Chapter 21

No sooner had Tear and the others gotten to the bottom of the mines, did the tunnels begin to shake. Large cracks began to appear in the rock around them, and everyone had to struggle to stay on their feet. Only Ion, who had taken the lead claiming to know where the missing twins may be, somehow managed to maintain his balance and swiftly continued down into Akzeriuth's depths, with everyone else struggling to keep up with his pace.

"Ion, are you sure you know where they are?" Anise called after the Fon Master but got no reply.

"This is a dead end." Jade stated the obvious.

"This way." Ion replied, showing them a hidden arch in the wall. "Hurry, I fear we don't have much time, if any at all."

Everyone quickly slipped through the opening and into the room on the other side. Had it not been such a dire situation, Guy would have been ecstatic at the myriad of ancient technology present in the place, but now wasn't the time for such things. This room seemed to be the source of the collapse. They were already pushing their limits, dodging falling debris as they made their way down towards the center, and things were only getting worse.

"Ion, where are we?" Jade demanded, the severity in his tone making his message clear. It wasn't a question.

"This is a passage ring, built from Dawn Age technology to protect and operate the Sephiroth." Ion replied, not missing a pace as he sidestepped a small boulder that had dislodged from the ceiling.

"What makes you think they'd be here?" Jade questioned as they finally reached the lower platform.

"Luke!" Guy ran to his friend's side, everyone else not far behind.

"Luke what happened here? Luke? Luke!" But Luke wasn't answering. He was sitting on the floor, covered in dirt and debris, staring wide-eyed at a huge empty space enclosed by flickering and dying glyphs, lines drawn down his face where tears had once been. What in all of Auldrant had happened here?

"The passage ring is… gone?" Ion said in shock.

"Ion what will happen with the passage ring gone?" Jade demanded.

"The passage ring produces a pillar that supports this area! Without it, Akzeriuth is going to collapse."

"Oh no! What can we do?!" Anise cried.

"There isn't anything we can do now." Tear interjected. "Quick, everyone gather in close – I'll use a fonic hymn."

"Wait no!" Natalia cried grabbing Tear's sleeve. "What about Asch?! We have to go look for Asch!"

"We don't have time! The entire area's about to fall! If we wait any longer we'll all die!" Tear argued as Natalia clung to her even more desperately.

"No! You can't just leave him to die!" Natalia screamed. Jade forcefully pulled the princess off Tear as she began to sing. "No! Let go of me!" Natalia fought with all her might, her nails digging painfully into the Colonel's arm, but his grip held firm. "Asch! Asch!!!" Natalia's hysteric cries, laced in with Tear's sorrowful song, were the last thing anyone heard before everything went black.

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Luke slowly cracked his eyes open. He was lying against hard stone. Rocks and debris lay all around him, and miasma once again saturated the air. Where was he?

"He's waking up." Guy noted from where he was sitting on a nearby rock.

Luke slowly sat up and looked around him. Miasma clouded the horizon as far as the eye could see, sitting ominously on an endless purple sea. Pieces of wood and other broken debris lay among the rocks and stuck out of the nearby sludge. It was all that remained of Akzeriuth.

Everything that had happened suddenly crashed back down on Luke.

"Help." The faint cry drew the attention of the rest of the group that had been patiently waiting for Luke to awaken. They all scanned the empty horizon for the source of the plea when a faint movement caught their eye.

Trapped on a piece of wood, was a young boy pinned under the body of an older man. Luke immediately recognized him, it had been the man that he met at the entrance to Tunnel 14, the one who had gone home to help his wife and two boys, and now, his lifeless corpse was dragging his surviving son to his death.

"No Luke! Stop!" Tear yelled as Luke made a dash towards the boy. Guy instinctively grabbed Luke's arm before he reached the edge of the poisonous sea. "That's a bottomless sea of mud and miasma! You'll die if you jump in there!"

"I don't care! I have to save him!" Luke screamed, as Guy struggled to keep his grip. Luke was completely out of his mind. With a single swift movement, he brought Luke to the ground and pinned him down as Luke flailed under his weight.

"Let go! He's sinking! I have to do something!" Luke cried as he struggled under Guy's weight.

"Can I get some help here?!" Guy yelled, as the child's piercing cries for help were further driving Luke's desperation to get free.

"Someone… Help….it hurts…" The child wailed.

"Let me go! Let me go! He's going to die! I have to save him!" Luke continued to flail. It took Guy, Jade and Tear to hold down the frantic noble as he scrambled helplessly under the weight of his companions.

He couldn't move! The little boy choked and screamed as he sunk deeper into the miasma. No he had to do something! He had to- He had to-

The boy's screams silenced as the toxic sludge claimed yet another victim.

