"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

Oscar Wilde


Chapter 7: Mirrors

"Where the hell are we?"

Jade could hardly blame Alex, or any of them, for the disbelief. He could hardly believe it, himself.

Somehow, they had managed to find themselves underneath's Auldrant's crust.

The place was unappealing, to say the least. The sky was a deep shade of purple, with clouds of miasma everywhere they looked. As soon as the remains of Akzeriuth ended, a sea of what appeared to be thick mud and the violet poison began.

Somehow the Tartarus had managed to make it relatively unharmed; it was beside the land the group was on, somehow able to stay afloat. It truly was a sturdy craft.

"All I did was use my hyperresonance to get rid of the miasma," Jade vaguely heard Luke say; he chose to question him on that later, after they were safe. If they could even find safety.

"What the hell happened?!"

"I'll explain everything in due time," Ion replied, an understandable look of misery on his face, "I want to find as many survivors as we can."

Jade doubted there were any, but entertained the thought of looking. He was curious about how Ion seemed to know where they were.

They were surrounded by bodies, none of which appeared to be alive. It was truly unfortunate. Jade didn't think Luke needed to be babysat as much as he clearly had. Now, he wished he would have stayed with him.

He'd figured out too late why the vanguard he was informed of was missing. He should have suspected something from the start, but how could he have expected this? He was more concerned with Van's intentions. What could he possibly gain from destroying an entire town?

"Hey!" Guy yelled suddenly, pointing toward the thick sludge, "Over there!"

Jade turned his gaze in the direction he was pointing. He heard a gasp behind him.

"John..." Alex said in barely a whisper, covering her mouth with her hands as tears sprang to her eyes.

Jade suspected she had spoken to him while she was searching the street he assigned her for survivors. It was common knowledge to him, but perhaps he should have warned her not to develop any connections to the people she was trying to save. Or make any promises she might not be able to keep, if the look on her face was any indication. It only set her up for deeper pain if they failed.

He was floating on a wooden door in the sea of miasma, underneath the arm of an older man Jade recognized as Pyrope, the man he had spoken to about the situation when they had first made it to Akzeriuth.

"We have to help him!" Natalia said. She dashed in his direction as if she was going to try and swim to him. Tear grabbed her wrist before she could.

"Stop. You'll be swallowed by the miasma. Let's try healing artes from here. They might reach."

Just as she finished saying it, the door began to sink.

"Mommy... It hurts," John whimpered, "Daddy, it hurts..."

Guy attempted to reach him, but a lurch in the ground made him fall over, narrowly escaping a terrible death by the miasma himself.

"Dammit!" he yelled, punching the ground in anger as John was swallowed by the miasma.

That would be them soon if they didn't think of something.

Jade was pretty certain he would be the only one trying to think of that solution. Alex and Natalia stood crying behind him; Luke wasn't far from them, staring blankly ahead as Mieu attempted to get his attention. No one seemed particularly motivated to do anything.

"Is this place going to break apart, too?" Anise asked, eyes wide.

"If we stay here, we'll be swallowed as well," Jade said, "Let's board the Tartarus, it's managing to stay above the mud."

No one said anything in response. A few nodded, and they slowly filed into the landship. They were lucky it had fallen with them, or there would be no chance of survival.

Things were only made more depressing when they were on board. There were bodies strewn everywhere that belonged to Malkuth and Oracle soldiers, as well as some griffins and ligers. Blood stained the walls and floors of the landship, and its coppery stench was in the air along with the smell of rotting corpses.

It obviously hadn't been cleaned since the attack on them months ago, but that was the least of their worries.

Though the others were clearly appalled at the sight before them, Jade pushed on to the bridge. His main concern at the moment was finding out if the Tartarus could remain operational on top of the mud. If it couldn't, there was nothing they could do.

He vaguely noticed Alex and Natalia still crying softly behind him. It didn't surprise him – they were civilians, not soldiers. The others were better at hiding their emotions, though Anise and Ion were doing so with great difficulty, it seemed.

Everyone covered their mouths and noses as best they could to guard from the overwhelming stench in the air. They were relieved to find the air inside the bridge wasn't as bad.

