Summary: There are always two paths on one road. It's the path you choose that will change the outcome. The two paths may reconnect again, or they may be separate altogether. Which road will you have? Which road have you taken?

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss. I never had, and never will.

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Luke was always a fragile boy. He was born through hard labor from his mother. Umbilical cords were wrapped around his neck, almost painfully so. It was a miracle he survived.

His brother, Asch, did not like him. He took away the attention, love, and care that was always directed towards him as an only child. Now Luke had a share of it. A large share, including worry and anxiety. Asch did not like this, so he turned a cold shoulder to his brother who should have died, he thought, who should have never been born.

Luke was a peculiar child. He wasn't the brightest child there was, but he also wasn't the thickest. He felt things, things that made him shy away from others. His mother worried that he would become a recluse, but his brother got even angrier at him than before. His father ignored him mostly nowadays, as if he didn't exist. It hurt. It hurt so badly for Luke, because he knew he was a failure, he was weak. But Luke couldn't help it. He didn't want to become emotionless. He didn't want to become a nobody, to not be able to feel anymore. It was the scariest thought he ever had.

It hurt him to hurt others, but he knew that he would hurt them even more if he couldn't feel anything. He just knew it. But then, he thought, was that really true? If he couldn't feel anything anymore, wouldn't that make everyone happy? Wouldn't they be glad that they wouldn't have to deal with him? He knew that they truly did not care for him, and he felt something squeeze at his heart. It was their job. He was just a job for them. A 'mission accomplished' when they didn't have to watch over him anymore, and then they would leave and whisper very loudly as if no one was around. That boy... Ungrateful he is! To worry his mother so much! Why, I'd-- and then their whispering lowered, but Luke still heard the rest all the same.

Everyone was the same. It was just a different face on the same person. He was a burden to them, someone they took care of only because they were required to, not because they wanted to. He felt something squeeze at his heart again. He wondered if he was going to die? Would they bury him? Why was he dying anyway? Because he was weak. He knew it, everyone knew it, and he was going to die.

He was going to die, all because he felt things. He was abnormal. An unnatural freak of nature. He should have never survived that night. The night where everyone was unnaturally cruel to him, except his mother. His beautiful and sweet mother who loved him even when everyone else, even his own family, hated his existence. He saw it now. The future was terribly bleak for him, and only destruction lied in its wake.

But Luke knew, as he always did, that he was luckier than others who were the same as him. After all, he couldn't have been the only abnormal child out in the world. If he was, then he would just be the first of many. He had a wealthy background, and even if he was hated, he was still a fon Fabre. He was still the King's nephew.

Luke hesitated in his thoughts. Did he want to become a nobody? Or did he want to die? Tomorrow, he thought. He'll decide tomorrow. Fate was not with him, as it always wasn't. The very next day was the day that would change the world, just like the day when Luke was never supposed to have been born. Fate had intended for him to have been a stillborn.

That very next day...was a day that Fate would regret forever. Just like light and dark, Life and Death, Fate and Destiny held different views. Fate was adamant that her subjects lived through whatever she said they would. Destiny, however, thought that, as every being, human or not, had their own feelings, just like them, her subjects would be able to choose their path.

Destiny found her Chosen One in the little boy who should have never lived. She knew that she would have never noticed him if he were any other boy, but she knew this one was different. This one would change the world. He played a big part in it, she could feel. Destiny also knew that she would have never known he existed, since she couldn't feel his life force, if it weren't for Fate throwing a fit and screaming that the boy should have died.

What made her even more interested was the effort she saw Fate using when trying to make a baby, of all things, die. He didn't. So Fate threw an even bigger fit. She made sure that the boy would die soon, and it seemed he was going to. After all, with everyone, even if they didn't know it, forced to hate the boy and made to feel as if it were their own feelings, how would the boy survive through that? She knew that unless he decided to throw away all his emotions, he would die from being directed such strong emotions at.

So, with surprise, she saw a black string that was starting to fade quiver. Destiny wouldn't have even noticed it had she not looked upon it the moment she had. It was the boy's. She thought he would have died as Fate was making sure that he would keep his emotions. She smiled. There was a chance after all. This little boy should have been her child. He kept living, even when he was to die on this very day. Had those humans not take him when they did, he surely would have become Fate's child, albeit, an ignored child, which made her frown.

Fate was always the spoiled one. She was jealous of Destiny, although Destiny did not know why. Fate got everything she has ever wanted with no complaints from her creator. Destiny never got anything. It was Destiny's creator's belief that she should earn what she wanted, work for it, and enjoy what she did have. Destiny was grateful for such guidance from her creator. Although she was jealous of Fate whenever Fater got what she wanted on a golden platter, Destiny knew that she was the happier one. Fate's creator may have thought that material things would keep Fate happy, but not disciplining her made Fate the way she was now. Destiny thought wistfully of the friendship they could have had.

But that was all in the past now.

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Author's Note: So? What do think? This is my first Tales of the Abyss fanfiction. I was thinking of ending it like this. You know, like a one-shot? But then, I also want to continue it. Review if you want this continued. If not, I might just continue it anyways, so I'll keep it as incomplete. If anyone reads this, wow. I'm saying this now since there doesn't seem to be much fics in the Tales of the Abyss. Well, pertaining to Luke, anyway.