Fatal-Fame here with a new story.
This is the Abyss/persona 3 crossover.
I changed some things from the sample, which I hope you will enjoy.
Fatal-fame does not own any copyrighted material in this fic. This is for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.
Painless.
Ch.1 Figure it Out.
Yulia city, Asch and Luke's connection.
It was strange.
Luke was in a body, saw what the body saw, felt what the body felt.
And yet he had no control over this body.
He couldn't do anything with it and it scared him.
He was forced to endure what Asch endured.
He was forced to wield a sword in his right hand, use fonic artes, and just do things he wouldn't do.
There was also the fact that he couldn't really talk to anyone.
It never really occurred to him how much human contact meant to him.
Hell, he would talk to Arietta if he could. Even if she tried to kill him.
Just so that he could talk to someone who didn't insult him every time they could. (He was fairly sure she wouldn't insult him for no good reason(Killing someone's mother counts as a good reason), unlike her co-generals.)
But the worst was when he was truly alone.
In the dead of night when everyone was asleep, including Asch.
Luke tried to sleep, he really did. But he never truly felt tired.
It was probably because his body was asleep.
So Luke stayed up.
And thought.
Now thinking is not a bad thing by itself.
However when one has a lot of time to think, one tends to go down the darkest road possible.
This isn't always what happens, some are able to figure things out and learn how to better themselves.
But, for Luke it was the beginning of his journey.
The journey of life.
And death.
And the meaning of both.
The journey that begins now.
'Well, here I am again.' Luke thought as he sat in the endless dark. He gave up trying to wander a long time ago, as all there was was the dark. The only real light came from him and Asch, who was currently asleep.
'I wish I had something to do other than sit around.' Luke sighed as he cupped his cheek. He once tried to get some sword practice in, but he couldn't draw his sword.
'I guess it's because it's not actually there.' Luke figured, letting out another sigh.
One of the things Asch asked (more like told him to do) was to figure things out.
So he tried to figure things out.
And the result was less than pleasing for the young redhead.
'I was sent to Akzeriuth to help.' Luke thought. 'Yet, I had no real training or even a guideline.'
'And did they really think people would just leave there homes because a seventeen year old was sent there.' Luke continued his train of thought. 'Sure the Commandant had been there, but I was still the ambassador, the "Leader" of the group.'
'Sure the score said I was the person for the job, but still.' Luke moved so he was leaning on his other hand. 'You would think that people would actually try to give me the knowledge on what that job might entail.'
'And even if I evacuated every person in Akzeriuth, where would I go from there?' Luke questioned. 'All we had was a seventeen year old swordsman, his servant, the princess from Kimlasca, a Malkuth colonel, an oracle soldier, a fon master guardian, and the fon master himself. Were we supposed to evacuate people one at a time or something? There was no way we could get everyone out of the town safe and sound.'
'Unless I wasn't supposed to evacuate anyone.' Luke thought as his eyes widened. 'The first part of the score said the light of the sacred flames was to bring his people to the miner city. That translated into me and any other people I was with.'
'Master Van said that I would bring war to the Rugnica Plains by turning power into calamity and be a weapon of Kimlasca. So if hyperresonance is the power, then the calamity was Akzeriuth's fall.' Luke brought his other hand to his face. 'But what would be gained from Akzeriuth's destruction?'
'So I know that Master Van wanted Akzeriuth destroyed, but why?' Luke grabbed both sides of his head. 'What is there to gain from destruction?'
'Well, there is a war.' Luke thought. 'If Akzeriuth was destroyed then a war is sure to break out. But who benefits from destruction?'
'Unless you are sure to win.' Luke's eyes widened. 'Maybe uncle sent me to Akzeriuth to destroy it, so there could be a war he would win.'
'Unless uncle didn't know.' Luke crossed his arms. 'They could have been given the stone as I heard it, missing the part about me destroying Akzeriuth.'
'Mohs' might have known, as he was trying to start a war.' Luke closed his eyes in concentration. 'That would mean Mohs' and Master Van were working together.'
"Dammit!" He yelled out as he jumped to his feet. "How am I supposed to figure this out if I don't know most of the details!"
Luke felt something behind him, which really didn't shock him much, as Asch usually yelled at him for waking him.
But to his surprise the person in front of him was not his original, but a brown hair female.
"Tear?" He asked quietly. He could see she was in front of him, but he felt something off about her.
"What's wrong, Luke?" Tear asked him as she looked at him with glowing yellow eyes. "Are you scared?"
"Wha?" Luke replied as he took a step back.
"Yeah, Luke." Guy spoke up to his right, his eyes also glowing gold. "Are you afraid?"
"Of what?" He asked in return, only to turn to another voice.
