Sacred Flame

A/N: Yes. It has been a long time since you all saw me, and no, I don't really have a good reason.
I had no idea what in the world I was going to do with the space inbetween the middle of this story and ending, as I had only written those two parts extensively. So I spent many days jotting notes down as they came to me, and this was the output. I'm still not telling the truth, because there really isn't a truth yet.

But there is the general idea of what's happening, and I'm pretty sure everything is going to match up nicely :D

The trio, Asch, Guy and Luke, all wandered aimlessly around the unknown Malkuth territory. They were a good day and a half away from the Malkuth capital, so Guy decided it would be a good idea to head their first.

There were some things still bothering the human members of their small party though, mostly about Luke's ability to change their ages and his lack of understanding as to why it happened. The Impostor kept up his smile and idle chatter as they walked a well traveled road, but he was wondering too… Was Lorelei as dangerous as he had once been?

If all it took was one thought from Luke to add at least ten years from their physical bodies, if Luke's anger ever surfaced, what would Lorelei do?

And Asch and Guy wondered the same thing.

"Do you want revenge against Van, for what he did to you?" Asch finally asked, curious to just how much hate Luke was possible of.

"I might. I want to know why he did it first, why would he force me into hibernation just to get to Lorelei? Impostor's like me can be trained to a variety of tasks, but instead he chose to create and then seal me away." Luke said, a deep frown marring his ever present smile.

You frowned as well, while Guy's face twisted up in confusion. The blond knew everything there was to know about artificial humans, about different companies and different models, and about how close The Order had come to replicating human beings.

But from his knowledge, it wasn't possible to seal away an impostor's mind, unless it had never been awakened to begin with…

"Do you remember anything Luke? Anything from before Ion and Anise found you?" Guy pulled back a bit, so he could walk on Luke's side, that wasn't occupied by Asch.

"Nothing… I don't believe I existed before Lorelei began to betray Van. I was starting to wake up, when Lorelei accidentally made contact with Asch, part of my consciousness was probably starting to influence Lorelei, and thus he sealed away his power to force me to wake up." Luke tugged uncomfortably at the leather collar around his neck, knowing very well that Guy and Asch were staring at him, astonished.

"Does… Lorelei tell you all this?" Asch questioned, a little wary of just what Luke knew and didn't know.

"He doesn't tell me a lot, to tell you the truth. He doesn't speak to me very much. Maybe I'm not supposed to speak to him, I don't really understand how it works…" Luke nervously scratched his cheek, hoping to drop the subject of his and Lorelei's connection, because even Luke wasn't too sure about it…

"I can tell you what I know…" Guy suggested, a little desperate to get a fuller understanding of Luke and the disembodied voice that occasionally speaks to him.

It's a little psychotic, having to remind himself that sometimes what he presumes is Lorelei's voice speaks to him, but wasn't about to complain to Lorelei. He could bury him so far under the earth he would be found…

Luke and Asch both turned their attention from the path in front of them to the blond caretaker, who was now doubling for their babysitter.

"Well, project Lorelei would have taken place long before you and I were born, the attempt to bring the only being known with the ability to eliminate the miasma and severely cut the monster's numbers down, and that was Lorelei. But Lorelei isn't human, and therefore can't even be created as a human; he would destroy himself to return to the Fon Belt.

"There was an idea, to give Lorelei a host, so he wouldn't be human, but the body his power inhabited would be. The only draw back would be that the human host chosen would become a slave to his creator's, as Lorelei wouldn't respond to anyone but the one with his exact fonic signature. So a being with Lorelei's fonic signature was created, and from what I understand, before you were awaken at two months, like all Impostor's are, your creator's bypassed the need for you, in exchange for your body, sealing you away inside of Lorelei to continue resting until awakened." Guy couldn't ignore the shocked stares he was being given from his left, so he didn't.

"What?" He questioned, trying his hardest not to laugh at how large Luke's eyes had become.

"How do you know all this!" Asch almost screeched, though he would later deny his voice can even reach that high.

"I worked in the order from the time of my home's destruction, I did some digging for the CEO, but unfortunately, that was the about the time they sealed her off into her own wing, so she had no communication with the outside world. I never would have guessed project Lorelei was the one used to destroy all those villages, or that Luke would be the project Lorelei…." Guy shrugged, continuing on past the shocked Asch and Luke.

"Yulia…" Luke suddenly whispered, drawing both his caretaker and twin's attention.

"Yes… That's the CEO's name…" Guy cautiously replied, wondering what significance the name held to the strange youth.

"She… is important… that's all." Luke turned away from his companions and continued down the path, not once looking back to see if they were following.

"Why is she important?" Luke asked Lorelei, in the burning village of Lorelei's prison.

"She can release me back to fon belt while leaving you intact here, thus restoring balance." Lorelei stretched lazily, laying back into the dried remains of a long burnt home.

"Is that… Good?" Luke cautiously sat down as well, trying to avoid getting ashes on his mental self.

