"Bethany, please come back, I can't take this much longer." Lukas pleaded into the empty space that surrounded him as he was hoping to hear back from his friend before he spent more time with Niko again. No response. That's how it had been for the past week; there was nobody to talk to, nobody came to check on him and the last person he ever heard was that distorted voice mocking him. It became obvious to Lukas that sitting in his room and waiting for a mission from the Protectors wasn't helping and he needed some form of interaction with somebody else... Niko was clearly the best option for this and so Lukas prepared to travel and visit them again. "All lights eventually turn dark after a while, Lukas. Just remember that whatever enjoyment you may be getting out of this 'friend' of yours, it won't last forever." That distorted voice crept in to tell Lukas. "Why're you still here?" Lukas rhetorically questioned the voice which laughed in response to his obvious frustration. "I'll only leave once you accept the truth; nothing is going to change, you'll feel the same as you did all those years ago until the end of your life." They continued which seriously confused Lukas... although he felt as if that was their intention. "All those years ago? Are you talking about the destruction of my universe? That was only a few months ago!" Lukas exclaimed as he was just trying to seem as aggressive as possible to get the voice to go away.
"No, I'm talking about even further back than that. Farther into the past than you can hopefully remember." They stated in complete ignorance of Lukas' aggression. "What are you on about now? Stop speaking nonsense and start telling the truth!" Lukas yelled as he pulled harshly on his hair in an attempt to make his head cease these hallucinations. Strangely, the voice was silent for a few seconds before responding. "Fine, if you want the truth then I will tell you the truth. You don't remember your family and the few friends that you used to have are all either dead or out to kill you. The reason behind all of this is contained within your soul; your blue 'friend' who has lied to you on countless occasions." The voice quickly explained but somehow Lukas managed to hear everything it said clearly... most likely because it was just a voice in his head like he thought. "You're wrong, I remember my family clearly, they were there on the day the incident happened a few months ago. The rest of what you just told me is nothing but lies; the only friends I ever had were Chara and Sapphire... even if I can't remember Sapphire all too well. My point is that I don't have any people who used to be my friends that would be out to kill me." Lukas refuted everything that the voice was telling him as, in his mind, it couldn't make any sense when considering all the logic that he knew.
"If this is how you're going to be then allow me to ask a few questions. Starting off; what did your parents look like, can you REALLY remember them? Also, just remembering the fact that they existed at one point isn't enough to convince me, give me details." The voice requested as Lukas could hear it's non-existent smile just from their voice alone. "Well, that's easy; they... you know, they looked like... people." Lukas slowly spoke as he attempted to find the answer to the voice's request only to find nothing. "Oh, so now your mind is just choosing when to remember everything you've forgotten? This is going to be annoying." They said with a sigh. "Just who are you!?" Lukas demanded an answer as the presence of the voice was beginning to annoy him more than he knew was possible. "I shall grant you the knowledge of my name and nothing else... it is... Laroxiam." They stated which froze Lukas in place. "Y-You mean like Al and Core said? You're THAT Laroxiam?" Lukas asked as he tried to comprehend the new answers he had just been given, despite the fact that he had been craving such information for a while, he didn't want to accept it. "Oh, Al told you that, did he? He's always been so annoying with the things he tells others. It's gonna be the death of him one of these days if I'm not around to stop it." The voice replied as its thoughts completely trailed off.
"I... I don't believe it... why is this happening to me?" Lukas questioned every piece of new information he had collected as his voice grew weak. "If I have it my way, you won't remember. I'd be worrying less about things that won't immediately concern you and instead, I would be concerned about the finite amount of hope that exists within that is quickly running out." Laroxiam stated as his voice slowly began to fade away. "H-Hope?" Lukas inquired only for Laroxiam's voice to become so quiet to the point where he couldn't make out a single word. "What do you mean by hope?" Lukas demanded an answer only for Laroxiam's presence to completely disappear. It took quite a long time for Lukas to think of an answer before he remembered what Zero said to him about hope. "Niko." Lukas said in a moment of realisation before quickly shooting of into the distance. "Hey, Lukas, sorry for being gone for so long, what are you doing?" Bethany asked as she suddenly appeared again. "Not right now, I'll explain later!" Lukas exclaimed as he could only focus on his constantly growing concern for Niko's safety. "Oh... alright then." Bethany replied with a quieter voice.
