Chapter 69: What is and What Should Never Be
"See, now I get that Mohs is dead and that in all likelihood his New Order's gonna follow suit in the next few months. Kimlasca accidently led him to the Seventh Fonstone in attempts to prevent an international incident, but also dealt with this matter in good faith," Peony said, his authoritative voice resonating in the silent courtroom. "I also understand this solution you seem to have come up with for the miasma." He paused, letting the silence draw the tension to its inevitable climax. "But!" he boomed. "What I don't understand, is why you, Gailardia, are here reporting all of this. Where's Jade and why does he think he can skip out on me?"
A mischievous grin spread across the Malkuth monarch's face shattering any seriousness that may have lingered at the end of his demand and Guy chuckled, not because he found Peony's statement especially funny but because he really, really, thought he was about to get it. The blond wouldn't lie, he had been pretty nervous being sent here to deal with the political ends that needed tying up in Grand Chokmah. Why did Jade always manage to get out of delivering the bad news? If Guy didn't know better he'd swear the Necromancer had orchestrated the entire thing on purpose
"You'll have to forgive him, you Majesty," Guy replied with a grin of his own. One of these days Peony's fondness of playing with people was going to backfire on him. Until then Guy could only try to meet him on his own playing field. "But Asch has the doctors in Baticul keeping him on lockdown until there's absolutely no chance he'll re-injure himself."
"Did he get himself that messed up?"
"The doctors said it was closer than we had originally thought," The blond noble replied, seriousness belying the truth in his statement. "He was lucky."
"Jeez, what a useless old cod, I taught him better than that," Peony said in mock exasperation but barked a laugh in quick succession. "Oh well, I guess I can't hold it against him, for all his talent, he's got nothing against the kid's authority in Baticul."
Guy snickered to himself, and couldn't help but wonder what Asch would think if knew that's what Peony called him behind his back. Behind him, he could hear Natalia and Anise stifle giggles of their own. The three of them had offered to report to Peony on Kimlasca's behalf, to formally straighten out everything that had happened with Mohs and the Seventh Fonstone. It had to be done, and with Jade still recovering, they'd be stuck in the Kimlascan capital for awhile anyways, might as well make good use of the time. For some odd reason Asch hadn't expressed any interest in coming along; strange from the one who could get obsessive about being on top of everything going on. Then again he probably knew that he couldn't trust Jade quite that much, especially when the man seemed to hate doctors almost as much as Asch did. No, Asch probably wanted to personally oversee Jade's lockdown.
Of course, Guy didn't mind the company of the girls, well that was as long as they stayed a safe distance away. Natalia had joined him to represent Kimlasca and to provide her own impressive political insight while Anise had just been bored. So while what Guy considered a 'safe distance' was steadily shrinking, he was thankful to be sitting with Noelle in the cockpit. The confined space made it impossible for her to spring a bear hug on him; needless to say, he spent the entire trip there.
Things had turned out well though, and despite Peony and his fondness of playing mind games, all had gone smoother than Guy could have hoped. He somehow suspected the Emperor wouldn't have such an easy time settling his council but then again he'd probably be bored if they didn't throw him a challenge here and there. Guy chuckled again, but in all due seriousness, it was the kind of obstacle he hoped they wouldn't be encountering on a regular basis. The countries had more than enough to work through without this sort of crap.
"You Majesty, if I may," Natalia interrupted. "The other matter we wished to discuss was that of the prisoner-"
"Oh, you mean Saphir?" Peony inquired.
"Yes, at the time it was easiest to put him into the custody of Malkuth authorities, but we don't mean to impose the responsibility of holding him on Malkuth."
"No worries," the monarch replied. "If you don't mind, he's already properly settled in and it would be a shame to move him."
"Yes, but-"
"We're currently holding him awaiting his trial. He's accused of stealing confidential military information, namely the replica data of Hod's citizens," Peony said with several levels of seriousness. "So unless Kimlasca has need of him..."
"No, your Majesty," Natalia backed down. "If he has reason to be here, we've no reason to request you turn him over."
"See, nothing to worry about," he dismissed the issue with a smile. "But on the topic of being settled in, I imagine you lovely ladies will be needing a place to settle in. Guy here has a nice place but I don't know how he'll manage with two ladies in his house overnight."
"Your Majesty, with all due respect half the staff that work there are-"
"We wouldn't want to impose on one of such fragile psyche," Peony cut Guy off with a sly grin. "Why don't you stay here at the castle? I've got plenty of rooms, you could have any room you like." His chin came to rest on his hand, leaving his blue eyes to land just south of the Princess' face.
Oh for heaven's sake! Natalia shuffled but his gaze easily followed her... well followed her as she moved. She was finally starting to understand why Asch always seemed strangely insistent on blocking her view during their audiences in Malkuth. He hadn't been blocking her view so much as he'd been blocking... She moved again, but again failed to escape. Did it make her a bad person to be wishing for Tear's presence right about now?
"Actually, it would likely be best if we return to Baticul as soon as possible," Natalia finally replied. "We should meet up with the others; there are still many issues that remain to be dealt with."
"Like the miasma?"
Natalia swallowed hard, though she was certain he hadn't intended it as such, Peony's comment came across more as a strong suggestion than a query. Natalia, for one, didn't like to let her mind linger on that topic for any extended period of time.
"Indeed," she answered with a nod.
"Guy, Natalia, Anise!"
"Noelle!" Guy ran to meet the pilot halfway down the carpet leading to the throne. "What's the matter?"
