dissonates | Appointments Post

[...Oh. Whoops, hadn't actually meant to do that. He doesn't exactly feel bad that it happened, though, so he shrugs aside Van's critique and charges in to help his former master finish the group off by hand. He'd be pushing it if he tried another arte with Van at such close range.

As entertaining as it would be, it's not entirely worth the retaliation it would earn, and even his most powerful arte couldn't take Van down in a single hit.]

[After Asch dashes in, Van repositions himself so they're fighting roughly back to back (with, of course, a several inch buffer because Asch is a fussy baby). Between the two of them, they should make quick enough work of this; they always did before.

But Van can't help noticing something, amid the chaos, and it amuses him greatly.] Weren't you going to mark these, Asch?

...Tch. [Asch doesn't have a particularly good retort right off the bat; too busy trying to keep himself from getting skewered. It's strange to be fighting side by side with Van once more - or, in this instance, back to back - and it takes some effort not to let himself sink into the familiarity. Even after several years, that undeniable urge to please his master is niggling at the back of his mind.

...Pisses him off.]

Those devices have a limit, and I never guaranteed anything. I'll do it when it's convenient for me.

[In the past, Van would have pressed right to Asch's back, a human barrier between him and his opponents. Not anymore. Asch has made the line between them perfectly, surlily clear.

He hits one attacker hard enough to send them flying, and takes a step back closer to Asch.]

Bring them around. [He pitches his voice low enough that Asch can hear it, but hopefully their attackers can't.] Give me an opening to cast and then run.

[Now whether or not Asch will listen to this plan...]

[If there's one thing that Asch will never forget about Van - besides the whole replication business, that's a given - it's the fact that he is, without a doubt, the most accomplished warrior he knows. And when it comes to fighting side by side against a common opponent, as much as he's loathe to acknowledge it, deep down he knows that when Van gives an order, it's in his best interest to follow.

Van's not here to kill him, and he's not here to kill Van. For now, it's for the best.

He doesn't acknowledge his agreement in any way but his own actions, charging forward to gather the attention of their opponents, drawing them away from Van to give him time to cast. A well-placed Slag Assault gets plenty of attention, and he keeps the attacks coming to make sure they were focused on him.]

[Van waits until they're all not just near Asch, but nearly atop him, to start casting. Asch can handle himself.

He's tempted to use an arte with a wide range, and let his protege have a taste of accidental crossfire, but he doesn't. Not because he isn't that spiteful. He is most certainly that spiteful. Because Asch would never believe him when he claimed it was an accident. He has to know his teacher is more skilled than that.

The ground mere inches from Asch's feet erupts with spires of rock, close enough to graze his face if he leans forward. The arte is more than a simple attack; He's aimed it to create a physical barrier between Asch and his attackers. If he wants enough time to run, it will be hard to find a better opening.

And after an arte that causes shaking like that? He probably should be.]

[Should he be flattered or pissed that Van cut it so close 8| Whatever, though, he's not about to kick up a fuss. Getting too close to Asch has certain risks, as he begins his assault by drawing a circle of fonic light around himself and allowing Guardian Field to do the work for him as his enemies approach and enter the circle. A few more artes do the job of keeping them herded into one place so that Van's arte can take care of them once and for all. It's all a very neat arrangement, and if it wasn't for the fact that it's Van working with him, Asch might've found it oddly satisfying.

...

Well, alright, there's a little bit of satisfaction, deep down, regardless of who his temporary 'partner' is. Not that he'd admit it.

All good things must come to an end, though, and despite the fact that he'd planned to retreat in time to evade the attack, one of the enemy soldiers seems to come out of no where (using those damned wings to find a blind spot, no doubt. Cheaters.) and attack from behind, slicing a blade towards Asch's back. He notices in the nick of time, managing to take a shallow cut to the shoulder rather than the severed spine the attack would've given had it worked, and with a twist and grab Asch turns the tables, flinging the winged soldier towards his comrades. It all happens in a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately those seconds were his much-needed escape time, and the movement of the throw managed to get him a little too close to Van's arte. When the ground explodes outwards, the impact throws him backwards into the nearest wall, knocking the wind right out of him. That... could have gone a lot better.]

[For someone that doesn't need Van and can take of himself, Asch needs an awful lot of bailing out...

Van's first, instinctual reaction is to save Asch. He even begins to dash forward to do so-

But he stops.

He stops several feet away and meets Asch's eyes with a charged gaze. Regret? Satisfaction? Maybe a bit of both. The moment is over quickly, and Van closes his eyes and begins to cast. The arte -- or rather, the hymn -- may not be one Asch recognizes; he'll never have seen Van use it before, but perhaps Tear?

If he crawls a few feet forward in time, he may be able to make it into Force Field's protection. If not...]