"Death!" Natalia exclaimed as she grinned at him with as her eyes glowed. "Are you scared of death?"
"Death?" Luke repeated, as he took another step back.
"C'mon Luke." Anises voice rang out. "Dying isn't that hard."
"I don't wanna die..." Luke said quietly.
"It seems he needs some help." Jade spoke up from his other side.
"I don't wanna die." Luke repeated, his voice gaining volume.
"It's easy as one, two, three." Ion appeared, his eyes also glowing yellow.
"I don't wanna die!" Luke nearly shouted as he backed up.
Suddenly the place started to shake, causing Luke to lose his footing. He stared in fright as a hole was ripped through the black void. A giant, black figure quickly clawed it's way in from outside the hole. Luke stared at it's white mask as it raised the sword it was carrying.
"I don't wanna die!" Luke nearly shouted. The giant brought it's sword down.
"I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
Luke suddenly shot up from the bed he was on, his breathing erratic.
"What the hell was that?" Luke asked nobody as he got to his feet. He started to wobble as he moved towards the stairs.
"Air." He gasped out. "I need some air." Luke muttered to himself as he stumbled down the stairs. He moved through the door to the outside. Even though the sky was covered and the miasma was everywhere, he felt a bit better out in the open.
'What the hell was that...thing!?' Luke thought in a panic as he replayed the memory. The mask, the figure and the sword kept flashing before his eyes.
Next thing he knew he was bent over the railing, throwing up his insides.
He stayed like that for a couple of minutes, just leaning over the edge and emptying his stomach, when a hand started to rub his back.
After a half a minute, Luke managed to pull himself up. He wiped his mouth with his hand as he looked at the person the hand originated.
He stared at the elder man, trying to remember where he had seen him.
"Mayor Teodoro?" Luke asked as he tried to keep down his nausea. The man nodded to the in response.
"Is it all out?" The older man asked softly, to which Luke nodded.
"Yeah, I think so." The redhead replied as he heaved a little bit.
"Come inside." He told Luke as he walked the boy inside. The elder man quickly got out a teapot.
"Are you alright?" The elder asked him as they waited for the tea to heat up. Luke nodded his positively, but didn't say anything.
"We haven't been properly introduced." The man realized as he held out his hand. "I am Mayor Teodoro, but I see you already know that."
"Luke." The replica replied as he shook the man's hand. He quickly pulled back and crossed his arms around himself, as if trying to hug himself. The man noticed that the boy was shaking and looked over at the teapot. He noticed it was done and pulled out two cups. He filled them both and handed one to Luke, who accepted it without a word.
"It will help you relax and ease your stomach." The older man told him. Luke nodded again and took a small sip. As the liquid slid down his throat he felt a little better. But he couldn't tell if it was because of the tea or the heat.
"Are you ill?" Teodoro asked, to which Luke just shook his head.
"No, just…" Luke wasn't completely sure what that was. "A nightmare."
"Not many people vomit from a nightmare, Luke." The man replied.
"I just don't know what else to call it." Luke admitted, for once not bothered by his own lack of knowledge. He took another sip of the tea and let out a breath that seemed to deflate him.
"Well, fear does make people do unpredictable things." The man replied. "Would you like to talk about it?"
"Are you sure you have time?" Luke asked, he was fairly sure the man would have responsibilities that didn't involve listening to a teenager talk about their dreams.
"I was just getting heading back here." The man replied. "It's a late night tonight, so I'll be heading into work later than usual tomorrow."
"If you say so." Luke replied. He took a deep breath and told the elder man what he saw.
"I was alone for who knows how long." He started. "Then I was surrounded by my fri- old group, but all of their eyes were glowing yellow."
"They asked me if I was afraid of death. Which I told them I didn't want to die." Luke shuddered a bit. "Then this giant monster thing crawled into where I was. It tore a hole through the darkness and just went through. It raised a giant blade and swung it at me. Then I woke up." Luke finished, not completely sure how he felt about telling the man in front of him.
On one hand he felt better just by getting it off his chest, yet he just told all of what happened to a stranger.
So he just stared at the mayor and waited for his reaction.
The mayor brought up a hand in thought. He stroked his beard for a few seconds in thought before coming up with an answer.
"Perhaps you have brushed death so many times that you realize your own mortality." The man replied. Luke looked confused at the reasoning, but then it started to make sense.
'With the fall of Akzeriuth, my battle with Asch and all the fighting I've had to do.' Luke thought. 'After facing death after death, I guess I just understand how easy it is to die.'
"Maybe." Luke replied quietly.
"And why Tear and the others were there…" The mayor thought for a second. "Perhaps they are what you consider death itself." Luke face became confused. "When you fought and killed, you noticed they never seemed bothered by it?" Luke nodded again.