"Sorry," she answered, suddenly realizing the entire court had their eyes on her. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything!" the pilot waved her hands in embarrassment. "I just wanted to catch you before you left."
"No problem," Peony called. "We were pretty much wrapped up anyways. Was there anything else you guys needed from me?"
"No, I'm pretty sure that was it," Anise provided. Natalia confirmed with a nod in the former Guardian's direction.
"Then I'd best be going. I've a few other things to attend to. Give that old cod my regards."
"Will do," Guy waved back at the Emperor.
"Wow..." Noelle stood somewhat dumbfounded.
"What is it?"
"I somehow pictured the Emperor of Malkuth to be a bit more... I don't know..."
"Formal? Stiff? Boring?" Anise suggested.
"I can't say I'd use any of those words to describe Peony," Guy laughed nervously. There were definitely days he really wished any of the above applied. Peony could be a little too... well, Peony.
"So what has you coming to meet us?" Anise asked. "Is everyone okay?"
"Asch!" Natalia gasped. Surely he wouldn't have tried to move forward with his...
"No, nothing's wrong... well at least not with Asch," Noelle said hesitantly. "I just got a message from Ginji, he said that the others are with him, and that they're headed to Mushroom Road."
"Mushroom Road?" Guy and Natalia both said in unified surprise.
"What? What's wrong with Mushroom Road?" Anise asked. "Isn't Mushroom Road in the middle of nowhere? I thought it was up north of Cheagle Woods, why the heck would they take off up there?"
"It seems that Lady Susanne fell unexpectedly ill," Noelle provided. "But I didn't get any more information than that."
"Aunt Susanne often falls ill," Natalia explained. "She's always been like that, at least for as long as I can recall. The medication they use to treat her is made from a mushroom that grows in that area."
"Yeah but they usually get a supply from St. Binah which is closer and not nearly as dangerous. Then again, the area around there suffered a lot from falling and spending so long in the Qliphoth," Guy pondered. "Besides, with the way things have been lately, I doubt there's anyone supplying the herbalists. I bet Luke and Asch decided to just go get some themselves."
"Well then, what should we do? They'll undoubtedly return to Baticul once they're done, should we just wait for them there?" Natalia inquired.
"Actually, if we leave now we should be able to meet up with them," Guy pointed out. "It's rough terrain up there and I can't imagine the miasma's made it any less treacherous. They could probably use the extra help."
"Yeah!" Anise agreed. "Besides... I really want to help Lady Susanne too! She's done a lot for me."
"She's done a lot for all of us, I think," Guy said. "Let's go give the others a hand."
"Alright!" Noelle proudly declared. "I'll get the Albiore ready and we'll be back in the sky before you know it!"
"Lovely," Anise replied sarcastically. "Sounds wonderful."
Luke couldn't say that fog was foreign to him, he could still remember the days he'd haul one of the guards down to the docks in Baticul to watch the morning mist as it rolled in off the unusually still water. The fog there had a mystical quality, saturating the air with a mysterious magic that had fascinated him, even beyond the years he would actually admit to such things. This weather, however, didn't have any of the serenity that those mystic mornings in Baticul once had; rather, it left him uncertain, with every hair in his body on end.
To say visibility was poor was an understatement. Combined with the miasma, no one could see further than a few feet in front of their face. In completely foreign terrain with more than a fair share of monsters creeping about, was it really any wonder he was so tense? Luke had been unable to shake that sickening feeling since they'd left Baticul. To have Mother fall ill so soon after the doctors had declared Jade all better... right as they were planning to leave, it left him with an unusual level of unease. With so much miasma around, even she was starting to be affected, and she didn't recover as easily as she once had. He hated her moments of weakness; even now they still scared him. As if he needed another reminder of just how frail life could be. There had been far too much death lately... Luke just didn't want to lose anyone else. No matter what.
Never again.
"Thinking too hard as usual I see."
Luke yelped, leaping a foot in the air at the pressure of a hand coming to rest on his shoulder. His heart flying at speeds he didn't think possible, surprise melted to confusion and then to irritation as laughter quickly ensued, rising above the sound of the blood rushing in his ears.
"Damn it Guy, what the hell was that for?" Luke protested. Damn it! He had been sure everyone was in front of him! Wait... everyone was. The young noble paused for a second, taking a second look at who he was addressing. "Guy! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Grand Chokmah!"
Guy couldn't stop laughing; neither could anyone else for that matter. Luke just grumbled in annoyance. "We got your message and came to give you a hand," Guy finally managed between fits of laughter. It wasn't often he caught Luke off-guard these days. He really must have been lost in thought; that wasn't good. "Besides, in this fog its really easy for enemies to sneak up on you, you should try to pay more attention to what's going on around you."
"I'll keep that in mind," Luke muttered, every muscle in his body displaying his irritation and displeasure as he slouched on the spot.
"Come on Luke, don't be such a poor sport," Tear prodded, trying to be serious but obviously still suppressing giggles of her own. Luke muttered something inaudible but his posture improved somewhat.
"Guy's right though," Anise pointed out. "It's super easy for stuff to sneak up on you, so we really should be careful."
"And quieter," Asch grumbled, being the only one not to join in on mocking Luke.
"I'm glad we came to help. It will be more difficult to locate the mushroom in all this," Natalia stated. "I wonder if it would be best to wait for the weather to clear a bit."
"Not likely," Jade provided. "There's always some degree of fog in these parts and the chances it could worsen are greater than the chances it will improve. It would be best that we hurry rather than wait."
"Either way we ought to stay close," Tear said. "It'll be easy to get lost and even easier to get separated."