"It looks like it will still run," Jade said, after checking the operation systems.

"There's a place called Yulia City here in the Qliphoth" Tear said, "It should be to the west. Let's try heading there."

"You seem to know a lot about this place," Jade replied, "I'd like to ask some questions once we're safe."

He also wanted to give the others some time to process everything before asking Tear and Ion to dump more information them. He doubted some of them could take much more, and he didn't particularly feel like dealing with any outbursts at the moment.

They settled into the bridge, and Jade enlisted the help of Guy and Tear in operating the Tartarus. They headed due west.

They continued in that direction for what seemed like an eternity, and no one tried to start a conversation.

Guy and Tear wore serious expressions, though there was no missing the subtle traces of grief on their faces. Ion and Anise were quietly speaking not far from them, both looking depressed. Natalia and Alex sat next to each other, but neither said a word to the other. Their faces were both red a puffy, and they stared straight ahead of them, appearing to be out of tears.

Luke was off in the corner with Mieu, away from everyone else. He looked tired and defeated, and a few years older.

Eventually, after hours of travel and nothing to show for it, Ion decided he was going to leave the cramped space in the bridge to move his legs. Anise, of course, insisted on following him, and one by one, the others tagged along.

It took a few minutes, but Luke followed them.

In any direction they looked, all they could see was the sea of death below them.

"No matter how far we go, there's nothing in sight..." Guy said, breaking the silence, "Are we really underground right now?"

Everyone turned to Tear; she seemed to know the most about the place.

"In a way..." she explained, "The place you live in is known down here as the 'Outer Lands' - the world's outer shell. It's a floating land supported by pillars called Sephiroth Trees' that extend from the Qliphoth."

"I never imagined I'd come to the Qliphoth like this..." Ion said quietly.

Natalia tilted her head, "I don't understand."

"Long ago, the Outer Lands were here in the Qliphoth."

Alex narrowed her eyes, "That just sounds impossible."

"Unbelievable," Anise agreed, "But we're here, so…"

"Two thousand years ago the miasma enveloped Auldrant and infected the land. That is when Yulia read the seven-part Score, finding a way to avoid destruction and bring prosperity."

"Based on the Score," Ion added, "Yulia proposed a way to raise the planet's crust using the Sephiroth."

"And that was the beginning of the Outer Land, huh?" Guy asked, "That's quite a story..."

"Yes. Only maestros and above in the Order know. As do those born in the Qliphoth."

"Then, you're from the Qliphoth, Tear?" Anise asked.

Tear didn't answer, and Alex spoke again, "I'm confused. Wouldn't raising the lands that high make the planet's crust break apart or something? How did the oceans stay floating in the Outer Lands if all these gaps in the crust opened up for the water to spill down to the Qliphoth?"

He wouldn't have quite phrased it that way, but it was still a good question. Auldrant wasn't flat.

They all looked at Tear for answers again.

She looked thoughtful as well, "To be honest, the only explanation I can think of is the Dividing Line."

"The Dividing Line?" Jade repeated.

Tear nodded, "Yes, it's an upward force created by the passage rings that keeps everything suspended in the air."

Passage rings? Really, she was only giving him more questions in place of answers.

"...At any rate, we've fallen down here," Ion said before Jade could inquire any further. He remembered Ion saying the reason the God-Generals had kidnapped him was confidential to the Order, and came to the conclusion that this had something to do with it. "We were saved thanks to Tear's hymn."

"Why did this happen?" Jade asked him, "You said Akzeriuth was supported by a pillar, correct?"

"Yes, but...that pillar disintegrated..."

Everyone's eyes slowly found their way to Luke.

He was shocked out of the quiet state he had been in when he noticed their eyes on him, "I didn't know anything about it! I was just trying to neutralize the miasma! He told me that if I caused a hyperresonance there, the miasma would disappear!"

"My brother deceived you," Tear told him, "And you destroyed the pillar supporting Akzeriuth."

His eyes widened, "No! Master Van wouldn't –"

"Van ordered you to stand next to the passage ring," Ion explained, "Those passage rings are what produce the pillars... Tear is probably right. I was careless, I never dreamed that Van would make Luke do such a thing..."

