Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.

Chapter 25

Lunaday, Gnome-Decan 46, ND2019 – 12:05am local time (Daath)

Tear opened the door to Florian's bedchamber as quietly as possible and peeked inside. To her relief, Florian seemed to be asleep. She waved silently to Natalia, beckoning her to come out to the Fon Master's office.

"How is he?" Tear asked softly, as soon as they had closed the door.

"He's still very hot," Natalia replied, also keeping her voice down, "but perhaps a little less so than before. Thank you for coming back to take the night watch. I'm so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open."

"Yes. I'm tired, too," said Tear, suppressing a yawn. "Tritheim went to bed an hour ago, but Guy and the Colonel are still in the library. I hope they won't stay up much longer. After they've explained to you what they've found so far, perhaps you should tell them to get some sleep.

"Indeed," said Natalia. "What about Anise?"

"I'm not sure," Tear admitted. "I think she's in her family's room. The door was locked, but there was light showing through the gap at the bottom. I knocked, but no one answered."

"How did you find Tritheim without her?" Natalia asked, sounding surprised.

"I was fortunate. I encountered him on the way back from the Tatlins' room."

"Thank goodness. Were you able to discuss the sentiences and the passage rings with him?"

Tear nodded. "Yes. He was shocked to hear about the sentiences, but he gave us permission to research the passage rings and look for ways to eliminate the interference. He asked us to keep him informed."

"I see," said Natalia. "Thank you, Tear. I'll refill Florian's pitcher and bring it back to you, before I go to the library."

Tear smiled at Natalia. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

Natalia smiled back. "Of course. What are friends for, if not to help each other?"

The moonlight shining through the window made a pale cross-hatch pattern on the wall above the head of Florian's bed. Florian stirred restlessly as Tear sat down in the velvet-padded chair that Natalia had sensibly brought in. His eyes opened, gleaming in the dimness.

"Tear?" he asked sleepily. "Where did Natalia go?"

"She went to get some rest," Tear replied. "I'll stay here with you until morning. How do you feel, Florian?"

"I'm still hot," said Florian. "And I'm tired. But mostly, I'm sad."

"Because you and Anise had an argument?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tear asked cautiously.

"No... I just want to go back to sleep."

"Very well. Let me know if you need anything. Here, let me feel your forehead just for a moment and see whether your fever has gone down."

"Okay..."

Tear carefully touched Florian's forehead with her fingertips, then laid the palm of her hand on it. He was still hot, but no longer too hot to touch. She breathed a sigh of relief and moved her hand back to her lap.

"Am I getting better?" Florian asked.

"Yes, certainly," Tear replied. "You're still feverish, but I think if you get some more sleep, you'll recover by tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Florian said. He rolled over to face Tear, scrunched his pillow into a more comfortable shape, and closed his eyes.

"Tear..." he said after a moment.

"What is it, Florian?" Tear asked.

"Do you see Ion when you look at me? Like Anise does?"

Tear frowned. "Anise does? Did she say that?"

"Not exactly," said Florian, opening his eyes again. "But she said she doesn't want to lose me because she already lost Ion."

"I see," Tear murmured. She took a deep breath and said, "Florian... you and Ion do look alike, and perhaps the Order made a mistake when they gave you Ion's robes to wear. But I can tell the difference between you and Ion."

"You can?" Florian asked. "How?"

"It's not something I can easily put into words. But Florian... you and Ion are not the same person, just as Luke and Asch were not the same. Luke was Asch's replica, but they spoke differently, acted differently, and saw the world differently."

"So even though I'm Ion's replica, I don't talk or act like Ion?"

"That's right," Tear replied. She paused to consider her next words. He deserves to know the truth, she decided, whether or not it's my place to tell him. "Florian," she began, "do you know that our friend Ion was a replica, too?"

Florian's eyes widened. "He was?"

"Yes. The original Fon Master Ion died three years ago due to frail health," Tear explained. "But before he died, Mohs and Van – two people of high authority in the Order – created seven replicas of him. Our friend was the seventh replica. He was secretly substituted as Fon Master in the original's place two years before Luke and I met him."

"So Anise knew both Ions?" Florian asked. "Is that why she sees me as an Ion, too?"

