Fatal-fame here with a new chapter of Painless (name still subject to change).

Fatal-fame does not own Tales of the Abyss, Persona 3 or any other copyrighted material mentioned in this fic. This is for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.

Oh and since travel time is not really explained, other than it taking at most ten days to get to Akzeriuth from Sheridan port, which was partly because they needed to get to the port from Sheridan itself. So I assume that traveling to Belkend by boat from where Akzeriuth was would take the same amount of time. With the wartime scene where you have to make camp every some odd distance. This means that, if my calculations are correct, Asch and the group would not make it in a day. So odds are they made it at early evening/night the day after they left the ship. So they spent the night in the inn before going to the lab. That's when Luke was cut off from Asch.

That's why he doesn't know that St. Binahs falling.

Also turns out I was wrong about the TotA calendar. I did the math and there is 756 days in the year and no such thing as Lorelei redecan, it's just Lorelei decan.

Someone should fix the wiki about that.

So without further delay.

Painless

Ch. 2 Contract.

Luke woke up on the last day of his three week study session. Tomorrow he would leave Yulia city and get into Daath High school.

He knew he wouldn't ace the exam, but he was certain that he would do fairly well.

'With all of the studying I've been doing, I'll be surprised if I don't get into at least the top quarter.' The redhead thought as he grabbed his clothes. 'It was nice of Layla to get me stuff that wasn't like the robes that people wear down here. But since people leave this place, I guess it would make sense that there would be clothing like this.'

It still surprised him how much effort he actually put into studying. When he was at the manor, studying was the biggest pain to deal with, right next to "Remembering" the promise to Natalia.

'I guess it's because I could study at my own pace, instead of having all of the knowledged crammed down my throat.' He chuckled humorlessly. 'Not that I actually remember any of it.'

Although most of his time was spent in solitude every second day he usually spent an hour with either the mayor Teodoro or Layla.

They mostly just talked about how he was faring and offering a hand when he didn't understand the material. But sometimes when Luke got stuck and frustrated they allowed him to rant for a while.

'It's nice to have people who support me.' Luke thought as he put on his shoes and went down the stairs. 'Well, I did have people who supported me back at the manor, but they wanted my memories more than me.'

Luke let out a sigh as he walked off the final step onto the first floor. His thoughts did head back to the manor frequently, but as more time passed the more he felt he understood.

'Guy was supportive of me the most in terms of being who I am. Natalia was supportive of me getting "My" memories back. Van supported whatever I wanted, whether it was good for me or not. Lady Fabre supported me being safe. Duke Fabre wanted to not support me. And king Ingobert wanted me dead.' Luke let out another sigh as he started to make himself breakfast. He was no master chief, but his skills had improved somewhat.

'Alright so at nine I leave for Daath, I should get there around eight, get to the place I'm staying at nine and hit the hay by ten.' He mentally went over his plan. It may have been simplistic, but it gave him an outline on what should happen.

'Hopefully nothing happens on the way.' Luke thought as he finished cooking his bacon and eggs. 'But, knowing my luck, odds are I'm gonna have fight for my life.' He laughed a little bit. While mostly studying, he still trained with his sword. But it was more just going through the motions then actual training.

'Just because I don't wanna fight, doesn't mean I won't have too.' He thought. He wanted to be able to defend himself if necessary, but he didn't want to fight for the sake of fighting.

'Oh well, I just have to get to Daath and I won't need to fight as long as I'm in school.' Luke thought as he brought another fork full of eggs to his mouth. The redhead quickly finished up and went back up the stairs. He began to check his bags to make sure he had left nothing behind.

'Okay I got everything.' He thought as he sat on the bed. He had two bags, one for his clothing and one for his other supplies. He had half an hour before he was supposed to set out. So he might as well go over what he knew.

As time had progressed, he figured that his strongest subject was math, while his weakest was history.

He found math simple because it didn't lie to him. It tried to confuse him, but there was always a set of rules that had little to no exception.

History was about a bunch of dates and times that could easily be confused with each other.

