Chapter 6: A Flame in the Night

"Do you suppose he's really asleep?" Tear asked Jade as she cautiously eyed Asch who was leaning against the wall of their cell with his eyes closed. He hadn't opened them in awhile and his breathing has become soft and rhythmic. Tear approached him to get a closer look, but as soon as she was within a foot of him, he opened his eyes. He didn't say a word, simply watching her, wondering what she wanted. Slightly embarrassed, she apologetically backed off. Asch glanced over at his sibling who was still out cold on the bed beside him, and once again closed his eyes.

Did Tear imagine it or was his gaze warmer than it had been before?

"Oh I imagine so," Jade replied once Tear had returned to the other end of the cell where he was patiently awaiting for Luke to regain consciousness.

"What makes you so sure?" Tear asked, still watching the slumbering boys. They really were identical; she just couldn't get over it. She had just begun to be able to tell them apart when awake. Asch was harder than Luke was; that was the only way she knew how to describe it. When he was asleep though, Asch's hardness and suspicion melted away, and they were both so peaceful, and so very alike.

"I would think it was rather obvious," Jade commented, pushing his glasses back up with his forefinger, "the boy must be exhausted."

"Why do you say that?" Tear wondered, made only more curious by Jade's taunt.

"Let me ask you this Tear, how long has it been since you and Luke disappeared from Baticul?"

"Well," Tear thought on it a moment. To be honest she wasn't too sure. There was no saying how long they had been out in Tataroo Valley before they had awoken. "At least two days, probably no more than three."

"And he met up with you in the Cheagle Woods. Have you ever heard of anyone making the journey from Baticul to Engeve in so short a time?"

"No, I haven't," Tear replied finally realizing what the Colonel was getting at.

"Neither have I. I highly doubt that he's slept much, if at all, to have made such a journey in so short a time. And exhausted several steeds in the process no doubt." Jade replied, his studious gaze never leaving the two boys.

"So what do you think?" Tear finally asked vaguely indicating the slumbering siblings.

"I think a great deal about many things, you're going to have to be more specific then that." Jade teased, knowing full well what she had meant.

"About them…" Tear said sheepishly.

"Oh I don't know," Jade said after a moment of silence, "they certainly are a lively pair. If I had to take my pick, I'd say Asch is the older one."

Tear rolled her eyes as Jade completely dodged her question. She didn't push the issue further. Whatever it was about them that held the Colonel's attention, he obviously didn't feel like divulging.

My….heed…my voice….Please! …

Asch reached up and held his throbbing head, the motion drawing the attention of both Jade and Tear who were now quietly waiting for the redheads to awaken. Luke also shuffled uncomfortably in his sleep, curling up and grasping at his head.

Now that was interesting. Jade watched the two, patiently awaiting Luke to come to. They really didn't have much time; action had to be taken soon. The two boys had proved to be an interesting enough study to keep his apprehension at bay for the time being, but there was no way of testing his theories just yet.

Luke slowly opened his eyes and sat up with a start. "...where-" Luke confusedly looked around the room, his nerves noticeably settling when his eyes met Asch. Luke reached up cradling his still aching head, fingering the lump that was partially the cause.

"Thank goodness," Tear let out a sigh of relief as Luke woke up. His continued state of unresponsiveness was beginning to worry her.

"A cabin aboard the Tartarus." Asch replied as Luke stood up out of the bed. Luke managed a weak smile at his sibling as he tried to remember the chain of events that led him to the place where he'd awoken, and then it all came crashing down on him.

"I-" but Luke hadn't gotten the other two words out before a blow sent him crashing to the ground. Luke glared back up at his assailant, whose hand was still clenched in a fist, his emerald green eyes narrow with fury.

"What the hell did you think you were doing up there?" Asch yelled, "You could have been killed!"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh I don't know, fight back maybe?"

"In case you didn't notice, those weren't monsters, those were people!"

"And what's your point? It doesn't make much difference what the hell killed you once you're dead!"

"But! Those were people…. I killed someone! These are human lives!" Luke yelled back on the verge of tears.

"So what? Its okay if they just kill you then? Stop and think for a second! If you think your life is that worthless, fine, but stop being so damn self-centered and think about the people around you who still need you!"

