Fatal-fame does not own Tales of the Abyss or anything else mentioned in this fic. This is a parody, not for profit.

By public demand I am going to continue this fic. Enjoy

Treasure Hunter

Time Will Tell

Next morning

Elei watched the waves crash into the ship he leaned on the railing. The sea was calm on the morning the ship set sail for…

'Where is this going?' Elei asked himself as he propped his chin on his hand. 'I should know, but I did ask for a ticket to "wherever". So it's not much of a surprise.' He noticed someone walking up behind him and tensed up, ready to grab his sword at a moments notice. He turned to a girl in a sailor suit that was given to the crew of the ship.

"It will be ten minutes until breakfast is served." She told him. "It would be advised to make your way down to the cafeteria now." Elei just nodded and headed towards the interior of the ship. He walked into the cafeteria and sat down far enough away from the other passengers, yet close enough that he could hear their conversations.

"Did you hear?" A man in the crowd asked another. "They say that the destruction of Akzeriuth will cause a war between Kimlasca and Malkuth."

"Is that right?" A man asked in return. "Going to Sheridan may be a bad idea then."

"I don't know." A female replied "If the flight experiments go as expected we can just hide in the sky."

"Or we can hide in the Meggiora Highlands." The first man responded. "Nobody ever goes there." Elei stopped listening at that point and went over the information that the was given.

'So Sheridan is conducting flight experiments.' Elei thought 'And the Meggiora Highlands are rarely traversed.'

'So I should find some good treasures there.' He concluded as he bite into an apple. 'Might as well see what these "flight experiments" are too.' With that thought in mind he finished his apple and headed for the door.

He had some time to kill.

Might as well practise a bit.

Port Sheridan, the next day

Elie quickly got off the boat, thanking the crew as he walked past them. He stepped into the port town. He looked up to see the rocky ridges of cliffs that went to the sky.

'I bet that's the Highlands.' Elie thought He turned his head to the right and saw a town in the distance.

'That must be Sheridan.' Elie realized, he looked up at the sky.

'I should make it there before nightfall.' Elie figured. With that the treasure hunter started to walk to Sheridan.

Sheridan, mid afternoon

Elie walked calmly into the city of craftsmen. He pushed his hat up so it wouldn't obstruct his view as he continued walking. His green eyes roved around, taking in the architecture.

'A place of hustle and bustle it seems.' Elie noted. 'Might have something interesting.'

The first thing he did was walk into the large building in the middle of town. There he saw three elderly people discussing something.

"If we place the hover drive here it should work." A brown skinned man said as he pointed to the plans, his eyebrows covering his eyes.

"I suppose." The other elderly man said as he held a hand to his chin, scratching his beard.

"It just might." The only female said as she bounced a meter stick off her shoulder and adjusted her glasses so they wouldn't fall.

'Maybe I came at a bad time.' Elie realized, he moved to quietly move out the door.

"Huh, who's there?" The man with the beard asked.

"Are you that blind? It's just a boy, Aston." The old woman stated as she poked him with her meter stick.

"That doesn't explain who he is, Tamara." The dark skinned man told her.

"My name is Elie Lore." The redhead told them as he walked in front of the table.

"I am Iemon." The man with huge eyebrows told him. "This is Aston." He said as he gestured to the other man. "And she is Tamara." He finished as he pointed at the old woman. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to know what these flight experiments are." The green eyed boy replied. He stopped in front of the table and looked up at the elderly trio.

"We are going to attach the hover drive to the albiore." Iemon told him. "In theory it should allow it to fly."

"I see." Elie replied as he looked at the blueprints. The fon machine seemed rather large from what he could tell, but another set of blueprints caught his eye.

"What's this?" He asked as he pointed to the blueprints of a smaller craft.

"Oh, that's a smaller flying machine known as a rheaird." Aston replied this time. "It was used by those in high class as a means to travel."

"We thought of making one." Tamara said, causing everyone to turn to her. "But the hover drive and flight stones we found were too powerful. It would wind up destroying both the rheaird and the flyer."

"So if one were to find a weaker hoverdrive and flightstone, I'm guessing there would be a good reward involved?" Elie asked, his tone seemingly casual.

"Well, I suppose so." Aston said as he brought a hand to his chin. "But that would only be if an independant person or group found it, as opposed to Kimlasca or Malkuth finding it." Elie made a note of the information and bowed his head slightly.

"I see, thank you for your time." Elie said as he brought his head up, he turned around and walked out the door.

"Why do you think he asked about a reward for a flight stone?" Tamara asked as she turned to her partners.

"He probably thought he could make a quick fortune by finding it." Iemon replied.

"I think it was more about what would happen if he were to find one. Then he wouldn't be cheated out of his find." Aston put in his two cents.

"We don't really have time to worry about it." Iemon said after a few moments silence. The other two nodded and the trio continued their work.

Elie walked out into the rays of the setting sun, taking notice of how high the sun was from the horizon.

'It's almost night.' Elie thought. 'Better get a room for tonight.'

With that Elie made his way to the inn, preparing for a long and tiring day when he awoke.

Sheridan Inn, middle of the night.

Elie awoke to a strange sound, yet one that he recognized immediately. He immediately grabbed his hat and covered his eyes with it.

'Hey, replica, where are you?' He heard his original ask. Elie just gritted his teeth and tried not to give into the pain.

"Nowhere you need to know." He replied, wanting to get rid of the connection.

'I asked you a question.' The other redhead responded.

"And I responded with a reasonable answer." Elie shot back.

'Why do you have to be such a dreck?' Asch asked with an angered sigh.