"Stay close, keep our bearings, got it!" Anise chirped.
"That might be easier said than done," Guy commented.
"Yeah no kidding," Luke agreed, starting down the path alongside his best friend.
They walked in silence at first, but it was different than the last time all of them had been together in Choral Castle. Luke let his eyes wander, tracing the silhouettes in the fog while he walked but quickly grew frustrated. It was completely pointless, he only knew what they were looking for from a picture in a book they'd taken with them, there was no chance he was going to recognize the vague shapes he saw dotting the path. Luke moved over, trying to get a closer look at the mushrooms. All spotted... no, none of these were right.
"Don't wander too far," Guy commented and Luke hurried back to his best friend's side.
"I know, but it's impossible to see anything, at this rate it'll take us days to find the right one."
"You say that like it would be a deterrent," the blond said slyly. He knew full well Luke would gladly search an area twice the size for days on end if he knew it would make his mother better.
"Yeah but..." Luke began. Guy just laughed and Luke joined him but the two were quickly hushed by the ever irritable older Fabre who trailed behind them. "Sourpuss," Luke muttered once they were out of an earshot.
"I take it the two of you have yet to make any progress," Guy commented noting the lightning bolts that seemed to fire between the siblings. If he didn't know they could block off that connection of theirs, he'd swear they were going at it while they walked along.
"Unfortunately I'm going to have to take your brother's side in this matter," Jade commented, adjusting his glasses with his forefinger. "There are enough obstacles to our mission without having monsters attracted from all over by the noise you're making."
"Since when did this become a mission?" Guy whispered.
"I think he wants to find the mushroom before Asch does and use it against him somehow."
"How is he planning to do that... or better yet, why?"
"Its Jade, and he had just gotten out of a week of imprisonment. I didn't ask," Luke whispered back.
"Fair enough," Guy replied with an understanding nod. Asch had better be sleeping with an eye open after pulling a stunt like that... whether it had saved the Colonel's life or not. The blond heard Luke sigh and turned his head to see his best friend with a rather disgruntled look on his face and a hand on his head.
"Luke are you alright? Is your head bothering you again?"
"Huh?" Luke looked at Guy confusedly. "Oh!" Luke removed his hand from his head, revealing the fallen leaf he'd been untangling from his hair. "No, I'm fine. I haven't had any problems since Choral Castle."
"That's good to hear," the blond replied with a sigh of relief. "I'd feel better if I knew what the hell that had been all about."
"Same here," Luke agreed.
"How about it Jade?" Guy prodded, knowing full well the Colonel was astutely listening to every word they said. "I know you know something."
"I'm quite certain I have no idea what you mean," Jade answered.
"Come on Jade, you said we'd discuss it later; well it's later," Guy said. "You thought it had something to do with Lorelei and the Score."
"That's correct. Lorelei was the one who originally gave the Planet Score to Yulia who transcribed it onto the Seven Fonstones. It's not that much of a surprise to see them react to something so intimately connected to their fonon frequency."
"That doesn't make sense though," Luke said. "I mean, I remember my head hurting a bit when Ion read the Score in Daath but it wasn't anywhere near that bad, and other than that I've never had any problems being around scorers when a Score is being read."
"Yes, but the single instance in Daath set aside, all the other times you were exposed to Score readings pre-date your connection with Asch, correct?"
"Well yeah but... what does that have to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with it," Jade supplied. "Even though you have identical fonon frequencies, whether it be you and Asch or you and Lorelei, those frequencies aren't in perfect sync. This is why you haven't always had that connection of yours, at least not to the extent that you could make use of it in the way you do now."
"Then what changed?" Guy asked.
"I believe Luke could provide you with that information," Jade said with a gleam in his eyes.
"We synced them ourselves..." Luke said. "The first time we went to Choral Castle."
"Correct, and in doing so, you inadvertently also improved the degree to which you were synced to Lorelei's frequency. Now, had you done nothing, your frequencies would have fallen out of sync, as is the nature of such things. However, you discovered the extent of your connection, and chose to make use of it. Quite regularly, I might add."
"We did..." Luke confirmed, unsure where Jade was going with this.
"This is why you have such a strong connection to Lorelei that hadn't previously existed," Jade pointed out. "Every time you utilize your connection you force your fon slots back in sync, reinforcing that path each time. Using your connection has gotten easier, hasn't it?"
"That's true..." Luke realized. Was it really that long ago? It used to take all his concentration just for Asch to be able to hear him; he had to stop and focus to be able to figure out where Asch was. Now... using it was like second nature, he didn't even have to think about it. "So because Asch and my connection is stronger, I'm also more connected to Lorelei?"
"That's correct."
"I suppose that makes sense," Guy agreed before suppressing a minor scowl. "This fonon frequency and connection stuff gives me a headache."
"It gives you a headache?" Luke jabbed playfully.
"Not the same kind of headache," Guy teased. "Maybe you should ease up on the whole using your connection thing for a bit."
"Perhaps not quite yet," Jade said with a sigh.
"What makes you say that?" Guy asked.
"Oh I don't know, I just thought it might be useful if Luke could use that connection of theirs to find where our mutual friend has wandered off to."
"Uhhh Master..." Mieu spoke up, his little paw tapping Luke's ear. "I think we're lost, mieu."
Luke and Guy both spun around. Not just Asch, but the girls were nowhere to be seen either. They'd gotten separated in the fog.
Great... just great.
"Luke! Guy! Jade!" Natalia called out into the blanket of fog that had enveloped them. She shook her head. "It's no good, they must have taken a separate path while we weren't paying attention."
