abyssdressing

Entry tags:

characters: raisedroyal

[001]

[Natalia looks around herself cautiously and adjusts her quiver strap. Only moments before she had been following behind Luke and the others as they made their way through the desert, and now they have all seemingly left her! Luke... wouldn't abandon her, would he? Certainly not after he had promised! ...Unless perhaps in his eagerness to join up with Dorian General Grants her very presence had somehow escaped his mind. However, that's not something she wishes to dwell upon for very long.]

Luke...? Luke! Just what is the meaning of this! Did you not agree to let me accompany you? I demand that you return immediately!

[No, no... this is silly; demands never work with him. Natalia takes a deep breath and starts forward. She can't prove him right about not belonging outside the castle. She must simply have gotten herself turned around; she'll catch up to them on her own. Definitely.]

[[OOC: Post-factory, pre-Akzeriuth. Somewhere around there!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ah, she's getting a bit snippy, and Luke's attitude certainly isn't helping. Natalia eyes the human/arrancar hybrid unhappily and slowly shakes her head.] Perhaps I might be able to comprehend it if you would take a few extra moments to explain thoroughly. I do not claim to know everything, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to learn.

[Natalia listens more or less respectfully (though she remains somewhat miffed) to the resulting explanation.] In other words, you're saying that you represent just one possible outcome. One possible 'Luke'...? If this is indeed the case, then what of the Score, and what of individuals such as Yulia Jue who were able to see and understand the future?

[A beat as the rest sinks in. Her temper flares noticeably this time.]

Luke! Regardless of these 'different instances', I won't allow you to stand there and insult my cooking. Though I may not be as skilled as the castle chef, I can assure you that my technique has improved greatly since the last time you agreed to sample one of my dishes! [Besides, you're hardly any better at it than she is. So what if hers has somehow inched over the toxicity threshold... /cough.]

[He gives no fucks as to how prissy Natalia is getting with him, and it shows on his face. He merely smirks, letting her finish her tirade, before speaking.]

Yulia and those capable of reading the Seventh Fonon are just as subject to the whims of the universe as the rest of us. Perhaps, even, the Seventh Fonon can be altered as well; one little possibility, no matter how minor it may be, can generate another alternate reality, with alternate individuals.

[He let out a faint noise, shaking his head.]

...it seems that even my status as a replica of the real Luke fon Fabre is subject to universal interpretation. I almost wish I was from one of those realities, where 'Luke' and 'Asch' were not the same person, but alas...

[He paused a moment, considering...]

...though I'm guessing from your haughty attitude and unwillingness to admit that your cooking requires censorship, you have yet to learn that fact. [Smirk.] Spoilers.

[If she didn't know better, Natalia would think Luke completely unaffected. He isn't apologizing or reassuring her at all. For that matter, he's not even getting annoyed or angry with her in quite the way he would normally. Instead, there's that smirk. and that tone Natalia has decided can only be described as condescending.]

[There's no use in getting angry, it seems. It hasn't gotten her anywhere, and she's left to wonder if this Luke even cares. It's a troubling thought, one after another...]

That's not what I mean. If reality is so fragile that it can be easily changed and split from its proper path, then what purpose is there to foresight and prophecies? If the future- if the worlds we know are constantly reshaping and diverging, then we might already be drifting away from the future described in the Score... [She brings a palm to her chin, considering the implications.] No... it might even be possible that the Score itself is no longer accurate.

[What? Just what is Luke...]

[...Trying to say?]

[Natalia takes a step backwards, one hand clasped tightly over her heart. Somehow this miraculous and frightening statement has managed to shut her up entirely.]

[What does he mean by 'a replica'? And how can Luke and Asch possibly be the same person? Luke's right here. And Asch is, well, a stranger in all honesty, although she has to admit there's something familiar about him.]

[And what does he mean 'the real Luke fon Fabre'? Nothing beyond that seems to register. Natalia's lips move but no words come out. Instead she just stares up at him - quite unladylike - as if both pleading for and fearing an answer.]

[Luke just remained patiently quiet as Natalia came to several realizations at once, the uncertainty in her soul something that was utterly delicious to behold. He waited for a moment longer, before giving a casual shrug.]

Oh dear, seems I've spoiled more than one aspect of your future for you.

[He's an ass, Natalia. Don't take it too personally.]

[Natalia isn't entirely sure what can be said. She's at least heard of fomicry before and knows that in theory replications of items can be created, but she doesn't know much of how it's applied, nor has she ever considered that the practice may have affected people, or people so close to her. It was outlawed after all.]

