"I just wanted to let you all know that there's going to be quite a few time skips in this story as I'm genuinely not enjoying writing this part of the story. I'll be going over some key moments in the story along with quite a few character development scenes but I promise that when the next part comes out (which I've already started working on) there will be more and more time given to these scenes along with a higher quality. Also, this part of the ETM storyline doesn't actually have that big of an impact on the overarching story. I hope you all understand, thank you." -AJW (The writer that goes by "Lukas Ruston" online)
"You're not going to do anything productive with the time that Zero has given you?" Bethany asked as Lukas set off once again. "What do you expect me to be able to do? I can't fight Draedon or any of those assassins, Zero is immortal and I can't track any of the other seekers. All that we can really do is just enjoy life as it comes until our deal with Zero ends." Lukas explained as he quickly stopped next to the universe of which Niko was located. "You'll never be able to do it with that attitude." Bethany stated as Lukas entered the universe once more. "If you think that I'll be able to kill everything that stands in my way if I just believe in myself then I'd say that you're insane." Lukas replied before he was far enough into the universe for Niko to hear him. "I don't know how you think that I'm not insane... or did you just forget about the part where I burned an entire city and over ninety nine percent of its residents to ashes and I didn't even hesitate?" Bethany questioned Lukas which made him roll his eyes but he also couldn't help but smile.
"Niko, are you there?" Lukas asked as the blue sand and endless night sky became clear to his vision. "Huh? Of course I'm here, I was just telling you about my hometown. I don't want to seem rude... but do you have a short attention span?" Niko replied with another question. Suddenly, Lukas remembered that time in the universe somehow froze when he wasn't interacting with it... it was probably due to Core's powers but he wasn't entirely sure. "Oh, right, sorry. I wasn't completely paying attention because I began to imagine this girl and she seemed so familiar but I couldn't exactly say for sure where I'd seen her." Lukas apologised as he attempted to come up with the most convincing lie he could. "Wow, do your thoughts get side-tracked that easily? I wish I had such a carefree mindset." Niko said with a laugh to signal that they were joking.
"I'm sorry, that wasn't like me at all. It's fine now, I'm listening to whatever you have to say." Lukas stated as the two of them began to wander towards the tower that was barely visible in the distance. "Are you sure that nothing bigger is happening? I mean, you did tell me that you had fought some seriously powerful enemies, right? Couldn't one of those guys be causing you to see that stuff?" Niko suggested to Lukas which seemed like a completely plausible theory to them. "No." Lukas immediately replied without even thinking about his response. "You're that certain?" Niko asked in surprise. Despite his previous reply being instant, Lukas took a second to think about the most recent question. "No, I'm not certain at all. That just seemed to be the right response so I said it without even thinking." Lukas admitted as even he was unsure as to why he felt that way.
"Are you sure that you're okay?" Niko asked with genuine concern. "I doubt anybody would be okay if they've experienced the things that I have. Y'know, the parts about my entire home town being blown up before my very eyes along with having to watch my friends die. I can't imagine that being good for anyone's mental health." Lukas replied even though he knew that he wasn't addressing the issue that Niko was worried about. "Yeah, it sounded like you and Chara were really close." Niko stated as they attempted to connect with Lukas more. A confused expression appeared on Lukas' face as he didn't understand what Niko was saying... did they mess up their words or were they being completely serious? "Who's Chara?" Lukas simply inquired which seemed to baffle Niko. "Didn't you say that Chara was your friend who you lived with when that goddess destroyed your home?" Niko asked just to see if their information was correct. "No, her name was Sapph-" Lukas began saying only to stop himself midway through.
"What's the matter?" Niko questioned Lukas after a few moments of silence. "Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. You're right, her name was Chara." Lukas corrected himself. "Okay, I'm being absolutely serious here, are you sure that you're alright?" Niko asked in concern as they stopped their march towards the tower in the distance. Lukas also halted his walking as he actually asked himself that question only to come back with the same answer. "I'm not entirely sure." Lukas replied as he stood completely still to find some kind of answer that would actually provide some kind of useful information. "Well, is there any place that you can go to that might have the answers for you? Instead of finding the answers for yourself, you could look to see if this sort of stuff has happened with anybody else." Niko suggested as they continued to approach the tower that seemed a few more miles off in the distance. "I don't think so... wait a minute. The library! Thank you so much, Niko! I'll be back in a bit." Lukas exclaimed and before Niko could even respond, he had already flown off and arrived outside of the universe.