He knew it was important, but it didn't make it easier.

Luke looked up from the history book he was reading and noticed he had ten minutes before he was supposed to leave. He put the book back in his bag and threw both of them over his shoulders. He made his way back down stairs and out the door.

With a quick right turn followed by another right turn, he was inside the main building.

It still amazed him everytime he walked around the city. The material and unique construction had sparked his interest, so he had asked Layla about them. She had told him how there weren't sure about the exact origins, but apparently it was cutting edge technology for the time. The knowledge was lost, so all they could do was simple repairs. Still it made Luke think.

'If someone were to figure out how to recreate this stuff, we may just be able to stop the miasma from becoming a truly serious problem.'

Sure if the miasma popped up in small pockets, it could be contained. But if it managed to escape in large quantities…

He'd fear for the world.

But as long as that didn't happen, he was fairly certain the world would survive.

Still, wasn't a problem now.

He walked up the ramps and into the meeting room. Teodoro had instructed him that every person who was leaving should meet in there to make sure everything was ready.

He walked in and took a seat, placing his bags to the side as he sat down. Luke looked around the room and took in it occupants.

To his left was the only female of the group. She looked about sixteen-seventeen and was just a bit shorter than him. The one across from him looked just as old as Luke, while the guy to his right looked younger.

"Now." Teodoro said, getting Luke's attention. "You have gathered here because you seek life outside of the qliphoth. There is nothing wrong with this request and with my power I saw that it was granted."

"You will all head through Aramis Springs, when you arrive an armed escort will be there to help you through. Once outside of the cave you will be taken by coach to Daath."

"It will be a long journey, but it should be relatively uneventful. When you get to Daath someone will be there to guide you to where you will be staying. Any questions?" He finished. When no one replied he nodded and stood up.

"This will be your first steps into the outerlands, but if you feel the need you are always welcome here." He said as he moved his head to look at all of them directly.

Luke knew that the elder man was trying to give him somewhere to go if needed it. The redhead was happy that the man had offered him a place to stay. But he knew that Yulia City would never be his home.

Besides even if he decided to come back, he wasn't sure he could trust Teodoro.

Or anyone for that manner.

Luke kept himself from sighing as he walked to the room that contained the Yulia Road. It wasn't their fault, it was just that Luke didn't want to let anyone else in.

He had been there, done that and nearly got himself killed for it.

So he wasn't going to trust anyone.

After all people only cared about how they can use each other.

It was a sad truth that Luke had figured out during his stay. Everyone he knew just wanted something from him and then proceeded to cast him to the side.

Granted, some of it was his fault by being an arrogant jerk. But they couldn't claim they were saints in either.

Except for Ion, the kid was so kind he could make a serial killer feel sorry for his deeds.

Even though he opened the daathic seal, he didn't really have that much to do with what happened.

Even if he had said no, Luke knew he and Van would most likely have forced him to open it.

Still, Ion was the fon master, Luke might actually see him again.

He often wondered how Ion was doing, because usually when they get separated Ion gets kidnapped.

'Someone needs to put a leash on that kid.' Luke thought with a small smile. 'It might stop him from getting taken all the time.'

The other person, or thing rather, that he missed was Mieu.

The little blue beast, loyal to him and only him. It still shocked him about how much Mieu fought against being taken from him.

'Little guy still wanted to be with me, even after all I did to him.' Luke felt the smile get a little bigger. 'He was damn crazy about fulfilling that debt.'

He didn't really understand why he had saved the little guy until well after the cheagle forest.

Sure Luke kicked him and stomped on him, but he didn't cause actual injuries to the thing.

If he had, he would have felt terrible.

It could be likened to him and Tear destroying the liger eggs.

They were just children, they weren't even children.

Yet they were killed.

And Tear excused it by saying it was for the best, because liger babies crave human flesh.

It still sickened him slightly.

Just because they wanted human flesh didn't mean they would get it. It's not like the eggs would just hatch and then they become full grown ligers that could easily kill a grown man. They would be small and relatively harmless if people just stayed away. There was also like five or six eggs. Not a really dangerous group of monsters if one knew what he was doing.