"I wish Luke had at least discussed this with us beforehand," Jade sighed, "Neutralizing the miasma could have at least waited until after the residents were evacuated." If it were even possible, he didn't add, "Of course, there's little point in saying this now."

"So you think this is my fault?"

"I can't say it's not," Alex replied quietly.

Natalia sighed, "Thousands of lives, lost in an instant."

"It's not my fault!" Luke shouted, "It's not! Master Van- Yeah! Master Van made me do it! It's Master Van's fault!"

Jade sighed. He wasn't entirely surprised after months of traveling with him that Luke was quick to assign the blame entirely on someone else. Even if he hadn't done it maliciously, even if he was manipulated by someone else the entire time, he at least could have owned up to his mistake.

But instead of wasting his breath explaining this to Luke, he walked toward the bridge.

"Colonel?" Tear asked.

"I'm returning to the bridge, if I stay here I may be irritated by some ridiculous ranting."

"What's your problem?" Luke shouted after him, "I tried to save Akzeriuth!"

But for all the wrong reasons, Jade thought but didn't say. Luke's reasons for wanting to save the town and its people were selfish. All he wanted was to be known as a hero, he never truly cared about the people themselves. If he had, he might have considered informing his comrades of Van's plan to neutralize the miasma.

The door shut behind him. One by one, the others followed him, varied looks of remorse and anger on their faces. Jade noticed Guy was the last one to enter the bridge, and he couldn't say he particularly missed Luke's presence with them.

Perhaps it wasn't fair of them to be assigning all the blame on him. It was a little hypocritical, considering they were partially upset with him for assigning all the blame on Van, who was the mastermind behind it all. He was only a more difficult scapegoat simply because he wasn't there to take everyone's pent-up frustrations out on.

Every fight, every dangerous situation, every night spent on the cold, hard ground. They'd put up with all of it because it got them closer to their goal of helping the people of Akzeriuth. In a matter of moments, Luke's blind faith in Van and lack of empathy for the people made every struggle they went through pointless, and killed thousands in the process.

Their emotions had reached their breaking points.

Still, no matter how angry and grief-stricken they all were, the blame could not be placed solely on Luke.

Jade was hardly innocent. If he had never invented Fomicry in the first place, it was possible they could have avoided this.

But if it was written in the Score…

It took another two days heading west before they saw the city Tear had mentioned. The trip was quiet and tense, and Jade decided that no amount of conversation starters Alex could come up with would help anyone's mood.

On the second day, Guy decided to take mercy on Luke. Alex followed shortly after, though she appeared slightly less willing to do so, and spoke to him much less often than Guy did. Jade wasn't sure if it was because of her feelings about Luke's actions or just a matter of what happened overall, as she wasn't particularly talkative with anyone else, either. She didn't appear as if she held animosity toward anyone, and looked more as if she were trapped inside her own head than anything else.

Ion appeared to want to speak with Luke as well, but every time he tried, Anise pulled him away.

As a result, Luke was spending quite a lot of time alone with Mieu when Guy couldn't find anything else to say to the redhead. Jade wondered if it was because of Luke's apparent depression that he was suddenly tolerable to the cheagle, who refused to leave his side.

Whenever Luke came up in conversation with the others, Guy was quick to jump to his defense.

"Don't bother talking to him, Ion," Anise said after Ion had looked in Luke's direction for the umpteenth time while they quietly ate. Luke sat on the other side of the bridge with Mieu. "He's not worth the time."

"Don't talk about Luke like that," Guy told her, "He didn't know what was going to happen."

"That's because he didn't think!"

Tear shook her head, "It's because he was so blindly trusting of my brother."

Alex's eyes flickered toward Tear, "Why wouldn't he be? He's known Van his whole life, he just met you a few months ago – and only because you made an attempt to take Van's life and accidentally kidnapped Luke in the process. I honestly can't think of any reason why he would trust you over Van."

It was the most she had spoken since Tear and Ion had explained the Qliphoth to them, and she did so quietly. Tear seemed too shocked to reply.

"I'm not saying you're a bad person or anything," Alex added quickly, "I just don't see why we should be blaming Luke for all of it."

