'How the hell did this happen? One minute I'm perfectly fine, standing on perfectly solid ground beside Guy and Jade, and the next minute the ground is falling away, and to make matters worse, Asch is down here with me. I guess that part is my fault, considering I sorta grabbed him.

We fell into some kinda catacombs, whatever the hell they are, Asch said something about them being burial places for people, but I don't see any dead bodies here, but there sure are a lot of monsters, and MAN am I hungry! Its been nearly two days without a decent meal!

I had gotten used to Jade and tear cooking, Asch can't cook to save his life, I tried to cook a while ago. But I guess I am not that good either'

"Hey! Reject!"

That voice will never cease to grate on my nerves, if I just take a deep breath and put my head down, I will not have to rise to it, I am better then that now, I will just continue to write my diary and ignore him.

"Hey! Replica! Get over here!"

His voice is closer to me now, I put my pen down, twisting my body to see what he wants, the last thing I expected to see was him standing right behind me, I hardly even heard him move. I jump slightly because of it, everything that was on my lap spills to the ground, shit! I reach out to pick my book up quickly, but I am not fast enough, I watch as the god general casually begins to flip through the pages. I scramble to my feet, but its too late. The look he is giving me says it all.

"And just what do you call this Reject?"

GUH! Again with the reject! I frown and try to snatch my book away, but he keeps moving it away from me! Why is he being such an asshole about this, he places his hand against my forehead and pushes me back, I forgot how strong he was, as I loose my footing and fall hard against the ground.

"I asked you a question reject, if you answer it correctly, I might give this back to you"

I glare up at him from my angled position, why does he have to treat me like… like some kind of thing! That's when a squirming feeling hits me, I realize he is treating me, just like I treated Mieu. I part my lips and let out a soft sigh before leaning forward and looking to the ground.

"It's my Diary"

"Your What?"

His voice sounds incredulous and I raise my head to look him in the eye. So what if I have a Dairy, its not like I have a choice!

"My Dairy, I have to write in it everyday just in case I loose my memories again!"

It's only as I say those words that I realize how idiotic they are, Asch is laughing now, and not in a merry way, I can feel my cheeks becoming inflamed, Of all the stupid things to say to him. He is moving closer to me, leaning right into me now.

"You're nothing more then my cast off, Replica, perhaps you got some notion that you have a life of your own, but let me remind you, that this is MY life your living, MY name you're using, and MY memories you are writing down in this piece of shit book!"

He shoves me back to the ground, leaving the book flush against my chest, I grip against it, not to keep it safe, but to try and hide how his words affected me. I know, I know just how much I have stolen from him, But no matter how I might try, there is nothing I can do to bring back those years. I stand up, he is moving away but I catch up easily, I catch to his arm forcing him to turn towards me, he is angry at me, but I don't care for now

"It's easy for you! Walking around so sure of who you are, what you are! But Do you ever think for a moment that I don't want this? That if I could, I wouldn't hesitate to give everything back to you. I am not even meant to exist! I know this already, yet here I am, and there is nothing I can do about that. I am sorry okay! I am Sorry that I was created. I am Sorry that Master Van replaced you with me! I am Sorry that your family did not know the difference! I am Sorry! How many times do I have to say sorry before you forgive me? What am I suppose to do?"

I feel desperate, I want him to say something, but he just looks away from me, he jerks his arm and it snaps clean from my grip. We stand there for a while in silence, I am clutching to my book, and it takes me a moment to realize how weak I must appear like this, while he just stands there, he looks unmovable to me, and for a moment I am reminded of Van. My breath stills as he turns his head slightly, I catch a glimmer of his emerald eyes, and then he turns away again, striding away from me, I am frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do. But then his voice calls back to me.

"Get moving, it's dangerous in here, you would end up dead without my help."

It's not exactly what I was expecting to hear, in fact I was expecting him to beat me up, but I think I prefer this, I begin to jog slightly to close the gap, as I draw closer I move to walk beside him. I catch him looking at me from the corner of his eye, it is only for an instant, but still I can't help but wonder

"Asch does this mean-?"

"Shut up! Don't get the wrong impression, I am only helping you out because my Parents would be sad if you died. It's not like I like you just because you said a bunch of things. And stop standing so close to me"

I shrug slightly and take a step back, he gives me a funny look when I do that, like he didn't actually expect me to take him seriously, or like he is questioning my pride or something, it's funny, I remember when I did something like that to Jade once, made him bow to me before asking a favor, I remember thinking that that guy had no pride whatsoever, but now I think I understand his words… what was it he said again…

"not so much as… erm something about it being strong or something… gah, what was it again?"