"No, I don't think so. Anise was appointed as a Fon Master Guardian after the original Ion died." Tear decided not to mention the resulting rivalry between Anise and Arietta. It was too complicated, and it wasn't relevant right now. "She was just as surprised as the rest of us, when Ion revealed that he was a replica."

"So if Anise's Ion was the seventh replica, what happened to the other six?" Florian asked.

"Well, we rescued one of them from Mohs and Van at the Absorption Gate last year," Tear replied, smiling. "That was you. You remember, don't you?"

"Yeah!" Florian said enthusiastically, propping himself up on one elbow. "And you all brought me to Daath, and Anise gave me my name!"

"Lie down, Florian," Tear chided. "You're supposed to be resting. I think we've talked enough for now."

"But what about the other five replicas?" Florian persisted, as he lay down again. "I remember now... I saw some of them disappear. Was I the only one who survived?

"No, there was one other we know of. He became one of the Six God-Generals. His name was Sync."

"Oh," said Florian. "Didn't Guy and Natalia mention someone called Sync, after I made the pact with Sylph?"

"I'm impressed that you remember," said Tear. "But that's enough for tonight. Go to sleep, Florian."

"Can I have a drink of water first?" Florian whined.

Tear recognized this stalling tactic from her own childhood. "Yes, I'll bring you some water. Stay in bed." She stood up from the chair and headed for the table in the corner, hiding a nostalgic smile.

A creaking noise from Florian's mattress startled Tear awake. Florian was sitting up, yawning and stretching. Sunlight streamed in the window, casting its glow on the far wall. After a few blinks to reorient herself, Tear realized that she had somehow dozed off while she was supposed to be monitoring Florian.

Sleeping on duty... What a poor soldier, she reprimanded herself silently. "Good morning, Florian," was all she said out loud.

"Good morning, Tear," Florian replied cheerfully, smiling at her. "I feel better now!"

"Do you? Let's check your temperature," said Tear, reaching for Florian's forehead.

"Awww, Tear," Florian complained, leaning away from her. "I said I'm fine!"

Tear sighed. He sounds so much like Luke sometimes, she reflected. Luke had been very resistant to having her fuss over him when he was injured or not feeling well. Luke, she thought, I miss you. Please, come home soon.

She felt Florian's forehead with her palm, then felt her own forehead. She tried again with the inside of her wrist. His temperature seemed to be only a little warmer than hers.

"Well? Is my fever gone?" Florian asked impatiently.

"You're still slightly too warm," Tear replied. "You should take it easy today, just in case. But I think you can come to the library and sit at the table with us while we do more research. We aren't planning to leave until this afternoon."

"We'll be going to Yulia City, right? And then Keterburg?"

Tear nodded. "Yes. I've written a letter to Grandfather, to explain about the passage rings and ask him for help. We'll deliver the letter and be on our way again immediately."

"Will you promise me something, Tear?" Florian asked nervously, as he scrambled out of bed and went to retrieve his shoes.

Tear was surprised by Florian's anxiety. "What's the matter, Florian?"

Florian, shoes now in hand, turned to look Tear in the eye. "Promise you won't leave me in Yulia City. Promise!"

"Of course we won't leave you behind," Tear reassured him. "Why would we? Ifrit said that you're the only one who can form pacts to stabilize the sentiences' power. We need you, Florian."

"What about the passage rings?" Florian countered.

"We haven't found much information about them so far," Tear said regretfully. "It could take months to solve the problems with the passage rings' interference. The Colonel said last night, at the end of our discussion with Grand Maestro Tritheim, that having you form pacts as a temporary measure is probably the best option right now."

"Promise me anyway!" Florian insisted.

"Yes, I promise," said Tear. "You won't even have to leave the Albiore, if you don't want to. But why are you so worried, Florian?"

Florian hesitated. Tear waited patiently. She was about to ask again when Florian replied sadly, "Anise wants me to stop making pacts and stay in Yulia City. She thinks I'll be safe there."

"Is that what you two were arguing about yesterday?" Tear asked.

"Kind of," Florian said, looking down as he put on his shoes. He scowled as though remembering something especially unpleasant.

"I'm sure Anise wants to protect you," Tear said cautiously. "Perhaps being Ion's Fon Master Guardian has given her a subconscious compulsion to protect anyone who looks similar to Ion."