"Man!" Anise whined. "We're never going to find them in all this fog! We can barely see the mushrooms at our feet, forget finding someone else who's Yulia knows where!'
"Asch, couldn't you us your connection to find where Luke is?" Tear suggested. "Perhaps if we try to coordinate landmarks we can meet up again."
"Why?"
"Why? Maybe so we can find them and not wander forever in this stupid place! We're walking in circles as it is!" Anise said. "It wouldn't kill you to help out every now and then. This whole thing was your idea in the first place."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah well unlike you, Mr. Antisocial, I actually talk to people. Yes, this is your wild goose chase."
"Please you two, now isn't the time or the place," Tear stepped in. "Asch could you please contact Luke and arrange a place for us to meet?"
"And what would be the point in that?" Asch almost growled. "We still haven't found the mushroom so it's not like we're leaving the area. We can cover more ground if we're split up and get back together afterwards."
"Fine, jeez, don't bite." Anise shot.
"Come now Asch, the two of you aren't still fighting are you?" Natalia chided. There was only one clear explanation for such illogical behaviour on her fiancé's part and judging from the awkward silence that ensued, she hit the nail on the head. "How long do you intend to keep up this ruse and keep us in the dark?"
"There's no ruse," Asch muttered. "I'm not hiding anything."
"Really, why do you insist on maintaining this ridiculous idea that you're going to kill yourself and the replicas to eliminate the miasma? It's not fair to Luke and he's quite hurt over the whole ordeal. Why can't you trust us with what you really intend to do?"
A hurt look flashed across Asch's face but in the dense fog, it went unnoticed by his companions. All they knew was the compassionless voice that managed a reply.
"What makes you think this is all some game?" He demanded. "It's not a front, it's not a ruse. It's a plan; yeah you may not like it, hell I don't either, but we don't have any other choice! Get that? There are no more options." He enunciated each word with painful finality.
Natalia was so stunned by Asch's reply that she stopped dead in her tracks. For the first time since the events at the Tower itself, she was unable to muster any form of doubt. The look on his face, the tone of his voice just wouldn't allow for it. Asch... Asch truly intended to go through with this.
"Wh-What's that supposed to mean?" Natalia yelled back.
"It means exactly what it sounded like," Asch shot.
"Asch stop this, it isn't funny anymore!"
"And at what point was it ever funny? At what point did this become your sick idea of a joke? When is it going to occur to you that if this doesn't happen you're not going to have a country left? That you're going to return to your capital and find it full of corpses. You of all people should understand the repercussions if we don't do something now! But no, you find it funny."
"Asch, stop." Tear tried to intervene. "Can't you see you're hurting her?"
"Tch," Asch spat. What in Yulia's name had gotten into him all of a sudden? Tear could barely contain the desire to knock some sense into him, but that didn't stop her from expressing her discontent. Something was wrong; he'd been completely off since the Tower of Rem. It was as if he didn't care about anything anymore... as if he'd already given up on the world and everything in it.
Natalia's fists trembled, her cheeks flushed pink with rage and she was nowhere near ready to concede defeat. "Who do you think you are?"
"Asch fon Fabre," he replied, heavily laying upon sarcasm as he stated the obvious. "Who the hell are you to think you can condemn the world?" He met her piercing glare with a frightening look of his own and Tear couldn't help but register the detachment in his eyes. There was no consideration for the damage left in his wake.
"You're lying." Natalia almost hissed. "The person I knew, the man I loved, he could never take so many lives and think nothing of it! He would never resort to such cowardly means!" Tears now streamed down her face. This was a nightmare... this couldn't be happening. The Asch she knew... he would never leave her, he could never be serious about this. Asch would never condone such a massacre... no this wasn't right! "I refuse to accept this lunacy! You're no better than Van!"
"What makes you think I need your approval?" Asch remained stone cold and unwavering as ever.
"Asch fon Fabre, I will not so much as look at you until you renounce this insanity!" Natalia stood staring him down, waiting for something, anything. A flash of remorse, a sign that he might even consider receding, anything! But all she got was the same unshaken unforgiving stare.
Natalia was broken. Even from where he stood, Asch could see that, she wouldn't continue this discussion, nor would she be able to muster any further arguments on the topic. Now that the denial he'd watched her cling to so desperately was gone, she would have to start picking up the pieces reality had made of her state of mind. She'd do it though, and she'd emerge stronger for it. He'd watched her recover from the ordeal at Choral Castle with all the grace that had made him fall in love with her. She would walk forward of her own strength, and she would be just fine.
Asch turned his back, and walked away choking back the feelings that lodged in his throat. He buried himself, refuting the small part of him that could have cried had he not denied himself such fruitless gestures since that fateful day seven years ago. Behind him he heard Natalia sobbing, probably into Tear's arms as they followed him, if only to keep from getting separated even further. Nothing but that could make them follow him now, and that was as it should be. No one else could walk the path he'd chosen. They'd finally reached the fork, and he had left Natalia crying on the roadside.
Better there than into oblivion.
Two down...
"Are you sure you know where the Rugnican death cap grows?" Guy asked the little cheagle.
"I do!" Mieu replied enthusiastically. The little creature was more than ecstatic to be in their company for once after having spent so long on the Albiore with Ginji and was even more excited to be helping them out. Guy supposed he could relate to some extent, he'd be pretty disappointed having missed out on all the action, but he was also glad Mieu hadn't been there. Having one more thing to look out for would have been just a bit too much. "I used to explore the forests up here, mieu!"
