[action/written]

[dissonates]

[He's so stunned and disoriented to be alive again that he doesn't notice the lost connection inside his own head for at least three minutes.

For a while Asch just lies there in the grass, staring up at the sky and trying to figure out what the problem is. More specifically, what he's missing. He's not blind this time, that's a pleasant enough surprise. All his limbs and other senses are working. He thinks back to as many significant life experiences, pleasant or otherwise, and he can't come up with any gaps or missing memories. If he'd lost any, they weren't important enough to matter, apparently.

It's only when he finally sits up and tries to contact Luke and find out what's going on that he realizes he can't. He tries five times, wrestling with his fonons, prodding at the mental wall that used to be an open passage between his mind and his replica's. With that not working, it's easy to figure out what the problem is. He tries fonic artes- each of the four spells he's mastered, a few others learned from the Daathic books he'd gotten over the years. None of them work.

So. Answers that question. He'd kind of rather have taken the gap in memories, but it's not like anyone has ever asked him what he wanted.

Arriving at an empty house - aside from a noisy cat and a frantic cheagle - is just icing on the cake of his crappy life, so Asch wastes no time on sentimentality. Best to just get it over with: he opens the journal, jotting down a quick and emotionless note.]

I'm back.

Arietta the Wild has returned to Auldrant.

If anyone is willing to give me a debriefing on how the Zompania battle ended, I'd be grateful. I'll reopen Good Spirits tonight.

[True to his word, Asch'll be at Good Spirits that evening, though the atmosphere of the bar is significantly less cheery than usual. And with him tending the place, that's saying something.]

Comments

Response-Written

[lastfonmasterguardian]

Oh.

[Anise isn't really sure what to say; partially because she's still drained from the last few days fighting, and partially because she knows what Arietta's going back to on Auldrant. Even if the God General wasn't ever really her friend or even someone she wanted around, she didn't deserve to die.]

[She'll place a hand over the camera as she writes, and do everything that she knows how to make herself as anonymous as possible. She doesn't want this message associated with her at all for a variety of reasons; it did probably seem like a mean trick, coming from her.]

I hope she's doing okay.

[With all the universes and all the people here it's possible that maybe she didn't even go back to Auldrant. Maybe she went somewhere else, somewhere better, or maybe she even went back to an Auldrant where she didn't die. If nothing else, Anise could hope.]

Written

[dissonates]

[There's a short list of people this could be, considering how few friends Arietta seemed to have in Luceti, but Asch doesn't feel like prying to figure it out. He'd be happier if people respected his privacy, so.]

I'm sure she's better off. She was never very happy here.

Written

[lastfonmasterguardian]

Really? I thought she liked it here.

[Then again, Anise had not really seen much of Arietta (and maybe she had been actively avoiding her), but it seemed weird that Arietta wouldn't be happy in a place where she was free to spend time with Ion.]

Written

[dissonates]

She liked being with Ion. What else made her happy in this place?

[Even with Ion, it's not as if she got to see him every day. Not with him living with them. There's always been a separation between God-Generals and the rest of the residents of Auldrant. It's just how things are.]

{Voice}

[strikeoflightning]

I'm sorry for your loss. {He sounds like he's suppressing, but that's a way of dealing. She has used it many times before.} The battle ended bloodily. Many people died as sacrifices, however we were able to avoid total annihilation.

{"For now" is apparent in her tone.}

{Voice}

[dissonates]

[He shrugs off the sympathy. Even after living together for so long, he and Arietta weren't particularly close, no more so than they'd been at Daath. Her presence was going to be missed, he was sure, once it sunk in, but he wasn't going to weep over it. He's pretty sure she'd have felt the same if their roles were reversed.]

It's hard to call it a victory, under these circumstances.

{Voice}

[strikeoflightning]

{A loss is a loss. Every one of them hurts - though the amount they hurt varies. Lightning can't make it better, so her words were mainly to give him some company.}

Many victories are covered in blood.

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

In victory, of course.

[ There's some irony in this statement. He responds with voice here, but he's totally going to rock the good spirits tonight. And he's going to hope that the ghost of Norma not being there doesn't make him sick. He wonders if this guy knows she's dead. . . . ]

[ Voice ]

[dissonates]

["Of course". That's laughable.]

You say that like it was a given. We all died easily enough the first time.

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

I wasn't there for that little affair, I'm afraid. All I know is the narrative of people who got in a bitter contest a day after we sent you, but also miraculously turned the tide of an emergency. Then a whole lot of us too dumb to keep out of it joined up and saw things through to a conclusion. Not the prettiest of victories, but I'd say for better or for worse it's better than that first story.

[Action]

[swordprincess]

[Karla enters Good Spirits, not quite ready to work a shift. Her expression is rather lifeless as she makes her way to the counter. The Zompania nightmares are still fresh in her mind, and her battle urges are as strong as ever. Working at the bar has been helping to curb those urges, but not she's not sure if even that will work this time. Many others have experienced their own nightmares during the draft and the aftermath, so it'll be fresh on everyone's minds.]

...Asch? Do you need me to work a shift?

[Her eyes wander elsewhere in the meantime. She won't object too strongly if he decides to send her home.]

[Action]

[dissonates]

...Do whatever you want.

