This chapter and the one after it are the ones that needed the most changes made, due to wandering off in an entirely different direction from what I had planned. However, due to drama, like my apartment flooding and my laptop being busted, I kind of wasn't able to go over it this week to make additional changes. Luckily, a 22 buck case allowed me to salvage my old hard drive and hook it up to my apartmentmate's through a USB port like a memory stick, so I still have all my fic files instead of losing everything I'd done since I backed up to my memory stick a few weeks ago.

So I thought I'd post this now, since it's already three days late (I posted the others yesterday, since they didn't need editing), and go over it again later. I'd already made a couple of changes, but the balance between chibific and weird mythology/Asch being evil needs more fine-tuning.

The throne room was quickly emptied of all but the key parties. Asch wondered how they'd gotten away with excluding Jade. Obviously they wouldn't want an officer of Malkuth involved in what they thought they could accomplish.

"God-general? A moment, please." 'Ion' shooed everyone out of earshot and had them speak facing the wall so lip movements couldn't help them piece together the Fon Master's words. "Asch? I love you, man. Mohs was bowing and scraping to me. To me, one of the disposable replicas! Do you know how long I've wanted to see him humiliated like that?"

"You didn't break character, did you?"

"Hardest thing I've ever done. How long can you keep this up?" Sync wanted to milk this charade for as long as he possibly could.

"As long as you can. Let's see how long we can torment them with false hope, shall we?"

"I love this. Screw dumping them into the miasma, this is so much better." It was wonderful to watch them squirm.

"Small problem: Luke can't act and he's pact-bound to keep people from creating another Score. He's focusing on his anger for our mother's sake to keep playing the brat, but I might have to either sing the hymn or signal you to send him away at some point or he'll give the game away, possibly by vaporizing Mohs."

"Dammit! That would be over too quickly. Sure, just signal me." Sync headed towards the thrones: they had to keep the conversation short or people would have come up to see what was going on despite Anise and Ion standing guard to ensure the Fon Master's privacy.

Natalia was seated on the edge of hers, tapping one of the armrests impatiently and broadcasting that her royal highness was unamused by this. Luke stood before them, the focus of the entire room, as Mohs moved to stand at the king's right and Van and Guy flanked Luke, slightly behind him as 'Ion' came up to stand next to Luke. Tear, like Asch, hovered in the background

"Guards, leave us," Ingobert ordered. His gaze dropped to Van, Guy, 'Sync', Asch, Tear, and Anise. He couldn't send away Fon Master Guardians, but the others?

"Your majesty, Van and Tear Grants are the descendants of Yulia. It cannot be coincidence that they were drawn to the side of the Scion of Lorelei."

"They may remain then, Mohs. Luke, dismiss your servant."

"The Score states that the young scion will bring his people to the miner's city. I can think of no one more qualified than his liegeman." Guy wasn't technically Luke's liegeman, not by Hod tradition, but close enough. Mohs turned to address them. "As for the two god-generals," 'Sync' and Asch, "Their strength may be needed. Akzeriuth is Malkuth's territory, after all."

"They may remain, then."

"Uncle, what's going on? Where's Father?"

"As the Duke of Belkend, your father was forced to return to his duchy to maintain peace there. Some of the citizens attacked the laboratory thinking that the researchers were somehow responsible for the loss of the Score. It was vital to keep them alive to discover the cause and the solution to the current crisis, but luckily Grand Maestro Mohs was able to piece together the truth from recorded fragments of the Score." Writing down the Score was forbidden: that way only the order's scorists had access to copies. Asch wasn't surprised Kimlasca had been allowed to violate that when it came to such a vital prophecy. Ingobert had read the promise of prosperity to strengthen his resolve when Natalia had talked about her dreams of a life with Luke.

"So the Score has truly vanished?" Sync asked. "How can that be?" He was overacting, but no one was likely to pick up on it.

