Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Bloodedge]

Angelica clarified the reason she once claimed to be against the 'soldier' types. The reason she'd rejected the advances of Roland and Renaud was their propensity for combat that would see them killed for their own egos. A better description of Renaud had never been given. The same was not so true of Roland, but it was always possible that he meet a similar fate... especially after he went crazy due to that rejection. Any random woman could cause Roland's death at this point, especially if she gave him the time of day even once. Indeed, he wouldn't let himself die for any reason like that. If Charlemagne were to let himself fall, it would be when there was no better choice. Hearing Angelica say it as a matter of her opinion, however, was a bit embarrassing. Charlemagne was left looking away, rubbing the back of his head, and then hoping his face wasn't visibly red when he was called cuter than the others.

As for the potential of otherworlders returning to their original world, Angelica brushed it off as something easily solved. So long as he made sure she'd be capable of finding him, it was fine? How was he meant to do that? It sounded rather on-brand for her demanding nature, and even sounded serious enough to be considered a proper challenge. "I doubt that's possible, but I also doubt you're giving me much choice. Guess I've got questions for the Nexus whenever we find it," he said, believing there was no point in arguing with the resolute princess about realism.

On Floor 99, sunrise occurred on the western horizon. He couldn't even consider that very strange, considering there were some North to South, some South to North, and some even permanent day or permanent night throughout Aincrad─ especially in the Labyrinth for the lattermost occurrence. More important than when and where the sun rose and fell, was the fact that Charlemagne would soon be witnessing something for the first time. He'd never seen the process of creation Angelica went through─ only the result of her craft. It was similar to what he'd seen done by the great Pharaohs in Egypt, yet simultaneously very different. It couldn't be called Magecraft. Indeed, this process, simple though Angelica made it seem, had to be the true Magic of legend wielded by few. "You really are a divine being," he thought aloud, hardly able to stop the natural inclination of sitting at the bed's edge to watch.

[Apollymi]

Charles didn't have much to say about the words Angelica spoke regarding her personal tastes. Of course, he also didn't disagree so she took it as an acceptable line of thinking. In fact, the lad seemed to be a bit abashed to find out the information she shared. There was a rather sudden devious light in her eyes as she considered that she might enjoy the fact that he didn't seem to realize such things on his own. They were in for an interesting future, of this Angelica was certain.

Speaking of the future, she'd told Charles he should look into making sure that she could find him if they found themselves in his world. She didn't plan on giving him up, nor did she think they could be anything but happy. "You should have at least some questions for the Nexus regardless. You're the one from the other world, surely you have your own curiosities. Just pass that one along for me and make sure we won't get separated for too long. I feel like the world would be a lot less frightening with someone to help me out with the apparent adjustments," she claimed. Little did she know adjustments would both be great and small not that it was something she even considered realistic.

Something else not realistic, Angelica's ability revolving around creation. She had a very specific way of doing things, but she quite enjoyed it. Just the same, it seemed that Charles was quite surprised by the action. She supposed no one had ever watched her do such a thing, and his verbal confirmation that she was a divine being was something she didn't expect. She did blush pretty intensely at this moment looking over her shoulder at the lad while changing the shape of the upper wall to allow her to drop the fish into the tank. "I mean yeah, we've always known I was at least divine. But I am definitely not the only person who can make things magically," she said seeming to find his astonishment strange. Surely he'd seen others in his travel who could do such things.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, there's a lot to ask. I'll make sure that one's high on the list when the time comes. Right after we find out if Nexus is God or not," Charlemagne assured. The top priority was solving the issue of Jeanne d'Arc's execution, which he supposed would take a backseat to the apparent coronation of himself as Holy Emperor. He could almost see the peace so many would experience once false heresy claims were silenced for good. Soon, they'd have that moment. First, they had to go through the motions of... the coronation.

