History Recap / TalesOfTheAbyss

-->''ND 2000: In Kimlasca shall be born one who inherits the power of Lorelei. He will be a boy of royal blood, with hair of red. He shall be called the light of the sacred flame, and he will lead Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to new prosperity.''\\

Since we're playing a video game and we need {{Padding}}, Luke learns from the scientists at Sheridan that their prototype, the ''Albiore'', went down during a test flight and needs someone to get spare parts to them. It's an atypical dungeon: it's on the World Map, and the World Map is poorly optimized, resulting in like 12 FPS on the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 release. It's also home to researchers Iemon, Aston and Tamara, who call themselves Class M, in contrast to Spinoza's "Class I" over in Belkend. Both groups are trios of crotchety older people, if admitted fontech geniuses, and the rivalry between them will continue to be a plot element going forward. Class M then run interference with suspicious Kimlascan soldiers, who (correctly) noticed a Malkuth colonel running around town, while pilot Noelle takes the party to St. Binah and completes the evacuation. The entire St. Binah region falls into the Qliphoth, kicking up a massive tidal wave of mud down below... but [[EverybodyLives not a single soul is lost]].

A recap of '''''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'''''.

! Act I

! Act II

! Act III

'''The End'''

The world of Auldrant is a world where everything is based in sound and there's a lot of music terminology. Six "Fonons," corresponding in order to [[CastingAShadow Darkness]], [[DishingOutDirt Earth]], [[BlowYouAway Wind]], [[MakingASplash Water]], [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and [[LightEmUp Light]], are the indivisible particles which make up the world. People who are magic-users can use the first six Fonons, but only some of them can use the Seventh, which directly controls [[MakeMeWannaShout Sound]], is involved in healing and regeneration magic, can read the planet's history and can be used to predict the future. About 2,000 years ago, a {{Seer|s}} named Yulia Jue read out a far-ranging prophecy (some of which is recited above) called the "Score," and mankind has lived in peace and harmony with it ever since. The Order of Lorelei, a church, has grown up around the Score and around making sure it comes true.

The party gets to the liger den, where the liger queen reposes. She declines to negotiate with Ion and the cheagles, and Tear resolves that MurderIsTheBestSolution. It's the first BossBattle of the game, and not an easy one: the Liger Queen has 10 times more HP than Luke and Tear put together. Oh, and then she starts [[BreathWeapon breathing lightning]]. The solution comes when Jade drops in: he's Lv.45 (your characters are like Lv.5 right now) and has 3 times more HP than Luke and Tear together. Though he has a BladeOnAStick he keeps in {{Hammerspace}} for melee situations, Jade is actually a SquishyWizard, capable of hurling devastating fonic artes at the enemy. He's also in his mid-thirties, which both explains his advanced level and blows the normal CompetenceZone straight out of the water. Luke and Tear run interference for Col. Curtiss while he pours on the hurt, easily chunking away 10% of the Liger Queen's HP with each spell.

The question of who is ultimately at fault is a complicated one. The simple fact is that Luke has every reason to trust Van, and Van -- being the BigBad -- [[ManipulativeBastard set it up that way on purpose]]. Expecting Luke, who is basically only seven years old and has spent at most 200 days ''actually outside his house'', to just magically become an ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter isn't precisely reasonable. Additionally, while others may be better judges of character, they aren't saying it out loud; Luke's accusations after the fight with Legretta -- that the other party members are keeping him LockedOutOfTheLoop -- are 100% accurate. (Keep reading to learn just how much it is in fact an ''{{understatement}}''.) Now, given Luke's maturity level ([[ManChild or lack thereof]]), it is also 100% ''justified'' that everyone keeps him talks over his head... but that doesn't change the fact that they let their distrust and distaste get away with them. And finally, there is one simple fact: the eight characters of the PlayerParty have just ''witnessed a WorldSundering''. The ones who weren't ShellShockedVeterans before, definitely are now. It's easy to [[NeverMyFault blame the person who ultimately pulled the trigger]] -- especially when that person was factually [[NeverMyFault tricked into pulling it]]. The most humbling part of the DarkestHour, as the other characters abandon Luke, is that not once has a ''single'' person ever acted OutOfCharacter. Each of them did what seemed best to them at the time... and the result was that PoorCommunicationKills, in a devastatingly literal fashion.

As Luke, having prepared for the mission and officially begun it, heads to the port, Major Legretta catches them in a cordon of Oracle Knights. Jade can't use magic because there are too many civilians without friend-or-foe markings... so the civilians, including Iemon and Tamara, throw themselves into the fray to MeatShield against the mooks. Of course, the civilians are unarmed. [[MoralEventHorizon Legretta orders them slaughtered]]. The same thing happens at the port as Van arrives; Spinoza watches in horror as Cathy and Hencken are killed. Nonetheless, the Jade Gang make it to the ''Tartarus'', and the ship begins its descent. All goes well until it's time to use the ''Albiore'' as an EscapePod: Sync has snuck on board and effected sabotage. During the BossBattle, his mask is knocked off, confirming what you might have suspected already: Sync is also a replica.

-->'''Tear''': I'm not interested in some ceremony in front of Luke's grave.\\

Who is he? Is it Luke? Is it Asch? Is it some new composite of both at once? And why, when the CentralTheme of the game is to ScrewDestiny and write your own ending, [[TrollingCreator did you think the creators would ever tell us]]?

The world of Auldrant is a world where everything is based in sound and there's a lot of music terminology. Six "Fonons," corresponding in order to [[CastingAShadow Darkness]], [[DishingOutDirt Earth]], [[BlowYouAway Wind]], [[MakingASplash Water]], [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and [[LightEmUp Light]], are the indivisible particles which make up the world. People who are magic-users can use the first six Fonons, but only some of them can use the Seventh, which directly controls [[MakeMeWannaShout Sound]], is involved in healing and regeneration magic, can read the planet's history and can be used to predict the future. About 2,000 years ago, a {{Seer}} named Yulia Jue read out a far-ranging prophecy (some of which is recited above) called the "Score," and mankind has lived in peace and harmony with it ever since. The Order of Lorelei, a church, has grown up around the Score and around making sure it comes true.

The world of Auldrant is a world where everything is based in sound and there's a lot of music terminology. Six "Fonons," corresponding in order to [[CastingAShadow Darkness]], [[DishingOutDirt Earth]], [[BlowYouAway Wind]], [[MakingASplash Water]], [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and [[LightEmUp Light]], are the indivisible particles which make up the world. People who are magic-users can use the first six Fonons, but only some of them can use the Seventh, which directly controls [[MakeMeWannaShout Sound]], is involved in healing and regeneration magic, can read the planet's history and can be used to predict the future. About 2,000 years ago, a prophetess named Yulia Jue read out a far-ranging prophecy (some of which is recited above) called the "Score," and mankind has lived in peace and harmony with it ever since. The Order of Lorelei, a church, has grown up around the Score and around making sure it comes true.

In Baticul, capitol city of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, '''Luke ''fon'' Fabre''' is an UpperClassTwit. A RoyalBrat, he's fourth in line to the throne... and has been kept locked in the mansion owned by his OverprotectiveDad and MyBelovedSmother. He also has weird headaches and hears a voice talking to him about him (Luke) being a fragment of his (the voice's) soul. This is apparently a recurring thing -- when '''Guy Cecil''', Luke's manservant and only friend, brings it up, he isn't surprised about them. Apparently, they have been occurring ever since Luke was kidnapped by the Malkuth Empire 7 years ago.

Luke's EstablishingCharacterMoment kicks in: ItsAllAboutMe. He wants Van to teach him and no one else. His mother Susanne surges to his rescue, claiming it's down to the trauma of the kidnapping, which inflicted LaserGuidedAmnesia and wiped his memory of his first 10 years of life -- and the boredom of, ever since returning, not being allowed to leave the mansion.

Luke and Tear encounter a coachman, who offers to take them to the capitol.[[note]]Coaches first became popular on Earth in the 1500s, suggesting Auldrant is at a technology level similar to UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance.[[/note]]. As they travel, Luke gets his first look at the rest of the world: the coach must swerve out of the way as another coach, this one occupied by bandits called the "Dark Wings," comes rushing onward, being pursued by a large hovercraft. Luke and Tear's coachman marvels at the sight of that hovercraft, the ''Tartarus'', Malkuth's latest and most powerful vehicle, and Luke panics at the discovery that he is deep in enemy territory: they're in Malkuth, and accidentally paid the fellow to take them to Grand Chokmah. They're also going to have to take the long way: The bandits [[BrokenBridge blew a bridge behind them]], cutting the coach off from the most direct route back to Kimlasca. Tear decides to have the guy drop them off in Engeve, the next village down the road, which serves as a logistics and foodstuffs center for Malkuth. The villagers explain to her that their next best route is to head south to the Kaitzur checkpoint.