"We don't yet know the exact cause," Mohs admitted, "But there is a solution. Two thousand years ago, Yulia and Lorelei came together to create the Score that saved Auldrant and created unprecedented prosperity. Yet, recently, there has been war after war, disaster after disaster. Yulia only created seven fonstones: the time of the Score will soon end and that might be what has happened. We are at the end of the history recorded on the sixth fonstone: it is possible that that was recorded on the vanished seventh, both this disaster and the remedy to it. Luckily, thanks to the grace of Yulia and Lorelei we have such a remedy."

Opening a scroll (and a few weeks ago he would have cried heresy at the very idea!) Mohs read, "ND 2000. In Kimlasca shall be born one who inherits the power of Lorelei. He shall be a boy of royal blood, with hair of red. He shall be called the light of the sacred flame and he shall lead Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to new prosperity."

Natalia's indifference shifted to interest.

"ND 2018. The young scion of Lorelei shall bring his people to the miner's city. There he shall turn power to…" Mohs closed the scroll. "The record on that fragment ended there."

"Luke just returned home and you want to send him to Akzeriuth?" Interest turned to disbelief and affront.

"Natalia, be silent and listen," her father commanded, clearly not in the mood.

"Do you mean that Luke possesses the power of Lorelei? The same power that Yulia used to create the Score?" Van was the one who spoke up, knowing that Luke and Sync wouldn't be able to participate in the charade well enough at the moment.

"Oh come now, Commandant Grants, don't try to tell me you didn't know." Mohs wasn't buying that. "Why else would you spend so much time training and retraining a student so far from Daath?"

Van sighed heavily. "There were some indications in the fonstone on Hod, although I was too young to have access to most of the Fende secrets when Hod was destroyed. Also in Yulia's journals, although there wasn't much detail, there was an injunction to her heirs to guard the light of the sacred flame, for if he were snuffed out then Auldrant's only hope would vanish with him. His light could guide the faithful to the promised land of Eldrant."

"A new planet? No, a new planet's memory. A new Score." Moh's smug relief was only bearable knowing that it would be wiped from his face as soon as they chose.

"There was nothing about another Score," Van cautioned him.

"How exactly did Yulia create the Score?" Family secrets be damned: Van would answer or Ingobert would have his head.

"When mankind discovered Lorelei's existence, a war began to control the future. The nations fought each other and Lorelei himself for the prosperity a Score could create until the world was almost destroyed. Ultimately, since Yulia was the only one among the few seventh fonists of the time who did not long for power but to help others she was chosen. He took human form, assumed a false identity, and revealed to her a way to save Auldrant. Then, he kept her from reaching the Key of Lorelei until she had proven her worthiness by composing the Grand Fonic Hymn. Only a deep bond between their hearts enabled its creation. Using the Grand Fonic Hymn, I could supposedly summon Lorelei to my aid, but I could not use it to create a pact. It would merely serve as a reminder of his love for Yulia and pledge to protect her children." Van admitted that, "The destruction of the Score did not come as a shock. I have known for several days now that Lorelei is dead."

"I sensed the loss of the Score, but hoped my premonition wasn't true." 'Ion' bowed his head in mourning.

"Yulia's pact was between her and Lorelei. Also, it was Lorelei himself who arranged for her to acquire the Key that could be used to bind him. That Key was thrown into the core. All Yulia understood was the necessity of the hymns and the Key: the true secrets of a pact's creation would have died with Lorelei."

"Do you have any idea of what happened to Lorelei?"

"I'm afraid I don't. Tear, did you sense anything? It was shortly after I returned."

Tear closed her eyes, trying to think. "There was a… strange feeling. Yes, it must have happened around then. Ever since the seventh fonon has felt… like Luke," she realized. "Perhaps Luke inherited Lorelei's power then?"

"Like me?" What did that feel like?

"Just… I don't know how to describe it. But it's like night and day." Frowning, Tear revealed that, "It might have been natural causes. We don't understand Lorelei's nature, but before the change the power was… stiff. Tired and drained, almost. Now it feels alive and growing." And happy, although there was a tendency to have sudden mood swings…

"Natalia," Ingobert addressed his daughter. "You and Luke must journey together to Akzeriuth. Without another Score the world will only descend further and further into chaos. I know you feel a responsibility to the common folk, but the only way to end their suffering is to solve the problem that caused it."

