A/N: Hello, everyone, this is NamiLoveLess with my second contribution to the Tales of the Abyss fandom. My first contribution, which some of you may have read, did…relatively well, and I was very happy to see your reviews and favorites, which inspired me considerably. So, without further ado, here is the second part of the Perspective one-shots, this time being from Asch's point of view. As usual, constructive criticism is encouraged—I hope it wasn't too cliché, or he wasn't written too out of character, which was the hardest part to write. But most importantly, I hope you all enjoy this little piece.
Once again, I must say this to avoid any potential screaming flamers.
Warning: This one-shot contains massive spoilers.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Tales of the Abyss on any professional level, nor do I make any claim as to the ownership of Tales of the Abyss. This game belongs to Namco and Bandai.
Disgusting.
To think that a replica could look so much like me, and that he could act so much like me…but that he was nothing like me. It was sickening, to see how he fell for the same trap as the one that tricked me, too. Every time I saw his face—that stupid, idiotic, hopeful face—it made me want to vomit.
It hurt to just see him here, for what was no more than a few minutes at this point. Yet I already had the urge to scream; I already wanted to unsheathe my sword and shove it right through that dreck's body, so he would never be a problem to me again. I could barely hold in my anger and rage for him. It became too much to bear eventually, though, so I released some of it, through a few scathing remarks to that replica.
The worst part was that he took it like it was nothing. That stupid garbage simply accepted it, not even trying to fight back—like he really had no will of his own. That was the worst part. It was insulting. And to see that dreck put himself down, and give me that whole "noble" speech about only one of us being able to go—it made me sick. How could he steal my place, and my teacher, and the people that I was supposed to know, if he couldn't even act like he cared?
Everything I had ever owned as a child had been tossed away, because I never stopped to consider that I would have ever lost it, and I didn't care, anyway. Now I realized how much I had lost by losing the life I had thought was useless. It was the life that the dreck owned now, and he had thrown it away too, at first. But he had changed his mind. He had, with time, become his own person—or at least, the closest thing to it.
There was no time to feel sorry for myself. I knew that I would never get my life back. But I could see that dreck ruining his life; I could see how he always whined and complained and acted so weak and pathetic. It hurt to see how much he was degrading himself, but it hurt even more to see that he was actually accepted for his whiny self.
It was painful to admit it, but he was actually more tolerable when he was being an insufferable bastard. At least he had some confidence in himself; at least he had some will to live. When he destroyed Akzeriuth, he broke down completely. He turned back into the crybaby seven-year-old that he really was. And he blamed it all on everyone else.
That dreck had no one to blame but himself for it! And when everyone left him for his childishness—he deserved it. He deserved everything that made him suffer.
He had nothing in his favor back then, and that was how I preferred it, but as usual, Lorelei just wanted to mess with me. The dreck grew up and accepted his flaws, and with it, he threw out his confidence. He was nothing more than a whiny brat all over again, but now he wasn't even self-centered and spoiled anymore. He was just a hopeless child.
Every time we met, he would always ask me to help him, or join forces with him. He would always offer his hand with an idiotic smile—the way he offers his hand now, to escape this trap—and protest that we were working towards the same goal. He would never stop asking me, and I wanted so badly to punch him, kick him to the ground, and yell at him to just shut up, because I was sick and tired of hearing his damn voice! I didn't need to hear myself act like worthless trash!
I needed him to stop. I unsheathe my sword, and smirk as I see that dreck's eyes widen in surprise. He doesn't want to fight me. He wants to be partners with me, and fight our "teacher" together—well, shut up, dreck, because I'd never work with you.
I'll make sure that only one of us meets Van at the top of this replicated land. I want Van to die, and I want his plan to die with it—but I don't want it to die by the hands of a weak person. I want to make sure that Van gets the punishment he deserves.
Nothing is in my favor anymore, dreck. You have friends who never should have met you, and the support of parents who don't even belong to you. You have the support of a fiancée you never asked for. You have a drive to fight the teacher that was never supposed to be yours, and hell—even Lorelei's on your side, because he's given you his power, and you were never even supposed to exist.
You would have never existed if Lorelei or Yulia or whoever helped create that Score had created it. You never would have existed if the kingdom of Kimlasca had never heard about that damn Score. You never would have existed if Van had not kidnapped me and replicated me.
But I'm not you, and I will never let you truly be me. I am not going to blame this on anyone else, the way you would have. This would have never happened if I hadn't done something about this sooner.
I was the one to trigger the problem. I was the one to turn an overconfident bastard into a pathetic excuse for a life. I was the one to create a useless being, only to see it grow past even what I ever thought I could have done. I was the one to create this struggle against what should have been no one but the real Luke fon Fabre.
I was the one to begin this entire damn problem. Now I'm going to end it.