Underneath Everything
Author's Note: I had my phone on shuffle and Underneath by Adam Lambert came on so I decided to write a oneshot with Asch based from Underneath. By the way, please review. I've only done a few oneshots but I don't know if I'm any good. Based off the anime, not the game.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss or any of the characters.
Asch stood over the unconscious Luke who laid on a bed. Asch! Wake me up! Why did you do this! The replica kept screaming in his head. Shut up! Get a grip dreck! If it amuses you, go through my head and my feelings to see why I did this! Figure it out of your own! Asch mentally screamed back almost immediately regretting letting his mental barriers down. Fine then. he heard Luke say before he started worming through Asch's memories. Asch let him do this not exactly seeing what Luke was looking at but he didn't care anymore.
Luke started walking through each of Asch's memories and each one terrified him knowing that Van could do these things to Asch. One was Asch running from a pack of monsters with a cloak on and only a sword to protect himself. Asch sliced through a few before getting swatted to the side by the biggest. Forcing himself to get up, Asch sliced through it before making his way through a city to a wall. Luke remembered this wall as the wall surrounding the manor in Baticul. Asch had managed to jump over the wall and saw Luke trying to walk but falling and crying like an infant would.
Asch felt rejected and stayed in the shadows. Everyone surrounded Luke and got him to stop crying. "Try again Luke. Come on, baby steps." His mother had said. Luke started walking and everyone came up and hugged him with smiles on their faces. Asch had felt so rejected and had immediately developed a hate for Luke. Asch jumped back over the wall only to come face to face with Van who had a smirk on his face. "Well Asch, do you want to kill Luke?" Van had asked. Asch nodded. "Good. That means we can begin training." Van had dragged Asch back to wherever Asch was being kept and began training him.
Luke immediately stepped away from this memory and tripped over another one. This time, Asch was around sixteen years old and still looked fairly young. "Asch. The Score says that YOU will recieve the Power of Lorelei and YOU will die in Akzeruth. But that boy, your replica, is going to end up taking your place. He's going to recieve the Power of Lorelei which is rightfully yours! But you have to make sure he dies in Akzeruth." Asch and Van aged by maybe a year but stood in the same spot. "But first, I need you to kidnap Fon Master Ion. I already have people who have captured the Tarturus."
Asch's bangs hid his narrowed eyes as he nodded. Luke watched as Asch walked out and found the Tartarus. Then it flashed and he was face to face with Luke. "YOU!" Asch was immediately filled with hate as he threw Luke back with his sword and jumped off the Tartarus. "Asch! Remember the main priority! The Fon Master!" Someone yelled from behind him. He narrowed his eyes and the Tartarus started moving. He took off and jumped on before getting inside and throwing his sword across the room. It stuck in the wall and he ran to a bathroom.
"I refuse to look like that replica." he said before grabbing some hair gel and slicking his bangs back. He punched the mirror and it shattered before he left to retreive his sword. The memory stopped and Luke just sat and stared with wide eyes. He looked behind him and noticed there was one more memory that Asch thought he should see. Luke saw a very young Asch strapped to a table struggling to get free and there was something pointed at him from over the table. There was another table under his farther down into a hole in the ground and Van sat next to a man at a control table.
Suddenly, the thing pointed at Asch shot out a green light and began scanning Asch who was screaming. It was painful and Luke saw that it wasn't nearly over. The pain intesified three fold and particles began flowing from Asch down to the bottom table as Asch screamed with tears running down his face. Finally, after five excrusiating minutes, a perfect replica was on the bottom table and Asch was unstrapped from his table. Van threw Asch over his shoulder and left.
Luke was shivering from that one memory. Why would Asch show him this? He got up and started running away from the memories. Asch could feel how Luke pitied him and regretted ever letting him see anything. Do NOT pity me dreck! I got over every one of those memories and there's no reason for you to think at me differently! Asch knew why he really showed Luke those memories. It was because he NEEDED to. He didn't want to suffer alone. B-But Asch...all of that happened because of...me... Asch immediately winced as Luke started sobbing in his head.
No dreck. It was because of Van. I'm going to let you wake up now. Do NOT tell anyone just happened. Luke was about to protest when he was suddenly propelled towards his body. Asch was already a few miles away from the Tartarus where his body lay motionless so it took a few seconds. He shot up off the bed and his eyes immediately filled with tears. But he didn't let them fall. Asch had done all of the crying when these things happened and he didn't need Luke crying too.
Luke immediately got out of that room and went to the entrance of the Tartarus. There was a hole in the wall that he hadn't noticed before. But he knew what it was from. Asch's sword. He also went down the hall and made a few turns before showing up a bathroom that hadn't been cleaned up yet. It had glass all over the floor and some dirty footprints from Asch's boots. Luke went back to his room and sat down on the bed. Thank you Asch. For showing me...