[But Luke doesn't make it to them. He'd pulled so hard when there was no resistance that he'd fallen to his knees instead, and he finds his fingers digging into the ground - the ground, not the hard stone floor - as he stares ahead, sees Asch return to normal, sees their mother's corpse - bloody and pale and still so beautiful - fade into nothing. The sights and sounds of the war return, yet Luke does not move.
Instead, he feels tears spill over and stream down his face, and each breath he takes is like a shaky battle for air. It's not just the fact that he watched his mother get killed in front of him. It's not just the fact that the world he misses so much is gone.
It's Asch. Standing there with his back to Luke, his voice carrying a certain tone that Luke has never heard before. The fact that he was the one who had to do that, even though Luke swore that he would. The fact that he's back to his own life now, a life that was forced on him by a miserable replica who'd stolen his happiness.
A happiness that was stolen once again.
I did this.
This man standing before him right now, claiming his name - but that's not your name, that's not your name - the replica who didn't ask to be born made him into this.
...
What is he even doing here...?
Luke presses a hand against his face to try to calm himself down. He - He needs to get out of here. He needs to stay away from Asch. After what he did - He even pushes himself off of the ground and gets to his feet, unsteady as he feels. He's... He's probably the last thing Asch wants to see right now, and Luke should at least fulfill that.]
2/2
Instead, he feels tears spill over and stream down his face, and each breath he takes is like a shaky battle for air. It's not just the fact that he watched his mother get killed in front of him. It's not just the fact that the world he misses so much is gone.
It's Asch. Standing there with his back to Luke, his voice carrying a certain tone that Luke has never heard before. The fact that he was the one who had to do that, even though Luke swore that he would. The fact that he's back to his own life now, a life that was forced on him by a miserable replica who'd stolen his happiness.
A happiness that was stolen once again.
I did this.
This man standing before him right now, claiming his name - but that's not your name, that's not your name - the replica who didn't ask to be born made him into this.
...
What is he even doing here...?
Luke presses a hand against his face to try to calm himself down. He - He needs to get out of here. He needs to stay away from Asch. After what he did - He even pushes himself off of the ground and gets to his feet, unsteady as he feels. He's... He's probably the last thing Asch wants to see right now, and Luke should at least fulfill that.]