"Yes, father."

And thus, Kimlasca would control the new future. Or so they thought.

"Luke, please, fulfill your birth Score and bring unprecedented prosperity to Kimlasca. We are all counting on you, the world is counting on you. You must form a pact with Natalia and create a new Score."

Asch winced.

"No."

"…What?" How could his nephew possibly refuse such a command with such a cold voice? This wasn't merely childish petulance. This was something new, and Ingobert had already learned to be afraid of the new.

"There shall be no new Score." Luke's calm voice carried the force of a decree. He showed no signs of backing down in the face of Ingobert's anger.

Van looked at Asch. Should they interrupt, or watch the show? Asch shrugged. Van could do whatever he felt like, Asch was just going to watch and laugh.

"Luke, are you alright?" Ignoring the apoplectic Mohs, Natalia leaned forward. "Your eyes, they're…"

A golden glow began to appear above Luke's hand. "A pact has already been made. The Score itself was the greatest deviation from the right path in Auldrant's history. According to the terms of the new pact, any who seek to inflict another Score upon this world shall perish."

Asch's eyes widened. "Luke, no!" That alone wouldn't work. "Natalia, say you won't create another Score! Say it, or you won't live to keep the promise we made in Belkend!"

Natalia stared at him. "…what?" She looked at Luke, and then back at him. Her eyes widened.

"Say it!"

"I swear that I will not try to create another Score!"

"Thank goodness." Luke's relief was apparent even through the mask of Lorelei's heir. "Uncle, Grand Maestro, swear the same oath or die."

"Who are you?" Ingobert demanded of Asch, understanding beginning to dawn.

"Who created that pact?" Mohs stalked forward, trying to intimidate Luke.

"He the one who inherited my power. The only one with the right to forge a pact, and he has chosen this world's survival and freedom. I will not let you attempt to interfere with his choice. There shall never be another Score."

"This chaos? Get used to it." Asch stalked forward. "This is how things should be. You built Daath far too close to a volcano because the Score said it was safe. But active volcanoes erupt, and lava flows downhill. Daath should have been destroyed centuries ago. You relied on the Score's predictions that it would not rain on Baticul. Baticul is located in a place that should get lots of rain. It should have flooded centuries ago, unless you had been smart enough to build a decent pump system. This, not the Score is the true nature of Auldrant. A world of chaos, a world where no one knows what will happen, not next year, not tomorrow, not even in the next instant." Grasping Luke's left hand, the one the hyperresonance gathered above, Asch caressed it fearlessly as Luke's gold-tinted eyes watched the ones he was a heartbeat away from destroying. "I find it far preferable to a world in which children are raised to be sent to inevitable death by their own kin, don't you?"

"Asch," Luke pleaded, not knowing how much longer he could hold it back.

"Don't worry. If they don't change their minds I'll kill my uncle for you, and I'm sure the others will jump at the chance to get to kill Mohs."

"Van! So this was your plan all along!" Tear leapt forward, placing herself between them and Mohs. "Toue rei zue…"

"Oh?" Asch smirked. "Sae lune sae…" He pulled Luke backwards against his chest, still holding that hand.

"Asch…" Luke practically purred, then raised his other hand and cut off her connection to his power, rendering the song she was attempting to sing without understanding the meaning of it even more pointless. "Tear, stop. I don't want to hurt you. This is what was meant to be, don't you understand? This is what they hoped for, a way to save this world from destruction."

"Luke, didn't you see all those people? The Score is our only guarantee of prosperity!"

"Guarantee? Guarantee? Your family lived on Hod, Tear, and you tell me that the Score was a guarantee!" They'd never seen Guy angry before. "The Score let Hod happen! I'd rather have the freedom to mess up and get myself killed than be kept happy and content until my appointed time to die! Rappigs, Tear, that's what the Score makes us! Rappigs kept happy and content in their little pens until it's time to slaughter them for the good of the butchers! The Score, that they read part of? They were going to send Luke to die at Akzeriuth along with ten thousand innocent people! They were going to repeat Hod to win a war against Malkuth!"