I place a hand to my temple as I try to remember the wording, it was really snazzy to, I had to admit it was kinda cool how four eyes could just come up with lines like that right off the top of his head, it's hard for me even to even remember.

"none so weak as to be shaken by this?"

"What Are you babbling on about?!"

I snap my head up, I didn't even realize I was speaking out loud, he is looking at me now like I have gone crazy, and I can do nothing but laugh and scratch the back of my head. How should I explain it?

"Erm… well I was just…"

"Forget it!"

My eyes widen slightly to his curtness, but instead of getting annoyed I just smile and continue talking

"heh I wish I could, but seeing Jade the necromancer kneeing before me is a hard thing to forget"

"Jade? He was kneeing before you!?"

I laugh again and nod, He's looking at me in what I can only equate to, as being shock, but he is interested now, at least it's a start.

"Yeah, I was trying to remember the line he came out with, I said something like, have you no pride, and he just came back with this suave line, something like 'none so weak as to be broken by something like this' or something like that, I can't remember it clearly. He has a habit of doing that though, coming out with these one liners that just make you mad at him, but make you think he is really cool at the same time, its like… you forget how strong he is when you're around him."

"Sounds like a fun guy, never would have guessed from the rumors"

He is turning away from me again, like it's the end of the conversation, and just when we were making a connection and all… maybe… maybe I can get him to talk about something?

"Yeah, rumors are like that, I mean, I have heard some really creepy things about that Dist guy that traveled with you, he is one of the god generals like you are right?"

"Don't compare me to him!"

I can see that that was clearly not a good start. But I try to continue anyway

"Well… yeah but everything I hear about him is things like, he is obsessed with Jade, or he is always locked in his room making things, or he never talks to people, or that he sits alone at lunch. But then Anise told us one day about how nice he was to her, even though he was scary, he still helped her, and made her puppet for her… so, I guess not all rumors are true… that's all"

"Dist the reaper is a freak, that's all there is to it"

And that really is the end of the conversation.

We must be five hours walking now, my feet are getting sore, not to mention my back and my arms, but on the plus side, me and Asch seem to be getting along better, he no longer says I am in the way during fights, so that's a good sign.

But seriously, what's up with this place, a while ago I saw this weird light fly past me, I was gonna follow it, but Asch was to far ahead so I guess its better to keep close, but even the monsters are weird. Like slimy and gross. Asch was fighting one earlier, and his sword got stuck in it. Its damn hard to beat them. And there are weird crystals littered about the place. Some of them have gas in them, but others are cracked and empty, there is a big cluster of them up ahead, and I watch as Asch gets closer to them.

That's when something I didn't expect happens, one of the larger crystals explodes right next to Asch, I am about four feet behind him but even I am thrown back against a wall, the stone cracks harshly against my back, and the world begins to swim, I hear a pained scream, and for a minute I think it is me, but after a moment I hear groaning, and then I hear a sharp snap.

I rub at my eyes to try and clear my vision, it is still blurry, but I can make out Asch vaguely, he is staggering badly towards a far wall, my vision clears as he reaches for it with one hand and crumples in a heap to the floor, he is bleeding pretty badly. I try to stand up, but my legs wont support me, I hit the ground hard again, but Asch isn't moving. I try to stand again, this time I manage to hold my footing a bit better.

My head is still woozy, but I manage to make it over to him, I can tell just by looking at him that he is still alive, he has a hand gripped to his shoulder, and his teeth are gritted, the blood has stemmed for now, leaving only soaked clothing in his wake.

I crouch down beside him, his eyes are shut tight so I guess he can't see me yet, I reach out to move his hand, but in return he lashes out at me, swinging his arm to push me back.

"Don't-Don't touch me! I-I don't need your help. I don't want it!"

This is getting ridicules, I frown hard and regain my composure, I move to him again and Ignore his efforts to push me away, I take a hold of that stupid looking cape thing he is wearing and begin to ease it over his head, I feel one strong arm gripping my own and I lower the front just enough to look at him.

"What do you think you're doing…"

"helping you"

"I Just said I Don't-"

I place a hand over his mouth, and if looks could kill, I would be dead ten times over, but I don't care, we stare at each other for a while, and when I lower my hand he is silent, he says nothing as I removed his decorated armor, and remain quiet as I begin to strip him of his top, I work soundlessly as I attend his wound, a chunk of crystal has lodged itself in his shoulder, I notice how his back becomes taught as I begin to remove the shard, but still he doesn't make a sound.