Tear got up, and Jade followed. Guy waited a moment before slowly letting up, just in case Luke decided to try and rescue the poor child from beneath the surface, but Luke didn't move. He remained face down in the mud, his entire body shaking as he sobbed. His white coat was torn and stained, his red hair was covered in mud and streaked crimson with dried blood. He was a mess, physically, mentally and emotionally. What had happened to him?

"What are we going to do? It's only a matter of time before this land sinks as well." Ion pointed out, after a moment's silence.

"I was going to suggest we employ that." Jade said pointing to the other end of the small island on which they were trapped.

"Hey! It's the Tartarus!" Anise exclaimed.

"That's right… wasn't it Legretta and Cantabile's units that were working on it? I suppose it makes sense that it was in Akzeriuth if both of them were hanging around." Guy pitched in.

"Did no one else survive?" Anise asked solemnly.

"I doubt it." Jade replied with an equal degree of seriousness. "Without Tear's hymn, I doubt any of us would have survived either."

"We should get out of here." Tear quietly suggested, "Ion's right, it's only a matter of time before the land we're on sinks as well."

"Luke?" Ion tried in vain to get his attention. Luke was once again oblivious to the rest of the world.

"I don't get it. I've never seen anyone like that before." Anise noted before turning to Guy, "Do you have any idea what-" The rest of her question was cut off as Guy solemnly nodded and pointed behind her where, not far away, Natalia was stumbling around among the rocks and debris.

"Asch? Asch! Can you hear me? Asch! Answer me! Please!! Asch?!" Natalia's desperate cries echoed in the emptiness of the Qliphoth. Anise bit her lip as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

"Let's get those two out of here," Jade suggested, his gaze shifting from the screaming princess to the broken young noble, "Before either of them get any more bright ideas."

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"Has he said anything?" Anise inquired. Ion softly shook his head.

"Not a word." They both turned to look at Luke. He was now sitting on the floor of the deck, leaning against the railing, staring aimlessly into the Qliphoth.

"So now what?" Guy inquired, as he returned his attention to the discussion he had been having with Tear, Jade, and Natalia, who had just joined them. The young princess was faring a bit better than Luke was, but under that strong front, she was almost just as broken.

"We've been sailing for quite some time now, and have yet to see anything." Ion pointed out, as he and Anise joined in the conversation.

"Are we really underground?" Natalia inquired.

"We are. This is known as the Qliphoth. Where we came from is known as the Outer Lands, and floats above the Qliphoth, supported by the Sephiroth." Tear provided.

"That's correct," Ion confirmed, "Two-thousand years ago, Auldrant was enveloped in miasma, and Yulia raised the lands with the Sephiroth to escape destruction."

"That was quite a brilliant plan." Jade admitted.

"Yes, she developed it after reading the Score." Ion continued, "Only those of Maestro rank or higher know of it, as well as those who are born in the Qliphoth."

"So you're from the Qliphoth then Tear?" Anise inquired.

"If you're from the Qliphoth, then there must be someplace that's inhabited." Jade pointed out.

"Yes, Yulia City is northeast of here. If we continue on this heading, we should eventually arrive there." Tear confirmed.

"Good. Now that that's settled, there's one more issue I'd like to resolve." Jade said, his gaze returning to Luke, who still hadn't so much as budged.

"What's that Colonel?"

"I want to know what happened in Akzeriuth." Jade replied, his statement directed at Luke. Luke didn't even acknowledge that anyone was speaking to him.

"Luke?" Guy asked gently, "What happened in Akzeriuth?" Still no answer.

"I know it must be difficult, but it's very important that we know." Ion tried.

"What about Van? What did my brother do?" Tear gave it a shot. But Luke didn't respond to any of them. He just continued to gaze out into the Qliphoth.

"Tear, we don't know for certain that Dorian General Grants was involved." Jade pointed out. "Aside from the words of the soldiers, we don't have any evidence that he was even in Akzeriuth, much less have been involved with the passage ring."

"No, it's just the sort of thing my brother would do."

"But Tear, where did he go then? Luke was the only one we found in the passage ring." Anise pointed out.

"I'm sorry," Mieu pitched in, hopping down off Luke's shoulder, "I don't know what happened either. I should have stayed with Master."

"It's not your fault Mieu." Ion consoled the little creature, "We had asked you to come with us to help light the torches. Don't blame yourself."

"So in the end, it looks like Luke's the only with any answers." Guy pointed out.

"Enough of this nonsense," Natalia mumbled as she bushed past the blonde who was all too eager to get out of her way. She grabbed Luke's collar and forced him to his feet. "Luke! What happened?!" She yelled, "What happened to Asch? Where is Asch?!"

