooms upstairs. The three went to bed, but Wright could not sleep and headed back down to get some water. Only Rouge was still there; the others had gone to bed. She would give him a drink for free if he could solve a puzzle.


Wright and Rouge ended up talking about what had happened. Wright wanted to protect Triton and Cantabella, but he blamed himself for Fey's death and was afraid that he would fail the others, too. Rouge reminded Wright that the other two were worried about him, too, and that he would not be able to protect anyone until he accepted what had happened. Triton had also come down and overheard Wright and Rouge talking. Wright thanked Rouge for hearing him out and went back to bed, where he found Triton still awake. Triton assured Wright that no puzzle would be able to best the three of them, and Wright thanked him again.

Meanwhile, the Storyteller and Darklaw were discussing the next parade. The Storyteller assured Darklaw that the end was near, and left the rest in her hands. He noticed a hint of contempt in Darklaw, but he did not pursue the matter, as he had to rest. As Darklaw left, she thought aloud to herself that the Storyteller would pay for his mistakes with the advent of a new story. Barnham, who had secretly followed Darklaw, overheard her saying this, and wondered what it meant. It seemed wrong to him that the Storyteller's own daughter would be written as the Great Witch Bezella.

Marketplace investigation[]

The next day, Phoenix Wright, Luke Triton and Espella Cantabella discussed their next move. They decided to stick to the marketplace because the knights would not be looking for them there. They only had until that evening to investigate before the last parade occurred, but Wright was determined and set off right away.


When they went downstairs, Rouge asked Cantabella to help her with work. Wright realized what Rouge was doing, and agreed that it would be best for Cantabella to stay out of sight.





At the marketplace, Wright and Triton saw Mary and Knightle selling milk and potatoes, respectively. After talking to them, they decided to explore the marketplace further. Suddenly, there was an explosion, knocking both of them off their feet. Wright talked to Mary again, who claimed to have seen a spark on the ground just before the explosion, and that she had seen a similar spark prior to the burning of Robbs and Muggs.

Wright then found a small bell on the ground, but a hooded figure immediately snatched it from his hand. Triton chased her until both of them tripped, and she was revealed as Kira. Wright was shocked, but she would not answer any of his questions, only saying that she must go and that she would be unable to "return" if she failed her "task". She then vanished right in front of them.

Realizing that this raised the possibility that Maya Fey was also still alive, Wright and Triton hurried back to the tavern to tell Cantabella about what they had seen. They decided that they needed to check out the Chamber of Fire. They could use the secret passage that Triton and Cantabella had used the previous night. They bid Rouge farewell and headed back to the court entrance. The secret passage required solving a puzzle to open.


The fire pit's secret[]

Luke Triton led Phoenix Wright and Espella Cantabella through the secret passage, but took a wrong turn and ended up at Deathknell Dungeon, where they found Jean Greyerl. After Wright had proven that she had not actually committed any crime, the judge had canceled her execution. Greyerl thanked Wright for helping her, and upon hearing what they were planning, she distracted the guards to allow him and the others to make it to the fire pit mechanism. Once there, they attempted to pull the lever activating the device, but soon realized that it would not work unless someone were in the cage. Triton volunteered to get into the cage, and Wright looked at the lever to find that it needed to be put together like a puzzle first.


The cage fell to the height at which the flames would come out, but curiously, the floor of the fire pit opened as well. The three jumped through the hole and found themselves inside a tunnel, with a wagon nearby. They heard someone coming and quickly scrambled into the wagon.


Triton recognized the Wagon Driver from when he and Hershel Layton had first entered Labyrinthia. They wondered where the wagon was headed, and where the condemned witches might be.

Reunion in the forest[]

Meanwhile, Maya Fey was being chased by hooded figures in the Forest of Lost Way, but she was rescued by Hershel Layton, who disarmed them. Their attackers suddenly stopped, and the two made their escape.


Layton took Fey to the place in which he had found himself after the incident at the alchemist's house. He had no recollection of being turned into gold. Hoping that Phoenix Wright and Luke Triton would figure out that something was amiss, they decided to investigate the forest for the time being. They were soon surrounded by more robed people, but the witch from the incident at the alchemist's house appeared and told them to leave Fey and Layton be. The robed figures were known as the "Shades", who called the witch "the Great Witch", and the forest was called the Eldwitch Woods. The "Great Witch" allowed Layton and Fey to investigate to their hearts' content, and vanished, saying that she had a visitor.