Luke fell silent and looked away, unable to face Asch. He knew Asch was right, but was it really kill or be killed? He didn't want to have to take anyone's life. Sure they might be his enemy... but they were someone's son, someone's brother or sister... they had families and people that cared about them too! He didn't want to kill. Not now, not ever. "But…" he finally spoke up, "They're people."

Asch let out a frustrated sigh. It was too damn hard to stay mad at him when he was like that. Sometimes he wondered if Luke knew and did it on purpose. No, Luke was genuinely bothered, and if he knew his brother, Luke was far more bothered than he was letting on.

"At the same time, if we fail, then a war will start, and more people will die. Things aren't as simple as not fighting and no one will get hurt." Asch said painfully. He wished, if only for Luke's sake, that the world really was that simple, and he missed the days when he believed it as such. No matter how much he wished for it, the reality was that the world wasn't so kind and as hard as it was going to be on his naïve little brother, it was the reality that they all had to deal with.

"He's right," Tear added. "On the battlefield, they won't hesitate to kill you if you don't kill them first. There is no good or evil, just life or death. And it's not just here. Even in everyday life, one could be attacked by monsters or bandits. Those who lack strength do things like hire mercenaries, travel together, or travel by coach. Those with the strength to fight do. Sometimes even children." Asch looked away. "People do what they must in order to survive."

"As much as I hate to interrupt such a magnificent opportunity for reflection on the meaning of life," Jade broke the restless silence that had settled over them, "But now that Luke has rejoined us in the land of the living, I'd like to discuss getting out of here, and getting Ion back."

"Ion?" Luke finally stood up off the ground, his worried gaze never leaving the colonel, "What happened to Ion?"

"According to the Oracle Knights we overheard, they took Ion away." Tear answered.

"The problem is that we don't have any idea where they took him." Asch added, pointing out the obvious problem.

Ion was captured. That fact drew Luke away from his moral dilemma, and gave him a problem to focus on. Not that it made him feel any better. He had abandoned Ion after promising to protect him. Luke wanted to save Ion and keep his promise. After all, he'd never had a friend before. "We have to save Ion! It's-I should have stayed with him, it's my fault he was captured" Luke declared.

"Don't be stupid, it's hardly your fault he was captured," Asch argued. "Besides, what would you have done if you had stayed? They probably would have just killed you."

"No, Anise would have tried to escape with Ion. If Ion was captured, then she likely failed in that regard. Either way, Ion would no longer have been in that room for you to attempt to protect." Jade also divulged.

"Do you think Anise is okay?" Tear asked.

"Oh I imagine so. I can't see anything happening to her. She is rather stubborn that way."

"So then what's the plan?" Asch asked; more then ready to get out of this score-forsaken place.

"Well, they should be returning soon, so the most logical plan of action would be to ambush them as they return and get back Ion."

"Okay then, so how are we getting out of here?"

"Ahh, leave that little detail to me." Jade grinned, taking what looked like a small fon-machine out of his pocket.

"Do I want to know what you're planning to do with that?" Asch asked one eyebrow arched.

"Let's find out," Jade replied, tossing the small machine over his shoulder. As soon as it hit the bars, it burst into a bright light and vanished, taking the cell's bars with it.

"Bastard," Asch spat as Jade made a run for one of the communication devices on the wall opposite their cell.

Jade ignored Asch's comment, instead yelling a series of commands into the device. What, did he actually think that there was someone left alive on the bridge to obey whatever orders he was giving? Nothing was going to come out of that. Asch only scowled at being proven wrong as, no sooner had he finished the command, then the entire ship seemed to shut down, from the dim lights that lit the halls to the ships engines that fell silent.

"I've initiated an emergency shutdown system. It should take them awhile to get things back up and running."

"So where do we head from here?" Tear asked.

"To the port hatch. It's the only one that will open manually."

"Then let's get going before anyone notices we've escaped," Asch stated.

"But... that means more fighting." Luke hesitantly pointed out.

"It can't be helped." Tear said matter-of-factly.

"But-!"

