Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Bloodedge]

"If you say so," said Charles, who could not see that repulsive creature as anything resembling cute. If Angelica believed it was though, then it was all the better that she kept it in her care. He didn't mind one way or another. As long as he could get rid of it, Charlemagne had no concerns. Actually, Angelica owning the Dawncatcher may even make his view of it less terrible. That wouldn't be so bad, he thought. Moving on, he wasn't cursed according to Angelica. He supposed there was a very, very low chance of any actual curse affecting him, though the thought lingered regardless. It was hard to accept anything else as an idea.

Angelica accepted his offering of a single, terrible fish. Well... as long as she was happy with it, he was happy to consider it a gift. It wasn't the first souvenir he'd ever given the Holy Princess, but as part of a date, he supposed it was an... acceptable thing to offer. As for festivals and plushies, it seemed Angelica had a few concerns about at least the latter. Charlemagne knew festivals weren't exactly uncommon even in this world, but the little games and prizes went beyond her understanding... at least in terms of guys winning them for girls. "Well... it's not like it's physically impossible for girls or anything," he began to explain. "It's just that guys are usually the ones trying to impress. The guy wins a prize for the girl he's out with, and maybe she'll like him or something. Honestly, it just became a tradition at some point, so if you're a guy who doesn't do it, you're seen as not even trying. I think it's not so bad at its base though," the male concluded. Just then, he finally picked up his second mug of beer and began to drink, if only to keep himself from rambling without rhyme or reason.

[Apollymi]

Charles couldn't currently find the fish who plagued him cute. This was understandable. That being said, Angelica thought it was one of the more adorable creatures she'd seen. And found herself easily looking forward to doting upon it. Both as a creature in its own right, and as a gift given to her by Charles. He was one who was pretty fond bringing her souvenirs and though this was the first she'd received in quite a while, she considered it a bit special because they were on a more official date. That seemed to be the right reaction, in her own mind at least.

Regardless, she drank her beer, and heard out Charles. What he was speaking on, was the matter concerning prizes won at festivals. While he spoke, her gaze shifted from the open waters and the rather fast circularly swimming bait fish, towards Charles instead. His claims in this moment was that such prizes were won to give to the women to impress them. They weren't incapable of winning them on merit. It was instead one of those strange traditions that grew into normalcy. "Guys win small cute items to give to girls, to impress them. Seems a bit on the animal side of behavior but I don't think it's bad either," she said. In her head, she equated that sort of behavior to a predatory animal bringing a kill to its supposed mate. When giving it thought, such a thing was at least cute if you didn't think about it too much. An oppressive shadow was starting to become visible on the surface of the water. It'd been quite a few minutes since the last catch and now there was some oppression which that one fish swam in a circle on top of. Poor thing, perhaps if it wasn't so badly injured it wouldn't have still been here.

[Bloodedge]

The understanding of traditional date practices came with greater ease than Charlemagne expected. Truly, he thought there would be a great deal more explaining to do, if only because it hardly made sense as a custom even to some who practiced it. The way people adapted was at times a bit... odd to onlookers. As a product of the environment, Charlemagne fell into the more ignorant group of individuals. "I think animal is a little harsh, but yeah, I guess it's a bit like peacocks and stuff..." he said whilst rubbing the back of his neck.

There was something occurring out in the lake, and Charlemagne took notice for a very wrong reason. Luckily for him, it wasn't something randomly perverted this time. No, he actually had something on his line. There was a quick bite, but by the time he pulled the rod even a little bit, he came to realize his bait and hook were both completely gone. Sitting there with an empty line, he seemed almost concerned. "Um... that's different─" he said, looking toward Angelica's line afterwards.

[Apollymi]

According to Charles the comparison to animals was a bit harsh. Angelica gave that a bit of thought and decided the comparison to animals likely would hurt a few feelings, even if it was the truth of the matter. Ah, she'd keep it in mind not to make such comparisons, even when they fit to avoid upsetting anyone particularly distressed. Though, it was acknowledged by Charles as being behavior similar to that of peacocks. "The birds with the really big feathers? So, yes..." she said while taking another sip of beer. Her forefinger resting against a now throbbing vein at the top of her forehead. Humans were so very difficult. Knowing they were essentially showing off to impress their opposite sex potential partner but not wanting it to be said so obviously was kind of backwards.

