Shortish chapter, but it's how the scenes were.

Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.

When they reached 'Asch's' vantage point he greeted them with his usual amount of politeness. "Dist, it's about time you got here! Sync, did you fill him in?"

"We saw it for ourselves. You weren't kidding when you said your replica was dangerous. He's got a damage-nullifying, all stat-boosting, and I don't know what else enhancement arte! You're not the only one who has questions for Van! How did a seven year old manage to hide something like that from him and get away with it?" Sync fumed. "I'm in the red. Heal me, and then we're heading right to Kaitzur to talk to Van."

"He's here?"

"Don't even think about it! We need to report, Asch, and figure out what to do! He knows, Asch! Do you want everything you went through to have been for nothing?"

"No." Luna scowled. "Oh radiant power, Bless!"

And Sync's whole body heaved, twitched, and he screamed before going limp.

That healing arte surrounded the body with seventh fonons it could use. Normally harmless even to Sync (Asch had cast it on him before a few times, so there was no way he would recognize it as the problem), without his talisman and with his body's integrity severely weakened by Asch's seventh-fonon coated sword, now it was tempting the fonons that made up Sync's body to leave that unhappy shell and return to Lorelei's embrace.

"The hell! Don't tell me that dreck can make it so healing artes don't work either!"

"Get rid of it," Sync pleaded.

"I can't! Damn it, damn it, damn it, I'm going to kill that…" Luna tried a panacea bottle, then took out an apple gel and hesitated. "If this works the way I think it does this would just make it worse."

"You're… right… I'll…" Sync refused it: good, since the influx of seventh fonons into his body would have helped reduce the amount he would be weakened (he would be pulled into his body as well as out of it). "Tough it out… I can't die here, I won't die here…" But he was going to, and Luna didn't want to watch.

But Asch had said good night to Arietta, and had agreed to bring Ion with them for her sake, among other reasons.

They trusted them. They came to them, Asch, for help.

But then, Luke had trusted his Master Van.

"It's not right."

"But it's necessary."

Luna used the apple gel on him. "He was going to die if I didn't use it," he explained to Dist. "But he still may. I don't get it. The cloud should be healing him and vanishing, but it's just growing."

"The cloud?"

"Pulling… me apart…" Sync could talk again. "I'm at full HP, I have been since you cast it, so why did an apple gel help?"

"We're in St. Binah, they make them here. We could commandeer the whole town's supply," Luna reminded them.

"No… It won't be enough… I'm still fading." Shaking his head, Sync pushed himself off Dist's chair. "I can't believe… It's down to Dist, who only cares about his stupid childhood, and you, Asch… I don't want to die… But Ion was born to die and so I was made to. Van saved me, just like you, Asch… Destroy the Score! Promise me, and make Van promise!"

"I promise." Yes, he could promise he would destroy the Score. That wouldn't be a lie.

Sync looked up at the sky, rolling onto his back on the upper observation platform that was off-limits to the general public (technically they shouldn't have been there, since they weren't Malkuth military). "Damn you, Lorelei… You'll die! Die and see how it feels!" His voice broke.

"We need to get out of here," Dist warned Asch. "Your replica's abilities are both powerful and unknown. He could pose a significant threat, in fact he already has."

"I'm staying here. You get going."

"What?"

"You heard me! Someone has to report to Van." Luna knelt by Sync's side and used another apple gel.

"What he said," Sync gasped out, although when Luna touched his arm it was only half-solid, between solid and not in the same way translucent was between transparent and opaque.

"Your chair can fly, Dist! You should be able to avoid him even if Sync couldn't."

"Why not come with me?"

"I'm not riding in your lap all the way to Kaitzur!" Luna got a hold of himself. "And I'm the only one with a real chance of surviving long enough to figure out what his capabilities are. He's my replica, so he should be weaker than me, right?"

"Ha." Sync wasn't amused.

"Go, Dist! Or do you want to die?"

"You have a point there. See you in Kaitzur, Asch. Or not." Dist took off.

"Cockroach," Sync complained.

"You're telling me."

"Still, I can't believe you're staying with me. You hate replicas." Sync wasn't talking with his mouth anymore, so Luna could hear him clearly.

"No, Sync, I don't." Sync looked puzzled. "I am one. I'm sorry, Sync."

"You!" Sync sprang up and tried to claw at him, but he passed right through him like the ghost he would be in a minute.