It didn't take long for Lukas to arrive at Niko's universe and quickly enter it before calling out to his friend. "Niko, are you there? Are you alright?" Lukas immediately yelled as he forgot about how time was altered in that universe... although it didn't matter anyways. "Lukas? Lukas is that really you!?" Niko exclaimed in disbelief as they looked around. "Did anything happen?" Lukas asked as he looked around for any danger only to see nothing out of the ordinary except for the fact that the tower was now incredibly close to him and his friend. "You've been gone for so long... about a week, I think?" Niko guessed as tears began to fall down onto the large smile that had formed on their face. "What? I thought that everything here was supposed to stop when I left... is that why we're so much closer to the tower?" Lukas inquired as he attempted to make sense of what was happening through his panicking mind. "Think about it, Lukas. Core made this universe to try and convince you to join the protectors... what did you think was going to happen when you finally accepted their invitation? They're just gonna let this world play out normally even if you aren't interacting with it." Bethany explained which caused Lukas' eyes to widen at the realisation. "Oh, no... they wouldn't, would they?" Lukas rhetorically questioned himself as he considered the possibility. "It's clear to me that Core didn't hold as much value in this world as you did." Bethany remarked which made Lukas clench his fist tightly.
"Well, I'm not leaving this place for a while... but when I eventually do leave, Core's gonna have to have a good excuse for all of this." Lukas spoke aloud before turning back to Niko who was already nearing the base of the tower. "We've been trying to reach this place for a while now... but why exactly?" Niko asked as they stared into the dark sky which didn't seem to be able to contain the tower. "I thought we were doing this because the tower was the only thing that we could see. Now that we're here though, I'm not exactly sure what else to do. It's a good landmark but I don't see an entrance anywhere." Lukas stated as he quickly flew back towards Niko and began to look around the tower. The building was so tall that Lukas couldn't see the top and all that he could see was an incredibly clean silver spire piercing the sky along with a deep blue hue around the base that came from the reflected light that the sand beneath his feet was giving off. "I feel like there should be something here... it's a strong feeling that I've never experienced before. Should we just ignore it?" Niko inquired as they looked to the horizon for any other possible places to travel to. "Well, I don't see any other place where we can go so I'd say we should look around a bit longer." Lukas suggested as he tapped on the cold metal shell of the pillar before him, he did manage to hear that it was hollow but an obvious way inside was not revealing itself even after a close inspection of the surroundings.
"Lukas, do you see this?" Niko suddenly asked after a long silence fell upon the both of them. "Hang on a second!" Lukas exclaimed as he rushed to the other side of the tower to where Niko was standing. What Lukas saw was quite strange, the light from the giant bulb that Niko was carrying around was not reflecting off of the surface of the tower, instead it seemed to reveal a passage that lead to a red platform inside the base of the structure. "Well, I guess that's one way to hide a secret entrance." Lukas remarked as the two of them stepped into the room which had a white X marked on the floor... the entire rest of the room was pitch black. "This... doesn't exactly look like it leads anywhere." Niko stated as the observed the room for anything of interest only to find nothing. "The X normally marks the spot so I assume if I just do something like this then-" Lukas began saying as he stomped on the middle of the floor only for it to suddenly start rising upwards which startled Niko slightly. "What's happening!?" Niko yelled as the soft humming of the elevator filled the tall structure that the two friends were slowly rising through. "Don't panic, I did that." Lukas quickly apologised in an attempt to calm his friend. As they continued to rise up through the tower, Lukas couldn't help but sense a familiar unwanted presence; the same one he felt when that distorted voice spoke to him. He could hear them laughing again, it was distant and faint but he could hear it... and then a voice emerged within his head but it wasn't the one that he expected to hear.