But the backwardness of human interaction wasn't something to worry about right now. Soon enough there was a problem which was noted by Charles as different. His line had been taken quickly and had both hook and bait snatched as if by thief beneath the waters surface. Of course, Angelica immediately noticed the looming shadow beneath that little fish which was panicking beyond its proper belief and she was watching. "UHOH!" she seemed surprised as she watched a great fish open its jaws above the water, in an attempt to snatch up the injured fish she'd left out. Even so, she was now on the ready. "Uh... this doesn't seem like it's going to be normal Chuck!" she exclaimed. Yeah, this was going to require a great struggle.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, the butt-fan bird. Actually, peacocking became a thing that was said a lot... about that kind of behavior," Charlemagne admitted. It wasn't like Angelica was wrong in her comparison. Humanity on the whole, however, tended to take offense to being reduced to animals, despite any stark similarities. Even with that being the case, much of the world he came from believed humans evolved from primates, while others thought they descended from fish. There was a lack of consistency no matter what viewpoint one was hearing. . .

Oh well; there were more pressing matters to be concerned about... like the sudden loss of a hook, and the looming threat against Angelica's previous catch. Indeed, this wasn't going to be normal. There were only a few creatures that could cast a shadow like that in this lake, and all of them were considered legendary catches. Which one they would be seeing was a mystery, however Charlemagne had faith that the truth would soon be known. "Normal is for losers! This is gonna be so cool; bring 'em in!" he encouraged, sitting in a forward-leaned position with beer pouring into his face.

[Apollymi]

There was apparently an entire word which connected humans back to wildlife behavior and they apparently termed it themselves. Weird. Angelica found a lot of things strange about the people she encountered, but nothing was odder than people not wanting to be compared to things they were like. Whatever the case, she could at least follow the logic of doing everything possible to attract someone you were looking for. She'd recently started thinking about actively trying to make sure she could maintain her connection to Charles. "Uh-huh... weird," she said concluding all of her thoughts with just those two words.

Ah, but she wouldn't have gotten a chance to expand upon it anyways. There was now a large fish hooked to her rod and it was obviously fighting against her. She was remembering what she'd been told about fishing so far, and realized she'd have to fight it a bit to be able to pull it onto the land with them. She braced herself allowing her arms and the line to follow the movements of this fish as she did her best to wrest it from the waters. "I don't really know what counts as cool, but this is a lot stronger than that other fish," she explained of her current situation. She was fighting, it was swimming quickly just below the surface after fallling back. It was trying its best to rip free of that hook, but Angelica wasn't really going to allow that either. She'd never tussled with something which felt so strong, but she definitely had no intention of losing to a fish.

[Bloodedge]

Charlemagne fully accepted that everything he explained was weird. He didn't fully get it himself, so there was no arguing against Angelica's opinion. "Yeah," was all he could say. There was even a little shrug to accompany Charlemagne's agreement. With that, he moved on to drinking... while apparently watching the fishing battle of a lifetime occur. Angelica steeled herself to take on one of the most challenging fish this lake, and indeed all of Floor 22, could offer. Of course, Charlemagne fully believed she wouldn't have too much trouble with it.

Naturally joining his faith was a lack of concern. Charlemagne appeared excited, yet far from nervous about the battle happening just in front of him. Sure he was chugging beer like it was water, but that went hand-in-hand with the thrill of a moment. Angelica wasn't sure what made this moment cool? Well, he'd be sure to inform her. "Of course it's stronger! That's what makes it cool; I know you're gonna show that fish who's boss!" he cheered. As those swigs of alcohol hit him properly, he rambled even more. "Let's go! Who else is gonna have a fishing story about pulling a legend as their second catch? Not me; not anybody! Show 'em up Angie!"

[Apollymi]

Angelica was sure the human condition was strange. So strange in fact, that even humans didn't argue against being weird. There were many things she could have said to this, but she decided the unbothered silence was likely the best route she could go with. She didn't much care if humans were so odd in general, she only took a liking to understanding them deeply as she came to get to know the individuals who'd moved her in some way.