Meanwhile, Luke is excited at his chance to check out a real city for the first time. Engeve is, of course, not a city, but remember, Luke hasn't left the manor in seven years, and he doesn't remember much, if anything, of the time before he was kidnapped. He's essentially seven years old. This is underlined when, at a vendor's stall, Luke grabs and eats an apple without having any concept of having to "pay" for it. Tear has to give him a crash course on the existence of commerce.

Ion, a short fellow with light-green hair, is a TagalongKid. He does not join the PlayerParty as a controllable combat asset, but nonetheless accompanies Luke as a NonPlayerCharacter through much of his journeys, providing a WorldHalfFull, RousseauWasRight counterbalance to Luke's self-centered naiveté and Tear's world-weary cynicism. While Tear at first objects to taking Ion into direct danger, Luke points out that he's too frail to be left alone. He also instructs Ion to stand back from the fighting. Maybe there's [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold A Heart Of Gold in this Jerk somewhere]].

Outside a hollow tree, Ion finds apples from Engeve, proving the "cheagles stole the food" theory. Inside that tree, they encounter the cheagle elder, who can speak with humans due to the power of the "Sorcerer's Ring," which was gifted to the cheagles by Yulia Jue when she first treated with them. The elder explains that a young cheagle accidentally started a fire in the north part of the forest, with the result that the "ligers" who normally live up there came down here, displacing the cheagles and necessitating the stealing of human food for use as tribute. Luke, having gotten to the bottom of the mystery, is ready to clear his name, but Tear points out that this could cause the ligers to attack Engeve instead, and Ion points out the town is a breadbasket for the whole world, not just Malkuth. Instead, he proposes to negotiate with the ligers, for which they will need an interpreter who wears the Sorcerer's Ring. The cheagle elder chooses... the young cheagle that started the fire. This cheagle, '''Mieu''', becomes the TeamMascot, to Tear's [[CutenessProximity secret glee]] and Luke's ire. Luke immediately calls him "Thing".

For those who aren't aware, the "Sorcerer's Ring" is a recurring tool in the ''Tales'' series. Typically it starts out by allowing the player to shoot fireballs -- in this case, it unlocks Mieu's native BreathWeapon -- and serves as a puzzle-solving tool by allowing players to burn away foliage or even stun oncoming enemies to avoid an encounter. In this case, Luke uses it to cross a river by (using Thing for) shooting fire at the roots of a rotten tree, forming a bridge. Of course, this short CutScene helps show the level of dysfunction in the crew:

'''Tear''': [[ExactWords I thought it was "nothing" for you]]. And stop yelling. (''formal tone'') Fon Master Ion, shall we be on our way?\\
'''Ion''': Oh, right. Luke, cheer up. Come on, let's get going.\\
'''Mieu''': Let's go.\\
'''Luke''': Shut up!\\
'''Mieu''': Mieuuuuuu...

Jade, having dispatched Anise to bring the ''Tartarus'' to the entrance of the forest, formally arrests Luke and Tear as the Seventh Fonists he's been looking for. Luke's father is not precisely loved within Malkuth due to the ongoing animosity between the countries -- what Kimlasca calls "a hero of the Hod War," Malkuth would call something very different -- so he has kept his identity secret until now; he reveals it to Jade, describing himself as "the one you guys tried to kidnap." (Anise, learning Luke is the heir apparent to a duchy, becomes [[GoldDigger instantly interested in him]]. [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior Anise is 13]].) Tear explains the hyperresonance, and Jade decides to release Luke, as his activities are certainly more consistent with "{{Hikikomori}} ShelteredAristocrat bumbling around as best he can" than "[[WithCatlikeTread covert operative]]".

(''Jade walks over and then kneels extravagantly'')\\

Almost the instant Luke agrees, the ''Tartarus'' comes under attack. In addition to a flock of organized monsters, the ship is boarded, with Luke literally running into one of them: a large and imposing man who addresses Col. Curtiss as "Jade the Necromancer." (Tear, despite her cultivated cool, is astonished at the epithet.) Jade, meanwhile, names the assailant as "'''Largo the Black Lion''', one of the six God-Generals of the Oracle Knights." The God-Generals are the QuirkyMinibossSquad of the game, so we'll be seeing them a lot. Since Jade is Lv.45, it's likely to be an easy fight... but Largo has a "fon slot seal," which {{depower}}s Jade back down to a mere Lv.5; from this point on, he works through the seal at -- [[BlatantLies undoubtedly by coincidence]] -- the same rate as the other party members, gaining levels in parallel. That said, Jade still has Tear, Anise, Mieu and his wits: he order Mieu to breathe fire and cause a TelepathicSprinklers distraction, and then stabs Largo with his spear. He sends Anise to secure Fon Master Ion, while he and Tear resolve to take back the ship -- after a bit of prodding towards Luke; if Luke was shaken to have to kill unborn ligers, he's positively catatonic at the sight of human blood being spilled. It ''is'' the first time Luke has ever seen a human be violent towards another human.

Outside the bridge, Tear uses her fonic hymn to put a {{Mook}} to sleep. She and Jade take back the ship while Luke is assigned to stand guard. Unfortunately, Luke's bickering with Mieu wakes the guard. Luke, who has problems even seeing blood spilled, must defend himself in a life-or-death combat situation. Tear and Jade, emerging to see the commotion was, find Luke in a full-blown "TheseHandsHaveKilled" funk... but are interrupted by someone new:

The newcomer wears a black BadassLongcoat and wields a black sword, whereas Luke's are white (and silver). The newcomer has a mane of long red hair, same as Luke. The newcomer wears his sword for a right-hand draw, whereas Luke swings with his left. He is only seen from the back, so we don't know what his face looks like, but he does have the same voice actor as Luke (either Creator/ChihiroSuzuki in the original Japanese or Creator/YuriLowenthal in the English dub). [[NoticeThis This will be important later]].

Outside, Jade manages to get the drop on "Major '''Legretta'''," one of the Six God-Generals, who currently has Ion hostage and is bringing him back to the ''Tartarus''. Jade gets her to drop her guns... but the party is attacked from behind by another of them, "'''Arietta'''," TheBeastmaster who controls wild animals. ''That'' standoff is disrupted by, of all people, Guy, who disarms Legretta via GoombaStomp. Legretta and Arietta, who still takes Ion's orders, go back inside the ''Tartarus'', and Jade seals them in. Ion admits that he lost the letter, but it's possible Anise has it, and if so she will rendezvous with them at St. Binah, a town to the southeast.

The party must cross the Fubras River to get to Kaitzur. Here they encounter Arietta the Wild, who corners them with ligers. She is here to avenge the liger queen, whom she calls "Mommy." (Ion explains that she was [[RaisedByWolves Raised By Ligers]] after being orphaned in the Hod War.) Unfortunately, the standoff is interrupted by a convenient earthquake... and less-convenient miasma, a FogOfDoom that kills you if you breathe too much of it. Arietta and the ligers get knocked out, while Tear uses a fonic hymn -- not just any fonic hymn, but one of the seven hymns composed by Yulia Jue, which very few are skilled enough to learn -- to neutralize the stuff. Jade prepares to kill Arietta, unwilling to leave a live enemy behind him, but entreaties from Luke ("YouMonster") and Ion (Arietta is one of his Guardians) stay his hand. After they leave, Jade questions Tear about Yulia's hymns, and Tear admits that she can only use them because she -- and therefore, Master Van -- are supposedly descended from Yulia herself.

Luke's party make it through the checkpoint and then to Kaitzur Naval Port, where they'll take a ship back to the Kimlascan mainland. However, the port is under attack by (as Anise calls her) "Gloomietta." Arietta has attacked the ships at the port -- apparently, under Asch's orders -- and has kidnapped the engineer who can repair them. She and Asch are holding that engineer hostage at Choral Castle. The castle apparently used to be Duke Fabre's vacation home, but Luke has no memory of it -- despite this being the place they found him after he was kidnapped. In any case, it's FetchQuest time.

While he is alone there, Luke suffers another Voice Headache, where the voice takes control of his body and begs him to "Show me your power... The same power as mine". The two are interrupted by Van, who applies a CooldownHug and gets Luke to focus. Van diagnoses Luke as having been attempting to create a hyperresonance. He explains that Luke is the only person on the planet who can do this ''by himself'' (whereas normal Seventh Fonists like Tear have to work in pairs to do it), and that his power is why he's been shut up in the mansion for as long as he can remember. A "hyperresonance" allows the wielder to become a RealityWarper: "It can destroy and reform any matter. ... It would be useful as a weapon." He paints the picture of Luke's future: betrothed to the Heir Apparent, Princess Natalia, to become King Consort, kept a GildedCage. He promises Luke that if they succeed at ending the current war, Luke will be hailed as a hero and will escape confinement. Luke likes the sound of that.