"I'm sorry, Lukas." A voice sounding similar to Core's spoke within Lukas' mind. "Core, what do you want?" Lukas asked through his thoughts so that Niko couldn't hear him. "I created this world just to try and convince you to join the protectors but now, this world will bring you nothing but sadness and pain. I beg of you; leave this world to its fate and never return." Core pleaded as a faint light shone down on Lukas through an opening in the very top of the tower. "No, I've got a better idea. I'll stay here with Niko until the Multiverse absolutely requires my assistance and after that, I'll be talking to you about this, face to face." Lukas explained as he completely disregarded Core's request. "But you-" Core began saying before being cut off. "End of story." Lukas stated as the light above him grew ever closer. Everything was silent for a moment before Core responded. "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you." Core said before their voice completely faded out and all that was left was the gentle hum of the floor beneath him... and that annoying laughing from the voice in the back of Lukas' mind but he was trying his best to block that part out. "What do you think is gonna be at the top?" Niko inquired as they slowly sat down and stared into the sky that could be seen through the small hole at the top of the tower. "I hope that it's a way for you to get back home but... well, we can't be sure until we get there." Lukas responded as he stared up alongside Niko. Everything seemed so calm in that moment... until a sudden doubt clouded Lukas' vision.
He couldn't tell what thought had caused this doubt nor could he tell what he was worried about... but the feeling only got worse as he was elevated higher and higher. His focus completely shifted from the world around him to finding an explanation as to why he was feeling like this but as he did so, the laughing behind him only grew louder as they let out a few words between their gasps for breath. "Oh, he actually remembers something! This is never... gonna get old!" The voice exclaimed breathlessly before continuing to voice their amusement which was beginning to get on Lukas' nerves. "Lukas, snap out of it! We're nearly there!" Bethany snapped as she seemed to want Lukas to be present physically and mentally for the end of their ascent. As the blinding blue light shone down upon Lukas and Niko, their eyes adjusted to the brightness before found themselves in a large glass dome at the top of the tower with a pedestal in the centre with nothing on it. "It's... very spacious at least." Niko remarked as they slowly stepped off of the elevator and looked up at the pale-blue moon that emitted a gentle light upon them. "What's that thing?" Lukas asked as he approached the pedestal and looked on top of it to see a rather large round hole.
"It looks like something's supposed to go in there... what about this?" Niko suggested as they held up the giant lightbulb that they were carrying around and slowly attempted to place it into the hole. A sudden rush of fear surged through Lukas as Niko did this... he felt like their time together was nearing an end for some reason. "Don't do that!" Lukas' voice echoed through out the room as Niko quickly pulled the lightbulb back towards them. "Wh-What? Did something happen?" Niko asked in shock? "So, you sense it too?" Bethany questioned Lukas. "Huh, what do you mean?" Lukas thought so that only Bethany would hear him. "The eye gives you certain abilities that allow you to sense objects with magical properties. This pedestal will most likely teleport whoever uses it to somewhere we won't be able to reach." Bethany calmly explained as Lukas tried his best to understand her. "Somewhere we can't reach? So, that means..." Lukas began saying. "This'll be where you and Niko part ways... they'll most likely be sent back home." Bethany finished Lukas' sentence for him. As Lukas came to realise what needed to happen, he looked at Niko... he knew that something like this moment needed to come eventually but he didn't expect it to happen so soon. "It's just another part of Core's plan it seems." Bethany stated with a sigh. After a few more moments of considering his options, Lukas decided what was best for everyone. "We came here to get Niko home and this is our best chance of completing that mission." Lukas explained as he tried to hold back his tears.
"Lukas, are you still here?" Niko asked as they hadn't heard a response to their previous question for quite a while. "Yeah, I'm here... I just had to think about something for a bit." Lukas replied as he thought about what he should say to Niko about the situation. "Is there something on your mind? You can tell me if anything's bothering you." Niko offered as their eyes seem to light up the dim surroundings without even trying. Lukas wasn't sure if he was going to be able to tell Niko about everything that he had just learnt... but he knew that he needed to try. "Look, I-I inspected the pedestal a bit closer... and it might be able to send you back home if you place that lightbulb in it." Lukas explained to Niko as he couldn't even manage to look at their face. "Really!?" Niko questioned as they couldn't believe what they were hearing. "Yeah... but..." Lukas began saying. With a look of curiosity, Niko walked towards the pedestal. "What's wrong?" Niko inquired as they looked down upon the opening where they were going to place the lightbulb. "Well, if you do get taken home, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to follow you back there." Lukas finished his sentence as he moved so that he was opposite Niko. "Oh..." Was all Niko could say as their anticipation to go home was suddenly conflicted with their wish to stay with their friend.