"Are we heading the right way at least?" Guy inquired.
"I think so, we shouldn't be far now!"
"He thinks so..." Guy wasn't too sure how much he liked the sound of that. "How are you making out, Luke?"
"No good," Luke grumbled in defeat. "Asch has me completely blocked out."
"I don't suppose yelling as loud as you can would do any good?" Guy asked.
Luke chuckled, "It might for him, but he's better at this than I am, I can't force my way in."
"Oh well," Guy sighed. "It was worth a try." Maybe this was going to be difficult. In this fog, no kind of signal fire would do any good either. Flares might work, of course no one happened to carry them around so... Damn it! There had to be some sort of way that didn't involve wandering in circles for hours on end! If it didn't take them an hour to figure out which of the two paths before them they should take.
"Decisions, decisions," Jade taunted in a tone that could only mean he knew something the blond didn't.
"I guess we could flip a coin?" Guy suggested staring down the two trails. Not that staring down them did much good for the couple of feet that were visible. They looked pretty much identical to him.
"This way," Luke stated simply, taking the leftmost path.
"Wait, you said he was blocking you out!" Guy protested.
"He is. I can't talk to him, but I still know where he is. Well, roughly. I can give a direction at least," the redhead concluded pointing south.
"What? But- Ugh, I give up. I will never understand you two," Guy said with a defeated sigh. "Still, thanks for trying."
"No problem," Luke shrugged.
"Really, I mean it. I'm sure talking to Asch is the last thing you want to do after the stuff he said to you." Guy's face darkened and his voice took on a dangerous edge. It was a conversation he'd wanted to have with Luke but on a topic he hadn't really wanted to bring up. Guy had some very potent feelings towards what had come out of that jerk's mouth and had several choice words for the older of his former patrons as soon as the opportunity arose. "You have every single right to be mad at him," Guy continued. "I can't believe that Asch dared to think he had the right to bring up some of those things. If he's thinks he's so damn perfect-"
"Guy," Luke interrupted.
"What?"
"I'm not mad at him because of the things he said to me."
"You're...not?"
"No, I'm not." Luke said with so much sincerity Guy couldn't even delude himself into thinking it was Luke's usual tactics intended to make the blond think he was okay when he wasn't. He...actually meant it.
"Really? Then what's going on between the two of you?"
"I'm still pissed at him, but it's not because of what he said. I mean, it's obvious the only reason he said all that stuff is because he was trying to get me mad at him. If that had been a real fight, there's no way he'd have brought up half that stuff. Asch just isn't like that. It came up because he'd thought about what he was going to say before the fact, meaning he'd planned that we would fight all along. He wants me pissed at him so I won't give him trouble about what he wants to do. He probably thinks something stupid like it'll be easier on me if I hate him. What the hell does he know?"
"But why would he do that? What does he have to gain?"
"Nothing," Luke spat bitterly. "His own deluded ideas of righteousness."
"Well Asch is nothing if not a martyr," Jade said with a sigh. "He does have a horrid habit of needless self-destruction."
"You've got that right," Guy agreed. "He's taking it too far this time though."
"Perhaps, but what alternative then would you suggest?" Jade inquired.
"Well..."
"Will you be the one to hand the world its death sentence?" the Colonel asked.
"Of course not!"
"Well then what would you have Asch do? On one hand you wish for him to stop what he's doing, but on the other hand you refuse to accept the death of the populace. Have you not seen it yet? Asch has. It's one or the other. There is no both; no pretty solution where everyone lives happily ever after. So unless you've an alternative to put forth, I suggest withholding your judgement of our young friend."
"You're playing dirty," Guy shot dejectedly.
"Such affairs generally are," Jade replied.
"Can you think of any alternatives?" Guy asked.
"Only one," he said, but elaborated no more than that.
"This way," Luke cut them off, steering both his friends on another left down a slightly rougher trail.
"So Luke, if you don't mind my asking... if you're not mad about the stuff he said to you... is there a reason you're mad at him?"
"I just... I can't accept the way he treats the replicas! This idea was so completely impossible, completely unacceptable when we thought we would have to sacrifice people but he turns around and thinks it's just fine to use the replicas! We're alive too! We're no different than people! But he treats us like nothing but objects!"
"Silly boy, when will you ever learn," Jade said with a shake of his head.
"What do you mean?"
"You understand Asch so well in some ways, but in other ways you don't get him at all," Guy said with a chuckle. All the pieces were finally falling into place, and Guy could only shake his head at not realizing all this sooner. He knew them both better than that. "First of all, you're assuming he thinks it's okay to use the replicas."
"Of course he does! Why else would he be doing it?"
"The same reason he's going to sacrifice himself: because there's no other choice left anymore," the blond replied. "You know, I think that's part of the reason he takes comfort in the fact he'll be going with them. He wouldn't be able to live with knowing he'd taken all those lives."
"Also, if it's the replicas, then less of them have to die," Jade added.
"Really?" Guy inquired curiously.
"Yes, the reason so many Seventh Fonists would be needed as a sacrifice is because the amount of Seventh Fonons a hyperresonance on that scale would consume is massive. Replicas, however, are made entirely of Seventh fonons. One replica could easily provide the same amount of Seventh Fonons as three or four fonists. Asch realized this as well: by using replicas, the number of lives that must be sacrificed is less than half of what had originally been anticipated. No small number by any means but..."
"This plan is Asch's," Guy said with a sigh. "Through and through."
"I still won't accept it," Luke muttered, but the resentment in his voice had lost its edge.