In Chesedonia, Van points the group at the head of a local merchants' guild named Astor, who has a computer old enough that it still takes [=CD-ROMs=]; Astor prints out the contents and puts them in three-ring binders for Guy. Just in time, too: as the party heads to the Kimlascan Consulate, there to board a ship to Baticul, Sync drops by. He pastes some sort of purple energy on Guy's arm and makes off with the CD-ROM. He explains to Dist that the purple energy is a "curse slot": "I can make him my puppet at any time. As for you, make sure you properly dispose of those documents from the fomicry project."

Almost immediately, he runs into '''Princess Natalia''' Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. She is... Well, if we're honest, she's a lot like Luke was when we first started the game: largely self-centered, and dismissive of other people's issues; she starts by criticizing Luke, and then Guy for not consulting her before heading off after Luke (ignoring that Guy, as a servant, can't just waltz in and chat with the heir presumptive) ''and'' for dodging away when she steps near him (ignoring that even Post-Dramatic Stress Disorder doesn't go away simply because the princess orders it to). (It's a bit crazy to think that Luke has actually had some CharacterDevelopment at this point, given that the player may be a mere five hours into the game.) That said, she's also SpoiledSweet in a way RoyalBrat Luke simply is not.

Natalia has the latest news, though: Master Van is now a wanted criminal in Kimlasca, by orders of King Ingobert, under the suspicion that he orchestrated Luke's kidnapping. Natalia promises to (try to) do something about it... though, as a return favor, she requests Luke make good on his ChildhoodMarriagePromise. (You know, the one he doesn't remember making. Natalia's dismissive of ''that'' too. Suddenly, Luke's JerkAss behavior gets put in a completely different light. Natalia doesn't mean anything negative by it -- it's clear she genuinely wants to marry Luke -- but she's essentially {{gaslighting}} him into doing so.)

But it's enough to convince King Ingobert and Duke Fabre... not to mention Luke himself, who still has Van's promises of Luke's heroism ringing in his ears. He agrees to the position, to be accompanied by Guy, Tear, Jade and Natalia herself, and then heads down to see Van. (It also explains why people are so willing to go along with the Score: "BecauseDestinySaysSo" is a lot more palatable when you're mentioned by name.)

'''Jade''': ...Whose idea was it? Was it Dist's?\\
'''Legretta''': Are you talking about fomicry? What good would it do you to know? The die has been cast, Necromancer! (''she uses a [[BlindedByTheLight flashbang]] to escape'')\\

Akzeriuth is a mining town dug deep into the ground. Natalia, a PoliticallyActivePrincess with ChronicHeroSyndrome, immediately gets to work helping the ailing townsfolk. Meanwhile, an Oracle Knight reports to Fon Master Ion that they believe the Seventh Fonstone is here; Tear is detailed off to authentify it, leaving the party, while the rest descend into one of the tunnels where Van is attempting to rescue some trapped miners. However, when they reach the bottom, they can't find Van or his troops anywhere... And Luke gets another Voice Headache Telepathy message from Asch: "Don't go any further. Stop, before it's too late! Listen to me!!"

Luke, ignoring him, meets Van at a very colorful door. It's another Sephiroth seal. Van wants it open, but Ion -- Fon Master Ion, who has yet to say an unkind word to anyone ever -- [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness hesitates]]. Luke finally cajoles him into complying. Despite Asch's warnings, which are now verging into genuine panic -- "Are you trying to destroy Akzeriuth?!" -- Luke forges ahead, following Van and Ion into the fontech chamber built around / into / atop the Sephiroth... secure in Van's confidence that he, Luke, is TheChosenOne.

Below, Van is having Luke use hyperresonance to inscribe new markings into the Sephiroth Tree. He also makes use of a hypnotic command he implanted in Luke during their CooldownHug on the ferry: Using the command, "Foolish Replica Luke, release your power!," he causes Luke to open all his fon slots and cause a hyperresonance. As he does, we smash back to Tear: "Van is planning to destroy Akzeriuth!"

The Sephiroth Tree has been successfully modified, and the chamber begins to crumble. "You've finally proven useful, replica," Van tells Luke. Asch runs in, too late to stop Van, but is unexpectedly saved ''by'' Van: "I can't afford to lose you." He also defends his plan to Tear, whom he calls "Mystearica": "I want you to live... At least long enough for me to see you come to your senses." Tear uses a Fonic Hymn to protect the party as Akzeriuth, the ''Tartarus'' and the surrounding countryside plunge downward into whatever hellish underworld the miasma comes from.

!!! Skit 117: What Happened...?
-->'''Luke''' (''aside''): Damn. What the hell just happened...? I used hyperresonance to get rid of the miasma in Akzeriuth, and then the mine collapsed...and then...? Dammit, what's going on?!

The answer, of course, is that Van is, and has always been, the BigBad, who intends to use Luke's hyperresonance to his own ends. But what those ends are -- and what it means that Luke and Asch are twins -- and where the hell everyone ''is'' right now -- has yet to be explained.

Meanwhile, Luke watches helplessly as a kid from Akzeriuth tries to survive in what Tear describes as "a bottomless pit of mud and miasma". Natalia and Tear attempt to cast healing spells, but the kid, afloat on a door, finds his conveyance sinking. The party cannot help him. [[DownerEnding The boy dies.]]

The question of who is ultimately at fault is a complicated one. The simple fact is that Luke has every reason to trust Van, and [[ManipulativeBastard Van set it up that way on purpose]]. Expecting Luke, who is basically only seven years old and has spent at most 200 days ''actually outside his house'', to just magically understand when to mistrust authority... isn't precisely reasonable. Additionally, Luke's accusations after the fight with Legretta -- that the other party members are keeping him LockedOutOfTheLoop -- are 100% accurate. (Keep reading to learn just how much it is in fact an ''{{understatement}}''.) Now, given Luke's maturity level ([[ManChild or lack thereof]]), it is also 100% ''justified'' that everyone keeps him Locked Out Of The Loop... but the fact that no one -- not Tear, not Jade, not Ion -- ever shares their concerns with Luke still results in "PoorCommunicationKills," in a devastatingly literal manner. (Natalia doesn't even ''have'' any concerns: she mentions that she specifically walked away after overhearing the private conversation between Van and Luke, wishing not to eavesdrop. Which, you know, good for you, Natalia, but would it have killed you to be paranoid for once in your life?) And finally, there is one simple fact: The PlayerParty, our eight characters, have just ''witnessed a WorldSundering''. All of them are traumatized in one way or another. It's easy to [[NeverMyFault blame the person who ultimately pulled the trigger]] -- especially when that person was factually [[NeverMyFault tricked into pulling it]]. The most humbling part of the DarkestHour, as the other characters abandon Luke, is that not once has a ''single'' person ever acted OutOfCharacter. Each of them did what seemed best to them at the time... and the result was a senseless slaughter.

You know how we've been mentioning that Luke is only seven years old? This wasn't MetaphoricallyTrue, it was literal. Asch ''is'' the original Luke ''fon'' Fabre, and the PlayerCharacter we've been controlling all game... is his clone. [[TomatoSurprise Surprise Tomato]]!

After a HopelessBossFight against someone 10 years older and 17 years more experienced than him, Luke passes out from the strain (or maybe Asch gives him a TapOnTheHead; he ''does'' have Luke at swordpoint). When he wakes up, he's a disembodied conscience riding around in Asch's head; Asch shows him his body, in a coma on a bed. Because the two are isofons and have TwinTelepathy, Asch has used the, ha-ha, [[FanNickname Isophone]], to let Luke ride around in his head. Asch becomes a GuestStarPartyMember. He has basically the same abilities as Luke, but with the addition of some fonic attack artes.

Luke learns that his PlayerParty -- Jade, Guy, Natalia, Ion and Anise -- will be taking the ''Tartarus'' back up to the Outer Lands, lifting it via the Akzeriuth Sephiroth. Guy and Natalia are delighted to be re-united with the "real" Luke... but skeptical too; the boy they knew has changed since becoming the [[MeaningfulName ash]] of the sacred flame. Guy says straight to Asch's face that he doesn't trust him, and Natalia soon learns that her romantic nature is in no way mirrored by the unsentimental attitude of her betrothed. Luke is left behind; the only people staying with him are Mieu, showing UndyingLoyalty to his master... and Tear.

