Bell of Ruin



The Bell of Ruin is a large silver bell that appears in the videogame Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. It was sealed away in the Underground Ruins for thousands of years, but has since been moved to the Bell Tower in Labyrinthia when it was discovered by Arthur Cantabella and Newton Belduke.

Appearance
The Bell of Ruin is a huge bell made of pure silver. It is decorated with golden engravings around the body, with a distinctive emblem displayed at the front.

Creation
Thousands of years before the events of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the previous inhabitants of the land where Labyrinthia now stands constructed the large silver bell in order to call forth a god. When the bell was sounded, however, it instead called forth a demon, causing great calamity to the land. Fearing the land had now been cursed, the inhabitants sealed the bell away in the Underground Ruins and fled the land, leaving warnings behind of the bell's true nature. The bell was dubbed the Bell of Ruin since this event took place.

Discovery
10 years prior to the game, Arthur Cantabella and Newton Belduke discovered the Bell of Ruin at the end of the Underground Ruins, taking it back to the town where Labyrinthia now stands in the hopes of creating it as a symbol for the town. They created a Bell Tower for it, as well as a device for it that would allow for children and adults alike to sound it. One could gain access to the belfry by inserting the two pendants owned by Espella Cantabella and Eve Belduke's mothers into a mechanism located on the top floor.

During the town's annual fire festival, Espella and Eve take their mothers' pendants to gain access to the belfry, as Espella wanted to ring the bell. Upon reaching the belfry, Espella changes her mind, leaving Eve to ring the bell. Because the groundwater gives the townspeople a special condition where they fall unconscious when they hear the sound of pure silver, this caused the entire town to perish in the fire. When Espella and Eve wake up, Espella immediately sees what she thinks is a fire dragon, believing that the Great Witch Bezella had possessed her since ringing the bell. Arthur and Newton, who were in the ruins at the time, find their daughters in the bell tower. This event had caused considerable trauma to Espella, and as such Arthur decided to construct Labyrinthia, hiding the bell tower under a large cloth of a pure black color, all in an attempt to repress Espella's, and even Eve's, memories of the event.