Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Apollymi]

"Charlemagne to the rescue, our savior!~" these were the joking words of Bradamante in a moment like this and poor Anais let go of a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding when the young man's arm was kept from lifting all the way. Yes, they shouldn't be this lively every time they approached the Ruby Palace and yes they had work to do, but that really didn't matter much. Astolfo went on to claim that sexuality surround him was completely legitimate. "It really wouldn't though... how would I like girls or boys if I just happen to like you who fits half of both criteria," she murmured. 'I mean I do like someone but I can't really just talk about that... Maybe soon?' she thought glad her face was covered, as her glowing eyes once again shifted towards Charlemagne. Her more open voice having sunken into some simple utterances from beneath her hood. Ah, embarrassment made her more like her old self than normal, but surely she would recover.

Technically speaking they had no choice but to recover as they made their way before Father An. The words of that man seemed to offer a great deal of praise to Charlemagne even bringing up the 'heretic'. At the word both Bradamante winced and a quiet whimper escaped Anais. Something about that word referring to that person still seemed very wrong to both of them, and neither of them had been present when that entire situation played out. Ah... well, it seemed that what was happening was Charlemagne being told he was next in line to be the Holy Emperor. That was good at least, when asked their opinion, Bradamante would easily speak. "Of course there isn't any reason he shouldn't. He's the best!" she proclaimed honestly. Anais nodded her head in agreement. "I would follow him anywhere..." she added and this was the absolute truth. In their humble opinion, there weren't any others better suited to the task of leading the Templars than Charlemagne the man who was more caring and useful than anyone else. A man she was quite sure she harbored a deep love for.

[Bloodedge]

"Then maybe you like both," was a simple answer given by Astolfo just before their entry. The term Astolfosexual was going to catch on somewhere at some time. It seemed Anais wouldn't be the one to perpetuate it, nor would Bradamante play any part if only to spite him. One day. Not today, but... one day.

Soon after they entered the Ruby Palace, something very wrong was happening. Charlemagne was receiving praises before even detailing his exploits, which wasn't at all strange. What he did consider strange, or at least problematic was... the address of Charlemagne's companions questioning his eligibility to be an emperor. No, that wasn't the issue. The issue was the positive response given by two of the three. "Why even say first in line? There's no competition!" Three. Three of the three gave positive response, much to Charlemagne's dismay. "Woah woah woah! I didn't even plan on leading a Party; I couldn't be someone's emperor!" he insisted. Apparently, Father An was having none of that talk. He beckoned for Charlemagne to ascend the stairs, at which point there was a reassuring hand upon the lad's shoulder. "You'll do fine, boy. Don't go losing your mind yet. You are the number one candidate, but nothing is assured. Save the worries for later, but for now take your members and ascend them all to the 98th floor. You'll not be moved out unless you are supplanted."

[Apollymi]

"Maybe," that was all the response Anais had to give. Of course, it truly didn't matter if she figured out now or a hundred years from now what kind of person she was into she did know at least one person she was into. She could stumble upon love or anything between friendship and love without her predisposed tastes getting between her and her end objective. Bradamante would have more words for her later, but here and now they were discussing a matter of great importance, the future of their leader Charlemagne.

Charlemagne for his part in this, didn't appear to like being chosen in such a way. He made the claim that he didn't even want to lead his group, much less did he want to do anything crazy like ending up a "Holy Emperor". Bradamante had only one thing to say to that kind of talk, "Not your decision to make, neither was being our leader, you're best suited!" she claimed. Apparently even Father An thought the lad was a bit too much in his own head, he went on to explain the nature of this apparent shift which would include a relocation for the group at large. This was an exciting prospect. Everyone present wished to move on to somewhere else without any doubt and floor 98 was an honor all it's own, even with it being the floor which formerly belonged to the heretic. "Oh, we're about to be all together again? Sounds like fun~" these were the words of Anais about the move. She was honest though, Charlemagne was the type of leader she would follow anywhere, he was also the sort of man she wanted to give herself to. If he claimed he wanted nothing to do with any of this and left the Holy Order of the Templar she would follow without hesitation. 'Maybe I can manage it if we're together again for a while. I just have to work up to it.' she thought trying to encourage herself.

