The Eternal Sanctum (Holy Knight Headquarters)

[Apollymi]

"Oh? I figured getting bigger would have evened out that attitude a bit~" mentioned Yume who seemed to find Anais's response to about normal for the girl she'd known previously but also fairly oddly placed considering that the girl herself was currently sucking face with her hot elf teacher. "Oh? Did you learn to actively make a new you? Mine aren't done enough yet for me to think about taking their forms," asked Anais who seemed to think the girl meant it in a way which was much greater than a simple wardrobe change.

"Hai!~ But... I want to do a different kind of magical thing with it so I'd need a bit of help," she explained of the situation. Of course, she wasn't one to take without being fair in what she gave, so her body had already begun glowing. It was gentle like moonlight but she seemed to be shifting that third spiritual core within herself around. It would roughly be like watching her rotate a ball within her chest until she settled on the new one. She used herself as a base, and all the mana that had been deposited into her body by Solomon as a sheet to fit over it. Allowing nature to shift her from her current demonic form into something else entirely. A gentle separation between Ailen and Anais would occur as the elafia began watching this transformation. Of course, she intended to fully absorb the information, she did eventually need to change forms herself so perhaps the other girl could have her brained picked for posterity. "Sugoi!" Anais murmured.

Of course, in true magical girl fashion Yume added in some twist and twirls for effect. Her ears were growing a bit long and pointed. Her jet black hair became mystically silver white and longer than it had been even before. Her body took on more obviously large porportions without her 'living dress' eating away at her mana. And her eyes opened showing golden irises which looked rather similar to ones boasted by Solomon. Her hair was up in the back with large golden clips and she was dressed in an ornate white kimono. She finished up this magical girl transformation, with her fingers in the peace sign beside her eye and a wide grin on her face. "Hehehehe~ I never get tired of that~" she mused knowing that she'd done this twice now and it was just as amusing as it had been when she'd dressed herself the first time. Her whole form was completely different, and at her side was now a large koto which she'd crafted along with a few other things while in Solomon's care.

[Bloodedge]

The two girls continued speaking, while Ailen continued... apparently acting on arousal. His mouth was quite busy even while he kept eyes trained on Yume. Luckily, attention paid was not at all wasted. The elf was interested in seeing the transformation. Even with his interest, there was an amount of unnecessary flair applied which truly enhanced the viewing experience. What was it all for? He wasn't sure at all, but it was interesting if nothing else.

What's more, the transformation of Yume was in strong opposition to the state he'd first seen her in. Her path was among the most interesting, beginning with Yin alignment and moving directly into its opposite. This silver-haired form seemed nothing like the demon seen previously. Ah, but those eyes were very familiar indeed. "Hmm. That's actually splendid. Even spending a week in his realm, that is also very rapid development of ability," he commented earnestly. One thing remained confusing, though. What in the world was a magical girl transformation, and what made it different than any other sort? "What sort of effect do those movements have? Is that one of those arousing things Tohsaka-san talks about? I don't much see the point."

[Apollymi]

Arousal had been moving Ailen and Anais towards each other, even so... a bit of a break could be managed for the pair to watch and appreciate the transformation of Yume into her newest self. It was an appraisable full magical girl transformation. It brought back memories to the mind of Anais of watching such shows in the presence of this same friend while they were in middle school. What would she say about it? "Very solid, 4.5/5... it could have used more particle effects~" she teased in a semi-sarcastic manner. "Not everyone wants to have a seizure during the light show. Subtlety..." she said as if she knew the meaning of the word. This caused Anais to scoff, but then both girls simply went on to giggle. That was until Ailen expressed his interest in this particular advancement.

"Sou ka? You really think so? Mon-sama's lessons are a bit technical for my taste... but I seemed to get the gist of it all pretty well. I also became very adept at making and altering things I like to use~" she mentioned seeming to be pleased with her own developments. That hand which had been used to make the v shape near her eye lowered to her waist as she stood seeming to continue taking in the pair before her. Explaining of the magical girl trope was something she'd not considered having to do. "They could be used just for that... but they aren't really. It isn't like a strip tease or anything, which Mugen-sama is familiar with now. Magical Girl transformations are their own kind of thing and in the world we are from fictional..." she explained not sure if this would be clear enough. She looked to Anais with an open handed gesture as if requesting backup. "I feel like this is going to get complex..." Anais started. "But basically Magical Girl, is a genre of story type written with a female lead or leads who are completely normal and innocuous but become like super heroes. And it's targeted at young girls and includes a transformation sequences with changes in wardrobe personality and such to complete the duality of the life between like, average school girl and vigilante crime fighter... but its like their secret identity so they can do all the important stuff, but still live a regular life," she explained the concept. Was she really going to have to explain anime and manga to an Elf who didn't have tv? That seemed almost ridiculous. "Also the point like most things from the world we're from is entertainment. Quality of life is really different there... so most things are created for imagination and enjoyment."

