Disclaimer: This chapter contains Mother 3 major spoilers. If you do not wish to be spoiled by major plot events that occur in the game, do not continue reading.

~W~W~W~

Chapter contains: LuClau (platonic).

Chapter 1: The Aftermath

A wearisome boy opens his eyes and gazes at a familiar wooden ceiling. Never has he felt so tired since his death. The first few seconds of his awakening was an unexpected trial he faced as all his senses were thrown off. It took a gruesomely long minute to recover most control of his self and sit up in a bed.

He moves his toes, and then his fingers. He blinked a few times, and rubbed his entire face. He rolled his arms and shoulders. Every small bone and muscle he moved tingled as he commanded motion in them. Then, that was when he remembered, and realized.

Quickly, the boy moves towards a mirror in the room. He found himself, nothing out of the ordinary—which, was out of the ordinary itself. His face was undamaged, and so was the rest of his body. He saw no painful scars on his body as he examined all around.

"I'm…normal," he uttered. It was like a miracle. It was all too unbelievable, considering that he remembered every single tragedy that he caused and observed not so long ago. He replayed every fragment of heartbreaking scenes that he witnessed in his entire life. It was like a casual movie theatre in his mind, and the most important person in his life seemed to have slipped by his thoughts until he finished reminiscing.

"Lucas…!" he mumbled next, drawing the person's image in his mind. The boy runs down a set of stairs and into another familiar setting. He half-expected to see his family sitting at the dining table, but no one was there. Then, the boy ran towards the front door, and quickly opened it.

"Arf-arf!" A four-legged beast suddenly jumped through the immediate opening of the door, and tackles the boy. The boy expected to be attacked, but was instead showered with sloppy licks and forceful nudges.

"H-Hey—stop!" cries the boy. His entire being was pinned down by a dog, and he couldn't break free.

"Claus…?"

The dog jumps to the side and the boy looks up, seeing a reflection of his self at the doorway. He tears up immediately and runs to embrace who he remembered as his cherished brother.

"Lucas!" he cries out. "You're okay!"

"So are you…" replies the blonde twin. "How are you feeling, Claus?"

"Me?" The older twin brother named Claus refreshed all his senses after pulling away from the other boy. He familiarized himself with his physical features and felt nothing out of the ordinary. "I'm fine. Nothing broken."

Lucas nodded. "That's good. But are you sure you're okay? You were asleep for about a three days."

"Three…days?" Claus repeated. "What happened to me?"

"You don't remember what happened?" Lucas questioned.

Claus did his best to recall what occurred before his long slumber. The most recent thing in his memory was a fuzzy vision of his brother in front of him in a darkened place. It almost felt like a dream, yet at the same time, he had a feeling it was something real.

Claus touched his palm to his forehead. "I'm…not too sure."

Lucas grinned weakly. "Let's get you breakfast first, then I'll fill you in."

:*:

Claus patiently sat at the dining table, patting his pet dog's head gently. Boney quietly growled in his place as he received a loving gesture from one of his cherished companions.

Lucas returned from the fireplace after filling the air with the scent of cooked eggs. Claus immediately knew what his brother was going to make from the beginning, starting with the sound of an egg cracking. He listened carefully to the sound of whisking, frying, and flipping whilst enjoying the wafting aroma that filled the house. Claus thought that if he were upstairs, he would be able to smell the meal from his bed, just like he could long ago. He would wake up immediately to the odor, forget to wake up his brother, and rush down to the table.

Claus almost drifted away in his seat until he heard a plate land in front of him. A plate of a well-cooked omelet softly sizzled with heat, asking to be devoured immediately. A helping of generous ketchup was also added on the side, just like he usually preferred.

"It looks good," Claus commented.

Lucas grinned as he sat down with his own plate. "It's probably not the same as Mom's, but I think it turned out okay."

Claus had already sliced a piece and took it into his mouth. "Tastes good to me."