[Bloodedge]

This wasn't working out any better with people like Bradamante nearby. Charlemagne knew from the moment he spoke that she would throw him right into the fray of leadership. If he remembered correctly, hers was among the louder voices relegating him to the position of Party Leader. Well, maybe that wasn't fair. She was pretty loud in general, now that he thought about it. "I... but... they... we..." There were 1,001 excuses for Charlemagne to get out of this situation. Sadly, none were making their way to his mouth. The Father's hand upon his shoulder felt strange, almost relaxing. Was this some effect of his holy influence?

"Be at ease, my son. You will perform magnificently, as you always have," Father An assured. Charlemagne sighed. Why was it always like this? "Fine, fine! I'll take the time trying to find a reason I shouldn't be picked, and in the meantime I'll hope someone else jumps out ahead of me." Charlemagne made clear his plan while stepping away from the Father. Once more, he sighed. "I saw Turpin up here when we were on the way. Do you guys mind rounding up the others while I try ripping him away from the bishops?"

Charlemagne made one request, and Astolfo jumped at the opportunity. He hadn't seen many of their comrades in quite some time, so a bit of giddiness was only natural for the lad. "Going to floor 90, k' bye~!" he exclaimed before skipping off right away. Astolfo had no desire to hang around the Holy Father for very long anyway; he wasn't here for religious purposes.

[Apollymi]

Apparently Charlemagne didn't think he was worthy of such. Or in Bradamante's eyes at least, he was now trying to weasel his way out of his responsibility. She scoffed at his words, but knew in her heart that there was no better leader for all of them and all of the Templars than Charlemagne. She couldn't even offer him comfort because she knew her words wouldn't mean such. "That's right. Get ready, it'll be your biggest job yet!" she claimed seeming to find it funny. Of course, Bradamante was no more fond of Father An than Astolfo was so after hearing his plans she also jumped at the opportunity to go do something else. "Yeah, I'll go grab Renaud and I guess Roland," she claimed seeming to find it a bit of a hassle. "I might take the long way 'round though... I wanna see Ruggie!~" she said heading off. With Astolfo headed to the 90th Floor and Bradamante headed off somewhere in the 80s. A sigh escaped Anais who gave a small bow and began walking off as well. "I'll head to the Archives, at least I always know where to find Ivy. Maybe I'll run into one of the others along the way~" she mused. 'Maybe I can get some advice, too.' she thought there was one other thing she wanted to do.

And that was that. Whenever he reached floor 90, Astolfo could make his way to a very specific torture chamber. Within the woman known as the Grand Inquisitor would be found. A blue haired sharp eyed young woman, her curvy figure was covered by a white general's outfit. Her thigh high boots seemed to end at exactly the right place to show the gentle curve of her thighs. She rested on her backside atop a cushion of shorts the skin of her rear barely visible from where she sat. Her back was to the door, but she had nothing to fear. Here and now she was holding in one hand a chain. This particular chain extended to a collar and it was around the neck of a formerly annoying creature. That creature was a man who was now, supporting her body weight, topless while she sat atop him. To keep him from talking, there was a gag in his mouth. And her other hand contained a glass of juice, as she was currently working. "Did you know the Executioner is always shorter than you expect? Big men like you always think some other big man is going to kill you. But most of you will die to small women long before you lose your lives... its that funny?" she laughed while the man beneath her only truly paid attention to the gentle feeling of her rounded rear pressed against his skin.