Ion nodded, "I believe they're right. We shouldn't be so quick to judge Luke."

"Ion!" Anise exclaimed, "Thousands of people were killed!"

"I know that," Ion replied calmly, "And I agree it could have been prevented, but it wasn't done maliciously on Luke's part. We have to remember, the person behind it all was not Luke, but Van."

"I'm not saying Luke's actions were right, either, but he had no reason not to trust Van," Alex added, "All he had was Tear's word against Van's."

Guy nodded slowly, "He should have consulted with the rest of us, but Van made an effort to make Luke trust him over the years. We can't blame him for being manipulated when we didn't make enough of an effort to explain things, ourselves."

"We made all the effort in the world," Natalia replied easily, crossing her arms, "He only responded unfavorably to us because we didn't just tell him only what he wanted to hear."

"Thousands of people are dead because he didn't think before he acted," Anise huffed, "And you're seriously going to stand there and defend him?"

Something caught Jade's eye, and he decided it would be best to change the subject before it turned into a full debate. The last thing they needed was another argument amongst themselves.

"Is that Yulia City?" he asked Tear, adjusting his glasses and squinting to get a better look at the ball of light breaking through the clouds of miasma in the distance. He doubted it could be anything else.

Tear nodded, "Yes. It shouldn't take long for us to reach the city now."

"Oh, good," Anise sighed, "I don't how much more of this place I can take."

"At least that we can agree on," Alex replied quietly.


If it weren't for the place's surroundings, Yulia City would be magnificent. From a historical standpoint, it was brilliant for a reason entirely different from visual beauty and highly advanced technology that looked to be from the Dawn Age.

Once things had quieted down, Jade would have liked to ask around to learn more about the place. He was sure Peony would be interested in learning about the nature of the world, as well.

Jade walked ahead of the rest of the group as they entered. They were all relieved at finding land, though they felt no more relaxed than they had up until that point. The tense and depressing atmosphere continued to hang over their heads. No one said a word as they walked; Jade paid no attention to any of them, least of all Luke.

His attention needed to be solely on finding a way back up to the Outer Lands. He had no doubts there was one. Tear never would have entered the manor otherwise.

He was forced to pay more attention to the others around them when a furious man with long red hair strode past them, not hesitating to push them out of the way if they were to slow to move themselves.

"You're more pathetic than I thought, reject!"

He marched right up to Luke, not waiting for a response before dealing a heavy blow to the look-alike's face.

"Ow!" Luke shouted, rubbing his cheek as he pushed himself up off the ground, "What the hell was that for?!"

"What do you think?!"

"What are you doing here?! Where's Master Van?!"

Asch let out a harsh laugh, "You still call him 'Master' even after he's betrayed you?!"

Luke blinked, "...Betrayed me? Then, Master Van really did want me to destroy Akzeriuth?"

"Damn it! Why didn't you think before using your hyperresonance?!"

"S-so you're saying it's my fault, too?!"

Asch looked almost shocked that Luke would even suggest it wasn't, "Of course it's your fault! Don't even try to deny it!"

"It's not my fault!" Luke protested as he finally got off the ground to face Asch properly, "It's not my fault!"

Asch rolled his eyes, "Are all replica brains this defective?!"

"Replica? Master Van used the word replica too... What are you talking about?" Luke asked, a scared look on his face.

"You still haven't figured it out?!" Asch shouted.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Luke demanded.

"I'll tell you, Luke."

"Asch, stop!" Tear yelled. Jade spared her a glance. How long had she known?

Asch showed no intention of stopping, and Jade made no attempt to make him. He knew precisely what was being said. Had known all along. It was time the truth came out, perhaps it was the wake-up call Luke needed.

It wouldn't be easy news to take, however.

Jade shut his eyes. He almost didn't want to watch. If they knew that it was his research that allowed all of this to happen…

"Why do you think you and I have the same face?" Asch sneered.

"How the hell should I know?"

"I'm a noble who was born in Baticul. Seven years ago I was kidnapped by a villain named Van."

Luke's eyes widened, "You can't mean..."

"That's right! You're a second-rate copy of me! A mere replica!"