Even before that, however, there was the strange situation of being in Angelica's bedroom and watching her form of creation. Each of them had cause to blush within a matter of moments of one another. Here and now, it was Angelica's turn from something as simple as a compliment. Charlemagne wasn't buttering her up or anything; he was just pointing out a truth he'd noticed. "No, you're not the only person able to do that kind of thing. I've never seen anyone do it like that, though. I'd compare it to Pharaoh Ozymandias's constructs, but it's... different. There's something really appealing about it. Ozymandias's constructs are hard to look away from because they're so incredible, but yours is something I can't look away from because... well, I can't even explain it, really. I just can't watch anything else."

[Apollymi]

According to Charles there would be a lot to ask of the Nexus while figuring out if it was god or not and Angelica could only agree. That being said, her own query was moved to a high spot on the list which made her happy. Though there was his coronation to deal with in the near future, there was still time for them to consider the details of questions to ask the Nexus and clearing Jeanne d'Arc. "That should probably be the first question. But the explanation of it that Olivier gave implies that if its functionality is similar to what is was for you on the other side, then it is definitely a god that only a few people have direct access to," she said having come to an easy and logical conclusion. Following that same thought, she was sure that Holy Grails were something that couldn't just be gained by anyone, because if they could be, she was sure the other gods wouldn't have been locked up anywhere.

It was a complex state of affairs with a bunch of different aspects that she couldn't quite work out just yet. It was almost as if the details of it, weren't enough to put together the entire story. Ah, but it probably wasn't helping that they were both easily embarrassed in front of each other. Right just now, Charles had only the most interesting things to say about her ability to create things magically. He even compared her works to those of the Pharaoh Ozymandias. He claimed that he couldn't help but watch hers for some unknown reason but they weren't intimidatingly perfect like those of the Pharaoh. "Ah, well... thank you, Charlie~" it was such an honest appraisal she truly didn't know what to say. She liked having her works appreciated, and she didn't know that letting someone see the process would be something she fancied so much. Perhaps that was just Charles though? Yeah, probably that. The bag the fish had been in disappeared, turned into a pearly looking gem which she also dropped into the tank, too big to be swallowed it would work as a decoration of sorts. And just like that her little tank was finished. She joined him at the end of the bed and sat down looking at her new tank.

[Bloodedge]

As many questions as there were for the Nexus, Charlemagne believed he was starting to get them in order. There were still many more that he had, but most of them were such a jumbled mess, he didn't even know where to start. Of course, the true start had to involve locating and acquiring a Holy Grail by the old methods. If he could enter a Holy Grail War properly, that would be easy. Maybe Ganelon would be willing to give some answers. . .

Sadly, Ganelon was presently in the business of getting answers instead. On Floor 98, Archbishop Turpin was yapping and yapping, never ending the process of answering to their most elderly companion. One could only hope Ganelon would soon be a boon to their plan, as he tended to be so many times before.

Charlemagne gave the most appropriate explanation he could manage as to how he viewed Angelica's creation process. If he were being fully honest, he couldn't tell how much he even cared about the thing itself. Creations had a knack for carrying the signature of a God of Creation's soul, so one from the old world could consider viewing the product synonymous with viewing the craftsman. Charlemagne had no knowledge or concept of this, naturally. Maybe there was something more than normal human appreciation, maybe there wasn't, or maybe the answer was... both. He didn't know the answer, nor did it matter to him. Angelica sat beside Charlemagne atop her bed eventually. She'd so recently offered her gratitude for the appraisal, but he had no need of it. "If you wanna thank me for something, help me make that Diamond Palace less... diamond-y," he joked. Now that he thought about it though, what would the point of that even be? "Though I guess I'm supposed to be moving up right after moving up, huh? Father mentioned his plan to eventually choose a Holy Emperor ages ago. That would put... both of us on Floor 100, right? So the Diamond Palace would be up to those guys unless they move up to this one. . ."

Ah, Charlemagne's memory was not quite in-line with the whole truth. If he became Holy Emperor and married Angelica, their place of residence would indeed be Floor 100. Floor 98 existed for the sake of Aincrad's greatest power, formerly Jeanne d'Arc, currently Charlemagne, and in an ideal future, simply the group he'd brought along with him. Floor 99, however, was a very exclusive thing. Floor 99 was the home of the Holy Father's child/children. In the event of a Holy Emperor ascending, it would be the children of the Emperor and Empress who inhabited the Sapphire Palace.