[Bloodedge]

"I'm sure it will be. And the rest of you will just eat it all up, won't you? You especially!" he exclaimed toward Bradamante, pointing the same accusatory finger at her that was previously meant for Anais. Whatever the case, Astolfo was quick to run away from the Ruby Palace, and it seemed Bradamante would be quick to depart as well. Charlemagne couldn't really blame either of them. Though he had no issues with the Holy Father, he understood it at least being a bit awkward to stand around in his presence. Either way one wanted to view the current situation, this meeting was quickly approaching its end. Bradamante was to find Renaud and Roland, though she'd take the time to meet with the man she'd been constantly talking about first. "You should! Take your time and we'll all meet up at the new house!" he said to the fleeing lass.

Astolfo and Bradamante were gone, and Anais wouldn't be staying for very long either. The hooded girl decided to seek one called Ivy. It was easily assumable that she'd encounter some of the others along the way, as Anais herself claimed. "Good luck! I'll see you on 98!" said Charlemagne. With that, the apparent emperor candidate was on his way to find a certain archbishop. . .

While three other journeys were taking place, Astolfo teleported directly to the 90th floor. He knew where one particular woman could normally be found. He made a beeline for the torture chamber she seemed so very fond of, finding the blue-haired woman facing away from the entrance, boasting a great deal of confidence as she sat on the back of a bound, gagged, shirtless male. In the midst of her goading, Astolfo's deviousness reared its head in a catlike grin and a crouching sneak toward her location. 'Wahahaha!' he laughed in his own mind. Such a plump bottom this woman had. It was so very... pinchable, Astolfo thought. Naturally, his greeting was to be reaching out and taking a small chunk of her backside between his thumb and forefinger, with even a little twist added for general purposes.

[Apollymi]

"You'd finally be living up to your full potential!" these were the parting words of Bradamante. She'd take his accusatory finger as a point of pride. But by her own understanding he was definitely the best suited to lead them all to a new life, even if he didn't feel that way about himself. Moving on, Anais gave a gentle wave as she headed for the lower 60s to the archives.

Moving on, there was the matter of the young woman sitting on top of a man's back, choking him with a chain and speaking in strange metaphors and then rather suddenly she found her bottom being accosted. That is to say, it was assaulted by a twisting pinch which brought something of a girlish squeal from this obviously powerful woman. She squirmed atop the man as that sound left her mouth. "Eeep! What the hel-?!" she started to question only to turn slightly and find Astolfo behind her. She'd reach for him with the hand holding the chain, causing her chair to wiggle only to immediately stop. At the same time she tried to grab at Astolfo pulling him into the crook of her arm and right into the side of her bosom so she could accost the top of his head with her knuckles while expertly not spilling her drink. "-lo Astolfo. I didn't know you were back, but why are you always so bad at greetings?!" she asked while she rubbed her knuckles against his scalp with a medium amount of pressure. Not enough to make him hurt, just enough to make him uncomfortable. Just the same, she was rather happy, one of the livelier members of their party had returned. Just a few cells down, a man was being crucified, and blood was dripping from his impaled hand straight into a glass. The silver haired young woman was busy torturously bleeding this guy ounce by ounce. He was almost dead, and definitely a criminal, his blood was such hearty tasting thing, only... the taste of it was being drowned out... something rather sweet was hitting her palate and she had to get some of that. "You're hardly a meal compared to whatever that is... offer your prayers, it seems your death will be swifter than I intended," she claimed only to click her fingers together. When she did, all the blood left in this man's body poured from his wounds. Most of it, pouring down a drain. She didn't even want it anymore. She wanted something better!

[Bloodedge]

Few things could be considered more satisfying than making the Grand Inquisitor of Aincrad produce sounds so very girly. The moment he heard it, Astolfo developed a wide grin. Ah, how he missed this sort of greeting! One might have also said Astolfo missed the sort of reactions this woman had to such things. By the time he had a decent grasp of that fleshy posterior, Astolfo felt her arm wrap around his neck. He was swiftly pulled in, yet he didn't resist one bit... even as knuckles were ground into his scalp.