"I'm not sure what we should do... I mean, ultimately, it's up to you and I don't really get a say in what you do." Lukas stated with a sigh as he awaited Niko's decision. Niko remained silent as they turned and walked to the edge of the glass dome as they looked down upon the world beneath them. "There's not much else here, we could try searching for another possible way but I don't know where to start looking." Niko admitted as they slowly sat down to rest their legs. "I haven't seen any other structures around either. My job is to get you home but if you want to stay here then I'll support that decision as well." Lukas explained himself as he looked over at his friend. "Aren't you like some kind of god? Isn't there something you can do to come with me?" Niko asked as they focused on the gentle warmth given off by the lightbulb in their arms. "I'm afraid not; someone stronger than me controls what happens in this world so I can't change anything in here." Lukas replied with a sigh as he tried his best to think of some other solution. "I'm sorry to force this information on you all of a sudden, I really am, I wish things could happen differently... maybe there's another way or even-" Lukas began saying. "No, it's fine." Niko interrupted before standing up and walking over to the pedestal.
"The longer we think about this, the harder it will be to make the final decision. You said it yourself; your mission is to take me home... so I think it's best if I helped you complete it." Niko stated as they lifted the lightbulb up before slowly lowering it down into the hole in the pedestal. "Are you sure that this is what you want?" Lukas questioned Niko as he wanted to be certain that they would be happy with their decision. "No... but this is probably for the best. I wish I could spend more time with you but the longer we make our goodbyes, the harder it will be for me to leave, I'm sorry." Niko explained as tears rolled down their face and onto the cold metal floor below. Lukas saw the emotion on Niko's face and he couldn't help but feel the same amount of sadness as them... but on top of that sadness, Lukas also felt rage and hatred for how Core would just let his cherished friendship end like this. Niko closed their eyes before breathing in and placing the lightbulb into the hole.
Just then, an incredibly bright light emerged and engulfed Niko before growing brighter as Lukas felt himself being pushed away by some force. Lukas tried his best to push against whatever was taking him as he covered his eyes as to not be blinded... but it was all in vain. After the light had vanished, Lukas found himself out in The Multiverse again but in the place of Niko's universe, there was only sparkling particles that changed colours every now and again. "Damn you Core!" Lukas yelled after a brief silence before bursting into tears as the remnants of Niko's universe floated around him. The tears from Lukas' face drifted away from him like a feather in the wind as he clenched his fist at the very thought of what Core had done. "Savour that hatred; it's eventually going to be all that's gonna keep you moving forwards." The annoying voice whispered to Lukas before immediately continuing to laugh again. "You know what? For once, I actually like the sound of your advice." Lukas replied to them before he shot off into the distance back towards the Sanctuary. "Lukas, I know you're mad, I am too but don't do anything too drastic! You'll regret it after a while and you won't be able to take it back!" Bethany exclaimed as she already had an idea as to what Lukas was going to do.
Lukas ignored all of Bethany's words as he headed towards his destination, he was prepared to do anything to get the answers that he wanted out of Core. Within seconds, Lukas had arrived back at the Sanctuary and he immediately began sprinting towards the core chamber which definitely seemed to worry Bethany. "That's far enough, Lukas." A familiar voice called out to Lukas from behind. Lukas turned around to look at the one who spoke to him only to find Dream who was looking a lot less cheerful than normal. "What now? I've got somewhere important to be!" Lukas yelled with a lot of unneeded aggression which was definitely detected by Dream. "No, I'm sensing quite a bit of evil intent within you to the point where I can't just ignore it. If something's bothering you, we can talk about it and I can try and help you to get rid of these feelings... but I cannot let you go any further until I know that these emotions have been supressed." Dream spoke as he approached Lukas and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Dream... but I don't need your help." Lukas carelessly replied before quickly walking away towards the giant door which was just in his sight. "Not one more step!" Dream shouted which made Lukas sigh and turn around again only to see that Dream was pointing his staff at him. "I don't normally do this but I'm afraid I can't let this slide. For your safety and the safety of everyone else, you will follow all orders from the Protectors. Now, come with me or I will use force to stop you." Dream ordered Lukas as his gaze did not move in the slightest.