Asch takes the ''Tartarus'' to Belkend, the City of Fon Machines; Van used to stop at Machine Lab 1, and Asch is hoping to find some clue as to what Van is up to. There, he encounters Spinoza, one of the tech geezers of Belkend... and one of the conspirators who helped Van kidnap Asch back in the day. He is also, Jade recognizes, the person who broke the ban on using fomicry to create living beings, helping Van create the clone who today is known as Luke. Spinoza, meanwhile, recognizes Dr. Jade Balfour, the father of fomicry, the person who invented it in the first place -- and, for that matter, the one who banned the fomicry of living organisms. Spinoza defends himself by claiming he was simply part of the "preservation project" -- which he realizes he oughtn't've mentioned when even Asch doesn't know what it is. He refuses to clarify because nobody can ever tell anyone anything in this game.

The cloning lab in Belkend is out of "fonimin," a raw material used in fomicry. Asch resolves to head there. However, Guy chooses to return to Yulia City -- or, rather, to Aramis Springs, a naturally-occurring way to pass from the Qliphoth to the Outer Lands -- and keep an eye on his friend. When Natalia asks "Luke" to stop him, Asch refuses to answer to that name. That said, he does leap in between Natalia and an unfamiliar monster when they enter the cavern. Additionally, while Asch is a stronger combat asset than Luke, he doesn't have Mieu's loyalty; any puzzles requiring the Sorcerer's Ring are simply unsolvable for now. Within the caverns, they find out the nature of the "preservation project": ongoing experiments on large-scale fomicry -- or, rather, what passes for "large-scale" now. Even back at the dawn of fomicry, Jade explains, they could theoretically have replicated a small island, so now Van's shooting much higher -- planetoid-sized masses. There's also ClassifiedInformation, which (Jade says) the Malkuth military should've destroyed, which would allow fomicry recreations of the entire population of the destroyed island kingdom of Hod. Finally, they find a cheagle clone and its original. Jade is surprised to note that the original cheagle's BreathWeapon is weaker than the clone's, as the reverse is typically true; however, he adds, extraction of fomicry data can sometimes weaken the original. Luke, still watching through the Isophone, is audibly distressed to learn that Asch might have been injured through his creation -- and relieved when Jade says that, if such weakening had occurred, it would've already made itself known; Asch is fine and is going to stay fine. After the requisite end-of-dungeon boss, Asch announces he will leave the party, preferring to [[IWorkAlone Work Alone]].

Tear in no way believes in Van; she is certain he wants to avenge Hod... the DoomedHometown whence both he and Tear came. (He and his mother, who was then pregnant, survived the fall into the Qliphoth.) And not just any Doomed Hometown, but one everyone just shrugged their shoulders about, ''BecauseDestinySaysSo'', and if AMillionIsAStatistic then A Million Is ''Really'' A Statistic When Destiny Says It Is. Shortly before his most recent assignment, Tear learned that Van was either planning or going to allow some massive catastrophe (cf Akzeriuth, St. Binah, the whole rest of the Outer Lands if the chain reaction is allowed to continue) and resolved to stop him, leading to the assassination attempt that began the game.

While walking through Yulia City, Tear learns from a NPC that people are close to decoding Yulia Jue's third fonic hymn. There are actually a ''bunch'' of "Unlock the magic spell" sidequests in this game, most of which we've glossed over. However, this one is plot-relevant: If Tear learns how to sing all seven of Yulia's fonic hymns, she will unlock the "Grand Fonic Hymn," which -- in conjunction with the "Key of Lorelei" -- is said to be able to summon Lorelei. Tear expresses some fear that she won't be able to learn all of them -- the seventh in particular has always eluded her -- but Luke tells her that the two she has have been helpful, and that's not nothing. It's the first time Luke has said a compliment. (Also, Tear can go talk to that NPC a second time and learn the third hymn.)

Luke and Tear, emerging from Aramis Spring, find Guy waiting for him, and is astonished when Luke thanks him for doing so. Guy affirms that, while their friendship began through his servitude to House Fabre, he sees Luke as an equal now -- which Luke goes out of his way to affirm, since he is a clone and has no authority over Guy anyhow. Guy also steps in to shoulder some of the blame for Akzeriuth: Luke was, admittedly, a RoyalBrat, but Guy helped him become so. When Luke The Clone was first returned to the House Fabre manse, he (Luke The Clone) was a total BlankSlate -- had to ''re-learn how to walk'' and everything. The people around him, Guy included, very clearly had an opportunity to turn that Blank Slate into something ''besides'' a Royal Brat... and didn't take it.

Within the Cathedral, Anise runs into her mother, Pamela, a devout member of the faith... who apparently is giving all her money away to the church. Likewise, her father, Oliver, is revealed to be a sweet-natured CloudCuckoolander who falls for any scam that passes by him. Luke is astonished when Oliver reveals he paid 10,000 Gald -- per person -- for a vacation: [[ComicallyMissingThePoint you can't get much of a vacation for that sum of money.]] (Suddenly, Anise's GoldDigger and GoldFever tendencies have an entirely new context.) They also encounter Mohs and Legretta, who -- believing themselves unoverheard -- confirm that Mohs is in fact conspiring to cause a war between Kimlasca and Malkuth, as bidden by the Score. Mohs heads to Baticul to stoke the fires further.

The entire Oracle Knights HQ is just one long dungeon with basically no CharacterDevelopment -- which is kind of unusual for this game. (It does make recapping easier: this is the first time in the whole summary a dungeon can just be left behind a JumpCut.) In any case, Luke breaks Ion and Natalia out and the group successfully leaves the Cathedral. Luke wants to fall back on Baticul, but Mohs will be there already. Ion instead suggests heading to Grand Chokmah to get the ear of Emperor Peony. To that end, Jade leads the group to the Daath harbor, where Asch left the ''Tartarus''. Of course, if Jade -- who has probably been reported as KIA at Akzeriuth -- shows up in a captured landship, the Malkuth military is apt to open fire out of sheer paranoia; so the group resolves to sail to Malkuth but enter the capitol on foot.

Of course, the ''Tartarus'' breaks down ''en route''. The last time this happened and Mieu shrieked about not being able to swim, Luke replied, "[[ComedicSociopathy Shut up and drown]];" this time, he reassures his mascot, "Don't worry. We're not going to sink." Jade and Guy, who turns out to be something of a fontech geek, manage to patch the engine, but only enough to get them to Keterburg, the nearest port. There, Jade visits the governor and requests repairs to the ''Tartarus''.

Jade, who is waiting when Luke returns to the hotel, just straight-up tells him, in his blunt way, that he's abandoned the goal, and points out that Luke should understand both sides of it: while he, like Luke, wants to [[TheAtoner beg for forgiveness]], a replica of Professor Nebilim, like Luke, would not remember how it had been wronged and could not grant that forgiveness. He asks Luke to keep this matter a secret between them, and Luke promises to do so.

By now, the player is probably Lv.30 or so. This unlocks "Mystic Artes," the LimitBreak system of the game. Mystic Artes start with the "Overlimit" power-up, which is unlocked at Lv.15. Both systems work differently from game to game, but in Auldrant the "Overlimit" bar just fills up as the character both gives and takes damage, similar to ''Final Fantasy'' Limit Breaks. A full bar can be expended to kick in Overlimit mode, which increases their armor and prevents stuns until the powerful times out. If a character is in Overlimit, ''and'' uses one of their more powerful "arcane" artes ''or'' a Field Of Fonons CombinationAttack, '''''and''''' holds down the Attack button while the arte fires, they will automatically chain into their most powerful attacks. The Player does not have to do anything to unlock specific Mystic Artes; each character just knows theirs. However, there's also no way to get new ones outside of a NewGamePlus, in which each character unlocks a second one.

Inside the capitol, Luke's party are met by Brigadier General Frings. He thanks them for (their attempt at) preventing the murder of Malkuth soldiers, but insists they remain in custody for the moment. Luke has other priorities, since the curse slot is still on Guy. Ion requests a room where Guy can rest and he can untangle the curse slot; as a Fon Master, he's the only one who can. He then tells Luke the truth: a curse slot isn't MindControl, it acts more like alcohol. "A curse slot stirs up memories and paralyzes rational thought. Guy wouldn't have attacked you if he didn't already have a strong desire to kill you." He and Anise head off to use some DispelMagic on the curse slot, and Luke is shaken by this new dimension of his best friend. It's Tear who provides the context: she reminds him that, as he has recently learned, he can sometimes make mistakes, and that it's completely reasonable he might have done something over the past 17 years to make Guy angry. The Guy who ''once'' wanted to kill Luke has since become the Guy who, not that many paragraphs ago, was the first to leave Asch and return to Luke, and Luke needs to give Guy the benefit of the doubt. Luke points out that Tear gives ToughLove, but also thanks her for it.