[But is that even what he's referring to? Perhaps this is some cruel joke and Luke will take off that silly mask, smile, and apologize; then things will be well again. The pit in her stomach, however, suggests otherwise. She finally finds her voice again but somehow... she doesn't know. She doesn't like this, but no matter how trying and rude he is, no matter how frightening, this person is still her dear friend. After everything they've been through together, she can't simply abandon him now, not when he clearly (in her mind) needs help. She has to try.]

What's happened to you, Luke? You're not like your normal self at all...

Mm... no, compared to the buffoon you know, I imagine I must be quite different.

[He paused, running a hand through his hair.]

Although, to accurately answer your question, I'll need to know what the last significant event for you was. I can guess, but I don't wish to assume.

... [Natalia frowns at the remark, her fingernails digging into her palms, but she manages not to make a childish retort.]

The last significant event? That's... We were traveling into the middle of the desert to rescue Fon Master Ion. Apparently the God-Generals had taken him to the Zao Ruins. We suspected it was a trap, but there was simply no helping it.

Oh goodness, you are quite behind... I don't believe it's right of me to reveal too much, considering you have so much ahead of you.

[He paused, considering, before letting out a sigh.]

...suffice to say, that the end result of it all will not work to my advantage.

[And after he's already doubled the number of questions floating around in her head, too. Natalia considers this. On the one hand, it's good to know that there are a great many things in store for her, and yet on the other...]

[If something happened to Luke, and if there were some way to prevent it, she'd certainly do what she could. After all, he doesn't seem particularly happy.]

Is there nothing that can be done? You said yourself, that there were many possibilities... is there not some way we can change things so you don't have to suffer? [What is this blasphemy, Natalia. It goes against the Score.]

Suffer?

[Luke raised an eyebrow at her response, looking anything but amused.]

Where exactly did I say I was suffering, Natalia? That's rather presumptuous of you.

[He paused a moment, before shrugging.]

I will admit the road it took me to get to this point was less than pleasant, but I am pleased enough with the end result. There is no need to change my past. Besides, the main issue of my existence is one you can do nothing about anyway.

[Natalia blanches. It's true that Luke never said such a thing, and yet she had assumed. The mask, the way he carries himself, the manner in which he has been almost cruelly joking with her; she took those things to be indications that something was wrong.]

No, I just...

[But that isn't the case, is it? This Luke has endured, and he has conquered she supposes. It's how he is. He may not even need her help at all. Perhaps he's right and she truly is being presumptuous. She glances at a patch of grass to the right of him.]

I'm sorry, I suppose it would all sound rather silly.

Hmph.

[Luke moved toward her, a bit of a smug look on his face. Though it softened once he drew even with her, and for a moment, he almost looked like the real Luke again.]

...when you see an Asch, be kind to him. He's more important to you then you yet realize.

[Natalia manages to hold her ground, although to say she wasn't just a little bit uncomfortable around this Luke would have been a falsehood.]

[Nevertheless, the "advice" takes her a bit by surprise. She did hear what he said before, but the implications of Asch's identity haven't fully registered in her mind yet. She only understands that somehow the two of them share a connection. A replica - it just doesn't make sense. How can Luke be anyone but the person she has known all this time?]

Luke, you should know that I don't go out of my way to treat people cruelly. But do you really believe that man can be trusted? After all... he and his comrades were the ones to kidnap the Fon Master. [She sounds unsure. What to think.]

[Luke ran a hand through his hair, disturbing it for a moment and revealing a lock of pink, standing stark amongst the red, before it was concealed again. He was trying to decide how to best word this without revealing... well, everything.]

Things were done for a reason; when you return, you'll find Ion being returned almost... easy. Out of the Six God Generals, he's the only one that could be your ally.

[There was emphasis put on the "your", and it was clearly deliberate.]

[Returned? Natalia can't imagine why they would return him unless they no longer had need of holding him hostage. Which begs the question as to why the God-Generals keep coming after Fon Master Ion in the first place. Leverage, a power struggle within the Order of Lorelei, or perhaps there's something only Ion is capable of seeing to?]

[Natalia considers this for a moment. Luke didn't say 'our' ally. He said... 'your' ally. Intentional, she assumes, but it explains so very little.]

My ally... [Which means, if nothing else, she should try talking to him the next time they meet. Perhaps Asch can be persuaded to explain his motives.] Yes, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[001]

no subject

no subject

1/3

no subject

Done. I am sorry for all the non-words.

It's okay. I'm sorry for breaking Natalia. XD Would you like an Asch to make up for it?

How will an Asch remedy brain-breakage? XD Not that we aren't fond of them.

Well... he... er... Okay, probably wouldn't help. XD

^^;

XD

no subject

no subject

This tag was better the first time but I elbow-slipped-lost-it.

XDD <333

No it really happened. OTL

Aw... XDD

no subject