Ion and Natalia were bewitched by the hymn Asch still sang, or perhaps by the sight of Asch singing it into Luke's ear as he clasped him possessively with one arm and held back the hand which held such a dangerous power with the other.

"He's right, Mystearica. Do you know what happened to our homeland? Since it was doomed, they performed horrible experiments on its people, our family. And then, when Kimlasca invaded, they decided to destroy it to hide the evidence of those experiments. Hod would never have been destroyed if it weren't for the Score. I would never have been used to destroy it against my will, the same as Luke would have been used, if it weren't for the Score and its promise of prosperity."

"No… Damn it!" Guy drew his sword, wanting to kill something.

"The Score has always ensured…" Mohs shouldn't have volunteered.

"Hey! I wanted to kill him!" Sync was pissed off.

Guy didn't care, standing over the body, breathing hard. "Then you should have done it earlier."

Ion's face, or rather the face of the Ion Luke knew, really shouldn't have that look on it. "I suppose there are more Score-loving idiots where he came from."

The hymn finished, and Asch released Luke after closing his hand and ending the hyperresonance. "I was the one he intended to die as well. I'll kill him for you."

"Asch…"

Van hesitantly addressed his lord. "Gailardia…" Was he alright? Was he angry?

"Vandesdelca, you had all those years to tell me: you'd damn well better have a good reason why you didn't. And why my Luke is a replica. And what's going on, now that would be nice to know. But I trust you. And avenging Hod by destroying the Score makes up for a multitude of transgressions. Good job, Sir Fende." Guy made an odd salute with his sword as soon as he had dodged back out of range of Tear's staff.

"You're from Hod!" Ingobert realized, seeing Van's answering salute.

"Count Gardios, at your service." Guy's elaborate bow was mockery in motion. "Too bad Duke Fabre isn't here."

"Grand Maestro!" Tear, after giving up on Guy, fumbled for a life bottle.

"It won't work, Tear, I don't want him to come back. He's already hurt too many people." Luke met Tear's distraught eyes sadly.

Natalia blocked Asch's path to Ingobert. "Luke, I don't know what's going on, but I can't let you hurt my father."

Asch touched the head of her arrow and pushed it down as he looked into her eyes. "If he doesn't swear not to try to create another Score, Natalia, the Luke you have known for the past seven years will be forced to defend himself and this planet. We wanted to make this a better country, Natalia. One that cared about people's lives. This is necessary."

"Father!" Natalia turned to him. "Why care so much about the Score? See what relying on it has brought us! You closeted yourself with that man who would have let hundreds of people drown, trapped behind the gates in the name of the Score and abandoned your people! Is that what it means to be the ruler of Kimlasca? Answer me, Father!"

"Yes, tell her why you engaged her to me, all the while plotting my death!" Asch demanded.

That was what forced him to see reason. "…I swear not to attempt to create a new Score."

Luke sighed with relief. Of course, there was still the matter of Tear, who, desperate for an ally, turned to Anise. "Help me!"

"Help you? No way! I've been waiting for the day I could dance on Mohs' grave for ages!" Anise grinned.

Even Ion, disguised as Sync, wouldn't meet her gaze. Tear fell to her knees. "This is… The world has gone mad."

"I don't think so." Luke frowned. "But then, if I was mad, I might think I was sane because I was mad." Luke was Auldrant's memory and therefore mind, in a sense. "Lorelei… Probably should have been insane, under the circumstances, though I'm not sure if he was. The world was insane before this, though. What sort of sanity is it to… But that means the world could be mad without the sentience being mad, or would it?"

"Don't worry about it," Asch told him.

"I think worrying about that sort of thing is part of what I'm for."

"Do I have to sing again?"

"Will you? I love it when you do." Wait. Since he didn't have to pretend to be normal, he could be a kid again! Yes!