Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Bloodedge]

Charlemagne knew of the various manifestations taken by one's sixth sense in this world. He'd encountered those who saw, those who smelled as Olivier herself could, those who heard, and those like himself who just... felt. According to Olivier, the oddity of him was that he smelled a bit like Angelica and... someone else. The former made sense, considering how the day had gone thus far. The latter... well, there was no sense to be made of that at all. Maybe it was one of those strange figures, or even Angelica's mother. Whatever it was, there was little need to consider it at this exact moment.

Both he and Angelica were instructed to touch the mark Olivier bore. Charlemagne knew it to be connected to her power somehow─ some form of blessing or protection perhaps. Strange though it was to reach out for something placed there, it was hardly worth arguing when Angelica was already in motion. Charlemagne's forefinger reached the other side of that mark. From it, he felt something that very much fit the bill of Olivier's personality. It was cold, abrasive, even dominating in many ways. If he took out the connection to Olivier, he could equate it to something else. What was it? "It's..." he started in the wake of Angelica's question. "Wrong. I think? It still feels normal, but if I had to look for something weird, I'd compare it to a Demonoid."

[Apollymi]

Words shared about the nature of their beings and what they felt like currently was something they should just sit on. Olivier thought it was familiar and she would know in an instant if she felt it again, but it was one of those things her senses likely ignored for whatever reason. That was fine though, they were able to move on from that and to the main event of their encounter. It seemed that the most shocked of the pair was Angelica that much was to be expected. She wanted to know what it was but was confused by it. Charles likened it to a Demonoid, but seemed capable of ignoring that little itch in his mind as he connected it to Olivier.

"It isn't wrong. I am not fully certain, but I do know the evil of this particular power. It is conscious and very much for the destruction of as many things as possible. In fact, it tried to destroy me at first," she said quizzically. "I didn't know what it was at first, because I was at my base just a very talented human hunter. My sense of smell was heightened but that was a matter of skill, this however is something that was given to me," she said about the mark on her chest. "And I am almost certain it is demonic in nature, but I am not evil, at least I don't think I am. So, I think those words aren't quite synonymous," she said carefully. But all of this being the case would be quite odd. Why was she allowed to exist in what should have been purely holy knights as a major person of influence if her power was evil by everything other people were being taught about it? "Regardless, I've found that Geoff, doesn't lie, even when his words don't make sense initially," she expressed. Angelica looked astounded. "I might have to ask my mom some questions. Though I don't feel like she's bad that power feels like its in opposition to me... I can't really explain it," Angelica said. "There are several things that say opposites exist in balance. There is nothing to say those opposites have to work against each other," Olivier expressed her own personal philosophy. "After all, I get along with Renaud and he is all fiery. But that is getting a bit off topic, did you have some other question?" she said with a wave of her fingers. Of course, this was probably a lesser contradiction than the idea of demon and relative angel. But perhaps there was something more to that comparison as well.

[Bloodedge]

Olivier insisted that the feeling he got wasn't wrong at all. Her power was something evil with a consciousness of its own, and an apparent history of destructive tendencies. To Charlemagne, none of it made sense. He'd seen her Skills activate dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Never had his own ability registered it as evil, demonic or otherwise. Demons, aggressive monsters, even humans with negative intentions─ all were easily felt by Charlemagne. "But I should have felt that. It doesn't make any sense," he claimed, pulling his finger away and staring into it curiously.

Geoffroy was not a liar, according to Olivier. If anyone could say such a thing with certainty, it was her. As such, him addressing her as 'cold devil woman' was to be considered accurate, crazed though he was. Maybe it was a good idea for Angelica to ask her mother, but even that left the question of how. This mention of balance was sensible, so maybe the answer was simpler than Charlemagne thought. Perhaps Olivier's power was worth considering the finer details of. It was always possible that her Mystic Code was fabricated in such a way as to replicate demons, or even localized their base power to fight against them. He'd seen that sort of thing in a few manga series; it wasn't too farfetched. Regardless, Olivier left herself open to receiving additional questions. "Just one, I think. You played AoE, right? What was the significance of the Nexus in lore?" he wondered, having only the trading card game as solid reference.

