Remorse (L)

"It just doesn't make any sense!" Lukas exclaimed as he began setting off towards Niko's universe. "Still, you actually managed to remember what happened, right? That's some good news at least." Bethany replied as she was just trying to cheer Lukas up. "I mean... sure, I guess but it hasn't exactly helped me in anyway." Lukas stated as he thought about the implications of him being able to remember his dreams. "I mean, you'll hopefully be able to figure out some stuff if your dreams can give you information." Bethany suggested as a possible benefit. "Who's to say that my dreams are even a reliable source of information?" Lukas asked as he stopped in front of Niko's universe. "I'd trust the information that it gives you until you can consider it untrustworthy without any doubts." Bethany explained before preparing to remain silent again. "Niko, sorry for leaving again." Lukas said as he entered the universe.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Niko asked as they looked around at the glowing blue wasteland. "Oh, right... sorry about that, you probably don't get what's going on. Uh, can you just forget about that please? I'll explain it to you later." Lukas requested as he gazed over to the tower which was far closer than it appeared previously. "Uh, okay." Niko said awkwardly as they began walking once more. "You've got to stop forgetting this stuff, Lukas." Bethany stated with a sigh which made Lukas confused. "Wait, didn't you say that there was magic here that made people able to-" Lukas began saying out loud. "Lukas, I swear to god!" Bethany exclaimed which just made him even more confused. "Which god?" Lukas inquired before turning to see that Niko had heard everything except for Bethany's words. "Were you talking to your friend?" Niko questioned Lukas after a long silence. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I kind of forgot that you couldn't hear her." Lukas explained as he realised where Beth's sudden frustration came from.

"Have you seriously never heard that saying before?" Bethany asked despite knowing that Lukas was trying to hear what Niko was trying to say. "I've heard similar stuff but the way that you yelled it made me want to react immediately so I didn't exactly think about my response." Lukas clarified through his thoughts before returning to listening to Niko. "It's just strange to think... we've spent practically no time together and I feel like I can feel confident calling you one of the best friends I've ever had." Niko stated as Lukas only caught about half of their speech. "I seem to be having that effect on a lot of people recently." Lukas said as he looked back at Bethany who just laughed slightly. "Honestly, jokes aside, I feel the same. Maybe it's because you're the first person that I've been tasked with protecting... and maybe I feel sympathy for you because I know what it's like to end up in a world that you are unfamiliar with that growing hopelessness that..." Lukas began saying before he stopped himself as he realised that he may have been talking for too long. Niko didn't reply instantly but after a while, they responded. "Keep going. If you need to say something like that then I'm always willing to listen." Niko requested without halting their approach on the tower in the distance. "Basically what I'm saying is... it could be because I know how it feels to be trapped in a world that you fear every inch of. I may have felt like I shouldn't let you figure it all out for yourself without knowing that you have somebody who's looking out for you; a friend." Lukas simplified his thoughts so the conversation wouldn't seem so awkward.

"That's really sweet, Lukas... but what you said implies that you didn't have anybody who you'd consider a friend before me. Is that really true?" Niko inquired which really got Lukas to think. "Yeah, I suppose that... there's a few." Lukas responded even though he hadn't completely thought about it yet. "You sound unsure of yourself. I don't want to seem rude or anything but... are you sure that you actually consider some of the people that you're thinking of now to be your friends?" Niko asked seemingly out of pure curiosity. "Am I... sure?" Lukas repeated to himself as he seriously considered what Niko was implying. Were the people that he had met anything close to what he would consider a friend? He thought about Dream and how he was only really using him for information about Michael, he thought about the assassins... they were psychopathic murderers so he surely wouldn't consider them friends even if Draedon did do him a favour or two, then he thought about Bethany. Bethany had killed everybody that he had ever loved and torn him apart from the one person in his home who he ever considered a friend, how could he ever possibly consider Bethany to be a friend after what she had done? Yet, strangely enough, after thinking about it for a while, Lukas knew that Bethany was probably the only person that he DID consider to be a friend of his. Despite everything that she had done and all the stress that she had forced onto him, he knew that deep down, he had already forgiven her.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Lukas recalled all the times that he had ever spoken to Bethany about his past and he realised something that he never heard before; he could hear... no, he could practically FEEL the remorse in Bethany's voice and it wasn't hard for him to imagine tears welling up behind her mask as if it was actually happening at that moment. "I-I'm sorry if that question was a bit too personal, I didn't mean to-" Niko began saying before Lukas interrupted. "No, it's fine. Besides from you... I guess there's only one other living person that I would consider a friend. I've only just realised how bad of a teammate and a friend that I've been. I only ever used people for more information and help... I've disregarded their advice constantly and only done what I wanted." Lukas admitted as he looked back at every mistake that he'd ever made. "That's good that you've realised that about yourself. I've learnt that seeing flaws can help people to improve... as long as you don't start thinking that everything that you do is a flaw. Now you can go out and rectify these mistakes and become a better friend to everybody." Niko explained as they genuinely listened to everything that Lukas told them which shocked him. "Does everybody in your home world teach you to be a trained therapist by the time that you're sixteen?" Lukas asked as a joke which made them both laugh slightly.

"Honestly, I'm not sure if I will go back and make things right. There's just this feeling that I have that's telling me that it won't be worth trying to be friends with those specific people. It feels like I've watched this all happen before and it didn't end well. Then again, when have my gut feelings ever been right?" Lukas rhetorically asked as he looked up at the tower only to see that the two of them were relatively close to it compared to how far they were at the beginning of that day. "I'm not sure if I understand... but if you're absolutely sure that you don't want to then that's fine. I only try to help so I won't push you to do something if it makes you uncomfortable." Niko stated as they too looked to the tower and seemed to be surprised about how close it was. "Well, it appears that we're nearing the end of our time together." Niko said which confused Lukas. "What do you mean by that?" Lukas questioned Niko as his gaze shot directly to them. "Well, I'm doing what you're doing; I'm trusting my gut instinct. I don't want to leave you but that's what I feel is going to happen." Niko explained as they looked to the ground. Lukas looked at Niko with a complete lack of understanding before a sudden pain shot through his head as his ears began ringing loudly yet somehow a voice was still hearable through all of it.

"You know the truth... whether you accept it or not is a completely different matter. There will be tears, there will be sadness and there will be regret... but you can take that all back. The question is whether you will choose to do so or not. Watching people think and watching their decisions... it's all so exciting!"