"Enough!" Asch cut in, "You want to save Ion but you don't want to fight. Has it crossed your mind that nothing that convenient exists in the real world? To rescue Ion, means fighting and killing the people that took him, and that have taken control of the Tartarus. Because if you don't kill them, they will kill you. There's no in between, no halfway; either you fight and kill to survive, or you die. And if you choose to die…" Asch trailed off, no one but Luke hearing the last whisper as they slowly made their way to the exit.

"…I'll never forgive you."

Then sun was just beginning to set as the four escapees opened the hatch on the port side of the Tartarus, whose engines still remained silent. They still had time. Luke found it hard to believe that just that morning, he and Tear had been heading up to the Cheagle woods to get back his locket. If he had known…. Oh who was he kidding, he would still have gone. As much as he complained about how embarrassing it was to be carrying around jewellery, it really was one of his greatest treasures, and he couldn't imagine leaving it behind.

"Get ready, here they come," Jade whispered.

The first thing Luke saw was Ion. He wasn't forcefully restrained or bound, but he was surrounded by an escort of about a dozen Oracle Knights. Beside him stood the pink-haired God-General, Arietta, accompanied by the same large liger they had seen near the bridge. A couple feet ahead of them stood the blonde God-General with another half-dozen soldiers or so.

"Can I help? Can I help?" Mieu bounced behind the group. Without even turning around, Asch grabbed Mieu mid bounce and rather forcefully put him back on the ground.

"Luke, make it be quiet."

"Be quiet," Luke dutifully ordered, "You'll give us away." He added, also keeping his eye on the approaching group. They were leery as they approached the ship, but as expected they proceeded straight to the hatch.

"Open the hatch!" The command came from the blonde.

"Yes Major Legretta!" Two Oracle Knights immediately obeyed the command, releasing the switch that opened the hatch.

Once the hatch was open, everything happened so fast, Luke had a hard time following. Jade was the first one out, spear in hand, coming down on Legretta. Legretta looked up at her assailant, but something was wrong. There was no look of shock or worry or anything of the like on her face. Rather, a grin, as if she had already achieved her victory.

A huge blue bird swooped in, sending Jade crashing to the ground. Asch and Tear jumped out of the hatch and were swarmed by several of the Oracle Knights.

"Damn that Cantabile for being right," Legretta muttered to herself before calling out. "Arietta!"

"Yes!" The young God-General replied needing no further instruction, "Come on Ion! We have to go now."

"No!" Jade attempted to get closer to Arietta but was cut short by a shot that just barely missed his foot.

"Not so fast Necromancer. You still have me to contend with." Legretta wasted no time pushing Jade back away from Ion who was being helped onto the liger's back. Jade took up the challenge, drawing both her attention, and her guns, away from the others. He could only hope they were bright enough to recognize the opportunity when they saw it.

Luke could only watch as the chaos unfolded before him. Ion was being taken away, everyone was fighting for their lives and he wasn't doing anything. Tear kept trying to use her hymns, but the Oracle Knights kept attacking her, not leaving her enough time to cast. Jade was completely caught up in surviving Legretta's onslaught while Asch was making every possible attempt to free himself and get to Ion, failing as soldier after soldier took him on.

One of the soldiers decided to take advantage of the fact that Luke was neither attacking nor defending, but was stopped mid-strike by Asch who had managed to fall back in time. It was like a dream; a reality in which he didn't belong. Nothing seemed real. Not the sword that Asch had plunged into the attacking knight, not the blood that pooled at his feet along with the crumpled soldier, not even Ion who was now almost out of sight, taken away by Arietta and her liger.

Asch took a moment to look over his shoulder. His gaze met Luke's. Though it was only for a second, time seemed to stop. Luke looked back, finding in his reflection, a piece of reality he could grasp a hold of.

He was being a burden. Everyone else was fighting so hard, trying to get Ion back, and yet here he was, the one who wanted to rescue Ion the most, doing nothing. No, doing worse than nothing. Not only was he doing nothing to help, but he was something else that they had to worry about. He couldn't even hold his own.