[Apollymi]

There was something to be said about Charles senses not realizing the nature of Olivier's powers. She didn't seem to find anything wrong with it, but she wondered then if he'd noticed the others in their group. "You might want to sharpen your senses a bit more. I am far from the only one to possess a power that Geoff would call 'devil' even within our group," she said though that wasn't meant to inspire fear. "But I am sure if you know what you're looking for it will be easier for you to notice from now on, even from us," she said seeming to think this was all fine. Regardless, there was a bit more to be done here and she'd opened up the floor for questions.

Strangely this lad chose to ask about the Nexus, and for a moment Olivier was a bit dumbfounded. She spent a while processing that particularly inquiry in her mind for a second or two before she could begin the answer. "Oh, right... you played the card game... it's weird knowing that not everyone who comes here has the same base knowledge," she said seeming to shake away her surprise just a bit. "The lore importance of the Nexus is a bit ambiguous, so I'll tell you what it does and you can decide for yourself what you think it is," she said seeming to not know what to do to explain it. "The Nexus is everything to you, it's how you touch the world. You need to upgrade your Mystic Codes or evolve skills. Nexus. Do you need to make sure you can reach safety? Nexus. Do you need to clone your Mystic Code because of a hardcore world event? Nexus. Literally the Nexus is all things you could need. It even pings you if you're near something that could potentially help or change your build," she said giving it a bit more thought. "There was even a rumor that a VR update would make it speak to you so...." Olivier's words didn't really make sense to Angelica. One of those otherworld things that didn't quite click in her mind, but she would be capable of summarizing it. "So the Nexus is a Supreme God to others who entered the world the same way you did?"

[Bloodedge]

"But that's still not right," he interjected. "My Skill is automatic. I don't go looking for devils; they just register to me whether I want them to or not. If I don't sense it the same way, there's something different about it. Maybe it's you..." Charlemagne's musings would continue internally for some time. Apparently, others in their group were similar to Olivier. There was no way he could miss multiple counts of demon influence and the like, so he now had something to consider long-term.

Consideration would have to take a break, however. Charlemagne had only experienced Age of Eternity's card game, so Olivier had information he could never know without a player of the video game handy. She described the Nexus as... everything. Interface, tooltips, even core gameplay systems were encompassed by the Nexus. Angelica's opinion was uninformed, yet still consistent with where Charlemagne's mind had taken him. She considered the Nexus a supreme god of some sort. Charlemagne was thinking much the same, but not that it entered the world in the same way they did. No, he thought maybe the Nexus and the One God were the same individual. "Or... maybe Jeanne came to understand that the Nexus is God. What if she knew that, and it not being a title known in this world was cause for assumed heresy? I mean, it would sound like a completely random name to anyone here, but it would make total sense to someone like Liv or me right now... right?"

[Apollymi]

According to Charles his skill was automatic. As far as Olivier was aware automatic skills were kind of rare. She only knew a couple of other people who had them, one of whom was Ivy. "Perhaps then its something in the way it is coded that makes those of us who are on your side not ping you," she said giving a bit of a shrug. It wouldn't really matter to her long term, she didn't plan on crossing Charles or anyone connected to him. And she was more than capable of keeping her basic instincts under control.

Charles thinking seemed to align with Angelica's maybe Jeanne had discovered that the Nexus was god and maybe that is why Jeanne called out to it. But Nexus was a name which was foreign to those born in this world without knowledge of the other, so it was easy to conflate things. "Okay, so if that's the case, then everything surrounding Jeanne was a misunderstanding that we have to clear up?" said Angelica. Olivier seemed to be thinking this whole thing over and her opinion was a bit different, "That sounds like a lot of loose ends but I suppose there are worse things that could have taken place than a misunderstanding..." she said calmly. Admittedly she found that kind of thought pattern a bit optimistic considering, she supposed there was nothing wrong with not assuming the worst either. "So if you guys have everything you need from here, you want to get out of here? This place isn't exactly the most welcoming to end up having a long conversation..." she mused willing to escort them back so they could a more relaxed conversation as they tried to figure out what to do about Jeanne d'Arc.