"Lorelei isn't evil, Sync. He's crying for you right now, and for the entire world." Luna knew it in his bones. "Please, don't hate him. In the fon belt no one will care that you were a replica. Your fonons know you'll be happier there, that's why they want to go home to it. So does Lorelei. I'm sorry, Sync. Rest in peace."

Luna wished there was at least a body to bury.

"Look down. Guy's at the town gate. You'll have to go down and make them let him in if you want to talk to him now."

"I don't know what to tell him."

"Well, it's not as though it's urgent." Asch paused. "Do you want me to?"

"…I was going to say that it was my responsibility, but he was your friend too, and you haven't seen him in years. Do you want to talk to him?"

Asch realized that, "You're right. I'm sorry, I didn't understand what I was asking you to do. I've been dreaming of telling the god-generals, my father, and King Ingobert, or not, but Guy, Natalia, Mother? It's…"

"You told Ion for me. So… I'll tell Mother for you. If you handle Guy, I'll handle Natalia."

Natalia was the one Asch had truly been dreading.

Asch had multiple copies of his uniform, but Luna had come out here with only the clothes on his back, so both of them could pose as Asch at once but right now Asch could only pose as Luna posing as Asch.

"No. You're going to be you, Asch. I don't… The god-generals are one thing, but I don't want to lie to the people we care about anymore. I think Jade might be right, that it's not right to only really… see each other as people worthy of the truth. It was necessary, but it's a bad habit."

"I suppose," Asch admitted grudgingly. "You go back down, make it look like you're planning to brief the troops. Dist can fly up out of sight of the ground, remember. I doubt he stuck around, but if you keep acting like me he should assume that it's Luna who's going to talk to his manservant."

"Of course."

"Sorry, old habits from dealing with my subordinates."

"No, it's good to check and make sure we're on the same page. You talk to Guy, and I'll think about what to do since we had to let Dist escape." Dist might be weak, but there was nothing they could do about that chair giving him the ability to escape. Spinning that story for Sync had come in handy after all. When Asch didn't immediately respond and Luna saw that Asch could see Guy but wasn't revealing himself, he nudged him. "You aren't getting cold feet, are you?"

"I…" It was Guy, or Natalia, or Mother. All of the alternative conversations were even more potentially devastating, even harder to contemplate.

"Never mind. I'll do it."

"What?"

"I'll talk to Guy. And Natalia, and Mother. You've done so much for me that it's only fair."

"It's not fair to ask you to…"

"You're not asking, I am. Please let me do this for you, Asch." Luna's strength sturdied him.

"It's too risky for you to sneak out of town right now."

"So?"

"Are you suggesting…"

"Sound fun?"

"We never could get switching back perfected, but if we're so close together… You're right, we should test this."

"Lean against something, okay?"

Asch nodded. "Let's try switching back right away."

"Of course. If it worked when you were outside of Baticul, it should work this close." That had been scary. Luna having to make his way out of Daath by himself… at least he'd known how to walk and so on once he was in a body capable of it, and Asch had talked him through it while playing Luna's idiot child role to the hilt, but Luna had been so scared there, and… Asch going to Luna's body was like water flowing downhill. He could only make the transfer back to his own if there wasn't a long distance between them. They'd switched back and forth several times once Asch was in range and Van was working on persuading him to come back home since they were all fooled.

He'd actually gotten to see Luna, he'd dared. He hadn't told Luna until years later. Luna would have wanted to know why Asch hadn't told him he was there, that close, so Luna could see him, but Luna couldn't have acted calmly. He would have tried to stumble over to Asch and they would have found him and Luna would have been killed.

Still, the missed opportunity had been the cause of the only occasion… They hadn't argued, but Luna had been so hurt. He'd wanted to see Asch so badly all this time… But now they were together. "I'm ready," he told Luna.

"Okay, here goes." They had to each push on each other for leverage, Luna being flung into Asch's body with the force of Asch being drawn into Luna's. "And back…" That was tougher. Asch had to push himself away from the body and Luna had to pull. Only this time it was more like beckon. "Well, that was easy." After Asch was securely in his body Luna slid back into his own (Asch was the harder of the two to move by far. "Okay, for real this time?"

"Let's go." And Asch found himself in the inn. "Do you want me to tell the others we can switch?"

"Um… It wouldn't be a lie to just let them think we can't?" This was something new, and fun. An aspect of their bond. Luna didn't want to share until they had played with their (relatively) new toy for a bit. They hadn't done this since the aftermath of that frightening first time.

"You're such a child sometimes."

Luna would have stuck out his tongue, and the feeling was the same, but Guy had just spotted him.