[Apollymi]

While the Archbishop entertained the masses of Charles' party, Angelica found herself having a strange amount conversation with Charles. It seemed he didn't want to be thanked formally for his appraisal of his work, but instead wished to have the floor his people inhabited modified for the sake of it being less diamond-y. His word choice was rather entertaining and Angelica couldn't help the laugh that slipped from between her lips. "Hahaheheh~ Yeah, sure I can do that. Even if you aren't going to be there all the time, I am sure no one fancies diamond walls or anything. I am sure I could at least make it suit you guys a bit more," she said calmly. "Actually I developed this skill for that reason in the first place so I'd be more than happy to make it somewhere you guys would enjoy living," she mentioned happily. Actually it would be a great thing to work on. A place for Charles' friends to call home that they could enjoy looking at and living in.

Speaking of plans to make a Holy Emperor out of Charles, he knew that he'd be living on the 100th floor when that happened. "Yes, we will be, Father told me I could move this floor up, if I preferred it to his 'Ruby Palace' which obviously is definitely a thing that is going to happen. But maybe I'll make a few modifications to that as well so no one has to live in these strange gemstone palaces," she said in direct contradiction to her own skills which revolved around jewels. Rather she thought they could have more appeal than base walls and the like. Even though it was Angelica who wanted to get married, she hadn't even thought about the express nature of child-rearing or anything like that. She was simply looking forward to a few choice adventures with Charles in the future. And anything else after that would simply be extra.

[Bloodedge]

Even if Charlemagne wouldn't be living on Floor 98, he was almost certain the others would consider the Diamond Palace an eyesore as well. If Angelica could do something about it even for their sake, he'd be grateful for it. Alas, that was a decision he'd leave to the group. "If you're going to do it, do it for them. I guess I should be glad I never moved my stuff in, or I'd be moving it again right now... and then again tomorrow. Your dad has the weirdest timing for stuff," he mused. Apparently, the Skill Angelica used for creating and modifying things was acquired for the sake of making her own living space more appealing. He remembered her mentioning something like that earlier. Whatever she did with Floor 98 would be interesting to see, if nothing else.

Ah, his memory did not mislead him. He and Angelica would be ascending to Floor 100 apparently with the ability to move the Sapphire Palace up instead of taking the Ruby Palace. That was a relief; the Ruby Palace was not very appealing. "Oh, good! I don't know about everybody else, but the Ruby Palace always felt really creepy to me. I'm not one to question the design sense of old people, but it really doesn't fit what I used to believe something 'holy' would look like."

The two were alone. They had spent the last chunk of their evening in the company of others. Silence was unbecoming of their time together, but they normally had something to do at all times when together. Seldom was there a moment of utter relaxation. What were they to do with it? Actually, now that Charlemagne thought about it... "So. Weird question. I just realized, what do you even do for fun when you're alone here? You can't just be making stuff all the time, right? I'm in your world for a change, so what's your downtime like?"

[Apollymi]

According to Charles, he hoped that she would make the alterations for his people not just for him. She nodded her heat at this finding it rather amusing. "Of course I would do it for them. Everyone deserves to live in a place they don't think looks gross," she said with a firm nod. "You don't have to tell me about his timing. He's always been rather strange, his summons always happen at weird times for me too," she explained of her life at this present moment. Still, she couldn't help but be happy with the turn out of the day even if her father was approaching death. The future seemed bright and that along with the fact that he'd likely return made the whole thing pretty inconsequential overall.

Moving on Charles seemed to have his own gripes with the Ruby Palace as well. Seeming to enjoy the knowledge that the Sapphire Palace would be replacing it at the head of their little struction. A smile came to Angelica's face as she heard out his explanation. He thought that place creepy, she thought it disgusting for various reasons. "I have no idea what thoughts anyone else has about holy, but I hate the shape and color of that place. It's like the red of it isn't bright or clear enough so it just ends up looking oppressive," she said giving a firm nod. She wasn't much of an appreciator of rubies. And the ruby palace seemed to lack the kind of clarity and gleam she would have preferred in that color of gemstone.

