abyssdressing

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Uno.

[You will find one Asch breathing heavily as he forces his way through the trees, muttering irritably when his sword belt gets snagged by a particularly vicious thorn bush. He's not in his usual uniform ~~ignore the icon set~~. Rather, he's been dressed in a very expensive-looking outfit reminiscent of the royal military (it's just for show). And it looks as if a gaggle of maids have spent hours carefully pulling his hair back into a formal braid (well...that was hours ago). Now he just looks disheveled.]

[And he might be stuck.]

Dammit, Pere..! Who ever heard of planting a briar patch in someone's private garden?

[Yeah, he's definitely stuck.]

[[AU Spoilers: He's got a twin brother. Everything else is subject to change, I'm just trying to work out the differences in his behavior.]]

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[Oh for the love of--]

[Luke's encounter with the tree branch allows Asch time to catch up with him. He slows to a stop, studying the other redhead for a moment before deciding he's probably all right. Doesn't look like he's bleeding or anything. Maybe that whack managed to knock a few things back into place.]

[He makes no move to sit.]

You'd better not try to tell me you only borrowed the sword or that someone gave it to you. I'm not that stupid, Luke.

[ Ugh. Why can't Asch just believe him?! Luke shields the sore spot from further attacks as they push through the last few feet of bush to the road. No longer needing a sword - his sword, it's returned to the scabbard on his back. No way is he giving Asch a chance to snatch it. Guess they were both required to attend whatever court spectacle Uncle had planned. ]

I know you're not! That's why I'm telling you the truth.

[ After a moment's hesitation, he flops onto the ground himself. Hopefully Asch won't get violent at his explanation. ]

Take a look around you. Does this look like the manor? Or even Baticul? Assuming you're from Baticul...

[The truth, huh? Asch watches as the other redhead makes himself comfortable on the grass, suppressing a wince. Yeah, he has no intention of sitting down. But he does seem to contemplate what Luke said, because after a moment he gives a curt nod. Okay. So Luke isn't just pulling his leg. Fine.]

...No. But wherever it is, I'm not the only one who wound up here. [He looks down his nose at Luke, still vaguely suspicious, before asking - in a completely reasonable way ~~if only to humor him~~:] Fine, Luke. Where's Baticul and why would you think for even a second that I came from there?

[That branch must have done more damage than he thought...]

[ Luke's eyebrows furrow as his eyes flick over this stranger with Asch's face. Not only is that more credit than Asch would've afforded him under most circumstances, but he used his name twice. And from the sound of it, he wasn't familiar with Baticul - or at least he hadn't been there prior to getting lost. ...except he'd mentioned Pere and Ramdas. So that scratches that. He runs a hand through the back of his hair with a sigh. What a pain. Now he knows how Guy feels. ]

Back on Auldrant, probably. I assumed that's where you were before coming after "me"- [ Air quotes included. ] -but I guess not. This might go faster if you start first and tell me what was going on. Were you guys in Malkuth for some reason?

[There's not even a whisper of recognition on Asch's face; it's abundantly clear he's never heard of any of these places before. Auldrant? Malkuth? If anything it looks like he might be contemplating dragging Luke off to the doctor.]

Why should I go first? You're the one who isn't making any sense.

That tree must have knocked a few screws loose when "you" [No air quotes, but have a sharp look instead.] collided with it.

[ Scratch that. This won't be a pain. It's already reached headache proportions by Asch not coming from Auldrant. What little common ground they might have had is shrinking rapidly. Ugh... The sagging of Luke's shoulders tempts him to bang his head on a propped up knee for a few moments, and he might have if Asch wasn't glaring daggers at him. ]

Pretty sure whatever you have to say wouldn't mean anything to me, either. Besides... [ Back onto his feet he hops so they're eye-level with each other. It might be easier for Asch to have a look around the area himself. ] I feel fine. And according to you, I don't have screws anyway.

[ For once Luke doesn't wait on a reply; Asch can follow if he wants answers. ]

[What.]

[Asch glares at Luke's back indignantly before trailing along after him. None of this is adding up, and it sure doesn't seem like Luke is lying about all that he just said. It should be obvious, since Luke's a horrible liar. He's also being a lot braver than normal, which isn't exactly a bad thing, but it'd definitely something Asch isn't used to.

[He finally breaks the silence.] Werrand, Dagaria. There's supposed to be a court meeting today regarding the recent fall of the emperor. Of course we'd be attending.

Or rather, "I" would. [Asch grunts as he shoves a particularly stubborn tree branch out of the way.] If that means nothing to you, then who exactly are you claiming to be?

[ Luke shakes his head and slows down so he can search for clues in Asch's expression once he catches up. Neither of the names he mentioned ring a bell. They don't even sound like ones he might have heard from someone here. Explaining who he is in a way Asch can understand won't be easy when he'd never paid much attention to where his friends originally lived. It just wasn't too important. ]

Sorry, I don't know those places. The emperor... Don't suppose his name was Peony, huh? [ The question may sound casual, but worry plays on Luke's face. For being leader of Kimlasca's 'enemy', Emperor Peony was pretty cool and is Jade's friend. ]

It might be easier to tell you who I'm not. I'm not the Luke you went chasing after, even if I look the same as him. [ Okay that's just a lame answer. He offers an apologetic shrug. ] I'm from Baticul, capital of Kimlasca. In a way I'm the son of Duke and Susanne Fabre. But not exactly. I'm... [ Why is it still so hard to say it? ] A replica of their real son.