The blonde smiled as he began picking at his own food. As he ate, he watched his brother happily take in the food that he prepared.

Claus eventually finished his plate, and thanked Lucas for the meal. Beside him was Boney still, and so he patted him again, watching him wag his tail with relaxation.

"So you don't remember anything?" Lucas uttered.

Claus looked back at Lucas, nodding slowly. "I remember what happened up until…Mom. Everything after that…was scary."

"What do you mean?" Lucas inquired.

Claus put his hand to his head again. "What happened after Mom dying…I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or if it was real. I almost got killed by a giant drago, but then someone saved me. I was thankful at first, but then I was put through…torture."

"Torture?"

Claus slowly nodded. "Half of my body wasn't under my control. When I managed to regain control, I was punished. Whipped, electrocuted, beat up…among other things. I was also forced to go through with things I didn't want to do. Whenever I refused, I was punished."

"That's…terrible," Lucas commented.

Claus shook his head. "And after that, it's all a blur. All I know is that I was with someone I hated."

"So you don't know…" Lucas remarked.

"Don't know what?" Claus asked.

"Do you know what the 'Seven Needles' are?" Lucas inquired.

Claus paused for a moment. "It sounds familiar."

Lucas purposely hesitated. "What about the 'Dark Dragon'?"

"…Sounds familiar, too. Mind just filling me in on everything?"

Lucas nodded. "The 'Seven Needles' are magical pillars that keep the 'Dark Dragon' sealed. When they are all pulled, the Dark Dragon wakes up, and grants the person who pulled them their wishes, whether good or bad. You pulled three of them, but you had bad wishes at the time."

"Why's that?"

"You…were brainwashed—by that person you hated."

Claus closed his eyes, and thought carefully. "I see. So what happened?"

Lucas grinned. "I managed to pull the other four, and the Dark Dragon responded to my wishes."

"What'd you wish for?" Claus asked.

Lucas took a calming breath. "For everything to go back to normal."

"Normal?" Claus inquired.

Lucas nodded. "A lot of things turned out bad after you were gone. There was destruction, disorder, and hatred all over the place. People died, including you. All because of that guy. I just wanted all the bad things to go away and return Tazmilly Island—well, the whole world—back to normal."

"Wait, including me?" Claus repeated. "I died? How am I here then?"

Lucas weakly grinned. "Like I said, I wanted everything to go back to normal. To do that, the Dark Dragon destroyed everything in the entire world, but restored it to a certain state. He essentially reset everything. He brought you back to life like I wanted. You were just out cold for a while after you came back."

"Okay, that's good, I guess. So, why are we at Grandpa's place? And where's Grandpa—and well, Mom and Dad?"

"We woke up near here, so it was better to let you rest here. And Dad's okay, he's out helping with fixing up the town. I haven't found Grandpa yet. Or Mom."

Claus widened his eyes, "You haven't found Grandpa or Mom?"

Lucas nodded. "The dragon's power can easily restore things like land and buildings, but I think life takes some more time. I found you beside me when I woke up, but I looked around and didn't find my friends. I eventually found Dad, and some of the townsfolk, but not everyone. Eventually everything will go back to normal, but only in due time. We just have to wait right now."

Claus rubbed his head. "Well…this is a lot to take in."

"I know, and you don't have to force yourself to understand right now," Lucas told. "All you have to do is just rest and things will be fine before you know it."

Claus nodded and smiled at his brother. "I just hope I can forget these awful memories."

Lucas frowned, "Sadly, the dragon can't erase those memories. They're proof that you experienced the things that have to be changed."

Claus's expression turned disappointed as well, and he deeply huffed. Lucas continued, "But after everything goes back to normal, we'll be busy enjoying life that you should eventually forget about them. I know so."

"I'll take your word for it. But as for now, I think I'll rest like you said."

Claus walked over to the stairs and paused after the first few steps. He looked over to his brother, who was watching him. "What're you going to do now?"