"Of course not," Guy agreed. "Who would? We need to find a way to stop him."
"Guy, stop," Luke said.
"No really Luke, if we have to lock him in a room and hide the key then we'll-"
"No Guy, stop." Luke's voice came from behind him and he turned to see his friend standing in the middle of the road pointing down a trail to their right. He looked different all of a sudden though, defeated somehow, and for a split second Guy wondered if it might have been a better idea to leave Luke mad at his original.
"This way, huh?" Guy shook his head, he must have been imagining it.
"They're coming towards us," Luke provided, stopping the blond in his tracks.
Luke was absolutely right and a few moments later Guy could hear the tell tale sounds of a small group working their way through the brush. There was no sound of chatter or idle conversation, just footsteps and the snapping of foliage as it was tread upon.
"Everyone's okay!" Mieu almost chirped as he bounced through the foliage towards the girls. "I was really worried!"
"We're alright, thank you Mieu," Tear replied, letting the cheagle take up residence on her shoulder.
"Luke! Guy! Jade!" Anise flew towards them, the amount of relief that Luke could sense in her strained voice left him wondering just what had gone on. Asch looked as stuck-up and prickly as always, no change. Tear seemed annoyed and Natalia looked vaguely indifferent, but her eyes still looked red, almost as if she had been crying. Luke made a mental note to sit down with his cousin as soon as he got the chance.
"Tsk tsk tsk," Jade chided the older sibling. "You certainly made it difficult for us to find you. Certainly you could tell Luke was trying to contact you."
"Asch!" Anise shouted in outrage.
"We got back together, didn't we?" Asch snapped. Yeah, Luke surmised, something had definitely happened. Asch had been nothing if not irritable lately, but he was suddenly on a whole new level. "Come on, we don't have all day," the older redhead continued. "We have a mushroom to find so we can go-"
Asch hadn't even finished his statement when Luke's shoulder met his side. Asch was sent crashing into the brush snapping half a dozen small branches in the small ditch he'd tumbled into. Anise had to clasp her hands over her mouth to suppress her laughter. Finally! Someone gave the prick what he had coming!
"What the hell was that for?" Asch demanded, sitting up from where he'd fallen, twigs still tangled in his crimson locks that were now in complete disarray. Luke simply glared at his sibling, then with entirely too much self-satisfaction he knelt down over the spot where Asch had been about to step and plucked several mushrooms from the ground.
"That looks like a Rugnican death cap alright," Guy confirmed with a smug grin.
"Hey! There's some more over here!" Anise called.
"This is great!" Luke said excitedly. "With this many mushrooms Mother should be good for a long time!"
"Yay!" Mieu cheered, happily flapping his ears. "Does this mean Master's mother will get all better now?"
"I hope so," Tear agreed.
"Ugh," Asch grumbled. "Is anyone going to help me up?"
"Come on," Anise said excitedly, "Let's head back and get her her medicine!"
"Yes, we should make haste," Natalia agreed.
"Guys!" Asch called angrily after his departing friends.
"Come come now, Asch." Jade turned to look at the young noble who was still sitting on the cold ground, half covered in leaves. "We haven't got all day."
"Fine," Asch spat. He pulled himself up and brushed the foliage off his clothes. It was so stupid... why should he expect any less? This was good, wasn't it? He'd been working towards this, he was finally starting to see the detachment he'd spent so much effort breeding. So why did their disregard piss him off? Why did it feel like a kick in the gut? This was what he wanted, damn it!
"Are you coming?" Jade inquired.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your knickers in a twist."
"I'm quite certain I don't have any knickers."
"Shut up," the redhead grumbled.
"As irritable as ever, I see. Have you ever considered that a sense of humour might be an asset?"
"Just... Just leave me alone!" Asch took off after the others leaving the Colonel to simply shake his head.
"When will you finally understand those feelings of yours, I wonder?"
It was almost surprising how little difference there was between a sunny sky and overcast these days, and Tear looked up at the heavens wondering just when the clouds had moved in. The miasma had become so dense that the entire world was overcast, but for all it deprived them of a good deal of sunshine, it did little to suppress the heat that accompanied summers in Baticul. If only that summer brought with it what had once been blue skies and a fresh breeze. No, being outside was almost unbearable. Not that being indoors was much better. The toxic fog had worked its way everywhere and no degree of shelter would let one hide from it anymore.
Things were starting to look worse than any of them could have imagined... but just what could be done about it? Tear didn't want to believe that sacrificing Asch and the replicas was the only option, but it was becoming harder and harder to foster that hope. Were things truly as Asch said? Were there really no choices left, or were those simply the overeager words of one bearing a burden he couldn't stand to carry any longer?
Though no one would say it, they'd thought of nothing but since returning from Mushroom Road; Tear knew that at the very least it was the cloud looming over her own thoughts of late. Much like Natalia, the melodist hadn't truly believed Asch intended to sacrifice himself. It just seemed... unlike him somehow. True, he was always the type to suffer pain for the sake of others, but burning within him was a fire, the kind of determination that never let him back down... never let him concede, even over the silliest things. That was why... it just seemed so out of the realm of possibility that she couldn't bring herself to really believe he would give up like that.
Now it was beyond doubt, and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it. None of the scientists working on the matter had come up with any sort of solution, and the miasma's effects were getting worse day by day. They were out of time; it was too late to start searching for alternatives now. Tear couldn't help but wonder if that hadn't been part of Asch's plan all along.
"Your hair looks nice pulled up like that," Luke commented with a smile, coming up behind his friend.