[Ow, ow, ow. Everything hurts. Asch coughs heavily, then again as the dust in the air clogs his lungs. That had been a bit of bad luck, and more is on the way, apparently, as he feels a vibration in the ground and the wall at his back. The cave. Footsteps, though, above him- Van's coming to-

....

Wait, he stopped?

Blearily he lifts his gaze to meet Van's, a mixture of wary confusion in them. Why did he...? Why is he looking so...

And then Van closes his eyes and begins to cast, and Asch understands. He's leaving Asch like that. Leaving him there.

....Fine. Asch clenches his eyes shut, sliding his sword arm upwards to brace himself against the ground, and with a single sudden push and a gasp of breath, manages to roll onto his back. He can hear the song of the hymn behind him, feel the gentle flow of fonons gathering towards Van; he'd never heard his master sing it before, but the melody is familiar. Part of the Grand Fonic Hymn, wasn't it? One of Tear's artes. He'd seen her use it a few times, mostly through the replica's eyes. Force Field, the name comes to mind belatedly, but it's already too late to try and reach it. Instead, he lifts his hand, fingers shaking in the air, but his gaze is steady. He needs every ounce of focus he's got to do this, and there isn't much time.

There's something wrong in his chest, he knows; he can feel something grating, just enough to be perceptible, and it's hard to breathe. His head's aching, too, but he pushes past it, gathering fonons carefully between his fingers. He can pass out later if he has to. The shaking of the rocks around them persists, and he knows that if this goes wrong, it'll end up becoming another Akzeriuth, this time with the both of them caught in the middle. Not that Van would die- stupid Force Field.

No time for bitterness now, though, because the rocks are starting to come down, and he can only hold on to this power for so long. Right before the whole ceiling can come down on his head, Asch releases a carefully restrained hyperresonance ("carefully" being the key word- in the three years that he's been here with little else to occupy himself with, his skills have improved considerably), blasting through the rocks falling towards him and pressing up the ones still shaking unsteadily in the tunnel above him, creating not so much a protective shield as a disintegration bubble, just as he'd done during his many practice sessions in the village. Van can take care of himself, and even if the entire place comes down around them, he'll at least have a circle of safety to keep himself alive. Though if he gets trapped and suffocates down here it'll all be rendered moot.

Well, he'd at least find some ironic humour in that before dying.]

[Unlike Asch, there is a considerable time delay on Van's route to safety. He could have kept running and made it to where Asch was sprawled... a critical second or two too late. What he couldn't do was trust that Asch would save them both, if he could not. Not anymore.

Better to save himself and be certain. After all, Asch doesn't need him any longer. Asch can take care of himself.

So let him.

Van isn't risking his neck for the boy any longer. He deserves to pay for his ingratitude, and from those who wrong him, Van has always exacted a heavy price.

The dome of Force Field does an admirable job of protecting him. It also bounces several rocks in every direction (including Asch's), but if they aren't falling on his head, they are not his concern.]

[He'd endured most of the tunnel's collapse by the time disaster strikes; his hyperresonance, tenuously controlled as it was, had destroyed most of the loose rocks above him, but there was no way to block the ones bouncing his way from Van's force field, not that he's even looking in that direction. And while he's managed to somehow avoid getting seriously hurt so far - at least, moreso than he is already, luck has never been his great strength.

Thus, near the end of the collapse, a stone bounces off the fonic force field and catches Asch square in the temple, and the impact is enough to jolt him out of his trance. The hyperresonance wavers and explodes outwards like a shockwave, carving a deep gash into all the walls and blasting its way down both paths of the tunnel, disappearing from sight. Asch has just enough foresight to curl up around himself, protecting his pounding head and chest with his arms and legs as best as he can, right before the ceiling above sends an unstable cascade of its last stones. It's not enough to kill him, but it's plenty punishment for his lack of concentration.

And with that, at last, hopefully it's over.]

[It takes several moments for Force Field to finally dissipate, by which time the dust has begun to settle. It takes several more moments of Van observing the pile of stones marking Asch's last known position before he does anything helpful about it.

Apparently Asch does need him.

He kneels down next to the rubble and starts moving rocks. Not too quickly, though. Wouldn't want to touch Asch by accident. That would be unforgivable.]

Make a noise, if you aren't dead. [If Asch is able to respond, he might dig faster. Maybe.]

[It's unfortunate, but head wounds are never pretty things; they have a tendency to knock their victims right out cold. Asch is on the brink of unconsciousness, not exactly out, but very close to it. Distantly he can hear something - the soft rumble of stone on stone, a muffled voice of someone speaking - but nothing distinct or even vaguely recognizable. Whether he's alive or not is anyone's guess, but for the moment, he's not telling.]

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