Even if they did crave humans Arietta was raised by the damn things.

If that didn't show something about that statement was wrong, he would eat his shoes.

'Still the little guy had a point, he would understand how I felt about Akzeriuth. Maybe not exactly, but it would be close.' Luke thought as his smile grew a little smaller. He wasn't sure how Mieu was fairing, but he assumed the others were taking care of him.

'Still, I would know this if I was still connected to Asch.' And that confused the hell out of him. He thought that Asch would have immediately tried to put him back under, or at least tried to do the whole headache communication thing.

But for the entire time he was in Yulia City, Asch didn't try to communicate with him. Well, he didn't know if any attempts were made.

'There could be something blocking the connection I guess.' His mind went back to that night, when that thing came and how it nearly...

Luke suppressed a shudder and focused on Teodoro.

"Now I will say the incantation that will send you to the outerlands." The man explained. "Are you all prepared?" He asked. When they all nodded he began the incantation. When the final words left his lips the fonic glyph started to glow. A few seconds afterwards the room filled with light and the younger group vanished.

The Mayor stood there for a few seconds, simply staring at the glyph. He then turned around and walked out of the room.

Wondering if he did the right thing.

Aramis springs, inner clearing

(Just so everyone is aware, I'm not completely sure what the name for the place the Yulia Road is in. So if someone can tell me the term for it, be appreciated.)

A flash of light filled the clearing for a second before dying down. Where the flash had originated was now four teens standing in a small pool.

"Whoa." The eldest male yelped as he jumped out of the pool, with the rest quickly following suit. Luke then noticed that his clothes were dry.

'Huh, so that's what Teodoro meant when he said it pushes the water out of the way.' Luke thought. The day before Luke had asked Teodoro what he should expect when he left.

"Well, you will first arrive in a clearing from a water spring, then you shall go through a cave filled with water. It has a few monsters, but nothing your escort can't handle." The elder man explained.

"Water spout?" Luke said, confusion on his face.

"It's to help hide Yulia City from the outerlands." The man answered. "People would be suspicious if a fonic glyph was in the middle of a clearing for no reason."

'Makes sense.' Luke thought as their guard asked them if they were the people to be escorted. 'Nobody would think a fonic glyph would be under the water here.'

"Excuse me." One of the guards, who he assumed was the leader, got his attention. "What's your name?"

"Luke." He answered with a shrug.

"Luke..?" The man trailed off. Luke knew this would be the first time he would truly use the name he came up with.

He didn't want to go as Luke Fon Fabre, as he felt he would get sent back to Baticul.

And that he might not survive if he went there.

So he came up with an alias, to hopefully deter any pursuers he might have.

But he kept the name Luke, because there were a lot of people named Luke.

If what he has heard was true, of course.

"Arikami."

He wasn't sure when he came up with the unique name. All he knew was that he was reading as he tried to think of one and it suddenly came to him.

Besides, it sounded cool.

"Right." The man said as he used his pencil to make a check on a piece of paper he was holding.

"Now we will proceed in a square formation, with you all in the middle. Is that acceptable?" The man asked. To which the group nodded. They then proceeded into the cave. The knights in front fought the monsters that got in the way as the ones behind them went to help only if it was necessary.

Luke found himself flinching slightly as the fighting continued. One of the responses that was drilled into him by his travels was to prepare to draw his sword at a moment's notice. To defend himself from monsters or people.

Now he was supposed to stand back and watch.

However the difference between the first time something like this happened was that the people he was with knew he could fight.

These people didn't.

But, even if he wanted to help, there was a slight problem.

He had no sword.

He had spent the day before training incase something happened.

Since he was training in the garden behind where he was staying, he didn't take his sword out of there since he had no need for it.

So when Layla had asked him to come inside so they could talk about any last minute questions he had, he had forgotten to retrieve it before he went to sleep.

So when he left Yulia City, he left his sword behind.

'Not smart, Luke.' He scolded himself. 'Not smart.' He could probably go back and get it. But he didn't feel the need, since the knights had everything under control.