"Eventually Luke, you will absorb the entirety of my being on Auldrant, which is incredibly important. When you do so, I can freely return to where I belong, and you can carry out my will, without me here to act out your will. I don't know right from wrong Luke, I'm very dangerous." Lorelei's golden eyes slipped closed as another building collapsed, the flames licking at its supports finally tearing away it's last legs.

Luke flinched as new embers rose to dance in the heated air, but he was growing unnaturally used to the destruction around him. Perhaps a bit desensitized, but Luke wasn't aware such a thing existed.

"You only want what I want, right? I'm not dangerous; I know to control myself, right? And if I don't ask you something, you don't have to do it… right?" Luke stretched out his legs, a little curious how his body was fairing without his consciousness there to steer it.

"Wrong, you are dangerous, and as long as this flawed relationship between the two of continues, I cannot deny your desires, unconscious or not. Did you ask to appear older?" Lorelei glanced at Luke out of the corner of his eye, awaiting the answer even though he knew it already.

Luke's eyes widened, as he tried to recall the brief conversation he had with Lorelei the night before, but he was unsuccessful at recalling the words he so desperately needed to hear.

"You didn't. I acted on your desire to make your journey easier, and thus, made the decision on my own. Until the seven fires of complete fonon control burn for you Luke, what we do is in the hands of your subconscious." Lorelei closed his eyes and allowed the overwhelming heat surrounding him to take a physical form. Six flames circled his body, while one empty lantern interrupted the rotation.

Luke nervously eyed his own surroundings, seeing the occasional flash of the lone flame as it danced around him. Six dull lanterns accompanied the single flame, each with a symbol corresponding to Lorelei.

"The Earth fonim…" The flames rotation stopped, revealing it's symbol to the curious redhead. It was a simple mountain, with a jagged line at the top, representing snow.

Lorelei nodded, stopping the rotation around him to reveal the empty lantern, with the identical symbol.

"When all seven lanterns burn for you, you will have my gift to you, your full power, and compensation for the life you have lived because of me. I have another gift for you, but only half of it is usable due to a flaw in my planning." Lorelei flicked his wrist and both sets of flames vanished, as Lorelei had control over small things in his domain.

"Is it the reason I can feel others pain?" Luke ran a hand through his hair, pulling on a bunch of tangles he found.

"My last gift to you, the last fire, is sealed away with someone very close to you. I had hoped that once he learned of me, it would be released, as it is the most powerful, but I was mistaken. I do not know the conditions needed to retrieve it, as I had no part in it's sealing…" Lorelei made a thoughtful noise, before stretching his limbs and sitting up.

"Time to return. You will encounter some monsters soon, and you will need the power of a fonim you have not unlocked yet. I gave you earth, to help your imminent journey, it was as simple as learning my true name really." Lorelei smiled at his own cleverness, or what he believed it to be.

Luke took the opportunity to notice that Lorelei had no tag like he did, even in his own mind he was never without his Impostor license and identification.

"Now go. You need wind, but will you be able to hear it as it desperately tries to break through to you? Hear it's voice and it's power is yours…" Lorelei gave Luke a rare smile as the burning village around him shattered, leaving Luke in the black void of his subconscious.

He blinked his eyes a few times, adjusting to the change of scenery as quickly as possible. Guy and Asch were walking silently beside him, unaware of his trip into Lorelei's domain.

"There are monsters ahead, we should be prepared… I believe confrontation is unavoidable…" Luke reached behind him to see if the old left-handed blade Guy had forced upon him was readily accessible.

Both Guy and Asch fell into their battle stances, but Luke back away, cautiously hiding himself behind his two companions.

Guy glanced over his shoulder, a little worried for the strangely silent Impostor, but his senses warned him danger was approaching. He pulled out the slightly dull blade he carried for sparring with Asch, and the noble did the same.

"Are you alright Luke?" Asch asked his twin a low voice, the monsters attempts at stealth were giving away their location, and no doubt their small party was all aware of their attackers' locations.

"I can't fight them…" Luke whispered back, his nerves screaming at him to run as the miasma beasts drew nearer. Guy and Asch tensed when Luke drew his sword awkwardly, but the Impostor only continued to hide himself behind his allies.

"What do you mean Luke! You have your sword! And you can use fonic artes much better then I can!" Asch shuddered when he heard another twig snap, a little off from where he heard the crunching of leaves a few seconds earlier.

"There is more then one Luke; we can't fend them off without you!" Guy moved back a bit, hoping to provide a bit more protection for Luke's terrified self.

"My earth fonons can't touch them! That's all I can use! And not even Lorelei can summon fonons with the barrier blocking everything else!" Luke gasped, squeezing his eyes shut when he realized his outburst had spurred their silent stalkers into action.

Four earth golems, of moderate strength burst through the tree line, and Luke was positive he felt the breeze still, erasing all chances he had at hearing the wind's voice.