The clash of metal as Luke's sword met that of the Oracle Knight's was drowned out by the sound of battle around him, but he still felt the weight of the soldier under his blade. He couldn't afford to be a burden now. Two more soldiers had joined the fray around him he looked to his sibling for help but Asch was surrounded. Tear had managed to free herself from the fray but still had one knight to contend with, and Jade was doing a surprisingly good job keeping Legretta occupied.

One hit, then another, and another. One was disarmed, and then two of them were. As long as he stopped them, then maybe they wouldn't have to join the growing number of their lifeless companions littering the earth.

"Luke!" He heard the distracted Asch calling, still surrounded by his three opponents, "What are you doing? Finish them off!"

"But-"

One of the soldiers that Luke had disarmed, picking up a stray sword, had renewed his attack on the Kimlascan noble.

"Luke! Watch out!" Without even thinking, Tear jumped in front of Luke. She didn't know what had possessed her to do so. She hadn't been thinking. She promised she'd bring him home, and she had every intention of fulfilling that promise. In that brief moment of time, that was all that mattered.

"Tear!" The young melodist fell to her knees grasping the gash in her shoulder where the blade had landed. Luke stood frozen on the spot, his ineptitude in itself was bad enough, but to have it be the cause of suffering in his friends was downright unbearable.

Damn it, now Tear was hurt. Things were going from bad to worse. Asch was catching a glance over in Luke's direction whenever he could, and had caught the series of events. Luke was managing to hold up a weak defence, but he was beyond his breaking point, he wasn't going to last much longer, no matter how determined he was to protect his injured companion. It was all Asch could do to defend against the three on his tail.

From the corner of his eye, Asch saw one of the knights disarm Luke, its blade coming down on him. Distracted, he suddenly found himself under the descending blade of his own opponent.

The familiar sound of metal on metal sounded in the clearing and an enemy sword went flying through the air, sticking in the ground next to the lifeless body of its former wielder. The blond offered his hand to the redhead and helped him back to his feet. "Are you okay Luke?"

Blood trickled down Asch's arm where he hadn't quite managed to dodge the blow. He impaled his foe and swung around sending the lifeless body crashing into the other two knights who stumbled back giving him sometime to recover.

"G-Guy!" Asch heard Luke say in surprise at finding his best friend here of all places.

"It's good to see you're alright." Guy spun around, impaling the last soldier. Before he could return his attention to his best friend, another squadron of soldiers came out of the Tartarus. "There's no end to this!" A frustrated Guy yelled out after a few more minutes of fending off soldiers.

Then a soft melody came from behind them, slowly increasing in volumes until its entrancing melody started to subdue the attackers, including Legretta.

"Now!" Jade called as Legretta had become too drowsy to maintain her onslaught, subdued by Tear's fonic hymn. "We need to escape!"

"But what about rescuing Ion?"

"If we don't back down now, there won't be anyone left to rescue Ion," Jade pointed out.

"He's right, let's go! Come on Luke!" Guy called back to his friend.

Luke carefully helped Tear to her feet and led her after the others, away from the battlefield, the whole time unable to look her in the eye.

Once they were a safe distance from the Tartarus, everyone stopped to catch their breath. Well, everyone but Jade. Despite the ordeal they had just been through, he was as calm and collected as if he had just spent the day relaxing aboard the Tartarus. Once everyone else had regained their composure, their attention turned to the unexpected addition to their group.

The blond, Guy, as Luke had called him, was also observing them. His blue eyes weren't nearly as cold and suspicious as Asch's had been when they had met. He wore a smile, standing just a bit taller than the twins, and looking a few years older than them too. His orange vest and beige top stood out against the green bushes and trees that lined the clearing where they were taking shelter. Tear followed his gaze as it passed from her, to Jade, and then-

"You know you could have waited before taking off like that!" Guy yelled as soon as his eyes met Asch. "The rest of us were just as worried too, you know!" Asch cringed at Guy's steadily increasing volume. Asch cringed. Guy made Asch cringe. There are many things one only sees once in a lifetime, and that had just been one of them.

But in a moment, that apprehension was gone, replaced by scoff as Asch averted his gaze, pretending not to care in the least.

"Um…" Tear hesitantly interrupted, "I don't mean to be rude but…."