"Th-Thank you," Tear managed, nervously fingering the tan locks. Her cheeks flushed and self-consciousness completely overwhelmed the thoughts that had previously occupied her mind. She pulled at a strand but quickly let go, afraid of pulling it down.
"That's a really pretty barrette," Luke added, eyeing the silver rimmed blue flower that sat among her tan strands. "Where did you get it?"
"Lady Susanne gave it to me," Tear replied, still flustered. "I was keeping her company this morning and she insisted on doing my hair."
Luke laughed. "That sounds like Mother. She always wanted Natalia to grow hers out so she'd be able to do that sort of stuff."
"How is Lady Susanne feeling?"
"She's doing a lot better. She was even out of bed earlier."
"I'm glad to hear that," Tear said with a genuine smile.
"Yes, well," Jade's voice cut in. The young couple turned to see their companions standing in the courtyard behind them; Anise with the most mischievous smile they'd seen on her in a long time. What was up with her? Jade merely shook his head and continued. "Seeing as everyone is on the road to recovery, we best be getting back on the road as well."
"That's great and all," Anise spoke up, "but where are we even going? With everything that's been going on lately I'm totally lost."
"Well we know for a fact that two of the God-Generals are out of the running," Guy established. "Dist is locked away in Grand Chokmah and Arietta is... gone," he said as gently as possible. Luke flashed him a grateful smile. "According to reports from Peony, Sync is still stirring up trouble with Score readings and I think it's pretty safe to assume that Van is somewhere on that floating Eldrant."
"Yes," Jade agreed. "With authorities from every region, including Daath, searching for him and still failing to at least report a sighting, there's little chance he's anywhere else."
"So that leaves Legretta, Cantabile and Largo, huh?" Anise pondered.
"They're probably still after the Sword of Lorelei," Tear pointed out.
"And searching for the Jewel," Luke added. "I don't think they'd still be after the Sword if they had already found and destroyed the Jewel, so it must still be out there somewhere," Luke said with a disappointed sigh.
"Perhaps that's where we'd best direct our efforts," Jade mused. "Though a worldwide search would be grossly inefficient."
"Ugh, are you guys really that thick or are you just ignoring the obvious on purpose?" Asch cut in with the irritated tone he'd become so fond of these days. Luke scowled. Yes, he had been avoiding the topic on purpose... and yes, he was getting far more satisfaction than he should from watching Asch's frustration.
"The miasma has to be dealt with," Asch stated. "Don't forget that killing the originals is also part of Van's plan. We know where to go and what to do about it, so it's time we stop putting it off before things get to the point that there's no going back."
Everyone fell silent, knowing full well the soundness of his argument. "Well then," Jade spoke up, not surprisingly being the only one completely unfazed by Asch's fervent desire to go on a suicide run. "What is your proposed plan of action?"
"We need to head back to the Tower of Rem and find out whether the replicas intend to cooperate or not."
"And if they don't?" Jade inquired.
"Then I'll figure it out when and if it comes to that. We have enough trouble without inviting more."
"What's this about the replicas?"
"Mother!" Asch stated in surprise, his voice automatically softening to a much more familiar tone.
"I was worried you were planning to leave without saying good-bye," Susanne said with a smile.
"Come now, Aunt Susanne, you know we wouldn't do such a thing," Natalia pointed out. The Lady returned a grateful smile.
"Were you talking about all the replicas that were in the city not long ago?" Susanne inquired. "The girl you brought here is doing quite well; but now that I think about it, not many of them are still around these days. I wonder where they went," she wondered. "Are they doing well? I certainly hope so.
"I-I don't know where they went," Asch managed after a moment of tense silence. Why the hell was everyone staring at him like that? "I don't know how they're doing either."
'Tell her,' Luke's harsh voice burst across their connection.
'Why should I?'
'Tell her. And tell her now because there is no way in hell I'm explaining your insanities to her after the fact. You want to do this? Then look her in the eye and tell her what you're doing. Tell her she's going to lose her son, because it is not going to be me telling her.'
'It won't matter, she'll still have a son,' Asch shot back coldly.
"See now I don't know if you're being thick on purpose, or if you're just that incredibly stupid!" Luke yelled aloud, his face completely red with anger. Was that what this was? Was that how he was actually thinking? Did he think that Luke was just some kind of replacement for him, that he'd just slide into Asch's place should the idiot kick the bucket?
"Oh who's going to lecture who on being stupid?" Asch immediately got defensive.
"Boys, please," Susanne spoke up, confused as to the source of the sudden aggression. "Don't argue."
"I'm going to, because you clearly lost your head somewhere along the line!" Luke yelled back, completely oblivious to his mother's request. Her voice was so inherently soft; Tear doubted her words had even reached their ears.
"Don't give me that crap! You're seven years too early to be lecturing me!"
"Really? You could have fooled me! You're acting like some 5 year old! You throw some stupid fit every time it looks like we won't let you have your way. You go out of your way to piss each and every one of us off because Yulia forbid should we actually give a damn!" Luke shot harshly. He'd had absolutely enough of Asch's mood swings and temper tantrums. It had taken him awhile to realize it, but all this nonsense of Asch's had made things clear as day, and Luke had finally pinpointed the reason he was so mad.
Despite everything Luke had seen, all the people he'd met, his family was everything to him. It always had been. For seven years they had been his world and he had loved every moment. Seeing the greater world beyond this place... he'd lost perspective, but that one fact still remained unchanged. They were everything to him, but the more Luke watched Asch go on... the more it cracked and the more fragile his family grew. No bloody way was Luke going to let Asch break it. He'd get through to his idiot of an older brother if it was the last damn thing he did.