Why did the pink-haired male make no moves against this? Simply put, there was no point in doing so. In being clutched the way he was, Astolfo was basically face-first in the side of a soft and sizeable breast. Regardless of what he was going through at the time, it was a pleasant turn of events. "Heh heh!" he giggled. It didn't seem he was very uncomfortable at all. Once upon a time, maybe the lad would have been... but he'd gone through quite a bit since the old days. "Boiiing!" was the first thing he said, as if to allude to something very specific occurring at the time. "You don't really think it's a bad greeting, right? Isn't it cute and irresistible? I might become sad if the beautiful Olivier says she's put off by my antics. Is that what you want?! Sad Astolfo!"

[Apollymi]

Astolfo was pulled into a headlock, his head being rubbed a bit aggressively, but still he didn't seem to mind. Actually, she was also still sitting on a man and yanking at the chain around his neck while rubbing this other lad's head and it didn't seem to be bothered very much either aside from a couple of strange choking noises when she pulled a bit too tightly. "Boing?! Oh you wanted to be here, huh?" she questioned turning herself to smother the lad more directly into her bosom, but that maneuver would be long enough to allow him the honor of finishing his sentence. She didn't dislike his entrance and she wouldn't want him to be sad. "You know what? It isn't a bad greeting, not for me anyway... and you have yet to put me off~" she said while snuggling his head more directly between her bosom. This was likely considered some kind of treat. She didn't usually give men this sort of access to her body, but Astolfo had always been a bit of a special case. "No, I don't want a sad Astolfo," she added at the end seeming to find it funny.

A few seconds later while Astolfo was presumably buried face first in her chest, a silver haired woman walked through the door. Her skirt was short, over her chest a large cross facing the right way, her nose in the air and her eyes closed as she'd followed her nose here. "Oi oi, Livie, do you have some sort of snack in here? You mind sharing since you just...." a pause happened as her eyes opened and she saw it. Pink hair, braid, short skirt. A squeal ensued. "Squee~ Ally!~ When did you get back!" There was extreme excitement as she pounced. Leaving her in close proximity to Olivier as well. Her face was soon buried in Astolfo's neck as she rather gently found herself gazing skin with little fanged teeth. "Oops, I got ahead of myself, but you smell positively delicious after being away so long!~" she mused. "Oh? And what am I, chopped liver?" asked Olivier seeming to be playfully terse as she technically released Astolfo from squeezing him between her bosom.

[Bloodedge]

What a silly question. Did Astolfo want to be pressed against Olivier's bosom? Well if he didn't want that, he wouldn't have bothered with anything but a verbal greeting. The fate of Olivier's living chair aside, he fully intended to be dragged into something by the woman. Luckily for him, his antics led to something even better! Astolfo couldn't speak another word before he was pulled between Olivier's breasts where his face gloriously squished directly into exposed cleavage. Ah, this was the life! There would be no sad Astolfo today! "Mrmph mrr mrr~♥" he mumbled in the most satisfied manner, fidgeting, or even... swooning?

That poor, poor human chair. Given the position of this trio, Astolfo being pulled closer to Olivier, and Astolfo's current movements, he'd be the first to directly learn why the pink-haired male said 'boing' initially. He'd learn... probably with his face as that skirt barely did its normal job of concealing something likely inhuman. Ah, and speaking of inhuman, a familiar voice joined the fray. Janessa de Boudoir, Astolfo knew well. If he didn't manage to barely make out her voice past the flesh bags clogging his ears, he definitely knew who it was by the time she was nestled into his neck with a protruding fang brushing against skin. "mMm phrm mph!" he murmured. Finally released at least somewhat from Olivier's grasp, though he didn't move away very much at all, Astolfo regained his ability to speak properly. First though, his laughter spread throughout the torture chamber. "Ahahaha! Hiya Ness!♥ I got back uh... I dunno. A few days ago? Weeks? No idea! I went right back out on a mission, and I don't remember how long that was either!"