'Yep, no fighting till I'm done school.' He told himself. He wouldn't venture out without an escort if he was going to leave Daath, it was just something that didn't seem like a good idea.

The group walked through the moist caverns as the trek continued. They had to travel on the outside of the cave for a for a moment, which Luke used to take a breath of fresh air.

'Nothing beats non miasma polluted air.' He decided as it filled his lungs. He exhaled happily as the others in the group stared at him with interest.

"Now I remember." The girl said as she snapped her fingers, causing the groups attention to come to her. "You were with the group from the Outerlands."

This caused Luke to stop for a second in surprise, but he managed to keep his face neutral.

"Yeah, I was." He answered, hoping for it to be the end of the questions.

"Why didn't you go with them then?" The eldest boy asked as they started to walk again.

"Personal conflict." Luke replied with a shrug.

"Ah." The girl replied as they entered the cave again. They continued in silence as the knights continued to kill the monsters. After an hour they had finally made it out of the cave.

"The carriage should be just down the hill from here." The leader explained as he pointed out of the forest. "Once there it will be straight to Daath." Since they had already heard this before. the teens just nodded.

"Alright let's carry on then." The man announced as they started to walk again.

Half an hour later they had found and got inside the coach. The knights had then told them they would be parting there as they were needed at the port. With a good bye the knights left, the horses were then spurned and the journey continued.

Nobody noticed the blond man entering the cave they left twenty minutes beforehand.

The ride was as quiet as the walk through the cave, only without the sounds of monsters being sliced to pieces. The other two males had nodded off, leaving only Luke and the girl alone.

"Hey, Luke." She called out quietly, turning the replica's attention away from the window. "What personal conflict stopped you from going with them?"

Luke tilted his head away from her to look back out the window. He wanted to answer in a way that couldn't be taken as a lie.

"I...wanted to face myself." He replied after a bit of thought. She looked at him confused, causing him to explain further.

"I wanted to figure out who the real me was, not some facade I used to deal with people."He explained. "So they left me to figure it out."

He wasn't sure why he had used those exact words and, to be honest, it bothered him slightly.

"I see." The girl said. They were quiet for a few seconds before she held out her hand.

"I'm Miko Hagashi." The newly named Miko said. Luke looked down at the hand in front of him and lightly grabbed it. He then took the time to study the girl. As he noted before she was slightly shorter than him, with hazel eyes, dark brown hair and a dainty figure.

"Luke Arikami." He replied as he shook it and turned back to the window.

"Did you find yourself?" She asked a couple seconds later. Luke shrugged in return.

"Hell if I know."

The journey continued like that, Miko would ask a question, Luke would answer and there would be silence for a little while.

A few hours later they had to make an unexpected stop.

They were heading up the Daath monument hill when one of the wheels came loose and fell off.

This was unfortunate as it caused the carriage to fall forward, the strain added by the sudden force caused the reigns holding the horses to snap. this wouldn't have been to bad, but the wooden beams holding the horses in place also snapped. The horses, startled by the noise, quickly started to gallop away from the carriage.

The occupants of the carriage were trying to untangle themselves from each other.

"Ahh that hurt." The eldest mumbled out as he got up.

"No shit." Said the other as he pulled himself off the ground.

Luke got on his feet and pulled Miko up as well.

"Thanks." She said with a smile.

"Don't mention it." He replied with a shrug. They all quickly got out of the carriage and looked at the coachman, who was inspecting the damages.

"I can't fix this by myself." The man said as he noticed them. "And since the horses ran away, we're not going anywhere."

"Damn." The eldest one swore. "How long will it take to get this repaired?"

"Since I can't do it alone, It just be better to head to Daath and I'll come back tomorrow to fix it." The coachman replied.

"I guess we're walking then." The other boy said. With that they gathered their stuff from the top of the coach and were about to hit the road.

"We may encounter monsters." The coachman told them. "Do any of you know how to fight?" Miko immediately nodded as she opened a large package that she was carrying. When she took the brown paper off she held a battle staff.