Just the same during the time of his interrogation on the floor which the team of Charles found their home, Ivy was looking through the writings surrounding the immediate library. During her search she came across a journal belonging to Jeanne d'Arc. This lass was rather meticulous noting down her thoughts and feelings surrounding Aincrad and all activities about it. Included in this journal were notes concerning the Holy Grail, Nexus and something referred to as Ascension. It also noted changes in behavior of people like Gilles de Rais, and bits of information concerning various other entities that might eventually be useful for others who might come in contact with Holy Grails to have. She read this to its completion and after leaving a few notes in margins for the others. She came across Anais who was wandering about and gave it to her to pass along to Charles along with a quickly jotted message about where Ivy could be found if she was needed again.

[Bloodedge]

There were a few potential reasons for Charlemagne's dysfunctional ability, including nothing being dysfunctional about it at all. Regardless of that situation, there were more open possibilities for the Jeanne d'Arc situation. Charlemagne had always entertained the idea of miscommunication being at fault. Now, he had ample reason to believe that was the case. Olivier seemed a bit more skeptical, but if she had no point to argue, there remained only a single assumption to roll with. With that, they could move on... apparently to a more suitable location, by Olivier's suggestion. "I don't think we need anything else. I've personally had more of that guy than my brain can tolerate for one week. Let's get out of here."

Charlemagne would continue mulling over this mystery while they moved about, having a bit more brainpower to work with once they weren't surrounded by the ambient noise of prisoners. At some point, this matter would need to be brought before Father An. Some certainty was required before then, but Charlemagne felt they were onto something solid at long last. "Hmm. There's something missing. A connection? If we're assuming Nexus is something like a super 'system' god, what's the connection to the missing gods who... aren't actually missing? I don't think the connection is necessary to clear Jeanne's name if we're right about the Nexus thing, but I'd like it to still make sense. . ."

[Apollymi]

They were all clear about leaving this place and thus they travelled back down the path they'd come and Olivier led them back towards the teleport so they could head back to floor 98 where they called it home. She didn't know much about the actual move but figured it was at least in part responsible for why Charles rekindled his interest in the case of Jeanne d'Arc. "It wasn't so bad, I just feel like his words came out in an a way that made them unclear," said Angelica about the former executioner. Seemingly unable to come up with a better way of describing it. As they emerged from the prison and into more open and quite space, everyone seemed to be capable of thinking better.

Hm, apparently in addition to the Nexus being a god, there was still the overlying issue of how it connected back to the not so missing former gods from the age of the gods. It would be Olivier who had just a bit to say about it, and though she wasn't entirely sure the information would be helpful maybe it was something Charles could use as a point to continue working through things. "Well, gods stopped being normally seen in the world at around the same... maybe there was an event that made it so... I mean, continents and countries used to rise into the sky leaving behind normal unclaimed land. It wouldn't be too far fetched for a couple of places to exist outside of what we can see and sense. Ana might be more helpful though, she isn't human so her understanding of the world and history aren't as limited as ours are potentially," she offered a place for him to go look into this new information. Of course, they'd made it back to the floor and she was now free. "Nice spending time with you both, but I should probably make sure they haven't messed up my room. You know where to find me if you need me," she said giving a quick bow to Angelica and casual salute to Charles.