Finally, Luke returns to the inn to pick up the remainder of the party, where Ion has succeeded at Cleansing the curse slot. Guy excuses Luke entirely, explaining that his hatred of Luke is actually incidental. He explains this by giving his own DarkAndTroubledPast: he too is from Hod, and on his fifth birthday, Kimlasca began the war against Malkuth by sending Duke Fabre to Guy's house to kill everyone. Duke Fabre was sent there specifically because Guy Cecil -- or, to use his birth name, Gailardia Galan Gardios -- was of Hod's royal family; if Hod has a GovernmentInExile, Guy is that government in its totality and entirety.[[note]]It really doesn't have one. Van, the only character outside the PlayerParty who is confirmed to know Guy's identity, treats the man who is nominally his king as an equal and co-conspirator. Guy must be fine with it: his GottaCatchEmAll Learn New Abilities sidequests involve him talking to other survivors from Hod, and he never once capitalizes on or even ''mentions'' his royal heritage. [[/note]] He admits that he entered the service of House Fabre in order to enact a RoaringRampageOfRevenge; as Duke Fabre slew Guy's family, Guy intended to slay Duke Fabre's, which of course includes Luke. He doesn't say straight out that he's abandoned that quest, but he does offer to part company with Luke if the latter feels uncomfortable. Luke prefers him to stay.

At St. Binah, Jade and Luke consult with Field Marshal [=McGovern=] and son and deliver Emperor Peony's orders. The [=McGoverns=] are to take their troops to join with a larger Malkuth army which is keeping a Kimlascan force from invading, while Jade's troops -- [[PlotHole where did he get them?]] Maybe he just means the PlayerParty -- escort the civilians to Engeve. Of course, that master of bad timing, Dist the Reaper, drops in. While ''Jade'' has given up on reviving Prof. Nebilim, Dist -- who ''also'' grew up in Keterburg with Jade, Nephry and Crown Prince Peony -- is still fixated on the idea. He drops another robot for a BossBattle... and by the time it's defeated, St. Binah is starting to splinter, with both the [=McGoverns=] and a number of civilians trapped on the other side. Guy suggests that this would be a perfect time to go obtain the game's GlobalAirship, as it would allow them to pick up the stranded people; it's in the Kimlascan town of Sheridan, a city that provides a counterpart to Malkuth's Belkend. Tear provides a {{handwave}} that they can expect the Outer Lands, including the bits that the stranded citizens are standing on, to stay up for several days. The party heads back to the ''Tartarus'', with which to make for Sheridan ([[PlotHole without bothering to tell the McGoverns what their plan is]]).

That said, the landmass formerly known as St. Binah is not going to stay afloat in the Qliphoth -- at least, not if Hod is any indication; it took about a month to sink, but sink it did. Luke, at wit's end, suggests reconfiguring the Sephiroth to prevent this; Tear and Jade suggest they consult with Mayor Teodoro, whose faith in the Score -- a Score which mentioned absolutely ''nothing'' about a second WorldWreckingWave taking down St. Binah -- should now be shaken. Jade also takes Luke to task for his childishness in believing he has to convince everyone to do something. The Player now has to figure out how to fly the ''Albiore'' to Yulia City, as they are put in command of the ship.

As the St. Binah refugees begin to settle in Yulia City, Teodoro hosts the party for a conference. He believes they'll need the "Key of Lorelei" -- an ancient sword with special fonic powers -- to solve the situation. The "passage rings," devices which control the Sephiroth, could be altered using the Key of Lorelei to at least keep St. Binah from sinking. The only problem is, the Key may never have existed, and even if it does, it's lost. That being said, ''Van'' seems to have been messing with the passage rings despite not having the Key of Lorelei. The party resolves to head to Shurrey Hill, just east of St. Binah, and investigate the passage ring there.

The Sephiroth Chamber at Shurrey Hill is another one of those pure dungeons where you have to run around solving puzzles and get no dialogue. Once they've finally managed to get the control panels to unlock, they discover that Van has placed a seal on it to render the Sephiroth unable to function. Luke, who has been training in the controlled use of hyperresonance, manages to erase just that seal, keeping St. Binah afloat... aground. He thanks -- and hugs -- Tear, and then thanks the rest of the party as well, praising them for their contributions. However, Tear is unexpectedly weakened by the exertion of, uh, [[SoapOperaDisease just standing there]]. Even worse, Anise reads the control panel and notices that more of the Outer Lands are teetering on the brink of collapse.

The party regroups in Chesedonia and heads off to find Lt. Gen Almandine, who is in conference with Grand Maestro Mohs. Natalia and Luke seem on the verge of convincing Count Almandine to stand down when Mohs butts in, denouncing Natalia and claiming she has no right to issues orders: [[WhamEpisode She's not Natalia]], she's a ReplacementGoldfish brought in for the real princess. A woman of royal blood would be a SignificantGreenEyedRedhead... the same way Luke is. While Natalia has her own TomatoInTheMirror moment, Ion decides to return to Daath, feeling he can do better work from there. He formally dismisses Anise from his PraetorianGuard so that she can stay with Luke and keep him safe.

The party speaks to Astor, who reports that Chesedonia is also showing the telltale sagging that heralds an unintended visit to the Qliphoth; Van has already been to the Zao Ruins and set the Sephiroth Tree to "OFF". Per Teodoro, the party still need the Key of Lorelei to turn it back to "HI"... but Jade theorizes that they can turn it to "LO" and lower Chesedonia ''intentionally'', like an elevator. Asch then asks that they drop by the Desert Oasis for a chat, where he reveals that the passage rings are networked. If Luke ''can'' figure out how to set the Zao Ruins passage ring to "LO", he should be able to do the same thing to the Shurrey Hill passage ring remotely and safely lower the Rugnica Plains. He then heads out to find out what town Van plans to sink next. Meanwhile, Luke & Co spelunk the Zao Ruins Sephiroth dungeon and successfully use hyperresonance to hack both it and the Shurrey Hill passage rings. Chesedonia, Engeve, Kaitzur and the Rugnica Plains perform a safe, controlled descent into the Qliphoth. The party head back to Chesedonia to rendezvous with the ''Albiore'' and Noelle... and maybe get a nap for Tear, who collapsed from her whatever-is-ailing-her.

Before this, Luke can visit Engeve, which is down in the Qliphoth. General Frings has control over the area, and General Cecille has surrendered to him -- after she and other Kimlascan soldiers almost fell into a fissure during the descent, and Frings rescued her. The chemistry between them is [[EveryoneCanSeeIt obvious and palpable]] (to everyone but Natalia and Tear, who are ObliviousToLove in their own ways). It takes a fair bit of running around, but the result is an official truce between General Count Almandine, who is charge of the Kimlascan forces down in the Qliphoth, and General Frings, his counterpart on the Malkuth side, as well as a prisoner exchange. ...But Jozette sends Aslan the formal gift of a dagger -- a courtship ritual which means [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosting_(behavior) ghosting]]. Aslan ignores this, sending Luke's party back with a letter; Jozette, reading it, agrees to meet him in Chesedonia. There, Frings proposes, insisting she keep the ring even if Cecille declines (which she does) as a symbol of [[IWillWaitForYou his eternal patience]]. Cecille, confronted privately, finally admits she entered the Kimlascan military to ClearMyName: House Cecille was demoted from the nobility after her aunt Eugenie married someone from Malkuth. She cannot do the same thing... [[StarCrossedLovers no matter how much she wants to]]. Luke, a tad frustrated at having run back and forth across the continent several times, gives it up... for now.

Luke heads to Daath, there to find Ion. Instead, the party gets trapped in a closet while Mohs consults with Dist. Dist wants Prof. Nebilim's replica data in exchange for re-starting the war. He also gets Mohs to mention that Ion is in the library. He came here, he admits, because nobody had ever told him the "Closed Score" existed, and he wanted to take a look at it himself. Ion takes the team over to read the Score directly, despite Anise's concerns that a reading of the Score is CastFromHitPoints. Ion reads:

Luke's team arrive in Belkend, where they decide to talk to Spinoza and the rest of Class I. If Van's replicas -- like Luke's -- are a SpannerInTheWorks of the Score, it would be nice to know ''why'' Van wants them. They are aided in this when Oracle Knights see "Commander Asch" approaching and escort him to see Commandant Grants. Van admits that he ''is'' trying to derail the Score: "If people continue to rely on ''that'' garbage, mankind will go extinct." Van has determined that Lorelei does in fact exist, and allows humankind to read the Score. Therefore, Van wants to destroy Lorelei once and for all. While humankind being pushed to the brink of extinction by the collapse of the Outer Lands is certainly an obstacle, Van plans to just replace everyone with replicas. He asks Guy if he wants to join him, as his family served House Gardios for generations, and he and Guy originally swore a pact of revenge. Whether Guy would agree is rendered moot when Asch -- the real one -- storms in. While it's seven on two, Legretta and Van have the level advantage, and both teams agree to avoid mutual destruction by leaving.