Beyond their discussions of her father's apparent horrible taste in building design, there was the point that Charles had no idea what Angelica did with her spare time. That was fiar, she was over 1000 years old she had to have found some ways to amuse herself that didn't always involve others. A shrug came from the lass, "I do normal stuff I think. I have a small library so I used to do a bit of reading. Most of them are children's stories though so I lost interest in it a long time ago. I can play a couple of musical instruments so I do that sometimes, I took up gardening a long while ago with some interesting results, I have animals I care for, uh... I ride some of them, I also do like archery for fun sometimes. I play games too," she said happily. "I could show you some stuff if you want to see..." she mused. He'd taken her on an entire trip today, she was a bit behind in showing him the sorts of things she did while she was alone.

[Bloodedge]

"That's just more reason to tell you about it," he said. Angelica knew about her father's horrible timing in her own case, sure, but there was some merit to sharing the story anyway. "It's not just you. Over the past few centuries, I can't even count the number of times he's called me to a quest right when I was planning to do something else. That thirty-year wait between visits wasn't exactly random, you know?"

The Ruby Palace was among the most terrible designs in all of Aincrad. There was the upper chamber, which he'd always known to float above the palace itself. That was where he assumed Father An rested, and perhaps where something else of great importance was kept away from the eyes of visitors. That place seemed leaps and bounds better than the palace itself. Charlemagne wondered if it would remain despite floors 99 and 100 being switched. "Oppressive is a good word for it," he agreed, thinking it looked like the location of a boss battle in some game or television show.

What habits could Angelica have to fill her downtime with? She had so much of it, so surely there had to be something. She listed the former habit of reading, and the more current pastimes of music, gardening, animal care, archery, and games. That was a pretty full roster; most couldn't claim to have so many options. Angelica offered to show him some things. He wasn't opposed, but he seemed more interested in the fact that she had ways of enjoying herself than anything else. "Wow, that's actually a lot. You don't have to show me anything right now, if you don't want to bother. I was just wondering, since I just realize... when we meet, it's normally a pretty instant trip to another floor. We explore, we do stuff, then we separate. It's weird for us to be sitting around without a bunch of background noise. I didn't even realize it at the lake earlier, but... I had enough noise in my own head to make up the difference then─"

[Apollymi]

Apparently, they could just commiserate about her Father's terrible timing. At this point, she could only sign, it was a bit relieving to know Charles didn't intentionally put so much time between his visits, while also being a bit annoying to know her father was the reason she didn't get to see her favorite person as much as she would have liked. "Well, it's good to know you weren't just hiding away or anything," she managed seeming a bit sheepish knowing she'd reacted badly to the long gap in his visits. "I only really talk to him once every few decades. He'll summon me and say a couple sentences then say I can go. It's always really strange, because I don't really ever know what to say," she mentioned wondering if they suffered from similar generational issues with her father.

Oppressive was apparently a good word to describe the Ruby Palace. For her part in this conversation, Angelica couldn't even well why she disliked it so much, but it was displeasing to her eyes in a way she couldn't have vocalized if she tried. A nod of her head occurred at Charles' agreement but they moved on rather easily. Apparently her 'hobbies' were surprising. He didn't know she had so many of them and was shocked only because of how their meetings of coming together and exploring usually worked out. In this case, Angelica managed to look a bit sheepish. "Well, I liked those kinds of adventures. And I didn't figure anyone would be really interested in the stuff I did here to amuse mysefl. I mean you see and do a lot more interesting things than playing marbles or gardening... I never thought it would matter to anyone much what I did when I was alone," she explained. "I don't mind showing you though. I think I've done some interesting and cool things... like raising my familiar," she explained of her activities that she actually thought might be interesting to other people. She didn't have enough socializing to figure out what about her life would even be remotely interesting to anyone else, but she'd definitely show him anything he wanted to see.