"Then you may subconsciously feel as though they are death themselves, monster that just kill for no reason." He finished.
Luke blinked in shock at the assessment. Sure he knew that they didn't show it, but they had to feel bad about the people they killed.
...right?
"Maybe." Luke replied quietly. He stared down at the cup in front him, watching the tea ripple as he lightly shook it.
"While we are on the subject." Luke took a breath. "I would like to apologize for Akzeriuth."
"I see." The elder man responded. "While that is a noble thing to do, there is no reason to apologize."
"What?" Luke asked, more out of shock than anything else.
"Akzeriuth's fall was written in the score. It was destroyed because it was meant too."
"It was written." Luke repeated. "I heard the first part, about me going there. But I wasn't sure of the rest."
"It's not a surprise." The mayor gave him a small nod. "Most people do not react well with a score of death."
"Well, nobody wants to die." Luke contended. To which teodoro looked at him in surprise.
"From one coming from the outer lands, that is a strange thing to hear." Teodoro replied. "A calm and orderly life is one of those who follow the score."
"That still doesn't mean anyone wants to die." Luke repeated. "Just because the score says the people are going to die doesn't mean that the people are okay with it."
"And that's why the closed score is only known by Maestro's or higher." The balding man replied. "If the people knew that what awaited them was destruction, mass panic would break out."
Luke sat for a minute, trying to think of a way to respond.
"What did the score about Akzeriuth say?" Luke asked. Even if he couldn't win this argument, it may be better to know what it had said. The older man closed his eyes in thought.
"N.D 2018. The young scion of Lorelei's power will bring his people to the miner's city. There, the youth will turn power to calamity and be as a weapon to Kimlasca, destroying himself and the city. Thereafter, the land of Rugnica will be enveloped in war, and Malkuth will lose territory. Kimlasca-Lanvaldear will thrive, and this shall lead to unprecedented prosperity." The man recited from his memory. Luke started to think about what had just been said and what he knew.
'From what I got out of that, everything I thought about was true.' Luke thought. 'I was sent to Akzeriuth to destroy it and start a war.'
'That still leaves the question of did uncle know?'
"Was it possible that unc-King Ingobert knew?" Luke said, catching himself to make his question clearer. Teodoro once again looked thoughtful at the question.
"It's possible he may not have been aware." The man answered. "But it is more likely that he did know." Luke was about to respond, when a thought hit him.
"The score said that I would be destroyed with Akzeriuth, right?" Luke asked. "So that means the only death that we can be assured was supposed to be my own, correct?" The mayor frowned as he raised a hand to his chin.
"I suppose that is true." The man replied as he kept rubbing his chin.
"Then that means the people died for nothing!" Luke exclaimed. "If my death was the only one predetermined, then telling them about the score wouldn't have done any harm."
"That… might be true." Teodoro acknowledged. "However, there is no point in questioning it now." Luke gritted his teeth, but nodded. He looked down at his cup, only to find it nearly empty.
'I must have been taking sips without noticing.' Luke realized as he looked into it. He was about to raise it to finish it off, when something in the bottom caught his eye.
It was tea leaves that had made their way into his drink. Although unassuming by themselves the shape they made stopped him.
It seemed to remind him of a skull, which bothered him slightly.
'A skull has always been a mark of death.' He thought suddenly. He had heard of reading tea leaves before, but he never really gave it much thought.
'Maybe I'm just over thinking this.' Luke thought as he tried to relax. 'I don't know how to read tea leaves, it's just me blowing something out of proportion.' He still couldn't shake the feeling of forbearance though.
But it did remind him of a crucial question.
"So…" The redhead started, not sure how to ask. "Are you going to kill me?" He decided to ask out right. The man looked shocked at the question.
"I'm sorry?" The elder asked him, not entirely sure he had heard the question correctly. The boy surely couldn't mean…
"The score said I would destroy myself and the miner's city." Luke shrugged. "Yet here I am, not destroyed."
"I thought you said you didn't want to die?" The mayor asked him, not sure why the replica would change his position on the issue.
"If the score leads to prosperity and my being alive is against the score." Luke answered. "Then shouldn't my death be considered a priority?"
"Well, that is true" The mayor acknowledged. "However the other you was born the "Light of the Sacred Flames." You were not."
"Yet, he was not destroyed, nor was I." Luke countered. Teodoro raised his hand in thought again.
"I would say that is wrong and right." The elder man looked directly into Luke's eyes. "Before Tear left, what do you think she told me?" Luke looked pensive for a second.
"She probably called me arrogant and how I'm childish for not taking responsibility." She hadn't said anything while he was under Asch's control. But he clearly remembered her comment on the Tartarus.