"I'm a Protector too and my business is far more important than anything that you should be worried about." Lukas responded as his hatred for Core was rising with every second that he wasn't acting on it. "You're still new, the rules will only be lifted for you once you can prove to us that you can be trusted." Dream explained in an unchanging tone as a crowd began to gather around the two of them and whispers filled the emptiness between the retorts that either of them called out. "Well, it seems that there's quite a crowd... why don't you show them your rage?" Laroxiam asked which made Lukas smile. Without a second thought, Lukas summoned his weapons into his hands as he stared directly at Dream with a grin on his face. "Lukas, there's so many people around here, are you sure you want to do this?" Dream inquired as his face seemed to show slight signs of hesitation. For some reason, that question rung out through Lukas' mind more than anything else at that moment and it caused Lukas' hesitation to mirror Dream's. "No, this anger is only meant for Core." Lukas whispered before he turned towards the giant door and flew like a bullet directly into it and clicked his fingers which caused the door to shut behind him.
"You've got some explaining to do, Core!" Lukas yelled as he lowered his feet to the floor and looked up to the floating orb before him. "I warned you about that universe, did I not? You can't blame me for what happened." Core stated as Lukas' weapons disappeared. "You used Niko and that world to make me into a Protector and then when you didn't need them anymore, you just doomed our friendship to end! Explain to me how none of that is your fault, I dare you!" Lukas shouted as, to him, Core was definitely trying to dodge the blame. "Why do you think any of the universes exist? I created them so that somebody would eventually escape them and then become a Protector just like you did. I don't plan for most of them to get destroyed when they do but that's due to the Destroyer's outside interference." Core explained in such a casual manner. "You... you created these universes just so you could get someone from them to protect you and then you destroy them!? How could you do such a thing?" Lukas demanded an answer as tears began to form in his eyes. "I've done it so much to the point where I've just grown numb to it, I assume." Core responded in the same unconcerned tone.
"Well, if you created that universe to get a Protector from it then why did you destroy it?" Lukas asked as he tried to calm himself as much as he could which was a lot more difficult considering the fact that he was talking to Core. "It took two universes to turn you into a Protector and it was well worth using another one to get someone of your strength on my side." Core replied as they seemed so confident in what they were saying. "What about Niko? They could have become a Protector, they already knew so much about it and I could've trained them!" Lukas exclaimed as he couldn't understand Core's reasoning. "Maybe so but... I'm afraid it's too late now. When universes die, they're reduced to nothing and I can't rebuild something in that state." Core stated which made Lukas' heart drop. "You mean... you can't get Niko back?" Lukas questioned Core in the hopes that what he thought was the answer would be incorrect. "That's right." Core simply said... but that was more than enough to crush Lukas' hopes. "The remnants of that universe were still floating about though, surely you can rebuild it from that right?" Lukas inquired as a clear attempt to salvage anything he could from his dying hope. "I'm not powerful enough to do that, Lukas." Core spoke which finally broke Lukas as tears began pouring down his face.