[Bloodedge]

Upon reiterating why he'd been so absent of late, Charlemagne noted something strange in Angelica: relief. Why that was the case, he didn't fully grasp until she spoke of him not just hiding away. "Of course I wasn't! Who does that? That's not friendship," he said. Disturbingly, Charlemagne learned that Angelica's conversations with her father were even less frequent than his visits. He at least managed to make contact multiple times per decade, until the most recent three. What a strange parent-child relationship that had to be. . .

It didn't make sense that Angelica assumed her hobbies would be anything but appreciated by others. After all, shared hobbies was what brought people together... but he supposed she wouldn't know much at all about building companionship, what with her three total examples of friends. "That's pretty sad. You should give more credit to your own tastes. If you like something, people who are, or would be your friends, are likely to enjoy it too. That's friendship," he insisted. "Besides, the stuff I do might be interesting to you, but it's just life for me. I've never had time to figure out if I like stuff like marbles and gardening. I've never learned an instrument, and I never even found my own Familiar. I didn't even know you had a Familiar!"

In the midst of his tangent, Charlemagne hyped himself up to see the sort of reality Angelica lived in. Tonight was the night their lives became entwined, whether he knew it consciously or not. At the very least, he understood that well enough to stand and prepare for a journey of sorts. "So, let's have at it then! This date's not over yet. Show me your world!"

[Apollymi]

According to Charles he definitely wasn't hiding away. He even made the claim that doing so wouldn't have been friendship. How strange. Angelica considered them friends before now, based on what she'd learned about friendship from Jeanne, but it wasn't as if she had many friendly exchanges to go by. Most people were servile or in general a bit dismissive. Her father being at least a little of the latter and also not really taking much interest in her. "Hm, I hadn't really considered it in great detail," she said seeming to give it a bit of thought. She at least knew her relationship with her father was strange after noting the amount of doting and care that people like her servants placed on their children. And by hearing childhood stories from Jeanne d'Arc and Bradamante. She'd also observed quite a bit of children playing with each other and determined from the outside what that sort of thing was like. It was the type of thing that made her wish she had siblings to share her interests with.

Beyond this point, Charles mentioned that she should give credit to her own taste. That hobbies could be shared with friends and they could use them to come together. Well, she knew that at least a little. But at the moment aside from Bradamante and Charles she didn't see a great many people in her day to day life. Apparently Charles hadn't gotten around to any hobbies like the ones that Angelica were into it. "Oh? Well, you have to find something that amuses you... take a little time for yourself," she said. Of course there was the matter of him not having a familiar or knowing about hers. "Well, my familiar is an odd story. I hadn't really thought much about it, but you should definitely get one. They are great!" she seemed happy about that.

They were going to be off soon, he stood seemingly interested in finding out what her life was like. Oh, she'd begin walking outwards giving a hand to Charles as she headed for a small grove off to the eastern side of her tower. There were coniferous trees there and some small birds moving about between them. "Junipero." A large owl creature as big as Angelica herself swooped down from the forested area. It was an interesting thing, and as a creature seemed to be highly intelligent and stood before Charles and Angelica giving a gentle bow to his master. She was really proud of this particular creature, "So I planted a junpier berry and then when it grew it sprouted an egg. And Junipero popped out as a little chick. So my familiar," she said seemingly very proud of herself.

[Bloodedge]

"I don't blame you. Most people don't have to consider it," Charlemagne said regarding friendship as a notion. For normal people who weren't basically shut away from the outside world, companionship came as natural progression to like-mindedness in many different ways. Had Angelica experienced even a normal childhood, he was sure she'd be fine. Oh well. Better late than never, he thought.

Angelica urged the male to find something that amused him. He could take that advice, but frankly felt he didn't need to. Shaking his head, he offered an explanation. "I don't really need to. I have a lot of things that keep me going already. Sure I'm busy with adventures all the time, but it's something I wanted to do. I only wished for more time to hang out with you, all my pals, and all the other people in Aincrad─ even people outside this place. I haven't seen any of the Round Table Knights in centuries..." he mused. Moving on, Angelica claimed he should find himself a Familiar. That... wasn't so easy. "I haven't found much time to look. I did find one I wouldn't have minded before, but I ended up letting someone else claim it. They had signs of Devouring, and I didn't need it. Nothing I really click with has shown up since."