["Need" isn't really a factor in this, but he figures that the bar will be a popular place for people seeking to drown their sorrows for a while.]

[Action]

[swordprincess]

...Well, all right then...

[Well, that killed the conversation. Karla ponders for a moment before turning her back, stepping out into the center of the bar, where she just stops and ponders some more.]

[What does she want to do? Her battle instinct calls her to the Battle Dome, but she just needs to get away from fighting for a while. But what else can she do? Karla continues to stand, staring off into nowhere, battling these conflicting thoughts.]

[Action]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[Jade takes a quiet note of Arietta's departure, knowing full well that it means her death as well. He might not have cared for the girl, but he's pitied her to an extent. And now he doesn't exactly feel like sparing that pity.

He focuses on Asch himself. In contrast, back from the dead, once more. Tear should be returning soon. As it is, Jade decides to confront the God General. So he strolls into Good Spirits that evening, seeking him out.]

[Action]

[dissonates]

[Asch's gaze drifts almost immediately to Jade when he arrives, mixing up a drink for another customer. A few seconds pass as he mentally debates how to handle this, then he looks away and focuses back on his current task. One thing at a time.]

[Action]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[And then Jade quietly strolls through the room, taking a seat by the bar as he looks towards Asch. At the same time, he can't help but remember his meeting with Prince Luke the other month. Asch has certainly had a rough several months, hasn't he?

He folds his hands together on the counter as he observes Asch.]

Welcome back, Asch. [Maybe there's a slight sincerity in those words; maybe it's imagined.] I see you've wasted no time in returning to your job.

written;

[universal_charm]

If you don't mind, I'll take all the shifts you got.

_{[ Please, let him work and not focus on what happened. It was all just a little to up close and personal for him, and the dying thing... Yeah, please let him work. ]}

written;

[dissonates]

Work as much as you like. I'm sure we'll be busy.

[Honestly, he's surprised no one broke in to steal all the alcohol and binge themselves trying to forget it all. Helps that the night club serves it too, sure, but it's still astonishing.]

Re: written;

[universal_charm]

_{[ Is it really breaking and stealing when no one pays for anything anyways? ]}

Yeah, I'm sure we will too. Hope we have enough to go around.

action;

[wildsaber]

[Luke doesn't think about it. As soon as he sees the note Asch left, he's bolting. He jumps down the stairs and moves to flee without a word to anyone, except... he expected the door to be open and it isn't, so he kind of ungracefully smacks up against it. He's stunned for a second or two, then he recovers, properly exiting the house this time.

It's weird, he thinks, for Asch not to reach out to him. But he doesn't push it. Maybe Asch wants some alone time...?

It would make sense, after dying like that.

Of course, this thought only occurs to him once he's reached the doorstep of Casa de Singular God General, out of breath and with his dignity a bit bruised. He raises his fist to knock, hesitates...

... No. No, he can't turn away now. He won't let Asch just-- just cut him off like that. He lied, didn't he? He lied, and he needs to face that.

Steeling himself, he finally knocks on the door. Sure, he's concerned... but he's also kind of mad, and that might be influencing his tone a bit.]

Asch!

action;

[dissonates]

[Asch had been expecting him; perhaps not quite so quickly, but then, his replica had a habit of surprising him, especially when it came to how close Asch thought they ought to be versus how Luke wanted them to become.

He opens the door without hesitation or fanfare, mentally bracing himself for... whatever this is.]

You don't have to shout, I'm right here.

action;

[wildsaber]

[Oh. That was unexpected. Luke stands there awkwardly, arm still halfway in the air like he's about to knock again. After a moment, he gets his bearings and shoves his arms back down to his sides.

With Asch right here, though, he can't help feeling relief. The anger's still there, somewhere, but actually seeing Asch here and willing to talk to him has made it crawl away. He's left with relief and a hollow sort of sadness.

He glances down, sees his fingers trembling, and tries to hide them in his jacket.]

You... lied about the healer, didn't you?

[Written]

[distressedude]

[Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind, Ion already knew Arietta had gone home. Though he hadn't thought about it at the time, certainly if she had been here she would have volunteered to join the reinforcements, knowing Ion was out on the battlefield. And then, when she didn't message him to make sure he was all right after everyone got back... even without personally confirming it himself, he knew. But on top of everything else, he didn't really know how to deal with it. While he didn't know the full extent of what future awaited Arietta back home, a few conversations had given him some idea.]

[He doesn't trust his voice to speak right now, but his handwriting is a bit unsteady.]

Thank you for letting everyone know.

Are you going to be all right? [He's alone in that big house now, after all. Even in the wake of Arietta's departure, Ion's more worried about Asch.]

[Written]

[dissonates]

I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't be.

[Sure, he's stuck on his own in far too much space for just one person, and it's a little pathetic, but it's not like he doesn't have plenty of experience being alone. He just. Has to adjust to not finding anyone in the house but the animals. It was going to be weird for a while, but manageable, surely.]

[Written]

[distressedude]

[Well gee, Ion can certainly think of a few. But if Asch doesn't want to talk about it, Ion won't push the issue... much.]

Well, if you ever need anything, you know we're not that far away. You're more than welcome to [...] stop by House One whenever you'd like.

[Really, Ion would offer to let him live with them if he wanted, but he doesn't think Asch would accept an offer like that. Or even consider it, really.]