Lucas stood from his seat, and Boney instinctively went to his side. "I have to go out and help make sure everything is getting back to normal. People are going to be asking questions, and they may end up getting lost, so I have to go make sure they're okay."

Lucas clutched his chest. "…And if Mom already came back, she should be out there somewhere, so I'm also going to look for her with Boney."

"Alright," Claus remarked.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" Lucas asked.

"Of course," Claus told. "I may have been put through a lot of painful things, but I'm still your tough older brother."

"Good to hear," Lucas said, smiling. "Dad might not make it here until really late tonight. I won't be out too long, but don't go crying if you start missing me."

Claus scoffed, "I'll be fine. I'm just going to take a nice nap. You go do your thing."

Lucas nodded, and then headed out the front door with Boney. Claus retreated upstairs and eased himself onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. His mind slowly emptied and relaxed into nothingness, but eventually he gradually recollected his memories.

Claus starts from the beginning, where he was living a normal life with his family. Everything had seemed so right at the time, and he never considered that anything could ruin such a life. He wished that the vision he reminisced was a dream he would never wake up from.

Then, a terrorizing face of a mechanized drago slowly faded in his sights and continued to creep closer in his view. Before he is consumed, he falls as the ground disappears from beneath his feet. As he is whisked away into darkness, he sees the fading faces of everyone he knew. After a long fall, he could not recognize his own family. This turned into a heart-wrenching pain, causing Claus to struggle around in his sleep. He knew at that time, he felt death.

At some point, he wounds up detained in a facility. It was a place that he was raised in after experiencing death. That was where he met his savior who masked the most dreadful evil that he had ever seen. On the first day, he was thankful to have been given another chance. For the next three years, he wished he had truly died. Nothing could have been worse than being experimented on, be used as something less than a plaything and a tool, and manipulated against his own will. Claus felt something worse than death.

He felt weak, and was taught of how worthless his life had been.

He was completely trapped, and he knew that he could do nothing to break free—nothing at all. It wasn't until he met his brother again, but only at the very end of everything. It was at that time that he got the chance to struggle and finally be free of it all: to die, as he wished.

He fell again, this time he really felt like he was falling into complete darkness. He wanted to wake up so badly, but it was as if a familiar evil force prevented him from doing so. He could almost hear the silent whisper of that evil invading his mind, striking a chilling scare into him. The shock and torment gradually built up as Claus struggled to open his eyes, and eventually he forced himself awake with a loud gasp.

Claus slowed his breathing as he checked his surroundings. Everything in the room was still as he had left it. He wiped his forehead and took a deep breath to calm himself. It partially worked, and Claus accepted it and laid back down to try and sleep again.

Claus hoped that all he saw was truly a dream, but a part of him knew all those scenes were things that had happened. He wanted to forget all those awful memories. Everything was so vivid that he was forced to accept it as a part of him. Even if he was normal now, his mechanized body had been something that was raised with him against his own will for three whole years. He could never forget those terrible times, and it was an unpleasant feeling.

What could Claus do now? To try and forget them meant remembering them at the very least, and so it was a loop of anxiety and stress in his head. He did his best to remember that everything was normal now, but he could never throw away the trauma he went through.

Claus dreams again, remembering of the pain he went through. Then, he wonders of the despair that he inflicted on the innocent. He remembers hurting comrades that his king deemed as disposable, and never had the chance to apologize to them. He also knew he brought certain misery to the island civilization, and couldn't do a thing to improve it.

Worst of all, he remembers hurting his own family: father, mother, and brother. And then, he fears that he would never be forgiven.

Claus opens his eyes again, and stares deep into the wooden roof.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't ease the tension dwelling within him.

What would his father say? What would his mother say?

What would he tell them?

