[Voice / Action]

[dissonates]

Natalia's gone back.

[And he's... not sure how he even feels about that, especially since it's the second time now. He's not the sort to broadcast his feelings on the matter anyway, so he'll leave it at that.]

[Locked to Dist - 75% Unhackable]

If you've prepared everything you need, it's about time we meet.


[Asch won't be around the house much today; he'll probably be home late. His main haunts today will be the Battle Dome, the library, (maybe a quick bite to eat in the plaza |D) and finally Good Spirits to sulk read a book in a tucked-away corner of the bar. ...Though the amount of reading may decrease depending on what he's drinking over the course of the evening...

Oddly enough, Star the cheagle will be tagging along with him over the course of the day.]

Comments

[dissonates]

[Asch scowls, dropping the cheagle and glancing away.]

It's none of your business. [Star opens his mouth to give a real answer, but shuts it as Asch gives him a nudge with his foot.] Star's fine.

[fabrecation]

Then...

["Are you okay?" But that seems kind of like a moot question right now. Besides, isn't he supposed to be pissed off at Asch?

Luke scowls lightly and glances away.]

Fine. Look, I'm going to train a little.

[dissonates]

[Asch pauses for a moment, hesitating, curiously enough. But Luke's not looking, so he can afford that.

He looks back briefly to the medical center, then back at Luke, stepping forward to brush past him and look at the computer panel, punching in a few buttons.]

You call this a training program?

[fabrecation]

[Once Asch walks past him, Luke lifts his head to follow his movements with confusion. What was he- Oi.]

I was working on it, okay?

[dissonates]

[TOO LATE, your hard work is erased. Sorry Luke, he's got one preprogrammed by now.]

Forget it, it was garbage. We're sparring, now. [Not... leaving much room for argument here |D]

[fabrecation]

[Well, this was a sudden hostile takeover. Luke can't help leaning back just a bit - What was with Asch all of the sudden?]

What the- Now? But I thought...

[dissonates]

You thought what? You're the one who stopped talking to me, remember?

[You have now entered the Twilight Zone.]

[fabrecation]

[Luke's pretty sure Asch didn't want him to keep talking to him, anyway. He gapes just slightly, shuts his mouth, glances away... Then lets out a groan. Maybe this'll be better than hacking away at holograms, anyway.]

Fine, I'll spar with you. [And with a glance at Star and a tilt of his head:] Wait for us out here, okay Star?

[dissonates]

[Star just nods, then scampers upstairs to the viewing area. Asch doesn't even give either of them a second glance, finishing the set-up and stepping inside the training area.

Inside probably doesn't look familiar, though Luke will probably recognize that it's a fonic glyph in the center of the floor.]

[fabrecation]

[Luke looks around the area, slightly impressed by what Asch decided to choose... but indeed, he does recognize that glyph on the floor. Wait... Was this somewhere in their world?]

Where are we?

[dissonates]

[Asch pauses briefly, focusing on unsheathing his sword and examining it. An Oracle Knight sword... not quite the same as the one he took from the soldiers before he died, but close enough. Though it's true that when he fought Luke here originally, he was using the Key...

...ah, whatever. He can't waste something like that on a spar, it would look suspicious. Belatedly, he finally answers Luke.]

It's a cathedral in Hod.

[...Close enough.]

[fabrecation]

... Hod? That Hod?

[Upon seeing Asch unsheathe his sword, Luke did so, too. He holds it at his side, ready just in case Asch decides to start the spar right then and there. Still, Luke can't help but glance around. This... This is a part of Hod? Guy's home? It looks like it must've been grand...]

[dissonates]

[Asch scoffs faintly, adjusting his grip, though he doesn't attack just yet. With Luke surprised like that, the spar would be over too quickly. Though he really should get that sample to Dist before he wanders off...]

What other Hod could I possibly mean?

[fabrecation]

But... How did it know about Hod?

[A whole, not destroyed Hod, for that matter.]

[dissonates]

How am I supposed to know? It was in the options so I picked it. [...Well, sort of. If Luke were to look for it again, "Hod" would probably show up as "Eldrant"... but oh well.] How does this place ever know anything about Auldrant?