"They aren't powerful enough... but you are." Bethany stated randomly which caught Lukas' attention. "W-What?" Lukas asked in surprise. "Well, I mean, are you just gonna sit back and accept that Niko can't be saved? Are you just going to ignore the fact that Core has lied to you on multiple occasions and that this could be just another lie to manipulate you?" Bethany responded with multiple questions which seemed to stir thoughts inside Lukas' mind. "How can I change something that Core can't?" Lukas inquired as he slowly began to raise his head. "The same way that I was able to cause so much destruction. I got back at my enemies by demolishing everything they held dear... how about you do the opposite? Bring back something that Core doesn't care about, prove yourself to be stronger than they could've ever dreamed of!" Bethany enthusiastically spoke to boost Lukas' confidence. "I'm not strong enough!" Lukas yelled as a sudden headache emerged which caused him to fall to his knees. "Fine then, believe that for as long as you want. Watch all of your friends die around you when the Tyrant comes for you." Bethany grimly spoke as she faced away from Lukas. Small sparks began to suddenly appear around Lukas as he clutched his head tighter and the emotions overwhelmed him. "Just shut up!" Lukas shouted as the surroundings turned red and electricity shot out of his body in one giant burst which strangely didn't seem to affect anything around him.
Lukas almost immediately calmed down after these events and he looked around as he was completely shocked as to what happened. "It happened again... but nothing seems to have changed." Lukas stated as he looked down at his hands and down at his clothes. "Well, it certainly can't drain the colour out of your clothes anymore than it already has and it didn't destroy anything... maybe it created something instead?" Bethany guessed as it seemed like the only logical answer. "Yeah, possibly... but what could it-" Lukas began asking before he stopped himself and paused for a moment. "Oh? It sounds like somebody has an idea!" Bethany exclaimed as she was excited to see what Lukas' powers had done. "Lukas, would you mind explaining what's going on?" Core requested as their colour changed to orange. "I'm not explaining anything to you." Lukas spoke with a smile as he quickly ran out of the core chamber and flew off into The Multiverse. "Thanks for making me mad Bethany, it actually helped out for once." Lukas said as he stopped soon after setting off and looked down at the remnants of Niko's universe... only to find that it had been restored. "Any time, now go and meet up with them again." Bethany encouraged Lukas which caused him to nod eagerly.
Lukas swiftly descended into the universe the light of the sun of that world came into view and calmed him with its light. He blinked so he could teleport down to the surface of the world and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a large wheat field full of light with a town not too far off into the distance. "Just remember, you don't want anybody here to know about your powers so try to act like a normal person." Bethany requested which Lukas nodded in response to before running over to the buildings. It took a few minutes but once Lukas finally made it to the town, he looked about to see people that looked similar to Niko wandering about, a few even staring at him with curious looks... it seemed like most people looked like Niko in that world. "Excuse me!" Lukas called out to a woman walking nearby who appeared to be wearing a handmade dress. "Yes, do you need something?" The woman politely asked as she showed a surprised expression upon seeing Lukas and his appearance. "Do you know where Niko lives? I met them recently but they never told me which house they were in." Lukas told the partial truth as he struggled to contain his excitement. "That house right there." The woman replied as she pointed towards one of the many houses that were strangely missing a second floor... Lukas wasn't even aware that buildings were made like that. "Ah, thank you, miss!" Lukas exclaimed as he ran towards the indicated house.
Before knocking on the door, Lukas took a few deep breaths as he tried to calm himself; this was the first time Niko would ever see how he looked, he needed to be polite. Soon after, Lukas knocked on the door and waited for an answer... a short time after that, a woman came to the door with beautiful blue hair and bright yellow eyes. "Hello Miss, is Niko here?" Lukas asked as he tried to keep his smile at a reasonable size. "Yes, may I ask who you are before I bring them?" They requested with a gentle and kind voice. "I'm Lukas, I'm one of Niko's friends." Lukas replied to which the woman nodded and went inside the house, leaving the door open. After a few moments, Lukas heard footsteps rapidly approaching the front door before a familiar face ran out of the door and stopped in front of him. "Hey, Niko... I'm sorry I worried you so much, I didn't think I'd be able to-" Lukas began saying before Niko quickly pulled him into a hug as he heard them beginning to cry. "I-I should've stayed at least a bit longer, I shouldn't have worried you by just acting so fast." Niko stuttered as their tears fell on the ground behind Lukas. "No, don't blame yourself. I'm the one that convinced you that going home mattered more than anything else. If anyone is to blame for separating us, it should be me." Lukas responded as he too began to feel tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry." Niko spoke quietly. "I'm sorry too." Lukas said as the two held each other for a few more moments.