One such was was the random encouragement coming from Charles. He was cheering her on, and explaining that, if she was interpreting his words correctly, the winning this particular increased challenge was what made this situation cool. Okay. She could work with that. Whatever the case there was a pleasant warmth spreading within her body, whether that was from the alcohol or for some other reason wasn't something she'd think about much. Instead she was focused, waiting for just the right moment. A bit of slack is what she was waiting for, and this particular fish would give it, after only the longest of struggles. when it happened, when the line relaxed just a bit, in a moment a bit like a runner catching their breath, Angelica pulled the rod upward. A large fish with lots of fins and an a face only a mother could love, was pulled from the depths of the lake. It was quite the bit catch and Angelica in her atheletic approach to things, spun and slammed this creature into the ground seemingly please with the fact that she had pulled it form the water. "Hmph!~" she seemed rather pleased though she didn't have much to say. Such a success was exactly what she expected but all would not be as it seemed. This fish wasn't flopping as usual, instead it seemed to be sliding about a bit, like it was trying to roll over.

[Bloodedge]

In the moments following their talks of human strangeness, Angelica went to war with a great beast of a fish. In the meantime, Charlemagne drank and drank until his second mug was empty. That was about the amount of time it took for Angelica to find that perfect moment to reel in her catch. A massive creature erupted from the lake, and from such a close distance, Charlemagne could almost believe rain had started falling. Good thing his mug was recently emptied─ there may have been a bit of lake water splashed directly into it while a fish learned what it meant to fly.

Well... its flight was limited, as Angelica saw fit to slam the poor creature into the ground. That was no surprise after her previous catch, but now that he had a good look at the current fish, there was something off about it. "Nice catch! Super cool!" he exclaimed first and foremost. With that, he began looking at the fish itself. What a repulsive, albeit massive creature it was to be in a lake of Aincrad. "Hmm. It's not winning a beauty contest anywhere. Let's see, that one was a... I can't remember the name. I'm pretty sure there was something weird about this legend. Something's weird about all of them, but... this one..." he mused. No matter how hard he thought, Charlemagne seemed incapable of remembering this particular fish's oddity.

[Apollymi]

Angelica was left to look over her catch. According to Charles, it wasn't a very pretty fish, and in that case she had to agree. "Definitely not cute. This is not cute, the Dawncatcher is cute," she said giving a hearty nod. She had several hard opinions and currently they included the idea that this fish might have been one of the least appealing looking things she'd ever seen. Just the same, Charles called this catch nice, which let her feel a certain extra pride about her efforts. It was good to feel appreciated. Still, Charles tried and failed to remember the lore surrounding this particular fish, that was fine, Angelica couldn't imagine it having much of a story, unless it was something about its insatiable appetites or its monstrous face.

Oh no. It seemed whatever the lore was surrounding this particular creature, at least one feature of its existence was going to be made clear. It hadn't been flopping, and instead it was wobbling from left to right only to eventually find itself on its belly and once it did, something strange happened. Several of the gills along the bottom of its body seemed to unfurl or extend into proportionately tiny legs and it stood on its feet. It began taking steps towards Angelica and Charles in a manner most intimidating. "EWWWWW! IT WAS ALREADY UGLY WHY DOES IT NEED TO WALK!?" she said aloud, unable to control her initial grossed out reaction.

[Bloodedge]

None could argue the ugliness of this fish. Charlemagne wouldn't, nor would anyone he'd ever known. Seeing this thing for himself, even he had to agree with Angelica that the Dawncatcher had much appeal to it. "You know, I'm starting to believe Dawncatcher is actually cute," he admitted. No way would he think anything different while looking at this new... thing.

Speaking of new things, the oddity of this fish showed itself soon enough. It wobbled and wobbled until a pair of legs extended from beneath its body. If not for its clear lack of wings or magical ability, Charlemagne would have figured he imagined things, and that it was floating. Sadly, there was no such reality. What he hoped was the ugliest fish or creature in the entire world, had legs. He was disgusted. Angelica was obviously, even audibly repulsed. Worse still, the thing was moving toward him like some drunken beggar with a vendetta. "My first thought was flying. I think this is better, but grosser," he said. Charlemagne assumed some level of animosity from the fish, and instinctively reached for a sword that wasn't attached to his waist. Right, this wasn't an adventure─ it was a date. "Alright, maybe I'm seeing the benefits to weapons and armor during a date. I'll find a way next time," he promised. There had to be some way to remain cool while keeping effectiveness high. Whatever it was, he'd be sure to find it eventually.