Claus leaves his bed and heads downstairs, walking to the front door. He opens it and sees the friendly grassland swaying around the house. Looking up at the sky, he sees a gloom blue hovering over an abundance of clouds slowly swimming in the air. A fresh breeze blows by the boy and leaves him at a moment of peace as he gazed at the sky. For a while, all of his worries seemed to have completely disappeared.

…It took a moment for Claus to realize that the cloudy formation and the strange shade of blue in the sky felt abnormal. He stood still, carefully listening to the wind tackling the grass around him.

A rainy day was approaching, and he was certain of it.

Claus looked out to the valley beyond. He hoped his brother would return before a storm could stop him.

He turned back to the cabin, shaking his head. There was no reason to doubt. He knew Lucas would come back to him no matter what.

:*:

The next time Claus opened his eyes, he found himself back in his resting bed. He was awakened by the sound of rumbling surrounding the cabin—a sound akin to harsh thunder.

Claus wasn't sure how long he had slept. All he remembered was falling asleep to the low drumming of rain impacting the log house. He looked around the room and saw that his brother was still absent. He headed downstairs next, but no one was present there either. Claus opened the front door just slightly to get a view of outside. A cold wind struck his face as soon as he peeked through.

The sky was darker than before, but dim enough for Claus to see into the valley just a little. It was drizzling still, although the severe sound of rain crashing onto the ground was more eminent. Low roars of thunder clapping from far away could be heard from his spot, and he hoped the sounds would not approach his current residence.

Claus quickly closed the door and leaned against it, sliding down slowly. Hitting the floor, he huddled his knees and shut his eyes. He found himself trapped in the log cabin.

Claus began to doubt so many things as his fear welled within him. In such a storm like this, who would come to rescue him? Does anyone even remember him, after so long? Have they even forgiven him?

…Where was Lucas?

Claus crunched his eyes and held the side of his head. He believed in his brother's courage. Knowing his twin, he wouldn't be stopped even by the stormiest of storms if it meant reuniting with him.

Yet, there was still a darkness in his heart that forsook his beliefs. Anxiety developed from his fear, and it took form in hesitant breathing.

After a moment of reassurance, Claus found the desire to see everyone again. Instead of waiting around, he decided to act.

Claus rushes upstairs and puts on his jacket, and took an umbrella in hand. Once he stepped outside the cabin, he rushed out to the valley ahead. Before he could take a step into the gorge, however, he freezes.

Claus was baffled at how stupid he looked like, suddenly kneeling on the ground. He knew he was on the correct path to the village, but he just would not dare move a muscle any more beyond the last cactus within the territory. His umbrella was whisked away, and rain continued to pelt his face. He struggled to gaze ahead.

The darkness within the ravine ahead was deepened with a darker black. The sight of nothing ahead frightened the boy. No, he saw something, and it was that most terrible face that haunted him.

Weak, and worthless.

Those were two words that Claus hated to hear, and he heard them so many times by a single voice. He heard it once more, and it echoed countless times in his head.

Before, Claus would be brutalized if he had spoken back. But, as the rain poured on…

"Shut up," he mumbles.

Weak. Worthless.

"SHUT UP!"

Weak. Worthless.

Claus shouts out a terrifying howl, hysterical enough to compete with the thundering weather. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY HEAAAD!"

The boy continues to scream, kneeling into the ground and punching the dirt repeatedly. His violent sounds muffled out the footsteps of what sounded like him being surrounded by soldiers ready to battle his tantrum.

However, instead of being forcibly restrained, he was called out to.

"Claus!"

His wrist was firmly grabbed, but the hand felt gentle. Claus did not instinctively struggle it off. He quickly looked up and saw his reflection.

As he looked into the other's eyes, Claus couldn't say anything to excuse himself. Tears had been instantly washed away from his face, so he had no explanation. But no words needed to be said. His brother understood his pain.

