ASCH ✝ THE BLOODY (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sacredashes) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
beyondthedoor2014-02-04 01:57 am
sacredashes) wrote in beyondthedoor2014-02-04 01:57 am
Entry tags:
✝ that's not funny
[Clearly the best way for Lorelei to bring back both redheads is at the same time, in the same place. Asch isn't aware of anything after his death or before this moment. All he knows is that darkness took him, and now... well.
Luke's room has only gotten messier since Asch's departure. The maids hadn't touched it in two years except to dust things, and there isn't a lot of floor space, which means that Luke and Asch are holding hands, face down, on a very cramped floor. In fact, Asch is basically shoved with his legs stuck against the dresser.
This is some seriously piss-poor planning for someone who planned the future of the world.
Confused and more than a little freaked out by suddenly being alive again, Asch yells and twists around, only to hit his head on the bedpost and swear more.]
Augh! What the hell is-- I'm... huh?
[ELOQUENT AS ALWAYS. He reaches out and gives Luke a hard shove, then tries to sort out how best to sit up.]
Wake up, you idiot!
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[It's much the same way for Luke; The last thing he remembers is holding Asch's dead body in his arms and tilting his head up to Lorelei, accepting his fate, and losing all feeling in his limbs save for the strange feeling of falling apart.
The next moment, he's hazily aware of being awfully cramped. His feet are against something, his shoulder against something else, and he's definitely face down on something hard. It's odd, feeling as if there are hard angles and surfaces everywhere, yet still experiencing the sensation of... floating, is how he'd be describe it.
Yet that's broken pretty damn fast when someone shoves him, making him jump, and then a familiar voice breaks through the ringing in his ears and makes that vanish entirely. His eyes snap open, and he jerks his head up - only to crash it against the bottom of the bed.]
Ow! [Yep. Looks like Lorelei managed to shove him under the bed. Luke holds his head with a wince, the fog in his mind lifting as he feels more and more alive.]
Jeez, what... I'm up, I'm up...
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More importantly, he needs to figure out if this is real.]
This is... the manor...
[And that is definitely a painting of Van on the wall. He grits his teeth, then turns back to Luke.]
I'm alive...? But why am I here? Did you have anything to do with this?
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[Luke is still trying to get a hold of himself here. He rubs at his own sore spot before he lays his hands on the ground and looks ahead of him, seeing a ground view of...
He vaguely remembers being here when he was just a kid. Trying to hide from the maids, pressed to the floor and frowning at the door, stuffed animal clutched in his arms. He remembers seeing boots and a voice airily wondering where Luke was, stepping far too close to the bed.
This is...]
My room...? I'm... alive? [And then he's very aware of the other presence in his room. His head lifts - banging against the bed again, but he only presses a hand to the doubly sore spot with a hiss as he does his best to scramble out from under the bed.]
Asch! You're alive!
[If Asch doesn't punch him away, he'll end up having an arm load of a very happy, very emotional replica who's attached himself to him like a barnacle.]
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T-that's what I just said! Pay attention!
[AND PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF YULIA, LET ME GO.]
I thought-- don't tell me you died there, too! What about Van? Did you finish it!?
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[NOPE NOT LETTING GO EVER AGAIN. Luke nods against his shoulder, fingers clenched against Asch's outfit.]
W-We finished it. We stopped... We stopped Mast - ... Van for good. Then we freed Lorelei, and I...
[He stayed behind. He disappeared, the strain on his sick body too much. He broke apart, just like Ion, just like those replicas at the Tower...
Thankfully for Asch, Luke does let go. But unfortunately for Asch, Luke lets go to hold his original's face in his hands instead, tears in his eyes and smiling so wide.]
H-How did you get here? How did you...? [He doesn't even ask about himself yet; The last time he saw his original, his face was ashen, swords were still sticking out of his body, and he could feel the wetness of blood against his hands that had soaked through the tabard, and there was no warmth to be felt from the all too heavy body.
Now... Now there's color, there's life, there's confusion and anger and awkwardness and - There's life.]
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Is this real?
He has no time to ponder that question though. Luke is nearly caressing him and it's enough to get Asch to turn his head sharply, clearly alarmed on top of being embarrassed as hell.]
S-stop looking at me like that or I'll give you something to really cry about.
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I'm sorry, it's just -
[He almost reaches out again. But when Luke has his hands up, that's when he actually notices them. Solid, real, no longer fading or disappearing. He pulls his hands back to study them more intently, turning them up and down, then lifts them up to feel his own face.]
I'm... We're actually alive...
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He flicks Luke lightly in the forehead.]