Of course, Anais was currently looking for Charles and emerged from a hall opposite the one with the library clutching a book and note in one hand and a single lit candle in the other, the light of which was glowing stronger the closer and closer she got to Charles. Ah, there he was, she figured she'd just misplaced him within the new floor, not that he'd been somewhere else originally. But now that he was back she could approach. "Oh? There you are, I have things!" she said seeming pleased to find the person her items were meant to be given to. She was a tall lass in black and white robes in a hood with antlers. "Oh, that's what she meant..." mused Angelica. She'd seen everyone before, and she hadn't really thought about what this girl's species had to be the first time she'd viewed her.

[Bloodedge]

"It wasn't bad for you maybe. Guy tried to knock my brain out!" said Charlemagne. He couldn't have been more satisfied to be away from that crazy old man, nor more satisfied to reach Floor 98 after hearing all that background noise from the prison. Olivier went on to address the Age of Gods' end, how divinities disappeared basically all at once. Charlemagne remembered that era, or at least what was likely the biggest turning point. "Hmm, yeah. I remember the White Titan battle, when King Gilgamesh announced the Age of Man starting. Some of the major gods from that time period had fallen off, or even become evil gods. Things got pretty dark and combative after that. One of the last things I remember is Albion disappearing. That's about the time I cleared the Labyrinth, while Jeanne was still occasionally here."

Seeking Anais was the idea suggested by Olivier. She would be a good choice, provided she could be found easily. Olivier would be returning to her room to manage her... workers. "Alright, good luck with your slave campaign," he said in passing. Now then, it was probably in his and Angelica's best interest to locate Anais. Luckily for them, no searching was necessary, as it was her voice calling out during Olivier's leave. It seemed she'd been looking for them, or at least him, and had something to offer. Perhaps Isabella had found something of merit after all? "We were just about to go looking for you. Olivier thinks you can help. What kind of things?"

[Apollymi]

"Jump start it," said Angelica seeming to enjoy the joke. "Perception in this sort of situation is key," she claimed seeming to enjoy a bit of fun at Charles' expense and was happy the mood had lightened quite a bit. Ah, but it could only stay light for so long, so she should have been trying to enjoy it regardless. Beyond their general conversation the end of the age of the Gods was mentioned. This apparently involved fighting a 'White Titan' and a declaration from King Gilgamesh. After which Charles details became hazy and he remembered the disappearance of a country. "I also remember that, it was right after that happened that Jeanne said it might be a while before she came back, she was going to find her sister," Angelica chimed in. Strange how some of these events seemed to be rather closely related.

Hearing these words from this pair, Olivier seemed to be the type who would easily put some things together. Jeanne d'Arc was apparently a very busy girl who managed to pop in and out of Aincrad and in and out of several major events. That didn't bode well as far as she was concerned. The more prominent a figure the worse it was likely to get as they dug into her life. Whatever the case, Olivier was wished good luck. "Hardly needs luck at this point Charlie," she said before disappearing. In the same couple of moments the girl with the antlers appeared and she'd been the one that Olivier had told them to find for more information. This had been strictly speaking because of her outside knowledge but surely she might have something else.

And lo, she seemed to be coming with her own information as well. She looked tentatively surprised and a bit embarrassed though she seemed to gather herself back to normal pretty quickly. There were, quite a few reasons for this in particular but none of them really mattered when she had something to do. "I don't know what Livvy thinks I can help with but I am willing to hear it out," she said seeming surprised her name had been mentioned so randomly. As for the things, she held them out with wide eyes. "These. I ran into Ivy, and she said this first person chronicle was full of information related to the topic you were looking into as well as many other things. She said you might want to read it. And that she marked a few passages you might find specifically interesting. She also went back to the Archives to look into someone specific, she said you would know who," she said handing over the book. The words used to describe it, and what it actually was were very interesting. It was, Jeanne d'Arc's journal. A chronical of her time and dealings with Aincrad, mentions of Holy Grail related mechanics, and general explanations of the Nexus, the end of the Age of the Gods and her own personal thoughts about several events that seemed to have something to do with the way several things happened in the world.