[Apollymi]

While Astolfo was having his head crammed between the large breasts of Olivier, the man she was currently using as a chair was given a fate beyond what was supposed to be the level of his punishment if only by happenstance. He would soon know the truth of the rather effeminate man who was obviously very close to the woman who he would accept as his mistress and dominator. Perhaps she had a fondness for men who were more like girls, but if that was the case, why was this man's erection now rubbing against his face. Sure the boy was small, but wasn't his head still a bit too far down for this to be taking place? A simple gaze upwards caused a gasp, a yelp and tears to stream down that mans face as he tried, even to the point of choking himself to hang his head in shame. In a moment like this and once she let go of Astolfo, Olivier took notice and sighed. "Woopsie, forgot he was down there... probably just ruined his whole life, that wasn't really my intention though..." she mused as she released the man's chain so he could hang his head more easily. Poor man, finding out something as cute as Astolfo was packing some gargantuan meat between his legs was probably more demoralizing than anything else Olivier would have done to him today.

Still the sound of happy laughter from Astolfo warmed the hearts of his female companions, while only further demoralizing the man on the ground. Not only did he get to experience the happiness of being squeezed between Olivier's bosom, now the fanged Executioner was paying him attention too?! What kind of being was the man called Astolfo? And what did he have to do to find himself in these women's good graces? Too bad for this man on the ground, he'd never truly learn the truth. Astolfo was a bit of an enigma. The sort who could bond easily with all sorts of people not just women... it just so happened that only women were present in the current moments. "That's ages! You were gone so long and immediately went back out on another mission, you didn't even stop by to visit!" was the pouty words of Janessa. But to Olivier she had something different so say. "And no Livie, you aren't chopped liver, more like a nice cold mixed drink~" she said with chipper happiness. Ah, but that wasn't really the case, there were a lot of things to potentially discuss. "So, you finally stopped by for a visit then?" she asked seeming to want to know how long she could expect to keep Astolfo occupied on their floor.

[Bloodedge]

Astolfo could feel himself rubbing against that man's face. Of course, he had already disregarded the other male's existence as nothing more than a walking corpse. If Olivier had her hands on him now, he was most likely a few confessions away from Janessa's clutches. Luckily for the breathing corpse, he was allowed some reprieve by the inquisitor. Sadly for Astolfo, he had also been given a bit of leeway... though he would be making his way back eventually. "You sure? Or are you just not admitting that you're willing to use poor, innocent Astolfo as a torture tool? I thought I'd get the torture at this point. Actually, that wouldn't be so bad anymore─" he mused almost mindlessly.

Apparently, the questionable amount of time he'd been gone was enough to be considered 'ages' regardless. To Astolfo, the passage of time was of little consequence. He'd seen some things, he'd done some stuff... he'd been flogged, drawn, molested and so-on. Basically, he'd just lived the longest Tuesday of his life! There was no visiting upon his initial return, however, and that was probably his fault. "Ah! Right... Well, I forgot to check in with everyone! It's hard keeping track of things, and I was excited to be moving around again! So, I followed my king right out the front door, wahaha!" Ever so casually did Astolfo admit to his own negligence. He laughed as if it were a matter of triumph, and maybe it was such a thing in his head somewhere. Janessa went on to ask if he was here to visit. Was he? "Of course I'm here to visit! Wait... no. That's not why I'm here. Oh! I came to tell both of you to pack your stuff and get off this floor!" he mentioned finally. Perhaps there was a better way to put that, but one shouldn't have left such things to Astolfo if they wanted them done properly.

[Apollymi]

There were some strange things afoot in this particular torture chamber. Any random passerby might not actually think any real torture was taking place, that being said the poor chair that Olivier found herself sitting upon would beg to differ. Between finding out that the most feminine looking man he'd ever seen had more meat than him, he was also being forced to listen to a happy reunion between friends. He didn't have that any more. Yes, he'd betrayed his comrades, and sold them off to the enemy. So it was technically his own fault he had no friends to come home and chat with. But he'd thought that given her torture just maybe the Grand Inquisitor had taken a liking to him. But of course she never would. There was no point in struggling further. The Executioner really was all he could expect and even she, didn't really seem to care about what was going on with him either. She really was a kind of small lass though... huh. His head freed, hung in shame and he wept his tears falling to the floor. He needed to confess, he wanted to confess.