There was a pregnant pause among the group, along with differing reactions of shock.

"You're lying!" Luke eventually shouted.

He drew his blade and charged at Asch, the others all shouted for him to stop. The God-General didn't hesitate in pulling out his own sword, and had no difficulty in blocking all of Luke's attacks, even taunting him openly every time Luke tried to land a hit on him.

Asch grew bored of the display in no time, deftly landing one blow to the back of Luke's head, causing him to crumple in a heap on the ground.

Luke passed out, and Guy and Tear both rushed to prevent Asch from finishing him off, the others appeared to shocked, or indifferent, in some cases, to intervene.

Jade watched without a word as the chaos around him ensued.

Alex's head hurt.

The Qliphoth, the Outer Lands, and Van's betrayal. John, and of course every other occurrence in Akzeriuth.

And now Luke was a replica?

What the hell was she even supposed to think about all this?

Alex sighed and leaned against the railing a small distance from Tear's house, staring into the sea of miasma below. She was thankful for the invisible membrane around Yulia City that made the air breathable; she doubted the people of the city would have lived to this day otherwise.

Even so, she didn't know how people lived there day in and day out without going insane.

She had spent the morning so far in Tear's room, watching over Luke for any signs of change.

Alex didn't fully understand why he still hadn't woken up even after a whole day. Maybe it was the shock mixed with the exhaustion they all felt? He was more affected by everything than anyone else.

The others were all talking about going back to the Outer Lands, too, which was to be expected. But she didn't like the idea of leaving Luke all alone in the Qliphoth. She doubted Tear, as patient as she was, would be willing to look after him any further.

On the other hand, it was probably best for her and Natalia to get home as soon as they could, before Kimlasca could call what happened in Akzeriuth a declaration of war. Jade would likely need to get back to Malkuth to tell their emperor the same.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Asch leaving Tear's house, and she turned her head to watch him. He approached Natalia, who wasn't far away, and they started talking. Alex couldn't hear what was being said, but she wasn't blind to Natalia turning a slight shade of pink as she nervously spoke to Asch.

It did make sense for Natalia to act that way around him. It was now obvious that Asch was really the one who had made that promise to her.

The real question was if Asch would still want to marry her if she had spent the last few years thinking Luke was really him. That was a pretty major mistake, even if they all made it.

If anything, the princess should be confused right now. Just the other day she thought she was engaged to Luke, now they find out that Luke wasn't really Luke all along?

But who else could he be? It was easier to think of him as Luke and Asch as Asch. Luke had no other names to go by.

Alex turned her gaze back to the railing she was leaning on. She was certainly confused.

She didn't know what she would have done if she found out she was manipulated and lied to her whole life.

Even with how angry she was with him about Akzeriuth, Alex couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. It was strange, but she was more worried for him than for Asch, and the latter was the one that had his entire life stolen from him.

But Luke had never meant to steal it.

"What's up with you?"

She spared Asch a glance, and noticed he had been staring at her. Natalia was nowhere to be seen. "I can't be depressed in this place?"

She gestured to the sea of mud and miasma for good measure. He shrugged and went to walk away.

"Hey, Asch?" she called after him, before she knew what she was doing.

"What is it?" he asked. Alex wondered if he could say anything without sounding at least a little harsh.

She flinched, "Well..."

Asch narrowed his eyes, obviously impatient, "Spit it out! What do you want?"

Something in the back of her mind told her she couldn't really blame him for being so harsh with her. After all, she hadn't noticed when he was replaced with the Luke she helped raise. It wasn't exactly her fault either. None of them meant to shut him out of their lives.

"I was wondering what you planned on doing from now on. I mean, you tried to stop Van in Akzeriuth, so..."

"I have no intentions of getting friendly with that replica, if that's what you're suggesting."

Joining their group hadn't been what she was suggesting. She was only wondering if he was going to stay in the Oracle Knights. "Of course not-"

He cut across her before she could continue, "I work alone. I'm not working for Van any more, not after what just happened, but I won't be running around with you all either. What do you care what I do?"

"Why not go back to the manor? I'm sure Mother and Father would-"

"I'm not your brother," he said harshly, cutting across her again.