Asch meets them at the inn, where Noelle awaits, having been sprung by some combination of Asch and Ion. However, she reports that technicians at Daath -- which were part of the multinational alliance that resulted in the ''Albiore'' in the first place -- removed the ship's flightstone, reducing it to a boat for the time being. Asch also has an old book for Jade -- a text from the Dawn Age, which the Order banned and gathered up the copies of. Ion believes it will help the party lower the Outer Lands safely. Jade, having perused it overnight, discovers that the creation of the "Planet Storm" -- an artificial fuel distribution system which sends memory particles out of the core from the first Sephiroth, the "Radiation Gate," and return through the second, the "Absorption Gate" -- has caused the planet's core to vibrate violently, liquefying the Qliphoth and putting an end to any hope of keeping the Outer Lands stable. Merely shutting down the Planet Storm isn't an option: it's what keeps the passage rings running. As such, Luke's team need to figure out how to stop the vibration, and he'll need the help of both Class I and Class M. Asch points out that getting Class I's help will be difficult, since all of them report to "Van and Father" -- leaving in a huff when everyone teases him about acknowledging his lineage. Hencken and Cathy, the other two members of Class I, take some persuading -- by which we mean, all Guy has to do is say that, oh dear, they'll just have to talk to Class M, won't they; at which point the rivalry kicks in and Hencken and Cathy are onboard. The two immediately go to suborn Belkend's governor. (This is also the start of a RunningGag where Jade makes Guy give an InfoDump on HowWeGotHere, which is thankfully hidden behind a cut.) While Cathy and Hencken work on a measuring device that will document the core's vibrations, Asch heads after Spinoza, who he caught eavesdropping, and Luke heads back to Daath: they need a Sephiroth Tree that's still functioning, which Ion will have the location of ''and'' can unseal.

Unbeknownst to the party, this line unlocks a straight-up {{Flashback}} in Guy's head. After Pamela has been tended to, he reveals that he's recalled the death of his family: when Duke Fabre invaded, his sister and the remaining maids formed a human wall around him, and were slaughtered to the last. Guy woke up BuriedInAPileOfCorpses, and this gave rise to his gynophobia -- a gynophobia he himself feels is disrespectful: "They gave their lives to protect me, and I just remember them as 'scary'..." As a testament to the team getting over its DysfunctionJunction origins, Luke points out that Guy was only 5, and the three women on the team apologize immediately for how they [[PlayedForLaughs mocked]] his troubles.

Jade picks up the frequency counter device in Sheridan, and the team head for Tataroo Valley -- the NoobCave where Luke and Tear first landed months ago. Luke doesn't remember seeing anything like a Sephiroth tree around here (Anise and Natalia needle him that he must've been distracted by Tear, with Tear annoyed at the MistakenForRomance aspects); the reason for this is because it's hidden behind a giant rock which needs Mieu's drill attack to destroy. Within the Sephiroth dungeon is also the final unlock for Mieu's Sorcerer's Ring: "Mieu Wings," which allows him to lift Luke into the air. It's purely VTOL, with no lateral movement abilities to speak of, but it allows the party to hit buttons on the ceiling -- which, for some reason, there start to be a lot of in this dungeon.

Over in Grand Chokmah, Natalia presents most humble and polite requests to Malkuth to forgive the war of aggression -- which ''Peony'' declines, pointing out that she shouldn't start negotiations by putting herself in an inferior position. ("...And shame on you for not stopping her, Jade.") Jade suggests a neutral ground for negotiations; Ion rejects the idea of Daath, since Mohs is there, and instead Luke nominates Yulia City. Unfortunately, to get Peony and/or Ingobert there, they will need the ''Albiore'' flying again, and Dist has the Flightstone. Fortunately, Dist is apparently spoiling for a fight; he sends a letter to tell "the Jade gang" that he has the Flightstone and is waiting for them at a place he and Jade knows. "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial It's not in Daath. Most definitely not!]]"
-->'''Luke''' (''who, to reiterate, is '''seven years old'''''): He should've just said it's in Daath. What an idiot\\

In Yulia City, both Emperor Peony and King Ingobert sign the peace treaty, and all seems well... until Guy steps up to demand if King Ingobert will follow his word last time, the way he didn't after Hod. When King Ingobert uses the "[[BecauseDestinySaysSo Because The Score Says So]]" defense, Guy points out that this didn't stop him (Ingobert) from murdering Kimlascans at Hod -- such as Guy's mother, Eugenie Cecille, who was given to House Gardios in AltarDiplomacy. To everyone's surprise, Duke Fabre stands up and offers his life in Ingobert's place, admitting he slew Countess Gardios. ''Then'' Emperor Peony stands up and ''also'' claims responsibility for the destruction of Hod. His father, who was emperor before him, saw the Kimlascan army concentrated in one place... as well as an opportunity for Hod to "volunteer" for a TakingYouWithMe. Jade, who was partially involved, relates that a young test subject -- only 11 -- was hooked up to a machine that caused an artificial hyperresonance, destroying the Sephiroth Tree beneath Hod. What precisely happened to the Kimlascan army is not related, since the war empirically carried on for another year and Duke Fabre, the general ''of'' said army, empirically survived; but we know what happened to Hod. The boy was the scion of a house sworn to House Guardios, a boy named Vandesdelca Musto Fende... [[StartOfDarkness The boy known today as Van Grants]]. Guy, having the brains to understand that taking {{revenge}}, which would involve killing almost everyone in the room, would make the situation go FromBadToWorse, puts away his sword and allows the diplomacy to continue.

-->'''Luke''' (''who, to reiterate, is '''seven years old'''''): He should've just said it's in Daath. WhatAnIdiot\\

Luke protests that he was JustFollowingOrders, and besides, ''he knows nothing'' because of his amnesia. The PlayerParty is fairly sympathetic as well, understanding how Luke, sheltered as he is, could have so easily been led astray by his ParentalSubstitute... But Luke holds the viewpoint that, because he didn't intend to kill thousands of people, he can't be held responsible for killing thousands of people. One by one, the other characters turn their backs on him.

The question of who is ultimately at fault is a complicated one. The simple fact is that Luke has every reason to trust Van, and [[ManipulativeBastard Van set it up that way on purpose]]. Expecting Luke, who is basically only seven years old and has spent at most 200 days ''actually outside his house'', to just magically understand when to mistrust authority... isn't precisely reasonable. Additionally, Luke's accusations after the fight with Legretta -- that the other party members are keeping him LockedOutOfTheLoop -- are 100% accurate. (Keep reading to learn just how much it is in fact an ''{{understatement}}''.) Now, given Luke's maturity level ([[ManChild or lack thereof]]), it is also 100% ''justified'' that everyone simply talks around him... but the fact that no one -- not Tear, not Jade, not Ion -- ever shares their concerns with Luke still results in "PoorCommunicationKills," in a devastatingly literal manner. (Natalia doesn't even ''have'' any concerns: she mentions that she specifically walked away after overhearing the private conversation between Van and Luke, wishing not to eavesdrop. Which, you know, good for you, Natalia, but would it have killed you to be paranoid for once in your life?) And finally, there is one simple fact: The PlayerParty, our eight characters, have just ''witnessed a WorldSundering''. All of them are traumatized in one way or another. It's easy to [[NeverMyFault blame the person who ultimately pulled the trigger]] -- especially when that person was [[NeverMyFault tricked into pulling it]]. The most humbling part of the DarkestHour, as the other characters abandon Luke, is that not once has a ''single'' person ever acted out of character. Each of them did what seemed best to them at the time... and the result was thousands of deaths and a WorldWreckingWave.

You know how we've been mentioning that Luke is only seven years old? This wasn't one of those MetaphoricallyTrue things. Asch is the original Luke ''fon'' Fabre, and the PlayerCharacter we've been controlling all game... is his clone. [[TomatoSurprise Surprise Tomato]]!

Luke, ignoring him, meets Van at a very colorful door. It's another Sephiroth seal. Van wants it open, but Ion -- "LoveYouAndEverybody" Fon Master Ion, who has yet to say an unkind word to anyone ever -- [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness hesitates]]. Luke finally cajoles him into complying. Despite Asch's warnings, which are now verging into genuine panic -- "Are you trying to destroy Akzeriuth?!" -- Luke forges ahead, following Van and Ion into the fontech chamber built around / into / atop the Sephiroth... secure in Van's confidence that he, Luke, is TheChosenOne.