Having his hand taken and the path ahead carved by Angelica, Charlemagne was in for an interesting little story. Angelica called out 'Junipero' once they left the palace, beckoning a rather large owl with a similar look to someone he'd once met... but that aside, the story behind it was ridiculous for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Charlemagne stifled a bout of hysteria. "So... you grew it from a juniper berry, and you decided to name it Junipero? That's so childish!" he said, finally bursting into laughter. Charlemagne was eventually supporting himself against his own knees, a tear falling from one eye to soon be wiped away. "That aside, what?! That's not normal at all. You planted a berry; nobody would ever expect an owl to come out!"

[Apollymi]

Oh? Apparently people don't normally have to consider the types of things that Angelica did about making friends. She supposed she was quite unique in only having a limited amount of interactions with other people. Beyond that point, Charles himself didn't necessarily want a hobby of his own, instead just more time to spend with Angelica and his other friends. That was really thoughtful of him. He even mentioned some other types of people he hadn't had time to talk to, "You really haven't been able to go out a lot lately huh. I am sure you'll come across some time to meet up with some old friends," she said about both Round Table Knights and his own friends. His only other thing was about familiars apparently he came close to having one, but gave it to someone else to claim so they wouldn't die to the condition of the 'devouring'. "Aww, that was really nice of you," she said about him giving one up. "I'm sure there's something somewhere even better suited for you," she stated.

Of course, she went on to introduce Charles to her familiar. It seemed that Charles was having a strange time and then suddenly laughing. Apparently the creatures growth from a juniper berry and being called 'Junipero' was a bit too on the nose for him. "Quiet Chuck! It's not childish. It's a great name," she said giving the creature a hug while shunning the lad. "You're the best Junipero. It's alright. Your name is awesome~" she said meaning it truly. That being said, Charles seemed so genuinely amused, so she wasn't really upset with him either. Ah, but there was more, apparently more exciting was the actual problem with how she created this familiar of hers. "Well, it wasn't like the berry was an egg. The tree grew and the egg grew from the tree when it bloomed. Then I took care of the egg," she explained how it actually happened. 'Creation' was likely a lot more than one could realize. "Actually they grow from the tree a bit. See..." she said pointing into the branches at the small litte round chicks which were chirping. Mostly recently hatched as well, it seemed to take awhile but they eventually sprouted as well.

[Bloodedge]

One day, hopefully soon, Charlemagne would have the free time to socialize. He didn't want to go another thousand years with little interaction, so he could only hope being Holy Emperor was less demanding than being an adventurer. He would also hope that a suitable Familiar showed itself eventually. What if he contracted the Devouring one day?! Just thinking about the potential made him wish he'd looked harder, but Charlemagne realized it was just the sort of thing he'd only be concerned about while consciously thinking of it. In a matter of moments, that near-heart attack would be all but forgotten. There was still hope for a really cool Familiar, though. . .

Speaking of really cool Familiars, it seemed Angelica managed to score one. This Junipero of hers was objectively awesome, he thought... though the name left him reeling. "Liar! It's the most childish and hilarious thing I've heard in ages!" he said, abandoning his knees to hold his aching abdomen. "No, no. It's cool, really. Junipero is awesome... but Angie. I can't. You're such a kid!" he continued. The laughter wasn't stopping no matter how he tried. Even acknowledging how ridiculous the situation was, Charlemagne couldn't stop thinking about Angelica's naming choice. He even looked up at the other owls spawned from these alleged 'tree eggs' and continued laughing. "Oh. There's babies. Let me guess... Junipera, Juniperu... and the littlest one Juniperi? How's that, Angie? Am I in the ballpark?" By the time this question was offered, Charlemagne couldn't handle it anymore. He fell into a seated position, then onto his back where he proceeded to roll back and forth, kicking at the open air. "Aha! Gahahahaha! I can't believe you!"