She narrowed her eyes; she didn't like being interrupted so often. "What?"

"I'm no longer Luke fon Fabre," he continued, "That replica is. You've already acknowledged that - you still call me Asch. I don't have a family any more, I lost them all to that dreck everyone's been calling Luke for the past seven years."

"Stop calling him dreck," she replied.

He scoffed, "If you want me to go back to the manor so much, what would he do?"

Alex blinked. She hadn't thought of that. Would he want to go back to the manor, knowing he was a replica? And she doubted Asch would want to be there if Luke was.

She didn't know what was going to happen from here, but it was their decision, not hers.

Instead of answering, she asked him something else. "Why didn't you just come home in the first place? Did Van make you stay in Daath?"

"You don't think I tried?" he asked without elaborating further. He turned and left, an irritated look on his face, before she could ask him anything else.

"Good talk," she muttered as she watched his retreating back.

It was strange wrapping her head around the fact that he was her brother. He was an enemy just hours ago.

Did she choose to trust him? She already knew she had to accompany him back to the Outer Lands with the others, but that was no reason to automatically trust him.

She was conflicted. He was supposed to be family, but he was also potentially an enemy.

Alex didn't even want to start thinking about where he fit into her life in terms of Luke. Asch was technically the original, but that didn't make Luke any less her brother. Having Asch back was no reason to shut Luke out of her life.

But if he didn't wake up soon, she would be leaving him behind in Akzeriuth. What kind of a sister did that?

She wanted to make sure Mohs couldn't start that war that brought the others to Kimlasca in the first place. She could come back for Luke later if she had to. There was no doubt that neither country could just dismiss Akzeriuth's destruction.

She couldn't take it any more, it was all too much.

"Where's a pillow when you need one?" she muttered as she buried her face in her hands. She didn't think about where she was, or how many people were in the area, she let it all out in the form of a frustrated cry.

It wasn't even that satisfying, she noted with a sigh.

Everything was silent for a while, until-

"Are you all right?" someone asked from behind her; she recognized the voice immediately.

Alex froze; she had completely forgotten where she was. She wasn't usually the type to get embarrassed, but as she turned around to face Guy she could feel her cheeks growing redder.

He looked both confused and concerned.

Why was it he was always around when she had those embarrassing moments? She looked around the area, hoping that there weren't too many people around. There were only a couple of bystanders, looking at her confusedly, but she didn't care so much about the people she would never see again. Natalia and Asch had left at some point.

Honestly, of all the people in their group to be around, it had to be him.

Granted, Jade would have been worse, but she cared less about his opinion than Guy's.

Great, now she was blushing and that only seemed to confuse him more.

She could really use a distraction.

"I'm fine," she finally replied, "I didn't think anyone was there…"

He gave her a look she couldn't quite explain, "How's your hand doing?"

"Honestly, I completely forgot about it," she looked down at the fingers Tear had healed for her. She tried flexing them, but they were difficult to move and felt tingly every time she tried. "My fingers are still numb."

"You're okay otherwise?"

She nodded, avoiding his gaze, "Honestly, we're lucky worst injury we got as a group were a few burned fingers."

"Yeah…" he replied slowly, scratching the back of his head, "Tear's hymns are pretty amazing. But that wasn't really what I meant."

"I know," Alex replied quietly, eyes on her feet. She was a little upset she couldn't avoid that subject. "I'm just really confused and frustrated right now. And I'm not even the one who's most affected by this! I don't really know what I'm supposed to think any more."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, talking to Asch... It feels weird. Like I shouldn't be talking to him," she began, crossing her arms. "Maybe because he was an enemy just a yesterday, and now he's my brother?" There was a pause, and she continued, "Even with how angry I am at Luke right now, he's still my brother and I don't love him any less for what happened... I feel like I should be more upset with him than I am. I don't know. I still don't really feel like talking to him right now, but I don't want to live him behind or anything, either."

He raised an eyebrow slightly, "You're contradicting yourself."

"I already told you, I'm confused," she said, rubbing her temples and trying to clear her thoughts. "I mean, even though Luke's a replica and a bit of an idiot, he's still my brother. He's been my brother for the past seven years. Why would that change now?"