I can tell that it needs binding, but there is nothing around that would do, Asch's top is destroyed with his blood, there is nothing for it but to use my own, I peel away my jacket, putting it down gently, as there are still a few healing gels in there. I then remove my tank top, there is not a lot of fabric, but if I cut it into a neat strip, there should be enough. I take out my sword and make a few incisions before I start to tear it. I can feel him watching me, but I say nothing to him, and he says nothing to me.

He is slouching forward a bit now, and I pull his hair forward and tell him to hold it up so it won't be in the way, the wound looks deep, but its all I can do to rub some gel onto it, after that I start to wrap him, it is only when I am nearly finished that he speaks again.

"Why are you doing this?"

A million things come into my head, I could reply in many ways, but most of them would land me in trouble, but then something he said springs to mind, so I crouch in front of him and smile as best as I can

"I can't leave you injured Asch, after all, I would just end up being killed if I didn't have you with me"

And that earned me a smile, I never seen him smile before, its not like mine, it seems more weighted, as though he is not used to doing it, I stand up and offer him my hand, I know he wont take it, but I offer anyway, so I guess you could say I was a little surprised when I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist, as a result, I stood there like an idiot for a moment.

"Well? Are you going to stand there all day moron? Or are you going to pull me up?"

The moron comment is not appreciated, but I smile anyway, I pull back and let my weight do all the lifting, and he rises without much protest.

We continue on, I am doing most of the fighting now, I don't complain, and Asch doesn't say anything, it took me a moment to recognize why this was important, I now realize he is not complaining at me, nor is he calling me names. I begin to smile more because of this, then as we sat down to eat…

"He really did go on about Jade"

"What?"

"Dist, he would constantly complain about him, and he would insist on people seeing his beauty, it was creepy"

My eyes widen slightly, I can only nod, it strikes me as funny at first, that he would be answering a question that I asked so long ago, but then it occurs that he must have been thinking about it. As I got wrapped up in my thoughts, I almost didn't notice him flinching across the way from me, it only take me a second to get to his side. I raise my hand to start unraveling his bandages, talking in a low tone as I do so

"We have one lemon gel left"

Asch gives me an odd expression then, something like confusion, but almost a desperation as well.

"Why don't you just take it and leave me be?"

"Huh?"

"You have already replaced me, so why are you bothering with this?"

I can only stare at him in shock for a moment, all his anger is gone, I am left to look at his true face, his insecurities laid bare, and I don't know what to do! If only jade was here! Or Guy! They would know what to say! Blind panic starts to take me over, but suddenly I am frozen by the sound of laughter.

"Why are you getting upset?"

His question seems merry, in contrast to moments ago, and I turn to see him shaking his head slightly with a smile on his face

"Upset, I-I don't know, I just don't like you talking that way. I don't wanna leave you behind, I may be a replica but I could never replace you. We are different people, so don't think that way anymore!"

His smile fades, but not to something angry, he just watches me as attend to his wound, and move on once I am finished, and it is not long before we reach a dead end. Asch looks frustrated and I can't blame him.

But then I notice something.

"Hey Asch, what's this?"

I point at a symbol hidden in a corner on the wall, it is clearly a sign of the Fon Fabre household, but it is on a crest I don't recognize. But Ash seems to, he practically pushes me aside and begins to turn parts of it and move other bits, eventually he pushes the brick in, and the wall opens.

The fresh air is almost over whelming after being in that stuffy atmosphere for so long, but I run out to the mossy grass in front of me and sprawl out in front of it, Asch joins me, and we just watch the clouds for a bit, breathing in the fresh air, I just lay there till the sky starts to dim, for some reason, I don't feel tired at all, I turn to ask Asch if he feels the same, but he is already asleep. I reach a hand out and brush back some hair that fell into his face. It's funny, even though we have the same face, he looks different then I do… as I look at him, a weird feeling comes over me, like there is something squirming in my stomach, I move my hand to caress his cheek, and I feel a blush creep over my cheeks. That can not be good.

I turn away and root out my diary from my pocket, anything to distract me from such thoughts, I take out a pen and begin to note out the happenings of the last few days, it is then I feel a hand upon my waist, Asch rests his chin on my shoulder as he begins to read from my diary.

"So you do this everyday, even though you don't need to?"

I feel a heat on my cheeks again and I pointedly look away, why does he have to be so close now…. I try to control this feeling and answer in as monotone a voice as I can.

"I guess that makes me a bit of an idiot huh?"

And then he surprises me, My head is turned, and I feel his lips brush against mine, only faintly, but then he whispers to me and smiles.

"No… that makes you human"

He kisses me again, and I return it.

The end.