[fabrecation]

I guess... [It still doesn't really make sense to Luke, but then again, when does anything in Luceti make sense?

After another moment of looking, Luke shakes his head, adjusts his grip on his sword and holds it out slightly behind him as he gets into his battle stance.]

Okay, I'm ready.

[dissonates]

[Good enough for Asch. With a quick nod, he wastes no time, dashing forward with a lunging jab. This is more than just for Dist's request, now- the setting cemented that. This is about victory, now.]

[fabrecation]

[And, of course, Luke just thinks Asch decided to go with a pretty setting for their spar. There's nothing more on Luke's mind than to work out his frustration and get his mind off of the fact that Natalia is gone, though that doesn't mean he won't try his best.

The moment Asch moved forward, Luke gripped his sword tighter to watch what he was doing, then leaped back once the jab came. It might have been easier to dodge to the side instead, but Luke only thinks about that for a second before he swings his sword in an effort to throw Asch's sword off of its path, then perform a vertical strike towards Asch's shoulder.]

[dissonates]

[With his sword deflected and Luke too close for him to recover properly, Asch hurriedly stretches out a palm, a brief flare of energy blasting between them as he uses Raging Blast. That should separate them enough for him to go back on the attack.]

[fabrecation]

[Damn, Luke hates that move when he's not the one using it. He saw that glow in Asch's hand, but the fact that he was still in the motion of swinging his sword makes him unable to move out of the way, and thus Luke finds himself flying backwards and landing on his back.

He won't stay down there long, though. As soon as his body stops sliding on the floor, Luke gets himself up - first into a kneeling position with his sword in front of him just in case Asch decided to immediately follow that up with an attack, and then to his feet. Now that Asch had such a huge opening and time to think of what to do next, it'd be best for Luke to stay on the defensive for a bit.]

[dissonates]

[Said opening was used not to attack outright but to remain further back, chanting under his breath as a glyph appears under his feet. As Luke gets back to his feet, Asch lifts his sword abruptly, the glow fades and reappears beneath Luke.]

Stalagmite!

[Might want to get moving again, Luke. SUDDENLY THERE ARE ROCKS]

[fabrecation]

[OH CRAP THERE ARE ROCKS

Luke widens his eyes once he realizes what Asch is doing, and he tries to run out of the way as the glow appears beneath him. He's mostly successful in getting out of the way - the outer ring of the attack still got him and pushed him roughly against the central rock that rose up, but all that will do is just make his feet and back ache for a little while.

Dammit, if he cleared that attack completely, he could've had an opening - but Luke will just have to accept his losses and come up with something else. For now, he raises his fist to unleash a Demon Fist; Asch might be recovered by the time Luke got to him, but maybe not before he's hit by Luke's sole long-distance arte.]

[dissonates]

[Asch notices the arte, eyes narrowing, but the recovery delay on his fonic arte has him fixed in place until the remnants of the glyph disappears. He lifts his arms and sword to defend instead, letting the arte hit him. It stung, but at least it's a relatively weak attack. He doesn't give himself time to dwell on it, shaking off the ache in his legs where the majority of the attack connected and dashing forward, aiming to clash swords with Luke once again. He's hoping that by stirring things up, they won't run into the problem they've had a few times already- namely, using the same artes and mingling their fonons to the point of hyperresonance. He didn't feel like getting blown clear to the ocean or something.]

[fabrecation]

[While Asch runs toward him, Luke takes the opportunity to gather what little fonons are in the air and let it strengthen him - the Steel arte. Once he's finished, Asch is relatively close, so without much time to react further, Luke swings his sword towards Asch's side. Either that, or he'll probably clash swords with him. He just hopes their fonons won't mingle together too much; Luke definitely knows the dangers of fighting with another seventh fonist. He found out first hand when he first clashed weapons with Tear.]

[dissonates]

[Asch has better control over his hyperresonance than he used to, certainly, so the danger of explosions and whatnot is significantly reduced. (Thankfully.) He slams his blade against Luke's, blocking the attack, and pushes forward, trying to make his replica unbalanced enough for him to go back on the offensive. He really only needs to get one crucial hit in- there's no need to prolong this.]