Luke introduces himself to Mayor Teodoro, who is also Tear's grandfather, and begins the first of (what turns out to be) many apologies for his role in the fall of Akzeriuth. Mayor Teodoro, if you can believe it, absolves Luke of all guilt: Akzeriuth's destruction is in the Score. It happened BecauseDestinySaysSo. There's a "Closed Score" that only high-ranking members of the Order of Lorelei, like Teodoro himself, can access; and the Order keeps a lot of it to themselves, because people who have learned they're going to die BecauseDestinySaysSo tend to be... [[YouCantFightFate unruly]]. The Order continues to shepherd Audrant down that Score because of TheNeedsOfTheMany; supposedly, any variation from the tune Yulia Jue called would be worse. Tear is infuriated: she was told that Teodoro and others tried to ''prevent'' the Hod War, which resulted in the island falling into the Qliphoth, much as Akzeriuth did -- and with a similar [[KillEmAll casualty rate]]. Teodoro admits that this was LiesToChildren, not wanting to upset his granddaughter. Van, on the other hand, knew everything. This, according to Tear, must be Van's villain motivation: "He said that a world shackled to the Score is better off destroyed!" Teodoro is convinced Van has no such motivation, but gives Luke and Tear permission to head up and see for themselves.

Finally, Luke returns to the inn to pick up the remainder of the party, where Ion has succeeded at Cleansing the curse slot. Guy excuses Luke entirely, explaining that his hatred of Luke is actually incidental. He explains this by giving his own DarkAndTroubledPast: he too is from Hod, and on his fifth birthday, Kimlasca began the war against Malkuth by sending Duke Fabre to Guy's house to KillEmAll. Duke Fabre was sent there specifically because Guy Cecil -- or, to use his birth name, Gailardia Galan Gardios -- was of Hod's royal family; if Hod has a GovernmentInExile, Guy is that government in its totality and entirety.[[note]]It really doesn't have one. Van, the only character outside the PlayerParty who is confirmed to know Guy's identity, treats the man who is nominally his king as an equal and co-conspirator. Guy must be fine with it: his GottaCatchEmAll Learn New Abilities sidequests involve him talking to other survivors from Hod, and he never once capitalizes on or even ''mentions'' his royal heritage. [[/note]] He admits that he entered the service of House Fabre in order to enact a RoaringRampageOfRevenge; as Duke Fabre slew Guy's family, Guy intended to slay Duke Fabre's, which of course includes Luke. He doesn't say straight out that he's abandoned that quest, but he does offer to part company with Luke if the latter feels uncomfortable. Luke prefers him to stay.

As they emerge from the spring, they run into Jade. He came to speak to Guy. The political situation in the Outer Lands has become grim: all Kimlasca saw was the city of Akzeriuth just get fucking swallowed by the earth, while Princess Natalia was in it. So Ion took Natalia with him to Daath to issue a decree that everything's fine, war is not the right idea... only to get captured by Mohs upon arrival. Jade needs to do something about it to avert all-out war. He, Guy and Tear -- Luke is to a certain extent demoted to TagalongKid, and accepts this as part of his fate as TheAtoner -- make plans to head to Daath, where Anise is already snooping around.

The newcomer wears a black BadassLongcoat and wields a black sword, whereas Luke's are white (and silver). The newcomer has a mane of long red hair, same as Luke. The newcomer wears his sword for a right-hand draw, whereas Luke swings with his left. He is only seen from the back, so we don't know what his face looks like, but he does have the same voice actor as Luke (either Creator/ChihiroSuzuki in the original Japanese or Creator/YuriLowenthal in the English dub). [[NoticeThis This will be important]].

The question of who is ultimately at fault is a complicated one. The simple fact is that Luke has every reason to trust Van, and [[ManipulativeBastard Van set it up that way on purpose]]. Expecting Luke, who is basically only seven years old and has spent at most 200 days ''actually outside his house'', to just magically understand when to mistrust authority... isn't precisely reasonable. Additionally, Luke's accusations after the fight with Legretta -- that the other party members are keeping him LockedOutOfTheLoop -- are 100% accurate. (Keep reading to learn just how much it is in fact an ''{{understatement}}''.) Now, given Luke's maturity level ([[ManChild or lack thereof]]), it is also 100% ''justified''... but the fact that no one -- not Tear, not Jade, not Ion -- ever shares their concerns with Luke still results in "PoorCommunicationKills," in a devastatingly literal manner. (Natalia doesn't even ''have'' any concerns: she mentions that she specifically walked away after overhearing the private conversation between Van and Luke, wishing not to eavesdrop. Which, you know, good for you, Natalia, but would it have killed you to be paranoid for once in your life?) And finally, there is one simple fact: The PlayerParty, our eight characters, have just ''witnessed a WorldSundering''. All of them are traumatized in one way or another. It's easy to [[NeverMyFault blame the person who ultimately pulled the trigger]] -- especially when that person is [[NeverMyFault refusing to admit he pulled it]]. The most humbling part of the DarkestHour, as the other characters abandon Luke, is that not once has a ''single'' person ever acted out of malice. Each of them did what seemed best to them at the time... and the result was thousands of deaths and a WorldWreckingWave.

After a HopelessBossFight against someone 10 years older and 17 years more experienced than him, Luke passes out from the strain (or maybe Asch gives him a TapOnTheHead; he ''does'' have Luke at swordpoint). When he wakes up, he's a disembodied conscience riding around in Asch's head; Asch shows him his body, in a coma on a bed. Because the two are isofons, Asch has been able to contact him on the, ha-ha, [[FanNickname Isophone]], and now can carry around his consciousness. Asch becomes a GuestStarPartyMember. He has basically the same abilities as Luke, but with the addition of some fonic attack artes.

As mentioned earlier, the Six God-Generals, the QuirkyMinibossSquad, are all {{Evil Counterpart}}s and {{Foil}}s to party characters. With this revelation, the nature of those relationships are finally clarified. In order:
* Asch is TheResenter to Luke: in Luke, the SpareToTheThrone with loving parents and an ArrangedMarriage, he sees who he was supposed to be. It should be pointed out that Luke sees the exact same thing in Asch given his status as a clone, though he expresses this through an inferiority complex instead. This omni-directional love-hate relationship -- Asch being angry at Luke for failing to be the man Asch always wanted to be, and Luke basically agreeing -- essentially defines how the two relate to each other.
* Major Legretta is a {{Mentor}} and ParentalSubstitute to Tear; basically every time she shows up, she has a comment on something Tear could be doing better. Both are also {{Consummate Professional}}s, {{Long Range Fighter}}s and the NumberTwo in their respective parties.

* While Sync would seem to be the counterpart to Ion, he's actually one for Guy, as both are {{Fragile Speedster}}s obsessed with {{revenge}}.
* Anise's rivalry with Arietta has been well established. Additionally, both are {{Black Magician Girl}}s, both are TheBeastmaster, and both are the youngest persons on their teams.

Since we're playing a video game and we need {{Padding}}, Luke learns from the scientists at Sheridan that their prototype, the ''Albiore'', went down during a test flight and needs someone to get spare parts to them. It's an atypical dungeon: it's on the WorldMap, and the WorldMap is poorly optimized, resulting in like 12 FPS on the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 release. It's also home to researchers Iemon, Aston and Tamara, who call themselves Class M, in contrast to Spinoza's "Class I" over in Belkend. Both groups are trios of crotchety older people, if admitted fontech geniuses, and the rivalry between them will continue to be a plot element going forward. Class M then run interference with suspicious Kimlascan soldiers, who (correctly) noticed a Malkuth colonel running around town, while pilot Noelle takes the party to St. Binah and completes the evacuation. The entire St. Binah region falls into the Qliphoth, kicking up a massive tidal wave of mud down below... but [[EverybodyLives not a single soul is lost]].

Jade commandeers the ''Tartarus'', which is afloat above the mud and will still run. Tear directs them to "Yulia City," which is down here in the "Qliphoth". She explains that the Qliphoth is a second world BeneathTheEarth; the surface world, which she calls "the Outer Lands," are held up by Sephiroth Trees that are rooted in the Qliphoth. After the miasma first happened, 2000 years ago, Yulia Jue used the Score to invent a plan to artificially elevate much of the planet's landmasses, resulting in the WorldMap Luke ''et al'' are familiar with.Today, the Qliphoth itself is a forgotten memory... unless you're one of the people who live in Yulia City, like Tear.

Within the Cathedral, Anise runs into her mother, Pamela, a devout member of the faith... who apparently is giving all her money away to the church. Likewise, her father, Oliver, is revealed to be a sweet-natured CloudCuckoolander who falls for any scam that passes by him. Luke is astonished when Oliver reveals he paid 10,000 Gald -- per person -- for a vacation: [[CompletelyMissingThePoint you can't get much of a vacation for that sum of money.]] (Suddenly, Anise's GoldDigger and GoldFever tendencies have an entirely new context.) They also encounter Mohs and Legretta, who -- believing themselves unoverheard -- confirm that Mohs is in fact conspiring to cause a war between Kimlasca and Malkuth, as bidden by the Score. Mohs heads to Baticul to stoke the fires further.