[Bloodedge]

"Hard to perceive anything when your brain is knocking against the back of your eyeballs," Charlemagne countered. On the matter of the Age of Gods, Charlemagne himself hadn't been present when it officially ended. By that time, he'd cleared the Labyrinth of Aincrad. Someone had actually passed along a note of its ending soon after he first snuck Angelica out of Floor 99; he even remembered thinking the timing was interesting. The gods fell, Charlemagne's workload increased tenfold, and then... a millennium passed to lead him here.

Olivier left, and Anais entered. She was willing to hear what was needed of her, even though she wasn't aware why she could be helpful. Moreover, what she had was indeed something from Isabella. Documentation in the form of a journal was brought to Charlemagne's attention, with a special note that Isabella had begun looking into a specific person. Ah, she must have been digging into files regarding Gilles. Charlemagne was soon flipping through the book he received, taking note of the marked ones to find things of great interest. "Holy Grails transfer ownership. I get that; Father An took Jeanne's and repurposed it after the execution. There's... here," Perhaps the most intriguing thing he saw was mention of Jeanne's Holy Grail specifically. A brief passage spoke of a white room and a disembodied voice through which one gained the right to Ascension. The Nexus was brought up, either in reference to the room, or in reference to the voice... or both? It could have been both. "Further down here, the Holy Grail is called a 'Key'. Sounds like the door it opens is the door to Nexus. I'm guessing anyone who wins a Holy Grail war could use the grail to reach the Nexus. Ani, anything you know about Grail spawning while I've been busy with other stuff? I was never sent to collect one for some reason─"

[Apollymi]

"Bleh, no complaining. Think of the goodness," mentioned Angelica. They found out a host of information even if they couldn't rightly make sense of it yet. And if Charles had to take a few slaps to the back of the head to find out the information, so be it. Well, that sounded more intolerant than Angelica was, but it was all in good fun. What wasn't fun? Well, this apparent journal belonging to Jeanne d'Arc. Charles rather quickly thumbed through the pages and as he did, Anais took the opportunity to properly introduce herself to Angelica.

"Hi, I'm Anais. I'm an Elafia and part of this group," she said offering a bright smile. There was something strange, though Anais had recently come out of her social shell, it was a bit unusual for her to randomly introduce herself to someone else. Still, Angelica seemed to be pushing some strange buttons with everyone today. "Angelica, nice to meet you," she said in response. This lass had managed to clear up one of Angelica's questions and was rather forthcoming and welcoming. It made her appreciate her quite a bit. Moving on it seemed that Charles did indeed find some things of interest. The Holy Grail is a 'key' used to reach a white room which is sometimes referred to as the Nexus and also a term for the disembodied voice there. When there finally came a question it was directed at Anais about the Holy Grails spawning while he was busy. "Hm, well I can tell you no one has managed to get into anything called the Nexus that would have been the biggest news ever," she said carefully. "According to the groups they seem to spawn once a decade or so, the Father ends up sending teams out to retrieve them," she mentioned. She wasn't on any of the teams, but she'd heard people talking about going out and gaining grails. But she hadn't really heard of any Holy Grail wars taking place, actually that was a bit odd.

[Bloodedge]

If Holy Grails were truly the way to access the Nexus, Aincrad had dozens, even hundreds of doors waiting to be opened. If they could just get their hands on a Holy Grail through the proper channels, the answer would be simple. Actually... Father An was the rightful owner of Jeanne's grail based on the system she explained in her journal. If he could access the Nexus through it, perhaps he could discover that the Nexus and God were one and the same.