'It's one more for hitting then fonic artes.' Luke noticed as he looked at it. It was a large white rod with golden orbs at either end.

"Anyone else?" He asked, Luke shrugged 'Eh, what the hell.'

"I know how to use a sword." Luke said to the man, who nodded and grabbed two swords.

"I usually keep one as a spare, but circumstances change." Luke nodded as he took one from the man. It was a simple double edged sword that was as a bit shorter than his cutlass. He gave it a practise swing to get a feel for it. It was lighter than his cutlass, but nothing he couldn't work around.

"Hopefully we won't have too much trouble, but just in case." The coachman said as he pulled out a white bottle. "I have a couple of these with me, they should ward off most monster."

With that he opened the bottle.

"These things vary in how long they ward off monsters, we should move fast."

The rest just nodded and began walking.

Daath, late night.

It was thirty minutes to midnight when they had finally made it to the gates of Daath. They were panting from exhaustion as they walked into the huge city.

"Well, we made it." The coach man said as he regained his breath. "I'll show you the way to the dorms." The teens just nodded their consent and began to follow him.

It took them twenty five minutes to get to where the student housing was.

"Now you two." He pointed at Miko and Luke "Will be staying in that building for now." He pointed to the tallest housing building. "While you two." He pointed at the other boys. "Will be staying over there." He pointed to a smaller yet longer building.

Too tired to argue, they just nodded and walked to their pointed destinations.

Luke and Miko walked up to the door and knocked. The door opened and Miko walked in. Luke was about to follow her, when something made him stop.

The clock had struck midnight.

Luke looked around to see everything had a green tint to it, there was blood stains everywhere and everywhere he looked there was at least one coffin in his line of sight.

'What the hell?' He thought as he stared in shock. He shook his head and walked into the dorm, thinking it was just a hallucination.

Although dark, the green light provided enough light for him to see inside. He could make out a couch and table with a chair side it. Luke noticed a letter on the table.

Mr. Arikami and Miss Hagashi.

In case we are not awake due to circumstances. We would like to welcome you to the dorm.

On this letter you will find keys for your individual rooms.

Mr. Arikami's is on the right, while Miss Hagashi's is on the left.

We hope to see you tomorrow.

Annabelle Magus.

Luke put the letter down and started to look for his key.

'I don't see anything.' Luke thought as he searched the table. He was about to give up when a hand held a key out to him.

"Oh, thanks." Luke said as he looked at the owner of the arm.

It was a young boy with dark orange hair and green eyes that seemed to get brighter as they went up.

"No problem." The boy replied as the key was taken out of his hand.

"I guess I'll go to my room now." Luke said after a moment of silence. The boy held up a hand to stop him.

"Would you sign this first?" The boy asked as he laid a piece of paper on the table. Luke looked it over and was a bit surprised.

Normally when someone wants to sign something it had words all over it. But this just had one sentance.

The path that I choose is one of my own will.

Luke looked over at the boy, who smiled softly.

'In simplest terms, I guess it wants me to take responsibility for my actions.' Luke already planned on doing that, but a reminder never hurt.

With a pen the boy handed to him. He quickly signed his name and handed it to the boy.

"Keep it." The boy replied. "It will help your with your journey."

"Journey?" Luke asked. only to blink as the kid disappeared.

Luke stood there, staring into the spot the child was in, He shook his head and made his way upstairs.

Looking at the key he had, he determined his room was 3-5. He quickly made his way up the stairs and on to his floor.

He walked down to the end of the hallway and opened the door to his right. He immediately threw his bags aside and jumped onto the bed, after setting the alarm clock for 7:30. His eyes closed.

He opened them again when a blue light seemed to shine into them.

The first thing he saw was that the room was that it was a very dark blue.

The next thing he noticed was the man with an abnormally large nose smiling at him.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

And finished.

So that's it, the end of this chapter.

So review and tell me what you think.

I'm also looking for OC ideas and someone to bounce my ideas off of.

PM me if you have an OC or want to help me.