A recap of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss''

-->ND 2000: In Kimlasca shall be born one who inherits the power of Lorelei. He will be a boy of royal blood, with hair of red. He shall be called the light of the sacred flame, and he will lead Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to new prosperity.\\
ND 2002: The one who would seize glory will destroy the island upon which he was born, a land by the name of Hod. War shall thereafter persist between Kimlasca and Malkuth for a full cycle of the seasons.\\\

At St. Binah, Elder [=McGovern=] informs them that Asch has gone to Shurrey Hill, and they head after him. Within, they find him dueling with Major Legretta, raising the possibility that the entire GoldfishPoopGang -- not to mention Van himself -- have survived. Legretta specifically wants "the Key of Lorelei" from Asch. Asch, meanwhile, wants to free Lorelei, as its (Lorelei's) efforts to free himself are restarting the core vibrations. Luke wants to know where Lorelei is trapped, but Asch reminds him that Lorelei told them both, leading Luke to suffer another bout of inferiority -- Asch, the original, understood, but Luke, the replica, didn't.

Over in Baticul, Natalia is furious that her troops in Chesedonia were attacked by Malkuth soldiers. That said, four months of travel and saving the world together apparently ''does'' result in TrueCompanions; when Luke asks to speak to King Ingobert directly, she arranges it without question (and of course is pacified by the news that it ''must'' be a FalseFlagOperation since ''both'' nations were "attacked" at the same time). Jade is concerned by that whole "dead eyes" thing: it suggests fomicry. Natalia resolves to head to Daath and call a summit; it seems that Mohs is ''still'' trying to start his freaking war, and it's time for Auldrant's heads of state to move away from those dusty old fonstones once and for all. Only Anise is nervous about returning to Daath.

"''ND 2020: A mountain of corpses shall bury the fortress capital. Death and disease shall envelop the city. The plague born thence shall become a new poison unto humanity, killing all within its reach. Its spread shall mark the true end of Malkuth. Kimlasca shall enjoy decades of prosperity as the plague of Malkuth grows. Ultimately, the plague shall be brought into the Kimlascan kingdom by a single man."\\
"''...The light of the sacred flame shall approach a Kimlascan city of fon machines, seeking a way to purify the taint. There, salvation shall be found through the use of a forbidden power..."

Spinoza says that Asch has headed to Mt. Roneal to try and find a solution to the miasma problem; as usual for this act of the game, they chase after him. There, they learn from the Dark Wings, who have been in Asch's employ since basically Act II but haven't been mentioned because they simply aren't necessary, that Asch is searching for the Jewel of Lorelei -- half of the Key of Lorelei, in addition to the Sword of Lorelei. The Jade Gang infers, and the Dark Wings agree, that Asch must already have the "Sword" component. As they pass by the spot where the God-Generals were buried in the avalanche, Luke also finds a locket, marked "ND 1999, in commemoration of the birth of my daughter, Meryl". Natalia's birth name is, of course, Meryl. She was born in ND 1999. This locket, presumably the possession of a God-General, belongs to Natalia's parent.

* Asch is TheResenter to Luke: in Luke, the SpareToTheThrone with loving parents and an ArrangedMarriage, he sees who he was supposed to be. It should be pointed out that Luke sees the exact same thing given his status as a clone, though he expresses this through an inferiority complex instead.

The party travel to Chesedonia under the ruse that the rogue Score-reader, the one stealing everyone's DNA, is there; they are surprised to find that they were accidentally correct. Not only that, but it's Sync, who mocks Anise by imitating Ion's voice. They also confirm, by meeting Natalia's nanny privately, that the locket belonged to Meryl's father, whom she (the nanny) calls "Badaq."

Unfortunately, it must wait as the summit Natalia called for is finally to happen. And none too soon: as the Jade Gang travel around picking up heads of state (with Teodoro standing in for the Order of Lorelei), they find the entire world overrun with replicas, all speaking of reaching the "Tower of Rem". The one upside to all this chaos is that the diplomatic bonds between Malkuth and Kimlasca are getting stronger every day as both nations prepare to oppose the New Order of Lorelei.

The Tower of Rem is crowded with replicas, all of whom have come here for refuge: the "originals" want [[FantasticRacism nothing to do with them]] (to be sure, there have been stories of replicas showing up ''at their own funerals'', which would creep out anyone), and Mohs has promised them salvation at Eldrant. They also run into Dist, the third time ''he'' -- or, rather, a robot he controls -- is fought. After it's defeated, Dist tries to use a SelfDestruct button on the robot to pull a TakingYouWithMe, but Luke's hyperresonance defuses the blast. Finally, they confront Asch, who isn't ready to go through with the plan: for all he's DarkerAndEdgier, he's not a murderer. He has ''asked'' the replicas whether they're willing to pull a HeroicSacrifice on Auldrant's behalf, in exchange for the other nations taking in any replicas that haven't made it here, and the replicas have yet to achieve consensus. Asch flounces off, asking they contact him when they've decided.

But Luke doesn't run. ...Nor does Asch, who has resolved to do it instead. Luke protests that he's worthless and incompetent -- he couldn't even receive the Jewel of Lorelei -- which Asch takes personally, since, "worthless and incompetent" or not, Luke still succeeded at taking everything from him. The two squabble over the Sword -- only then noticing that its Find My Location indicator has lit up. Luke can't find the Jewel because ''he absorbed it into himself''. By cooperating with Asch and using their hyperresonance in unison, Luke extracts the Jewel ''and'' succeeds at nullifying the miasma for good and all, with both Crown Princess Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and Lord Gailardia Galan Gardios of Malkuth promising to the Replica leadership that they will provide for the remaining replicas. The miasma is finally neutralized... and Luke is alive.

It ends with [[DownerEnding miasma consuming Auldrant and killing everyone]]. This doesn't seem to bother Mohs at all, which tells you what a PrinciplesZealot he's become. In any case, Lorelei reacts to the presence of both Jewel and Sword, causing Van to FreakOut. He and the God-Generals retreat to Eldrant, leaving the Ion copy behind. Anise takes him back to Daath and names him "Florian," meaning "innocent one;" there he's treated as a typical boy, allowed to play and goof off. The Fon Master we escorted for the first two acts of the game will, apparently, be the last "Fon Master Ion". Meanwhile, the Jade Gang head to the Radiation Gate and close ''that'' too. Their main opposition is Grand Maestro Mohs the Monster-Thing, who melts into a puddle of goop upon defeat -- the same thing Luke should expect to experience eventually, though without the "monster-thing" aspect.

While the armies of Kimlasca and Malkuth stage a frontal assault, Noelle lands the ''Albiore II'' in a blind spot of Eldrant's AntiAir guns. There they find the ''Albiore III'', which Asch used to ram one of the guns; he's somewhere ahead They also find Legretta, prepared to make her LastStand. As she dies, she confesses that she had a BodyguardCrush on Van.[[note]]Supplementary materials indicate that she hated falling in love with someone BecauseDestinySaysSo.[[/note]]

Luke falls through a trap door that the rest of the Jade Gang elude. While they attempt to reach him, Luke finds himself trapped with Asch. The room essentially has one of those stand-on-a-pressure-plate puzzles... but the only thing they have to stand on it with is themselves. So Luke and Asch have a DuelBoss fight to determine which one is stronger. Since he's the MainCharacter, Luke wins. Asch gives him the Sword of Lorelei and stays behind to HoldTheLine.

-->'''Jade''': Luke. How you've changed. ... But no matter how much you change or regret your actions, not all of what you've done will be forgiven. That's why you must come back alive... or rather, [[SinceretyMode I hope you do]].\\

'''Luke''': Your job's done now. Go home, and be proud of what you did.\\

In TheStinger, we find that the hymn is DiegeticMusic: Tear sits on a rock in Tataroo Valley, overlooking the ruins of Eldrant out to sea. It's been three years. Four people come out to join her.
-->'''Natalia''': You didn't come. I believe your presence was requested at Luke's coming-of-age ceremony at the Duke's manor.\\
'''Tear''': I'm not interested in some ceremony in front of Luke's grave.\\

'''Jade''': We should be heading back soon. The valley is dangerous at night.

Tear nods and stands to follow them... but as she does, something catches her eye. Someone is walking towards them: white coat over black robes and long red hair. "Why are...you ''here''?" she asks, and the fellow replies, "This place has a nice view of Hod... And also, I promised someone."

Who is he? Is it Luke? Is it Asch? Is it some new composite of both at once? And why, when the CentralTheme of the game is to ScrewDestiny and write your own ending, do you think the creators would ever tell us?