Anais claimed no one in Aincrad had managed to enter the Nexus. As he recalled though, the Holy Grails of Jeanne and some others were all quite different to the majority seen in Aincrad and various churches. There must have been some key difference to them internally. "It must be a quality thing. The one on Floor 100 is bigger and fancier than all the others. Maybe the smaller ones have the power, but not the privilege?" he wondered. Each decade, a Holy Grail manifested in the world. Charlemagne knew full groups were being sent out to claim them every seven years or so, which seemed about right for any potential long searches. Sadly, it seemed Anais hadn't been on the list of seekers. "You didn't get sent out either, huh? That's a shame. I guess we'd already have our answers if one of us had been sent to get one, we'd have our answer already. I was just thinking we should talk Father An into using the main Grail. If he sees the Nexus and realizes it's God, everything will be done. Angie?" A question presented at the end was simply a name, merely seeking an opinion on the matter. At about that same time, though, Archbishop Turpin was walking toward the group.

"Well, you may not have to wait. The Father has sent me a message to collect our Holy Princess once again. Specifically, he expects to see you as well," he said with a particularly devious glance in Charlemagne's direction.

[Apollymi]

Perhaps they should have been considering how strange it was that they'd never been sent to collect a grail. Perhaps Father An simply found this group more useful to have close to home, but surely capturing a Holy Grail should have been considered a thing of great honor. As far as anyone else knew they simply didn't have the power to open or gain access. "Maybe, I guess it seems pretty reasonable. There are very few people who've managed anything with the Holy Grails they earned and they are considered pretty extraordinary," she said having at least heard about the other winners of Holy Grails before she ever made her way to this place. But that also made sense given that she'd grown up in a forest of Carthage, which spoke of Albion.

Regardless she couldn't think of any of them that had been sent to retrieve the Holy Grail. "Hm actually thinking about it honestly, you never hear much from people about that sort of thing either," she said about the collection of Holy Grails. When one considered it should have been an honor and that men who took pride in battle should have wanted congratulating on their tasks, it was a bit odd that no one who went to retrieve them ever really had anything to say about the task. "I don't know. I mean it seems reasonable..." but whatever else she was going to say was lost as Turpin made his way to them. Of course he claimed that her father wanted to see both her and Charles, and Angelica's eyes widened quite a bit.

"Oops. Well, I mean it's probably fine," she claimed more than willing to accompany Turpin and likely Charles. "Charlie carry my fish. I don't want to get found out," she said handing over the bag she'd been carrying around. No one would bat an eye of an Adventurer was carrying around some strange new pet, but Angelica didn't want to have to answer any strange questions. "Alright, let's go," she said assuming she'd managed to hand off the fish properly.

[Bloodedge]

Now that Anais mentioned it, it was strange that no one sent to collect Holy Grails had much to say about the adventure. Charlemagne wasn't the most accepted member of the Templar Order by the internal members, but he was on friendly enough terms with many to hear stories of conquest. That was the sort of talk one expected to fill taverns and the like, but... he'd only ever heard of the victory itself. "That is weird. I've never thought about it before now. Wasn't Ganelon sent on one of those quests once?"

In truth, the member of their Party named Ganelon had been sent on a few Holy Grail quests. Never had the male mentioned more than success, just like other cases. Sadly, there wouldn't be much time to consider why no one ever spoke of the journey itself. Turpin arrived for the sake of taking Angelica... and apparently Charlemagne as well, to Floor 100. That didn't sound like something to be done at any random time, but instead right away. Charlemagne sighed, wondering if his excursions with the Holy Princess had been discovered. Whether that was the case or not, he took hold of that darn fish bag and hung his head. "Ugh. Fine, fine. You know I hate when someone is sent to escort me to the Ruby Palace? I especially hate it now for... so many reasons," he complained. Regardless of Charlemagne's gripes with the situation, Turpin would be leading the way to Floor 100 posthaste.

It seemed the Holy Father couldn't afford to wait very long anyway, as he was undoubtedly worse for wear compared to the last time he was seen by the future Holy Emperor and Empress. He still sat in his throne, already-white hair having thinned to a point of near-baldness. His teeth appeared rotten, his breathing heavily labored, and the one eye he didn't have covered by a gold mask spanning half his face was sunken. Father An had the look of a man who couldn't even lift his own dinner fork, and he probably couldn't half of the time. There wasn't much time at all. . .