"Why do you think what I do is any of your business?" Elie asked in return.

'Look, just tell me where you are and I'll let you see your friends.' Asch tried. Elie's face then took a blank state, even though his other could not see it.

"Why the hell would you think me and them are friends?" Elie asked blankly.

'...Pardon?'

"If there is one thing I know for a fact, it's that friends don't abandon each other." Elie replied. "Besides they have you, the "real Luke." they don't want me."

'...I see.'

"Now leave me alone." He finished with venom, whether he did it himself or if Asch listened, the connection was cut.

After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Elie closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. He felt something wet running down his face and angrily moved his hat and wiped it away.

'No more tears." He told himself. 'They made their choice' he shifted so that he was laying on his side.

'And I made mine.'

Next day, The Tartarus

Asch walked into the helm of the giant landship, after giving the others polite greetings, sat down and started to help maneuver the giant vessel. He stared silently at the controls in front of him, before moving his hands on to them.

"So Asch…" Natalia started, but stopped as if she wasn't sure what to ask.

"Did you find out where he is?" Guy cut straight to the point. Natalia hesitantly nodded her agreement. Ion and Mieu seemed just as worried as Guy, while the others were just a little curious.

"No." Asch spoke firmly, his eyes not leaving the control panel. Before anyone could speak he continued. "He kept his eyes covered and my attempts to remove the obstructions didn't work."

"Did he tell you anything?" Ion asked, not noticing Anise's scowl.

"Not on his location." The redhead tried to end the conversation. It was in vain however as the next question was raised.

"He did tell you something then." Guy realized, his anger mounting at the other redhead.

"He told me that…" Asch didn't want to say what his replica had said, only because of how much it would hurt Natalia.

"What Asch?"

"He said he wasn't needed, since you had the "real Luke." Asch said quickly, hoping to minimize the damage. His efforts were in vain as Natalia let out a gasp and Guy stood up angrily from where he was sitting.

"What?" Guy yelled out. "How could he possibly think that?"

"In his own words." Asch started again. "Friends don't abandon each other."

And that was all it took for Guy to fall to his knees and realize.

Just how much he had failed his best friend.

Radassia, outside the Meggiora Highlands.

Elie stared up at the large cliffs that were the highlands. He took in a breath as he started to walk forward, towards his first steps into becoming a true treasure hunter.

He entered the large wasteland, his cloak blowing behind him as he walked. He drew his sword as he walked, daring any monster to cross his path.

His challenge was answered as a Hatchet Beak dove at him. He quickly dodged to the right and slashed it in half. He did a quick look around and dropped his stance to continue walking.

He wasn't sure how long he walked, or where he was for that matter, all he knew was that he had killed plenty of monsters.

'If this keeps up, I may have to become a mercenary.' He thought with a chuckle. He soon came across a cave in what seemed to be the westernmost part of the highlands.

Elie entered cautiously, using a fon-techlight to give him some sight. He walked slowly, not letting anything get past him.

Elie wasn't sure how long he had walked. All he knew was that the light that was at the entrance of the tunnel was nowhere to be seen.

His light started to flicker, making Elie lose concentration and sight for a second. That second proved harmful as he misstepped and fell off the side of the path he was on. He rolled for a few seconds before coming to an abrupt stop.

Elie grit his teeth as he got up. From what he could tell the fall just scratched him up, while not life threatening, was still an inconvenience.

He grabbed his light, which was not damaged from the fall, much to Elie's relief and confusion. He started to wave it around, as to find a way back up, but stopped on what looked like a rather large box.

'Gotta stop finding stuff by getting hurt.' He mused as he walked up to the box. From what he could tell it was fairly large and seemed to lean against the wall. It was metal, but father time had taken a big hammer to it. Green eyes scanned it for any openings he could find. Elie took notice it was on a hinge but wouldn't move. He then found the reason, a rusted lock was holding the door closed. The lock seemed to be a wheel with a bunch of numbers written on it. Elie studied the lock for a second before coming up with a solution.

The red haired teen pulled back his sword and hacked it off. The door opened as Elie gave himself a pat on the back for his clever thinking. Inside he found an machine that looked like a tube of some sort. Next to it was a yellow stone that seemed to be glowing slightly. Next to it seemed to be some sort of side bag with a pair of wings on it. Leaning on that was a decrepit book.

What really caught the new treasure hunters eyes was the pair of blades on the higher shelf. He grabbed both of them while taking note of the belt they were on top of.

They were two identical blades in the shape of triangles, with a red jewels by the hilt on both sides. The hilts were curved with a black soft coating over them. On top was a button just big enough for the boys thumb. He pressed them both at the same time and watched in fascination as they flashed for a second. When the light died down he found that now the blades weren't even blades at all.

They now seemed to be tubes of some sort, silver in colour with the red jewel on the sides. The handle sprouted a small lever the same colour as the tube. Elie looked at it from the side as he pushed it inwards. The moment the small lever clicked back into place a flash and a bang came from the tube. Elie stared at it in alarm for a second before he heard something hit part of the cave.

Elie stared at the weapon in his hand for a second before pointing it at the box. He pulled the lever again and watched as the end flashed and banged again. Just like the time before a sound rang out. Only this time it was against metal and far closer.

Elie looked down at the two weapons he was holding, he then pressed the buttons again and watched as they turned back into blades. Elie's green eyes began to fill with mirth as a smirk crossed his face.

'These are gonna be fun.' He decided.

And finished. I'm sorry this took so long to get out, I just have a lot of ideas and not enough time to get them all down.

Please review and tell me what you think.