"That's what I mean," Florian replied, still scowling. "Anise still sees Ion every time she looks at me. So do all the people who want me to be Fon Master. If I didn't look like Ion, no one would think about choosing a replica to be Fon Master. But they replaced the real Ion once already."

"The original Ion," Tear corrected gently. "And in fact, only a few people in the Order know that the original Ion died three years ago. They never knew that the Fon Master Ion who died last year was a replica. From their point of view, there was only one Ion, and you are his only replica."

"But didn't they know about Sync?" Florian asked.

"Sync always wore a mask, and his hair was messy and spiky. He didn't dress like Ion, either. It was somewhat of an accident that we found out."

"Huh," Florian muttered. He turned around and walked over to the mirror in the corner near the bed.

Tear recalled Florian's inquiry from their midnight conversation. Do you see Ion when you look at me? She watched silently as Florian gazed at his reflection. She almost asked him, Who do you see in the mirror? but she decided not to. The question might not make sense to Florian... and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear his answer.

Abruptly, Florian yanked off his fancy headdress and tossed it onto the bed. More carefully, he pulled down the pale green cloth wrappings on the two shoulder-length locks of hair framing his face – not all the way off, just low enough that the tops of the wrappings were level with his earlobes. Then he whirled around and strode toward the door.

"Florian, where are you going?" Tear asked, rising from the chair to follow him.

"I just need something from Ion's desk. I'll be right back."

Tear, with a sense of foreboding, followed Florian as far as the doorway. She watched as he rummaged in one of the Fon Master's drawers. She was about to scold him for raiding a desk that wasn't his, but before she could start, he pulled out a pair of scissors with a triumphant expression on his face.

"What are you going to do with those?" Tear asked apprehensively.

Florian opened the scissors and lined them up with the top of one of the cloth wrappings by feel. He frowned, concentrating, as he closed the scissors. Snip.

Tear's eyes widened as her mind flashed back to Luke cutting his hair in her selenia garden. Luke's voice echoed in her memory: With this, I say goodbye to who I've been.

Florian lined up the scissors again. Snip. A second cloth-wrapped lock of green hair landed on the floor. "There!" he said in a voice of satisfaction.

"Uh..." said Tear. Ridiculously enough, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Shouldn't you have done that in front of the mirror?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so," said Florian. "Does it look bad?" he added anxiously.

"No," Tear replied automatically. Her heart was racing from the shock of the flashback. She stared at Florian in astonishment.

"Um, Tear? What's wrong?" Florian asked.

"You really are...a lot like Luke..." Tear said weakly.

"Huh?" said Florian.

"Luke cut his own hair once," Tear began, then stopped. How could she explain to Florian about Akzeriuth, or about what kind of person Luke had been when she had first met him? Did Florian even know that someone cutting their own hair symbolized a new beginning, or was it just a coincidence?

Florian giggled, unaware of Tear's discomfiture, and asked, "Did he mess it up?"

"Well, yes, a little," Tear replied, distracted for a moment from her reeling thoughts. "I fixed it for him by trimming it shorter and more evenly."

"Does mine need fixing?"

Tear paused, focusing her attention on Florian and shutting out the memories of Luke. "I think it could use a bit of tidying up. Bring me those scissors, Florian."

Florian walked over to her and handed her the scissors.

"Good," said Tear. "Now, chin up, and stay very still."

A few minutes later, she handed the scissors back to Florian. "Put those back where you found them," she directed, "and then go look in the mirror."

Florian obeyed quickly. He dropped the scissors into the desk drawer, closed the drawer, and scampered back to Tear. She stood aside to let him through the doorway. He hurried over to the mirror and ran his hands through his shortened, undecorated hair. After examining his new haircut from every angle, he gave a sharp nod.

"Good," he said. "Now I need to find something else to wear."

"So you won't look like Ion?" Tear asked, catching on at last. So that's what this is all about, she thought. I should have realized sooner.

"Yeah," said Florian. "Maybe if I didn't look the same as Ion, people would stop thinking about him every time they see me. I want to be Florian, not just 'Ion's replica.'"

Tear smiled. "I want you to be Florian, too," she said softly. She held out her hand. "Come with me to the Oracle Knights' armory. You need a real weapon as well as new clothes."

They walked out of the Fon Master's rooms together, hand in hand. Tear made a mental note to come back later with a broom and dustpan to sweep up the mess they had left on the floor.