:*:

Claus was brought back to the cabin by his brother. The storm filled the moments of silence that took place whenever Lucas didn't say anything involving tending to their drenched selves. All that had been agreed upon was the removal of their wet clothes to be dried by whatever heat the fireplace provided, and they left their selves be wrapped in only towels and blankets.

They sat together by the wall, staring at their clothes laid out on the ground in front of them. The brothers felt relaxed by the heat that oozed out from the fireplace, despite how weak it looked.

Nothing was said between them for the first few minutes since they sat down. Both wanted to break the silence, but they weren't sure where to start. When they least expected the other to talk, they both spoke at the same time.

"I'm sorry for—"

The twins looked at each other, weakly grinning.

"You first," Lucas uttered quickly.

Claus reluctantly agreed. "I'm sorry for troubling you like this. I didn't know these were all the clothes we had."

"It's not your fault," Lucas reassured. "It's my fault for leaving you for so long, and I'm sorry."

"Yeah, what took you?" Claus questioned.

Lucas looked into his brother's eyes. "Everyone in Tazmilly came back."

"…Everyone?"

The blonde nodded. "Including Mom."

A ripple of water could be seen welling up in Claus's eyes, signifying how happy he was to hear the news. "I can't believe it…"

"Neither could I," Lucas told. "But when I got there, everyone was gathered around her at the inn. She was still in bed, but Dad and I pretty much cried a lot. Dad told me to come get you and bring you back to the village..."

"...But then it rained," Claus finished the thought. "Is Mom going to be okay?"

"She's just sleeping, like you were. It'll take time for her to wake up."

Claus nodded. "Wow…so everything is really going back to normal."

"Yeah. It is."

"…"

"…"

Claus looked down at his wrapped knees. "But it won't be the same, you know."

"Why's that?" Lucas asked.

"…If I remember everything, then so will everyone else. Everyone's going to know that it was my fault that the world had to reset."

"Everyone doesn't know it was you in a mask. They don't have to know—"

"They deserve to know," Claus argued. "There wouldn't be a reset without me in the first place. They have the right to know who was responsible."

"So what're you saying? Are you afraid of everyone judging you?"

"Kind of."

Lucas huffed through his nose. "They'll understand. And if they don't, I'll make them understand."

"…I still hurt a lot of people."

"Don't blame yourself, Claus," Lucas reassured. "You know it wasn't your fault."

"That's what I keep telling myself." Claus places his hand over his chest. "But I knew, deep down, I could've fought back. I could've stopped him if I tried. But I was too afraid."

"Afraid of…him?"

Claus nodded. "I can't ever forget the things he's done to me. He always talked down to me, and even threatened to kill you and Dad if I ever disobeyed. Even now, I…" He paused, breathing a few times. "…I can still hear his voice in my head. I want to forget him so bad, but…it hurts too much. I can't take it."

Lucas stops leaning against the wall and looks to his brother. "No one can hurt you anymore, Claus. You'll be okay."

Claus brought his hands out and dug his fingers into his hair. "How can you be so sure? What if another person tries to bring destruction to the world again? What if they take advantage of me and…I hurt you again?"

Lucas reached out to Claus's hand and gently brought it down. He gazed deeply into his twin's eyes. "That's never going to happen. I'm here to protect you from now on."

Claus clings onto his brother's grip, saddened by his own dispirited will, but also comforted by the warmth of the closest person to him. His tears well up again as he puts his trust in Lucas's words, and leans into the other's shoulder.

Lucas gave his brother all the time he needed to expel the grief within him. Even being apart for so long, he understood that the pain Claus had gone through was something unimaginable that no person should ever have to go through. Lucas regrets not being there for Claus all this time, but he knows that from now on, he can.

The twins continue to lay by the wall in silence, with the older twin relaxed against his sibling. He almost falls asleep, but not without another utterance.

"I ended up really missing you," Claus whispers.

Lucas reassures him again with another small grip in his brother's hand. "I know. I promise I'm not leaving you alone ever again."