Guy smiled slightly, and continued to listen.

"But Asch had his entire life stolen from him. So basically I just found out that I have two brothers..." she turned away from him and furiously tried to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes.

So much had happened in the past few hours, and everything just seemed to hit the pitiful redhead all at once.

The tiredness caused by weeks of traveling and fighting for their lives.

The powerlessness she felt in Akzeriuth; she kept seeing the remains of that poor infant whenever she closed her eyes.

The empty promise she made to John, her failure at keeping it.

The horror she'd seen on the Tartarus. Just thinking about it, she could smell the stench of blood and rotted flesh. Thank Yulia there was nothing in her system to throw up, or she would have vomited the second the memory came back to her. Guy had already seen enough of her weakness; she didn't care how understanding he was.

And most confusing, everything that had happened since Akzeriuth began falling. It was hard to wrap her head around it all.

Alex just wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and be left alone where the world couldn't touch her. What better place to do that than in a world underneath her own?

Apparently any place. Despite purple being her favorite color, she hated the Qliphoth.

"I just...don't know what to do right now."

Guy was suddenly looking a lot more concerned. Alex's attempt to hide her tears had obviously failed.

"Hey, it'll be all right," he said to her, "It's understandable to be confused by a situation like this. I mean, what we just went through was a lot."

Alex hated crying in front of people, especially when it was obvious how uncomfortable they felt witnessing it. Guy was trying hard to reassure her, but it was so obvious by the look on his face that he felt awkward.

She couldn't blame him.

"You probably just need something to do to keep your mind off things for now," he continued, "Jade wanted everyone to meet in the council room. It's not much to keep your mind focused on something else, but it's a start."

Alex nodded, willing herself to stop crying. Of course there was no point in thinking about it too much, that would only drive her insane.

"You're right," she said, "Sorry."

He smiled reassuringly at her, relieved her tears had slowed down. She wondered how could do that, considering the circumstances. "Don't be sorry. I'd be more worried if you weren't affected by it at all. It's a lot of information to process in a really short time - anyone would get stressed."

Alex blinked, "But you don't look that stressed."

He shrugged, "Everyone has different ways of dealing with their emotions."

"Okay…well, thanks," she said, trying to smile back at him. The movement of her lips felt foreign to her now. "Let's go then."

Quietly, they made their way to the council room. Yulia City wasn't exactly huge, so it didn't take too long. It was the first real opportunity for Alex to get a good look at the place. When she was looking around, she realized that there was a lot of fon tech everywhere she doubted she could see anywhere on the Outer Lands.

Even the doors weren't actually doors. They were more like waterfalls of light that people walked through. Alex assumed they acted as force fields when the people behind them didn't want visitors.

The place was truly magnificent, she was sure any fon machine buff would go insane just looking around.

"Hey," she said when the two of them were just outside the room, "I just thought of something."

Guy turned his head towards her, a questioning look on his face. "What is it?"

"This place has tons of fon machines," she said. A small, nervous smile appeared on his face. "Shouldn't you be going crazy…or something?"

"There's a lot going on right now," he replied simply, "It would be disrespectful to get excited about everything after what just happened. To be honest, I'm a little busy wrapping my head around things. I didn't really even realize there was this much fon tech until you pointed it out..."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, she could tell he was lying somewhat, "It's driving you crazy, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." he scratched the back of his head, "Guess I can't really hide it from you, huh?"

"I have known you for ten years," she said, raising an eyebrow. It somehow felt wrong, talking as if things were normal. She tried to ignore the pit in her stomach, but somehow that only made her feel even worse.

Once again, she was thinking of how helpless she was to save John, or anyone, and her shoulders fell. She doubted even Guy could cheer her up for a while. At least not while they stayed in their depressing surroundings.

"We should probably go in," Alex mumbled, pointing toward the strange waterfall of light that was the door, "Everyone's waiting for us."

Guy nodded slowly, looking at her carefully before they entered the room. Alex was surprised to not feel anything at all, though she wasn't sure what to expect when she first saw the doors.

"There you are," Jade said as they entered. He continued before they could apologize for taking so long. "We've been waiting for you, take a seat. Mayor Teodoro and I have thought of a way for us to get back to the Outer Lands."