"And you would know all about tantrums," Asch said coldly.
"What the hell is your problem, Asch?"
"Right so you and your self-righteous ideas are worth more than the alternative now? Who's really being the baby here? I don't see you coming up with any other ideas!" Asch shouted. "So until you've got something better than some weak pathetic excuse of an argument, I don't want to hear any crap coming from someone who couldn't even get the Jewel from Lorelei!" Asch turned his back.
"Boys, that's enough-" Jade tried cutting in.
"So you're supposed to be mister high and mighty now? You decide what's right; you call the shots?" Luke countered.
"Luke, please, let it go!" Tear also tried to intervene. She'd been torn at first, she knew they had to stop such pointless arguing, but she could also see the light in Asch's eyes as they fought. The fire he had lost flared and even if it was just for a moment, he seemed like his old self. But that light was gone now, and Asch was simply walking away. Enough was enough, any more was just heart-breaking.
"Who gave you the right to make that choice?" Luke demanded, his raw emotions starting to wear on him.
"Luke," Jade cut in.
"Luke, stop!" Natalia yelled.
"Who said you could leave us?" Luke demanded, tears of rage welling in the corners of his eyes.
Asch turned his head to reply, but the words he'd conjured would never come. In that moment of blind hatred, the world itself seemed to shut down.
"Watch out!" Susanne's voice pierced the air, the only sign that time continued forward. Her small arms mustered strength Asch hadn't thought they could possess and he felt the concrete as it rushed to meet him and his bewildered senses. What was going on? Why had Mother shoved- A haunting light brought all thoughts to an end, illuminating the ground on which he'd just been standing, each intricate line drawing his eyes along while a piercing terror stopped his heart.
Shimmering spears of sixth fonons glistened in the air, their light blinding Asch. Each spear crashed down in turn, their split second accuracy drawn out in all its agony skewering the woman trapped in their path. With each light that pierced her body, Susanne let out a blood curling scream that could have shattered the heavens and none could miss her writhe in agony. The spears vanished as quickly as they'd appeared leaving Susanne's body to fall limply to the ground.
"Mother!" Luke's scream renewed time's flow and he ran to her side. Tears flowed freely, dropping on the weightless body he pulled onto his lap. Grey strands fell carelessly among the red hair that was strewn across her ghost white face. There were no injuries, no blood stemming from a wound that needed healing, but she was nothing in Luke's arms, so light... Luke felt his chest heaving. No... no no no no no this couldn't be happening! "Somebody get a doctor!" he cried.
It couldn't; it wasn't! Asch hadn't picked himself up before collapsed again to his knees, eyes wide open with shock. His arms still shaking, he crawled to his mother's side. This was- she had- for him- All thoughts came to a screeching halt, knives carving the image of his mother lying so lifelessly on Luke's lap in their place. He reached out over her but his arms rattled so hard he retracted them. Just what... what could... Not once in his life had Asch felt so powerless, even had his mind been lucid enough to realize it.
"Asch, do something," Luke begged in the most heart-wrenching cry anyone had ever heard. "Please... you have to do something!"
"I- I-" Asch stuttered, completely helpless. What could he do? He didn't know what to do... This couldn't be real, it just couldn't. This was Mother, sure she'd always been sick and weak... but she always got better. She always pulled through! Always! She would never actually leave them... she would never actually... d-die... right?"
"Please, Mother, please!" Luke sobbed into her hair, rocking back and forth. "You can't leave us, you can't!"
"L-Luke," Susanne's voice was barely audible. "A-are you both okay?"
"Of course we are! See Asch is here too! We're both fine, just like you're going to be!"
"T- That's good..." Susanne replied. "G-g-goodness, don't cry." Her hand trembled as she reached up to Luke's face and weakly cupped his cheek. Her thumb motioned softly, wiping his tears away. With a fragile smile, that hand then slid down softly and fingered the locket that was dangling around Luke's neck.
"You're wearing your locket," she said tears in her eyes, "I'm so... happy."
"Of course I'm wearing it," Luke choked out, his own tears returning. "You told me to always hang onto it. I never let it go, not for an instant! And I never will! So you have to hang on!"
"Silly boy," Susanne smiled, her hand weakly returning to hold Luke's cheek and he collapsed into the gesture. "I never meant to hang onto the locket. I want you to always hold onto each other. You are each other's greatest treasure. Never let go of that." She turned to Asch and lifted her hand towards him but her strength faltered. Asch quickly took it in his own but words just wouldn't come, instead he squeezed her hand and she weakly attempted to return the gesture. Asch didn't think he could sink any further; he'd been wrong.
"So please..." Susanne continued painstakingly, fighting for air. "Don't fight anymore, okay?"
"We won't!" Luke cried, taking his mother's hand in his own. "We'll never fight again! Just don't leave us!"
"You've grown into such wonderful men..." she whispered, her pulse fluttering like the eyelids she fought to keep open. Luke choked back a sob.
"No! Mother!"
"I just wish...I-I had been there to see it..."
Susanne's hand slid from Luke's, falling to the concrete; her body fell limp in his arms.
"Mother?" Luke shook her gently. "Mother? Mother, you have to wake up!" He shook her again. "No... no..."
Heart in pieces, his burning chest could no longer remember how to draw in air. Luke pulled his mother closer but he couldn't hold in the fleeing warmth. Tears spilled endlessly, draining with them what little remained of his soul. How fragile his family, his world, had become... and in that single moment... it shattered.
"Mother!"