"All right. Everybody hurry up and escape. I'll stay here and free Lorelei." Luke said to everyone.
"Luke!" Tear said to him.
"It's my promise to Lorelei. This is what I need to do." He told her.
The others came and spoke with him, all giving him hope for a future that he wasn't even sure he had. But he knew he had to keep the act up, for his sake and for theirs, even if he disappeared as he freed Lorelei.
The worst though, was saying goodbye to Tear. There was much he wanted to tell her, but could not. She didn't deserve to know that someone who was going to disappear at any time loved her. The others had already left, but she remained behind.
"Come home!" She said to him.
"Tear..." Luke said back, as he realized just how hard it really was going to be, was she crying? It sure did appear to be so. Guess she's not as tough as she acts.
"You have to come home. You have to! I'll be waiting... always." She said to him, sobbing.
"I will. I promise. I'll come home." He told her.
Tear finally joins with the rest of his friends, they all look back until they see a column of light appear from where they left Luke, at that point, they realize they cannot stay any longer and make their way back to the Albiore and Noelle.
He had taken the key and thrust it into the ground, and Eldrant started crumbling around him, but oddly enough, not a thing harmed him, as some strange barrier appeared around him. Soon after, Asch's body fell into his arms. So he was indeed dead. It was all Luke could do to not cry, as he had said he would, since Asch was unable to keep his promise to survive.
The oddest thing though, was what was he trying to say before he died? He opened the channel between them for some reason, he never did it without a reason. But it looks like that reason died with him.
"At least now you are at peace, and it looks like soon I will be joining you. Guess we both can't keep our promises."
Then suddenly a strange figure appeared before him. Was that Lorelei?
"So the world did not vanish. To think, the future I saw would be rewritten. You have done admirably." The figure said. It was the same voice he had heard before so many times. But this time was different, he felt strange, not like the headaches from before, but more like something was leaving and coming together at the same time.
Lorelei then vanished. The barrier remained, however. Luke remained there for as long as he could, but the feeling he felt got stronger and he felt something even stranger, a movement. Could it be? No, it couldn't, the dead do not return.
Before he could find out though, he collapsed, still holding Asch in his arms.
Some time later, he regained consciousness. He still was a bit weak, but strong enough to stand. It was time to leave and to go home, as he promised. He went to pick up Asch's body, and was amazed at what he saw, Asch's eyes were wide open.
"Asch?"
"Luke? So you disappeared too then?" he said weakly. "No, that can't be, it wasn't this painful before. How could it be possible?"
Luke couldn't help himself, he hugged Asch, who groaned as if in pain. Luke could feel the tears rolling down his face now.
"Could you be more careful?" Asch said to him.
"I am so sorry! I was just so happy that you are alive that I couldn't help myself. Natalia will be ecstatic. You will tell her, right?" Luke asked him.
Asch thought for a moment. Would it be possible to return to his old life? It seemed accepted that he and Luke were brothers, so they could both return if they wanted to.
"Will you be returning to her? Or will you go to Tear instead?" Asch asked.
"You knew, didn't you?" Luke said.
"It's written all over your face when you look at her. And to answer your question, it seems I was granted a second chance to make things right, so I will take it." Asch told him.
Luke stood up and reached out his arm to help Asch up. Asch was able to stand, but was clutching his chest in pain. "We should leave this place and find some place for you to regain your strength to go back to her. I will help you, I promise you that."
"Thanks…Luke." Asch said to him.
"Wow, I think that's the first time you didn't call me replica!" Luke said amazed.
"You gained my respect when you beat me. I was amazed that it was possible for my replica to outdo me." Asch said.
"Asch, can I ask you something?" Luke asked him.
"What?" Asch asked him.
"Before you, before, um, well when you contacted me that last time, what were you intending to tell me?" Luke asked.
"That?" Asch thought a moment, trying to remember. "Would you believe that I was going to apologize for breaking my promise to you and Natalia?"
"Really?" Luke asked.
Asch nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here before monsters come and get us."
"Yeah. Lean on me for support, I will help you out of here til we can find someone to get us to a town. From what I remember, Engeve isn't too far off from this valley."
Asch placed his arm around Luke's shoulder and accepted his help out of the valley. It took some time, but they eventually found their way out and were able to find a coachman to take them to Engeve. There they stayed until Asch recovered completely, which was a long and slow process.