Whatever the case, Olivier found herself rebuking Astolfo's assumption and the rather careless way he mentioned not caring too much about being torture. "Hey, I'd never use a friend as a tool just to frighten someone. Have a little more faith in me than that!" she said with a scoff. "And you are way too calm about potentially having been tortured. You're probably one of the people least deserving of what it really is..." she said seeming to show a bit of concern if only for a moment or two. Whatever the case, she'd pulled him back into a hug, of a more normal nature, placing a comforting and empty hand on the back of his head. "We can plot your revenge if you like. Anyone who would torture you deserves the absolute worse treatment," she said this with a certain amount of assurance. Janessa seemed to be nodding along as well. Astolfo was a good individual and she knew this to be fact having partaken of his blood on more than a few occasions. Still after moving on to explain his absence he seemed to be a pretty good humor, only to reveal some strange things. They were to be packing up and moving? Janessa's brow rose, and Olivier found herself staring blankly for a second. "Like are we leaving Aincrad or just moving to a different floor?" asked Janessa, knowing there were only a few reasons for movement within the fortress.

[Bloodedge]

Olivier insisted that she wouldn't use a friend as a torture device. That may have been reassuring to most, but Astolfo almost seemed disappointed. Somewhere in that irrational little head of his, the idea of being used as a tool by his comrade was simply being relied upon for support. Alas, he wouldn't say a thing about that. "Hmm," was all he murmured. Soon after, the pink-haired male was being pulled toward Olivier once more. This time was no aggressive approach like the previous one, but instead a more normal embrace one would expect of companions. Of course, the result was still Astolfo burying himself in the woman's bosom─ he did truly plan to return there earlier.

Revenge. Astolfo had no need of such things. As easily as he escaped torture, he left it in the past where it belonged. "Meh. It's not that big a deal. Besides, Roland probably had the worst of it," he declared. As always, he was very quick to move from one matter to another. After squeezing his way into Olivier's chest one, two, even three times, he gave consideration to Janessa's question. Oh... right. He hadn't been very specific when telling them to pack up, had he? "We're going to Floor 98. Our king is going to be a real king... or... emperor. Yeah, that's it! Emperor of the Holy Empire! So we all get better living conditions!"

[Apollymi]

The lack of logic in Astolfo's brain wasn't something truly understood by anyone. Even so, they accepted the lad as he was. Truly Olivier wasn't pleased by the idea of using friends in a negative way. Though she understood the desire to be relied upon, which is why she offered to help the lad attain revenge. Of course, he would turn down such a thing, and make it seem like he truly didn't care. She noted his burying of his face in her bosom and she didn't seem to care about it at all. If it was possible that seat she had supporting her, sank a little bit, not physically, but emotionally. Whatever, she was content to hear he was mostly fine and he claimed that Roland had it worse. "Ah, well... Roland is always a bit complicated. As one of a handful of women who can talk to him without potentially stirring him to madness, maybe I'll give him headpats later," she said of her good friend.

Beyond this there was the matter of them actually moving and it seemed they were going to floor 98. That was a strange place, but it was empty. "Whoa, whoa, whoa... he's doing what? With who? Don't you think this requires more explanation?" exclaimed Janessa. Who seemed to have become worked up over the potential move and upward social mobility. "One has to wonder why he sent you... knowing you never give enough information for anything to make sense," she asked chuckling the entire time. Doing this sort of thing, made Janessa whine just a little. "We are missing so many details, I don't like change!" Janessa claimed. Of course, she couldn't know one particular truth, which was a certain individual she was always interested in would soon be sharing quarters with the rest of them. How interesting her personal life was becoming. Strangely, Astolfo also seemed pretty relaxed about things, perhaps he'd taken the news of the clearing out of floor 98 a bit better than anyone could have expected.