"Oh I'm sorry!" Guy smiled, the anger he had just displayed gone in a flash, "I haven't introduced myself have I? My name's Guy. I'm Luke's servant. I was sent by Duke Fabre to look for him after he disappeared from the manor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Tear." Tear approached Guy and offered her hand in greeting. As she stepped closer, Guy took a step back. Weird. She took another step, and another, and he kept moving back. Finally, she took a big step forward.

"Gyah!" Guy cried outright before diving behind Luke for protection. Now Tear was just confused.

"Sorry Tear," Luke apologized, a huge smirk on his face, "Guy doesn't like women."

"I'd say it looks more like a phobia." Jade noted amusedly.

"I'd say it looks pathetic" Asch looked down on the shaking mess that Guy had become, taking great pleasure in making him jump ten feet in the air just by placing his hand on Guy's shoulder. It was too easy, especially when he was such a nervous wreck.

"Hey!" Guy yelled at Asch after recovering from the heart failure Asch's little game always sent him into.

"Oh grow up and get over it, it's just a female. You're so pathetic."

"Oh come on, what kind of person picks on a guy when he's down like that. Besides, what's with you always sneaking up on me from behind? What kind of underhanded tactic is that?"

"A good one. And if you knew the first thing about swordsmanship, you'd know that."

Luke stifled a small laugh as the two continued to argue, the familiarity calming his rattled nerves. However, it did nothing about the growing pit in the bottom of his stomach.

"Can we stop here?" Luke hesitantly asked. They had been walking for a good hour and the sun was just starting to come down in the sky.

"There's still at least another couple hours of daylight, we should get as far as we can before nightfall." Asch replied.

"Yeah but…" Luke eyed Tear. She still hadn't recovered from their previous encounter, and she was very quickly tiring, despite her best efforts to hide it.

"Oh come on," Guy butt in, also noticing her depleting energy, "Let's stop here and rest. Tear's still hurt, and regardless we won't be getting there until tomorrow, why not stop for now."

"We need to put as much distance between us and them as we can." Asch looked to Jade for support. For all he disliked the man, he at least had some sense and should agree with him.

"I have no objections to stopping here." Jade simply shrugged. Asch took it back. He loathed the senseless bastard.

It didn't take them long to set up a makeshift camp. None of them had any extensive supplies, even Guy who hadn't his bags taken didn't have much. He made up for the lack by catching something in the nearby trees they could cook for supper. They wouldn't have any blankets or shelter to speak of, and the sun was setting quickly.

Tear watched them cook supper, Luke adamantly refusing her assistance when she offered it. Every time she attempted to do something, the redhead had it out of her hands before she could blink. He insisted she rest, she was the one injured after all, he could handle this much... the whole time refusing to look her in the eyes. Was he angry with her? Tear was left with little to do but contemplate Luke's strange behaviour as they all hustled about, doing their best to prepare for the upcoming night.

Asch and Luke had both gone searching for firewood in the standing of trees nearby, a difficult task in the growing darkness. They seemed to be doing a good enough job of it though, but for some reason Asch only ever came back with half the load Luke carried. It intrigued her for a moment until the firelight caught her a glimpse of his left arm. The sleeve was stained, and Tear recalled the injury. Luke had almost incurred a similar one, but Guy had been there to protect him. Asch hadn't been quite so fortunate.

"Asch," Tear called and the redhead came over. Luke hovered until Asch shooed him off for the last batch of wood. Tear couldn't help but smile at his eagerness, until his recent behaviour returned to mind.

"How are you feeling?" Asch asked, genuine concern in his voice. Tear's eyes met his and for the first time his gaze didn't make her nervous. Perhaps it was that she'd saved his sibling, but he seemed slightly more trusting of her. At the very least, he didn't look like he was ready to attack her at the first given opportunity to do so. It was some progress.

"I'm fine, really." She replied.

"You're as bad a liar as Luke is," Asch shot back.

"He must get it from you then," she said, putting her hand over his injured arm. Asch tried to jerk away but her other hand grabbed his wrist. A second later the gash on his arm had vanished, replaced by the warmth of fonons as they diffused into his skin.

"A Seventh Fonist," Asch mused, "That explains a lot."

"Don't lie, you knew as much."