[ For now he's going to leave out the detail of who their real son is. ]

No. [But he's heard the name somewhere before. During one history lecture or another, he thinks.]

[There really aren't any clues to be had from Asch, though. Except for the way he's looking at Luke like he's still halfway expecting him to laugh and say he's just kidding. Or maybe he's expecting something else entirely - certainly not what Luke offers him by way of an explanation.]

"Replica"? [Asch's eyes narrow slightly and there's a guarded look creeping in, like any second that brick wall is going to materialize again and good luck getting through that.] You mean a clone?

[There's a pause as Asch lets that sink in, and before he can stop himself, her blurts out, his expression hardening. He's not looking at Luke anymore.] Which one?

Didn't think so. [ There's one less thing for him to fret over and Luke is thankful for that; seems like once again he chose the absolute worst thing to say. Augh, damn him and his big mouth! Why did he assume this Asch wouldn't have the same issues with replicas? It was like some universal fate of theirs! Maybe a note would help to keep from blabbing himself into a pickle next time. Though for now Luke takes a wary glance at Asch out of the corner of his eye and stiffens in anticipation of the physical backlash so common from his original. ]

It's doesn't mean what you think it does. [ He hopes. ] I was-

[ Just when Luke thinks he's got what's going on, someone (namely Asch) has to throw a wrench in the works. And maybe whatever they're talking about would be obvious to others with more experience, but he simply looks briefly confused before an unsettling idea occurs and forces him to stop in his tracks. What if he wasn't the only replica of Asch? Ion had been the seventh one made from the original Fon Master... ]

I didn't know there were any others.

Haa... [There's a bitter note in that, barely a laugh or even a sneer. But it's dismissive. Asch doesn't really care what it means. The implications are clear enough.]

Sounds just like the old man, doesn't it? He goes so far as to clone his own son, and even the clone doesn't know.

[Asch is getting so sick and tired of this. This is supposed to keep him safe? He's just being replaced! If anything happens, there are people lined up to take over his duties for him - like everything he's done up until now means absolutely nothing at all!]

Fine, I'll tell you, "replica". [Asch glances back at him, but his expression is just as wary as Luke's.] Duke Fabre doesn't have one son. He has two.

[ That their father was the one responsible for creating a replica, or a clone or whatever, of Asch leaves Luke reeling in questions. The 'how' isn't so much of an issue as the why. What reason could be so important that either of their parents would (possibly) endanger one of their children? Was it foretold by the Score? Given Asch's tone, it wasn't an idea he approved of, and with good reason. Knowing there's another "you" out there doesn't do much to help one's self-esteem. ]

Um, it's not- That is, you can't really-- [ No, no, no. Better to just leave it for now. Luke gives his head a slight shake to help get his thoughts in order before trying again. ] I get that you're one of Fa- the Duke's sons, but... who's the other?

[ A weird thought is nagging at the back of his mind - one so unbelievable to him that no matter how much it would explain Asch's unusual behavior, he can't seem to acknowledge it might be true. ]

[Asch just continues to stare at Luke, as if somehow it should be obvious, even though it obviously isn't. This is all really starting to make his head hurt.]

[He doesn't seem to notice just how much he's unintentionally misrepresented his own world, nor does he realize that there aren't yet any clones of him or his brother where he comes from. He's too stuck on the possibility. If what Master Van has said is true, then it's not much of a stretch to believe that Father would really resort to science to see to it that he has an heir. But there are still too many things that just don't add up. Particularly why he's so worried that something's going to happen.]

[Asch frowns. He doesn't like giving out free information, but he doubts there's any way that this "Luke" is going to find out if the powers that be can help it. After all, he's never seen any stray copies of himself walking around.]

...Asch and Luke. Most people don't know that, though. To the public it's just "Luke". Only about a quarter of the servants even realize that there's another Luke hidden away inside the manor.

[Come to think of it, "Luke" called him Asch earlier. He took it for granted at the time, but...] The real one, obviously. I imagine there'd be hell if they ever found out their "dear young master" wasn't Luke at all.

[He's not bitter, no. He absolutely loathes this setup. Asch snorts in disgust.] But at least then he'd have a life.

[ Oh. ...Oh. All the pieces are finally beginning to come together, sort of. With what information Asch has given, Luke can't quite figure out what benefit there would be to pretending there's only one Fabre son when there is, in fact, two. Wouldn't it be easy to tell from their behavior? Their likes and dislikes? Perhaps not if they were raised that way from the start. It's a frightening idea, having to actually act as Asch's substitute and trick everyone, not being allowed to be his own person... It's enough to make Luke shiver in spite of the warmth. ]

[ And yet this time any guilt he might have felt for stealing Asch's place gives way to a slowly building rage. This wasn't the same situation as back on Auldrant. What right did their parents have to decide how their lives should play out? They're not the same, and they're not some political pawns, dammit! ]

What a stupid idea! I can't believe Mother would agree to this if we're really brothers where you're from! What about the two of you, you and your brother? You shouldn't just go along with it because Father says so. You both deserve to have your own lives, separate from each other!

[ By this point Luke's emphatic gesturing has brought him back to his feet, though he ignores the urge to grab Asch and shake some sense into him. That'd be worse than writing death a personal invitation. ] My situation might not be the same, but trust me, living in someone's shadow is a waste and unfair to everyone you know.

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Uno.

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A thousand apologies for the slowness. orz

Hey, it's fine. I'm slower than you, trust me. ^^"

Haha, thanks. xD;

np

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