According to a Shade who had stuck around, the Great Witch would give the Shades various tasks to fulfill. Nearby was the living area of the Shades' village, where Layton and Fey talked to two more Shades. One of them was a cook, while the other's task was a secret. According to him, the Shades would be allowed to return to the town if they fulfilled their tasks. Further in was a shrine, where they learned from a Shade that the Great Witch watched them from a mansion on an island in Red Flower Lake. Once there, they saw part of the wall surrounding Labyrinthia. Layton helped a Shade repair a bridge to get across the river to get to the mansion.


The suspicious workshop[]

Hershel Layton and Maya Fey made it to the Great Witch's abode, but the Shade that they had helped earlier came out with bad news: he had come to the Great Witch's room, but it was locked and there was no answer from within. They hurried inside, where they found a workshop with several cauldrons containing bright red and blue liquids. The odor emanating from the cauldrons seemed familiar to both Layton and Fey somehow. There were two Shades each tasked with making each liquid, and a third tasked with mixing the liquids together.


The mysterious disappearance[]

There was a crowd of Shades around the door at the back. According to one of them, the Great Witch and her visitor were gone. Hershel Layton and Maya Fey went inside the Great Witch's room and saw red liquid scattered about. The Shades had heard signs of a fight from inside the room, but they had heard no response, so they had eventually forced the door open. Layton deduced that the culprit could only have gotten in undetected by disguising himself or herself as a Shade. Since no one had left the residence, Layton gathered all of the Shades together and questioned them to find the culprit.


The culprit turned out to be Zacharias Barnham. He was shocked that Layton and Fey were still alive. He explained that he had followed someone and stumbled upon the Eldwitch Woods. He had then sought to talk to the Great Witch, leading him to this room. The Great Witch would not answer his questions, and he had suddenly been knocked out.

It turned out that the red liquid was the same liquid from the workshop, which had spilled from one of the jars in the room. The trail of liquid led behind the throne, which Layton deduced the Great Witch had moved there after knocking Barnham out. The Shades got impatient and attacked, but Barnham brought a chandelier down on them with his sword. He then made his leave, commending Fey's "courageous acts of bravery". Fey then examined the wall behind the throne, where the liquid trail ended, and discovered a secret passage. It was obvious that the Great Witch was leading them on, but if they were to find the truth, they had to press forward.

References to other cases[]

  • After solving Puzzle 44: More Chalices!, Rouge offers Wright the tomato juice from the chalice. However, Wright politely refuses and states that he's more of a grape juice guy. Wright was shown to have a fondness for grape juice after his disbarment in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.
  • Investigating the house in the tree in Shades' Village east will lead Layton to say, "They've built a house up on a tree. How inventive. They must use a series of ladders to reach the top." Fey will then respond with, "I knew you were smart, Professor! You do NOT want to hear Nick's thoughts on ladders, trust me." This is a reference to the running joke involving ladders and stepladders in the Ace Attorney series.
  • While trying to figure out what happened to the Great Witch and her visitor, Fey will exclaim, "Zvarri! The supposed "visitor" is really some shady ex-knight looking for revenge!" "Zvarri" was the catchphrase of the self-styled "Ace Detective" Luke Atmey, who appeared in The Stolen Turnabout. Fey previously used the phrase in The Great Witch.

References to pop culture[]

  • While trying to sell her goats' milk in the marketplace, Mary will shout: "Mary has a little goat whose milk is white as snow and ten times more delicious! Come and get your fresh milk here!" This is a reference to the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and the origin of the character's name.
  • If "Spudley" is talked to after the explosion in the marketplace, he laments that his potatoes have been ruined. Luke Triton suggests that he change his name while he figures out what to do next. "Spudley" then says, "After all, WHAT is a man?" before deciding on calling himself "Whatley". This is a reference to a line said by Dracula in the PlayStation version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night at the end of his dialogue with Richter Belmont, prior to their fight. The scene can be viewed here.

Notes[]

Other languages[]

  • French - Au Bord du Désespoir (lit. "On the Verge of Despair")
  • German - Ein Hauch Verzweiflung (lit. "A Whiff of Despair")
  • Italian - Una situazione disperata (lit. "A desperate situation")
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