"What do you mean, 'thought of'?" Alex asked, "Didn't Tear go to the Outer Lands from here? Asch had to get here somehow, too."

"We need the Tartarus," Asch replied simply, his arms crossed in his seat next to Natalia, "Aramis Spring isn't going to cut it."

Alex nodded slowly after she figured out Asch didn't have any intent to elaborate on whatever Aramis Spring was, other than the obvious fact that it was a spring. Alex was interested in knowing how it transported a person from one place to the other. She sat down on Natalia's other side, Guy taking the seat next to her.

She couldn't help but notice the glaring absence of Luke and Tear.

Even though she knew Luke was currently unconscious and Tear had no reason for going back up with them, she was slightly disappointed.

From the corner of her eye, she could tell that Guy wasn't exactly happy, either. His eyes were steadily rested on Asch in what could only be described as a glare.

What was that about?

"The Tartarus remains operational," Jade continued, "We will be taking that back to the Outer Lands."

"How?" Anise asked.

"You will use the Sephiroth Tree," Teodoro answered, as if it explained everything. Everyone exchanged confused looks, and he continued, "Tear has explained how the Sephiroth Trees hold up the Outer Lands, correct?"

They nodded, and Jade explained the rest for them in words they would all understand, "We will be using one of the Sephiroth Trees as a sort of elevator to lift the Tartarus back to the Outer Lands."

"Will it work?" Alex asked uncertainly.

"We'll find out when we try it, won't we?" Jade replied with a shrug. No one replied to him.

Without any further ado, the group left their seats and headed for the dock. Guy was walking unusually slowly, occasionally glancing back in the direction of Tear's home.

Alex slowed her pace to match his; the others didn't appear to even notice how much they were falling behind.

"What's wrong?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"We're really leaving Luke behind, then?"

"Yeah..." Alex replied awkwardly, "It feels wrong, doesn't it? I don't like this very much, either."

"I kind of figured," he said, looking back in the direction of the city, "I'm a bit worried about there being no one here to watch him."

"Tear's here. But she's probably too fed up with him right now to look after him... She's been babysitting him more than anyone for the past month or so - I'd be shocked if she wasn't annoyed. There's Mieu, though. I don't know how much help he'll be…"

Guy's lips quirked into a small smile.

"I don't know about you, but I'm worried about the war Mohs is trying to start," Alex said, "I want to make sure everything's okay up there. Are you staying?"

"No... I'm worried about that too; I can find a way to come back for Luke later once we know everything's calmed down. I want to keep an eye on Asch, and make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious."

Alex tilted her head, "You don't trust him?"

Guy cast her a glance, "No. He was our enemy for the longest time, and now he's not?"

"He seemed like he really wanted to save Akzeriuth, though…"

He shook his head, "Maybe. But I still don't trust him."

"Okay," she replied, noting the strange way he was watching Asch's back in front of them, "I understand."

"I can use that 'Aramis Spring' he mentioned earlier…however it works," he sighed, "Luke's going to face a lot after this. I want to be there with him when he does."

Alex nodded, "But I get to tag along when you do go get him."

"Wouldn't it be best to get back to Kimlasca and inform King Ingobert of what happened?"

"Natalia's enough to do that herself," she replied, "If she just tells them I'm still alive, it should be fine. It's not like I have any power, anyway. I'm more concerned about how Luke's going to react. He'll probably think we just abandoned him."

Even if her concern for Luke was real, she was making excuses not to go home. She hoped the state of the world was a good enough reason for her father to put off her meeting her suitors a little longer.

Guy shrugged, a small smile on his lips, "Fine by me."

Their conversation was cut short by Anise shouting at them from the dock. Alex was shocked at just how slow they had been moving.

"Hey! We'll just leave you two here if you don't move it!"

Although still somewhat reluctant to leave the city without Luke, they picked up their pace.


A/N: I realized something while rewriting this chapter: Why didn't Tear tell the others about Aramis Spring when they were looking for a way to get back? Obviously the game wanted us to have the Tartarus for a bit, but they could have at least addressed that somewhere?