"Yes and you should be saving your strength to tend to your own injuries," Asch replied.

"I'll be well enough to tend to them in the morning," Tear stated.

"You're as stubborn as he is too, no wonder you get along."

"W-What are you talking about?" Tear demanded.

"Nothing," Asch turned away. "Thanks," he added under his breath.

Watching him walk away, Tear was confused as ever. As hard as it was to understand Luke sometimes, Asch was a complete enigma. She had no idea what to make of him. Though he'd stopped regarding her with hatred, she still didn't know a thing about him, and that bothered her. He protected and guarded Luke with an eagerness that was frightening, but other than that she had no window into this person travelling with her.

"I'll take the first watch." Asch offered, putting down the final remnants of his make-shift supper. "I'll wake you up when it's your turn." He said to Jade.

"But at my age, it's important that I get a full night's sleep." Jade taunted.

Tear watched Asch scoff, firing a reply quicker than her wit would have allowed as he continued his banter with the Colonel. The boy who playfully taunted his little brother with a warmth he didn't know he betrayed or the boy who coldly shut himself off from the rest of the world. Which one was the real Asch, she wondered.

"Hey…Tear?" Luke sat down beside his companion tuning out the others behind them. The soft light of the fire betrayed just how tired Tear really was. Her eyes rose to meet him at the sound of his voice, but the motion brought to light the bright red crusted gash across her shoulder. Luke looked away, he couldn't stand to see her hurt, to see how worn out she was... knowing it was his fault, his ineptitude that had caused this. he didn't even deserve to talk to her, but there was something very important he had to do before his conscience outright smothered him.

"I'm sorry." Tear's voice surprised Luke, the words he wanted to offer her coming from her own mouth.

"What are you apologizing for? You're the one who got hurt because of me. I should be the one apologizing." Luke said softly.

"Don't be sorry," Tear's response surprised the apologetic Luke. "I knew you were a civilian, but I guess I didn't really realize what that meant. Asch seemed fine with everything so I assumed you would be as well; but it wasn't right for me to think that just because you look alike, that you would have had the same experiences. I'm... I'm truly sorry."

"Please don't apologize; you got hurt because of me. It's not right for you to be saying you're sorry to me." Luke's objection surprised Tear. Wasn't he upset with her all this time? Angry at her for not being considerate of his feelings and for not being willing to understand his perspective? He was right to be. The responsibility fell on her shoulders. Why did he object to her accepting it? She was the soldier, and it was her job to protect civilians. Her getting hurt was nothing more than proof of her lack of strength. She looked over at him, his chin resting on the knees he had his arms wrapped around. She gently put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Let's get some rest for tomorrow."

"Okay," he returned, forcing on a smile for her sake that was transparent at best.

Can't sleep?" Asch said seemingly into the darkness that their campfire kept at bay. Luke sat up, nodding solemnly. Without even turning to look, Asch motioned for Luke to come and take the place beside him.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, sitting back against a log staring out into the night. It was Asch who finally broke the silence with a soft sigh.

"I still remember." He said softly, looking up at the stars, "she had blue eyes."

Luke looked curiously at his sibling but didn't say a word. Asch met his gaze with a smile and continued to speak softly, perhaps as not to wake the others who were asleep behind them, or perhaps because to say it louder made it all the more real.

"I would have been 10. It was in the Inista Marsh, a group of bandits attacked me. I ended up killing all three of them." Asch went silent for awhile. Luke refrained from asking the tirade of questions that assaulted him, not the least of which being what on earth Asch had been doing alone in Inista Marsh at the age of ten. He didn't ask. This was something Asch had never spoken of before, not even to him.

"I didn't think much of it at first, they would have killed me had I not fought back. I remember...there was so much blood. I can still see her, the way she looked at me before she died, before I killed her." Asch trailed off.

"Asch?"

Asch stood alone in his doorway. Without a word, Asch walked in, dragging behind him his blue comforter.

"Asch what is it?" Still no answer.

Asch pulled the large stuffed animals off the bed and spread his comforter over the bed before crawling into bed with his younger sibling. The bed was just barely big enough for both of them.

"Asch? What's the matter?"

"Just…go to sleep."