"Wait, where the hell are you going?" Bethany asked as Lukas' sudden departure shocked her a lot. "These questions that I don't have answers for are driving me mad, it's about time that at least one thing was cleared up." Lukas explained as he arrived back at the Sanctuary within seconds. Just before Lukas was about to land, he felt a cold grip on his shoulder that pulled him back to a point where nobody from within the walls would be able to see him. Lukas quickly shook the grip from his arm before he turned to see who it was who had grabbed him only to find Zero. "What are you doing here?" Lukas inquired as Zero's presence alone scared him. Zero stayed silent for an uncomfortable amount of time as their gaze lowered to the never-ending space below them that expanded out into all other directions. "I've... come to bid my farewell... forever." Zero stated which surprised Lukas. "You're joking right? You gave me a week's worth of free time before you said you'd come and hunt me down again but now you're just leaving forever?" Lukas asked in complete disbelief.
"Indeed, that is the case." Zero calmly replied as they looked back up at him. Lukas had noticed by this point that the negative emotions that he normally felt when around Zero were, for some reason, absent... not that Lukas minded, he actually preferred it to be that way. "What changed in your way of thinking? Did you finally grow a conscience?" Lukas questioned Zero. "No, I was forced into this. I disobeyed my orders and now I shall be completely removed from the scene forever." Zero clarified as they looked into the distance in the opposite direction of the Sanctuary. "Since when did you disobey your orders?" Lukas inquired out of genuine curiosity. "When I gave you a free week. I was ordered to track down anybody who I may have thought would be the one that my master seeks... but I stopped doing that... even if it was only for a short while." Zero admitted as it began to drift away from Lukas. "What about Gaster? He's clearly not doing as he's ordered so why isn't he being removed?" Lukas continued to ask more questions. "Gaster has an excuse; he's dying and he cannot continue his task unless if he deviates from his goal and repairs his system first." Zero explained without moving his gaze.
"As for Eanaro, before you ask, my master gave him too much power and free will. Eanaro can freely disobey my master's commands and there will be no consequences for him." Zero said as it held one of it's hands to it's face. "Now, enough talking, I've come to give you something that may help you in the long run. If my master is going to lie to me about some kind of reward and then destroy me when I make one little mistake then I'm going to make it harder for him to achieve his goal." Zero spoke as it unsheathed it's sword which scared Lukas and caused him to back away slightly and summon his weapons. Zero did not attack, it instead offered the hilt of it's sword to Lukas. "Take it, it's infused with my strength; the power of darkness. It will most likely help you on the journey ahead." Zero requested which surprised Lukas quite a bit. Lukas slowly and carefully reached his hand out and grabbed the sword before Zero let go of it and pulled it's arm away. "You may want to store it somewhere, it takes quite a bit of power to wield effectively." Zero stated as Lukas attempted to pull the sword closer to himself only to find himself struggling to even move it.
"How can I just store something as big and heavy as this?" Lukas asked rhetorically before a portal opened in front of him which shocked Lukas to the point where he visibly jumped in fear. "I probably should've mentioned that you can do that earlier, huh? The eye is somewhat sentient and it knows where you can put stuff without people finding it for a while." Bethany explained as Lukas pushed the sword through the newly opened portal with all of his might. "So, where does this portal lead?" Lukas wondered out loud as he stared through it only to see an empty white space. "Presumably to some unexplored corner of The Multiverse that won't be explored until we get that sword back when we need it." Bethany assumed as the portal slowly disappeared. "Well, thank you Zero-" Lukas began saying before he turned to see that Zero had left already. "Ah, the things that people will do out of spite... it never gets old." Bethany sighed as if she'd seen the same thing happen a million times over already.
Lukas just sat there in silence for a while as he thought that perhaps Zero wasn't doing everything that he had done just out of spite. There was no way to confirm or deny Lukas' suspicions now that Zero was gone though. "So, what now, Guardian of Sunlight?" Bethany asked in a joking voice. With a slight laugh, Lukas turned to her before responding. "Let's head to the library. Maybe we'll find something out about those orbs and memories that I keep seeing."
"You're a fool, Zero. You dared to disobey our master and now you must pay the price." "He is your master, he is no longer mine." "You actually think that the child can stop the fate that has already been written for him? No wonder that the master wished to be rid of you from the very beginning. He only kept you around because you were a useful asset... although, you were nothing more than that." "You have no right to say that when you yourself are more of a puppet than I. You and Gaster are idiots for believing that your master will not turn on you the second that you accomplish your goals. At least Eanaro was smart enough to realise that." "We'll see who gets the last laugh once I manage to gather enough energy to destroy the entire Multiverse. It's been fun talking with you but I believe your time is up. Goodbye forever, worthless traitor." "I should say the same you incompetent puppet."