New Beginnings

Luke felt like his was trapped in a whirlwind. Everything was spinning, he couldn't see anything, and Tear had disappeared. "Dammit… if this keeps up, I'm going to…." Before Luke could finish, he blacked out, hitting his head on what felt like the corner of a bed.

"….. lu…. Luke! Hey Luke, You alright?" Guy's voice broke through the blackness that was Luke's mind.

"Guy…? That you…?" Luke mumbled, finally gaining full consciousness.

"Thank goodness. Van's in the Meeting Hall with your dad. They needed to talk to you" Guy said with a smile as Luke stood up.

"Van… wait, master Van is here?!" Luke said, looking horrified.

"Whoa, Luke, what's with you? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Guy said with a laugh.

Someone knocked at the door. "Master Luke? Are you alright in there?" the voice sounded familiar… Actually it sounded just like…

"Shoot, I'd better get out of here. See ya Luke" Guy said as he jumped onto the windowsill and jumped down to the garden below.

"Master Luke?" The maid said again.

"Yeah I'm here… Come on in…" Luke said as he turned to see what the maid wanted. Then his jaw dropped as Tear walked in dressed as a maid.

"One word out of you about me being dressed like this and I'll kill you. It was the only way to get into this Manor" Tear said angrily.

"What the hell is going on here?! Guy said that Van is waiting for me in the Meeting Hall!" Luke shouted, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting on his bed to think.

"Luke, listen. When we… when we kissed we caused a hyperresonance on accident, but it was different then usual… this is the past… somehow we traveled back to when we first met…" Tear said, staring out Luke's window.

"WHAT?!?!?!?" Luke roared out. "WHAT THE HELL!!??! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?!?"

"Luke, please! Keep your voice down or-"

"Master Luke, is something wrong?" A maid asked, knocking on the door, "The Commandant is still waiting for you with his Grace"

"Oh, everything's alright! I'll be right there!" Luke said, waiting until the maid was gone. "Okay…. What do we do?"

"We have to try to repeat the past, but I think we can still use our knowledge of the future to help us" Tear explained.

"So… we have to cause another hyperresonance….?" Luke groaned, "Great… how do we know we'll end up in Tataroo Valley again…?"

"Everything should flow like before… I hope… now go see my brother and I'll attack like before. Just remember to attack me, and act like you don't know me, alright?" tear said as she headed for the door.

Luke nodded as Tear closed the door behind her. "Well, I'd better go see Van- I mean Master Van…" Luke said as he headed outside.

The sun was bright outside compared to the light entering his room. He headed out to the center of the courtyard and looked up at the sky. "I hope this all works…" he said as he turned and headed towards the west hallway.

"Ah, Master Luke!" one of the guards in the hallway said, saluting to him. "Good to see you smiling for once!" he said as he resumed his patrol of the halls.

"Huh…? Oh yeah…" Luke mumbled, almost forgetting this was the past. He opened the door to the Meeting Hall and stepped inside. "You wanted to see me father?" Luke said, not noticing he was still smiling.

"Ah Luke, there you are. Please, sit down" Duke Fabre said, "Good to see you smiling for once, too, Luke."

"As you know, I am the Commandant of the Order of Lorelei, so it is my duty to protect Fon Master Ion, who has gone missing…" Van began.

"Huh…? The Fon Master is missing….?" Luke said, trying to sound confused.

"I wouldn't have expected you to know who he was, Luke" Van said, eyeing Luke with a suspicious look.

'SHIT!' Luke thought to himself, "I-I heard some of the guards and maids talking about him once…. I thought he sounded important… so I guess I was right…!" Luke said, lying like crazy, 'Dammit I hope he believes that…!'

"Well it's good you know of him. Makes this a lot easier to explain. As Commandant, it is my duty to protect him, and find him when he goes missing, so I'm going to be leaving with the Oracle Knights to try to find him" Van explained.

"So that means… you won't be training me for a while…?" Luke asked, trying to sound upset. 'Dammit Jade was right… I can't act for shit!' he thought, sweating bullets on the inside.