"Asch is…" Every watched on in shock as Luke finally spoke, though the hysteria in his voice made their hair stand on end. "Asch is… Asch is gone."

"What do you mean Asch is gone?!" Natalia yelled. She let go of her hold on Luke's collar and he fell back to the ground, as if it had been the only thing keeping him standing.

"Luke…" Guy watched as Luke sat there, dazed and confused, mumbling something to himself as Natalia yelled at him. He had seen Luke upset before, he had seen Luke devastated before, but he had never ever seen his best friend like this. What could have possibly happened at Akzeriuth that could have made him like this? Then a horrible idea crossed his mind.

"No way…Luke… tell me… Tell me you didn't do this. Tell me this wasn't your fault." Guy managed, earning him a shocked look from everyone else.

"What did you do?!" Natalia renewed her tirade.

"I just…" Everyone fell silent as Luke stood up. "I just wanted to save everyone!" He finally yelled.

Looks of shock, apprehension, and downright disgust swept across the faces of Luke's companions: by defending his actions, he had proven his guilt.

"What were you thinking?! Why did you have to go and do anything?!" Natalia screamed as her voice broke further with every word. "Asch had everything under control! Everything was going just fine!"

"Asch couldn't have done it either-" Luke's statement was cut off as Natalia slapped him across the face.

"Is this some kind of sick competition for you?! I don't even want to look at you right now! Do you have any idea how many people just died?! And now because of you Asch is… Asch is-" Natalia could no longer fight back her emotions and fled into the Tartarus in tears.

"But I was just trying-"

"What were you thinking Luke?" Luke cringed as the reprimand came from his best friend. "How could you possibly think any of this could protect us?! I thought… I though you of all people would be better than that."

"But that's not-"

"Don't make excuses." Tear harshly cut him off.

"Aren't we being unfair?" Ion hesitantly intervened. "We haven't given Luke a chance to explain his side of the story."

"Don't bother Ion. He can explain all he wants, but it's not going to bring any of those people back to life." Anise spat. "I don't care what he says, it won't change the fact he mass murdered a whole city. Over what? Some stupid inferiority complex with his brother."

"But I wanted to protect them…" Luke cried desperately, his voice edging on insanity, "I was trying to protect Asch!"

"Don't you get it?!" Tear snapped, "Asch is dead! Asch is dead because of you! Now he's gone because you had to be the hero and try to save everyone all on your own! It doesn't matter what you meant to do! It doesn't change what you did do!"

Luke's eyes opened wide in shock, and the pain that her harsh words inflicted on him was as obvious as his trembling. But in spite of all that, for the first time, Tear didn't regret her words.

"But it wasn't… I didn't…" Luke muttered.

"Colonel, where are you going?" Anise inquired as Jade began to make his way back inside.

"I'm returning to the bridge, I've had enough of this." Jade replied curtly.

"Allow me to join you." Tear's voice came out venomous and her harsh gaze never left Luke.

"Yeah us too, I don't even want to be around him anymore." Anise agreed as she, Ion and Guy followed Jade and Tear inside.

"Luke…" Guy turned back for a moment, "No, never mind, It looks like I may have thought too much of you after all." And the last of Luke's friends, abandoned him.

"Why…." Luke mumbled "Why won't anyone believe me? Why won't anyone listen to me?" He yelled into the emptiness of the Qliphoth.

Wait, someone would understand. Asch would understand, Asch always understood. Asch would listen to him, and understand, and even if he yelled at him, it would always be because he understood and Luke still deserved it.

'Asch?'

Luke waited a moment.

'Asch?'

Again silence. But it wasn't the usual silence like when Asch was thinking, or just plain ignoring him; it was an empty, echoing silence. Asch simply wasn't there.

'Asch…where are you?' Tears slowly began to leak down his face. 'I…I need you. You said if I ever needed help…to just call and you'd come help me. Please…I… I don't know what to do anymore…'

The emptiness that followed his desperate plea wrought on him even more pain than his friend's accusations had. Luke completely broke down, sinking to the floor sobbing. Because thousands of lives had just been lost, lost because of him; because everything he had been hoping for had crashed down around him; because the people he cared about had just abandoned him, and maybe because for the first time in his life, he was truly alone.

"Master…" Mieu approached Luke and gently set one of his paws on his master's side. Luke continued to cry, oblivious to the young cheagle's presence. "I know I can't replace your brother…" The small creature began as he climbed up onto the young noble's lap, "but maybe…if I stay here with you…I can help some of the pain go away." He finished as he quietly curled up in Luke's lap.

It was all he could do for him. Maybe this way, at least, he wouldn't be completely alone.