I hope you're not planning to mope around here all day. I'm going to see--
[Mother? Father?]
-- see what's going on.
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The promise... He kept it after all! He needs to see everyone - His family, his friends, Tear... God, would they still be waiting for him? Did they move on? Would they remember him? He wanted to think they did, but -
He's cut off by a scream outside his room, and he looks up to find that Asch is gone. When he hurries outside, Asch is standing right by the door, and one of the maids is running away, calling for the Duke and Lady of the manor.]
What the -?! [... He looks at Asch, a frown on his face.] Asch, what did you do? [And to the maid, though he doesn't expect her to stop:] H-Hey! Hey, it's okay, it's just us!
[The maid looks back, but that only makes her turn even paler, scream once again, and disappear behind the doors.
... Welp.]
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[After the maid disappears, Asch turns to his replica.] See!?
[MATURITY. Within seconds, White Knights start pouring into the courtyard and they don't seem to be happy. Weapons brandished, the leader barks out an order.]
You are hereby under arrest for impersonating the sons of Duke Fabre! Don't resist, and maybe the sentence will be lenient.
[As the guards move to intercept Asch, he takes a step back.] Idiots, we are them! Can't you tell!? Let me see Mother!
[One of the knights grabs his arm. Asch retaliates by punching him in the face.
This is about to get ugly, fast.]
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Asch!
[Luke really should stop him. He should stop him and try to explain, because he likes the White Knights, and maybe they'll listen to him if he just -
But one grabs his arm too, and he jerks himself out of his grip.]
Let go of me! Stop - It's us, can't you see that?! Just let us see our Mother!
[He... does not punch anyone, but he does shove one of the knights hard, then attempts to run for the door closest to their parents. Surely they're in there...!]
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The sounds of armor clinking and heavy footsteps echo through the hall behind them. They're cornered. Someone grabs his left arm, twisting it painfully, and he lifts his other elbow to try and hit his attacker blindly--]
Stop!
[A woman's voice, familiar and commanding, rings out through the hall. The mayhem stills. Before them stands Susanne, looking pale and worse for wear, but still able to stand on her own.]
Let me see them.
[The guards release Asch and Luke and step back. The king's sister steps gracefully through the crowd, and Asch feels all the fight in him drain away. He said he'd never come back to this place, but here he is. He said he'd die, but here he is.]
Mother...
[Susanne is startled, visibly moved to tears. She reaches out and pulls both Luke and Asch to her.]
My sons... My wonderful sons. You've returned to me after all this time. I am so happy.
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[Luke hates fighting back against the knights; he knows that more of them supported him when it came out that he was a replica than the others, even if a few of them were still unsure around him. But dammit, they're trying to cut them off from their mother, trying to throw them out and are accusing them of being imposter, of -
So when one of the knights grabs Luke from behind and under the arms, Luke just manages to kick the guard in the shin when that voice came up. Her voice, the one voice that calmed him more than anything else in the world. Luke feels his arms hang on the spot when the guard lets go of him, feels his eyes widen and his jaw slack, working only to get out one word.]
M-Mother...
[And she just... accepts them, pulls them to her and holds them as tight as she can, and Luke just loses it there. He feels a lump in his throat, and he squeezes his eyes shut and lets the tears slip out, arms lifting up to hold both his mother and his original, hands clenching in their shirts as if that'll make the embrace that much more special. The feel of a mother's embrace, and knowing that Asch is there, not to replace him but standing with him as an equal...
Luke never thought he'd feel something like this again. And yet here he is, alive, and experiencing it all.]
Mother... Mother...
[Susanne doesn't know how her sons came back. But just as the thought occurs to her, it's brushed aside easily. All that matters is that her sons are alive, warm and solid and shaking in her arms, and she tightens her hold on them, even with how frail she is.]
Oh, my dear children...
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But he lets Susanne hug him, doesn't even notice the replica's hand curled against his back. Nothing matters except this moment. Like Luke, he's realized that somehow, some way, they've returned and she's accepted them both. Not once has Asch seen himself as equal to the replica who took everything from him-- but he put that to rest, didn't he?
Still, all these feelings, conflicting and longing and everything else makes him sick. He's not used to it. Not used to crying on his mother. He's eighteen, for crying out loud. But as he tries to pull back, he realizes there's hot tears in his eyes, and it's easier just to bury his face in the shoulder he still remembers.
Susanne kisses their heads in turn, hugging them fiercely. Asch surreptitiously scrubs his cheeks on the inside of his glove and takes the opportunity to say something.]
Mother. Are you out of medicine again? You don't look well.
[It's a little more important to get her to rest than to squeeze out information.]