Luke lay back down, dismissing Asch's strange behaviour from his mind, and allowed himself to slip back into a world of dreams.

Asch lay awake for a few more moments, unable to bring himself to close his eyes. He knew what would come if he did. Blood, pain, death, and those same blue eyes. But why? It had been over a year now. Why did it still haunt him like it was yesterday?

Luke rolled over, grabbing Asch's arm and laying his head on Asch's shoulder. Luke cuddled closer and Asch was grateful.

It was the only thing that stopped the shaking.

"Asch?"

Asch woke from the daze he was in to find the same comforting warmth on his arm. Luke moved his hand off Asch's arm when Asch returned his soft smile. "No. It's nothing."

"Can- Can I ask you something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"How did you deal with it? How…how did you go on…knowing...knowing what you did?"

This time it was Asch's hand that came to rest on his brother's arm. "Because I had a reason to go on. I had something I still had to do. I still had to come home." He offered with a soft smile that masked volumes of sorrow.

Luke thought on it for a moment. "I'll do it." He finally said.

"Do what?"

"I'll fight. I won't be a burden anymore. And if it means I have to kill to survive…then... then I will."

"You don't have to push yourself. We have more than enough fighting capacity to handle the majority if things we run into…" Asch trailed off as Luke softly shook his head.

"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." Luke said softly glancing behind him at Tear. "Do you think she'll be okay?" He asked apprehensively.

"She'll be fine. She's a seventh fonist after all. That injury isn't that bad. Once she gets some rest, she'll be more than capable of healing it on her own." Asch stopped for a moment, debating whether he wanted to continue. He let out a sigh. "Luke, there's something we need to talk about."

"What's that?" Luke asked, still keeping his voice down.

"About what happened back at the manor."

"You mean about that hyper…resonance…thing?"

Asch couldn't resist smile at that. "Yeah, that right."

"Yeah...I've been meaning to ask about that. What exactly is a hyperresonance anyway?"

"It's a reaction that happens when the Seventh Fonons of two Seventh Fonists interact. It's a very dangerous occurrence that normally happens under very special circumstances." Asch explained solemnly.

"What do you mean by normally?"

"I mean normally, because it's supposed to take two Seventh Fonists to occur. But you and I… we can cause one on our own."

"What?" Luke asked confusedly, not entirely sure what Asch meant.

"I don't know why…" Asch continued, staring at his hand, "All I know is that it's a power we both have, and that's it dangerous."

"So you can cause one of those hyperresonance by yourself?"

"That's right, and so can you."

"Me? Are you sure? I mean, this is the first I've heard of any of this. Why wouldn't anyone tell me?"

"To be honest, I don't think anyone thought you could, but more important than that, its something that's really dangerous, so…"

"No one trusted me." Luke said solemnly.

"No. It's a burden I was hoping you wouldn't have to bear. A power like this could easily be used as a weapon. A hyperresonance breaks down anything around it into the fonons that compose it. It's destructive, and that destruction is absolute. If you wanted to, you could wipe out an army in seconds."

"Why would I-"

"I'm not saying you would," Asch replied. "I'm just saying that's the kind of potential a hyperresonance has as a weapon. That's why, if anyone knew we could do this, we'd be constantly trying to escape people who want to use it for their own ends."

"So that's why..."

"That's why I've never told you about it. I really hoped that you wouldn't be dragged into this mess. I'd hoped that maybe you didn't have the same power, but then again I guess it isn't much surprise."

"I guess you're right," Luke agreed. He was a little angry at the fact Asch had never said anything, but more than upset, he felt for Asch who had carried this burden alone for so long.

"If that's the case, why are you going to teach me?" Luke asked.

"Because as dangerous as it is, it's much more dangerous if you can't control it."

Luke moved so he was sitting right beside Asch, his head leaning against his twin's shoulder. "Asch?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, it's going to be a lot of work... and I can't exactly have you end up blown halfway across the world again. It was a pain to track you down, you know that?" But Luke never answered; sound asleep on Asch's shoulder. Asch smiled.

Asch placed his hand gently on his brother's forearm and frowned. Despite Luke's resolve, his comforting gesture was the only thing that stopped the shaking.