[Apollymi]

"Told ya' so!" That was all Angelica had to say about Charles finally understanding the true nature of the Dawncatcher. Yes, it might have been plaguing him throughout his fishing experiences, but at least it wasn't this gross looking thing that Angelica had fished up. Speaking of that gross thing she'd fished up, it was now meandering towards Charles, giving him at least second thoughts.

Those second thoughts seemed to be moving around quite a bit. Initially, they shifted around about the fish's nature. He'd thought at first it was a flying fish but found the walking thing to be a bit cooler though admittedly grosser. "Yes, of course it's gross, it popped legs out of nowhere when it already has a messed up face!" Angelica seemed to take a great deal of issue with this creatures lack of conventional beauty. But Charles also took issue with his current lack of weapon and armor as the thing was moving towards him. He claimed that he might rethink the coolness of weapons and armor for dates. Angelica for her part in this didn't truly need weapons. Ah, but this was a non-magical date, she'd have to do something drastic. "It's fine. It's fine... " she mumbled to herself as she seemed to be in the process of hyping herself up for one reason or another. "I fished it up. I'll finish the job," she claimed as she stepped towards it, throwing what appeared to be a pretty solid right hook. Of course, she was no mere human so her fist making contact with the fish's face would send a shockwave through its body. She was trying to be careful not to go too far, but she did want it to disappear.

[Bloodedge]

There was a massive and disgusting fish with legs approaching, and Charlemagne was without a weapon to use against it. This was going to be an ordeal. He was no incapable without a weapon, but that creature seemed like it would require the use of a skill to take down fully. If he used the one Skill he had available however, the hideous fish wouldn't even be sellable─ much less anything else. What to do, what to do?

Since options were so very limited, Charlemagne decided upon the only thing he could. He'd have to ruin the fish if it became an annoyance. Mana was beginning to flow through his arm, but... what was this? Angelica was working herself up to take on the creature, insisting that since she'd been the one to bring it out, she'd be the one to put it down. Charlemagne stopped, stared, and blinked repeatedly in sequence. Was she going to touch that thing? That was a bit brutish for her normal demeanor, though not very out of character. Indeed, the blonde's fist collided with the fish directly. The concussive force was enough to make Charlemagne's hair billow from about two meters away; he doubted that fish would continue moving around normally... if at all. "Oh. Well... alright. That's always an option─"

[Apollymi]

Angelica was a bit brash, underneath all the pomp and circumstance. She was viewed by all as the Holy Princess, but if left to her own devices she'd likely be seen as nothing close to 'princess'. Fighting with her hands, was among these things she did, being rather prone to small fits like the one against the fish. She could have done something else, fought with gems, or even just magic, but no. That wasn't the way. In a moment with this ugly thing offended her with its existence, she decided punching it was the best option.

And to her credit it did stop the beast. She was pretty sure it suffered a broken neck and would be left, collapsed on its short legs twitching just a bit. Charles commented on the situation, claiming it was one way to handle it. It was only then that Angelica's brain settled down and she realized what she'd done. "Ewww, I just touched it!" she exclaimed heading over to the lake side to rinse her hand and grab her beer. Why did she think that was a good idea? Well, it had gotten the job done and now that the thing wasn't alive, it only offended her a little by being there. Perhaps she should think of a better way to fight something than punching it? Yeah, probably.

[Bloodedge]

If one were to ask Charlemagne, he'd say there were definitely better methods than punching an atrocious-looking fish to death. Of course, he knew that sort of thing wouldn't work on Angelica in the heat of a moment. She was brash, she was a bit impulsive at times, even though her impulsive actions were just as impressive as they were random. Just the same, there was much amusement to follow such moments when Angelica realized she'd acted against her own better interest. Right here, right now, she found the fact that she'd touched the fish repulsive. Well, that was guaranteed to happen whenever she started thinking straight. . .

"Pff─hahahaha! Seriously?!" he questioned, laughing without intent or restraint. What an oversight that was! "I was going to get that, you know? My Skill would have been a better thing to use than your hand. I mean, awesome punch! But still... you touched it." That final statement came with an air of disgust, as if Angelica had become something lesser for making physical contact with that fish. "I might have been wrong about that engagement. You've probably got some kind of plague now, like... a giga version of the ick, or something," he joked.