"Yes Luke, but I'll have one of the knights come here to train you" Van said.

'okay… what did I say back when this really happened…? Oh yeah!' "But I want you to train me, Master Van!" Luke whined.

"Luke, don't be selfish. This is Van's duty" Duke Fabre scolded.

"But dear, Luke has been trapped in this mansion for the past seven years. You know how hard of a life he has!" Luke's mother said.

"Mother…" Luke said, trying to hold a smile back.

"You spoil him…" Duke Fabre grumbled.

"Don't worry Luke, we'll train hard enough today to make up for the entire time I'm gone" Van said, patting Luke on the back, his touch making Luke feel sick.

"Okay…" Luke said, trying his hardest to sound upset when he really was cheering inside. 'I can show off my Artes right before Tear and I have that Hyperresonance!'

The two of them walked out into the center of the courtyard. Luke noticed Guy talking to Pere. 'That's right… Pere was Guy's Mentor with the sword…'

"Luke, are you ready?" Van asked.

"Yes Master- aw I'm not fighting you?" Luke asked, kicking himself mentally afterward.

"You know you don't stand a chance against me, Luke. The wooden figure will be fine for now" Van said, "Now, you remember that Arte I taught you, right?"

"Yeah, the Fang Blade…" Luke said, smiling.

"Yes, now use that Arte on the wooden figure" Van commanded.

Tear watched from her perch on the roof of the Fabre Manor. 'Almost time…" she thought, then sighed as she watched Luke use the arts he learned in their journey rather than following Van's command.

"Hey Master Van! I learned something else in my spare time, and I want to show you!" Luke said happily.

"Really? Well then show me what you've got" Van said, crossing his arms, expecting Luke to mess up. He was wrong.

"Alright!" Luke cheered as he charged at the figure, "Rending Thrust!" He shouted as he stabbed the dummy then uppercut it, "Swallow Fury!" he shouted as he slashed the dummy, shot to the other side of it, slashed it upward, then rapidly switched from kicking and slashing it through the air before landing and turning to Van, smiling.

"Whoa, Luke, Even I can't pull that off! Where'd you learn that?!" Guy shouted at him.

"Yes Luke… That's a very difficult combo for a novice swordsman such as yourself…" Van said, giving him a weird look.

"Novice Swordsma-" Luke started, but was cut off by a familiar song.

"Tre ne ze qua lo tre ze…" Tear's hymn rang through the air.

"That… that voice…" Van said as he struggled to hold himself up.

"Dammit…. It's putting me to sleep… What are the guards doing!?" Guy said, also struggling.

"Has a Seventh Fonist invaded the Manor?!" Pere shouted.

Tear nodded to Luke, who was faking the symptoms, then jumped down to the courtyard. "I've found you Vandelesca, you traitor!" she shouted as she tried to strike Van down.

Van quickly blocked and shot to the side, knocking Tear toward Luke. "So… it's you Mystearica…" Van said, staggering again.

"Now….?" Luke whispered to Tear.

"Yes, now" Tear whispered back.

"Wh-who are you…?!" Luke said, raising his wooden sword, bringing it down on Tear.

Tear blocked, the two of them releasing a bright light. "Perfect…" she whispered, "Huh… I didn't expect another Seventh Fonist…"

"No! Luke!" Van shouted out as Luke and Tear disappeared in a burst of light.

"Dammit… Who was that, Van? You seemed to know her…" Guy said, getting up slowly.

"That was my sister, Mystearica… also known as Tear" Van explained.

"Van!" a woman's voice cried out.

"Huh? Princess Natalia? What are you doing here?" Guy asked the girl.

'Dammit… I'm too late…' she thought to herself. "I came to see Luke. Is he here?"

"No… he disappeared in a hyperresonance…" Van said as he stood up and began walking toward the Meeting Hall.

"A what?" Natalia asked, knowing full well what happened.

"That was a hyperresonance!?" Guy asked.

Van ignored both of them, heading into the west hall. 'Mystearica…. Why did you come here….?' He thought to himself.