And the way she took Mieu.
"You are mostly right." The man replied. "However, you are none of those things." To the red heads confused look, he elaborated.
"From when I brought you here to now, you have not acted arrogant in any way. You apologized for your actions. She also said you never try to think for yourself, yet you have proven here that you do." Luke still looked confused, but seemed to understand him. "There are more than one way for someone to be destroyed, Luke. You can destroy their body, their mind and."
"Their emotions." Luke finished for him. The man did have a point. Luke may be alive physically.
But emotionally and mentally he was a wreck.
"I guess when you put it that way." Luke continued after a minute. They sat in silence as Teodoro filled up their cups.
"So what will you do now?" The mayor asked him. Luke looked at him for a second and then looked down.
"I don't know." Luke admitted. "I want to go find them, to prove that I'm different than I was before."
"But at the same time. I don't want to see them, I don't want their forgiveness. Hell, I think they're terrible people."
"I just wanna...I just wanna stop fighting." Luke said as he dropped into a slouch. The elder man looked at the boy sadly, but an idea came to mind.
"The new school year is approaching." Teodoro said, getting Luke's attention. "If you want I could set you up to go to Daath's school."
"You could?" Luke asked kind of confused.
"We have people that would rather leave than become watchers'." He replied. "I handle the finances and such, so it wouldn't be too much trouble."
Luke stared wide eyed at the man, not believing what he was hearing.
'A chance to go to school?' He thought. 'A chance to start again?'
"Is there anything I would have to do?" Luke asked. He wasn't sure but there was usually a catch for these things.
"You would have to pass the entrance exams." Teodoro replied. "But that shouldn't be to hard." Luke grimaced at the thought of a test, although he studied at the manor he wasn't sure if he had the right knowledge to pass.
"You would have three weeks." Teodoro told him. "If you have any questions I can get you some textbooks to study from."
Luke's eyes lit up at the prospect. While studying seemed like a pain, if it gave him a chance to start again he'd do anything.
"Alright." Luke replied. He wasn't going to waste this chance the older man was offering. It was something he always wanted yet could never obtain.
The chance to be normal.
"Well, that settles it then." Teodoro said as he stood up. "I'll get you the books tomorrow. It's almost midnight, we should both get some sleep.'
"Sounds good." Luke replied. "Uhh where will I sleep?"
"In Tear's room, like before." The balding man replied.
"I've been in Tear's room this entire time?" Luke exclaimed as his face heated up.
He couldn't deny that Tear was an attractive girl. And the thought of said attractive girl on her bed was enough to make the red headed male feel a bit bothered under the collar.
"Is there a problem?" Teodoro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No no, there is no problem." Luke said as he scratched the back of his head. "Just took me by surprise is all."
"If you say so." The man replied, slightly suspicious. He turned to walk to his room when Luke called out.
"Wait." Luke nearly shouted. "Why are you doing this for me?"
The man stopped for a minute before turning around and giving Luke a smile.
"I suppose that raising Tear and Van gave me a bit of parental instinct." He replied. "Seeing you like that made the instinct comeback."
"I see." Luke replied, not sure he entirely understood. "Well… Thanks."
"You're welcome." Was the response as the man walked into his room.
Luke walked up the stairs and into Tear's room. Without pulling off his clothes he threw himself on to the mattress.
'A new chance.' Luke thought as he stared at the ceiling. 'A chance to truly make it on my own.'
'The first thing I need to do is pass that exam.' He told himself. 'Then I'll become the best.'
'I won't let myself be unaware again.' He turned onto his side and curled up a little bit.
'I'll learn everything I have to, need to and just plain want too.' He thought as he closed his eyes.
'No more using a lack of knowledge as an excuse to hide my failures.' He felt his mind start to drift into unconscious.
'No more relying on others.'
And finished.
So this is the first chapter of Painless (Name can change if someone gives me a better idea.)
So I'm going to need Ideas for characters. (Both persona users and social links) So If you want to PM me Ideas then cool.
Also for those of you that think Luke was to smart in this chapter. Remember he has had a lot of time to think what's gone on in his life, so he would figure some things out.
And finally the Persona's will be making an appearance in one of the next two chapters
Also the year is kind of different from ours.
To make it short.
There are seven days in a week.
58 days in a month (Except Lorelei Redecan which has 60)
And 765 days in a year.
Any other info can be found on the Aldurant page on the tales wiki.
So I'm thinking of making the school year have something like a week off in the middle of every month.
Also If you think about it. By our terms Everyone is at least double their original ages in TotA.
Weird, right?
So review and tell me If I should continue.
Later.
Sidenote: The trivia question that was in the samples answer is M.A.S.H.
A good show if you like a lot of both light and dark humour.