[Bloodedge]

Today, Ailen's fate was to learn about the humans of Gaia and what they viewed as entertainment. A Magical Girl, as they called it, was merely a fantasy trope viewed by their ilk. It may have been to Anais's surprise that no great detail was required for Ailen's understanding. Much the same, he hardly needed most of Yume's explanation. "Ah, I see. Something of a motivational story for children, I assume? It sounds very similar to something I enjoyed for the first fifty years or so of life. There was the tale of Lyrion, the Silverheart Elf. He was an elf unlike any other, and that silver heart gave him incredible, impossible abilities such as flight via silver wings, eyes that peered through deception, healing with only a touch, a song voice that could calm even wild storms, and the ability to champion all manner of beasts while protecting their forests. It was something so impossible, but an inspirational tale that made many elf children wish to become better. Lyrion was a male elf, but I assume the theme is similar between his story and your Magical Girls," he rambled.

Despite his original fleeting interest, it seemed Ailen would always easily transition into a full tirade about miniscule things. Once his brain started going, there was no stopping his mouth. "Is that the intention then? I still don't understand the movement and how it represents these girls you speak of, but is your plan to become such a symbol for the young girls of this world who have no such thing? If so, that is a very noble cause... though I fear they wouldn't understand the movements either. Perhaps I can't grasp it because I'm an elf, or... perhaps because I'm a man? It would be hard to tell the difference ─ it could even be because I'm so much older now. There are so many possible reasons behind ignorance, it's often frustrating."

[Apollymi]

Ailen shared with both girls his understanding of their shared childhood memories. According to the elf, there was a similar story involving an elf called Lyrion who was Silverheart. He described for them something both of them could understand and had a specific kind of understanding for. "Ah, so elf-shounen protag, got it. Yeah, something like that..." said the newest incarnation of Kaguya who had yet to name herself up to this point. "Sou ka, it does sound pretty interesting though. I wouldn't mind reading it... does an elf like that actually exist?" Anais asked seemingly enthused about the story and yet another likeness shared between her and her mentor.

Beyond this, it was thought that a story like that was meant to be motivational. Ailen would subsequently go on a full length tangent about the entire thing. It seemed the movements of the magical girl transofrmation simply didn't make sense to him. He had a few good reasons of why it might not have stuck but seemed a bit frustrated by the lack of understanding himself. "I don't know if I plan to motivate. If I am being honest, Magical Girls always seemed really cool. Crime fighters, people who don't take oppression and keep other people out of trouble... it's what I want to be, I don't think I ever thought about inspiring others..." she mentioned. "I don't think the movements could be properly understood by someone whose never seen an anime... it's like a part of the transformation sequence. A symbol of shedding ones mundane self to show their hero of justice self... or something like that," she explained. "There are also really practical reasons for it. Magical Girl anime is about suspended belief, if every time you wanted to fight crime you had to stop the human way and change clothes and redo your hair, the criminal would be long gone before you were ready to fight..." Anais countered. "Oh and it's in a couple of boys shows too... usually less flamboyant but still, showmanship is apart of the trope," explained the white haired lass. Yes, all of those reasons made sense. "Also, Shishou, it isn't abnormal for adults not to understand the magical aspects of shows like that. Nor is it abnormal for them to have given up on it all together with the crushing weight of life on them, most are forced to give up the ideas of things that sparked their imagination or made them happy the way their childhood stories did. But some hold onto it... or try to," Anais explained the truth of the human condition as related to fantasy. And gave light to why, so many who found themselves in this world were willing to sink into it. Magic made life better.

[Bloodedge]

The story of Lyrion was one told to many a young elf in Ailen's homeland, but there was always one consensus ─ one verdict reached by all who told or heard the tale. Even for a High Elf, all those feats were regarded as impossibilities of the highest order. Perhaps some could eventually accomplish such things by other means, but there was no logical way to be that form of entity. "It's pure fantasy, I'm afraid. For an elf, having such magical ability would mean following the Druidic teachings. To then become the Silverheart would be impossible. A great elf could manage a few of those feats at best, but never the lot of them. However, a story like that one motivates young elves such as myself to strive for greatness. I wouldn't be half the alchemist I am today without those childhood dreams of becoming the next Lyrion," Ailen explained.

This new form of Shinomiya Kaguya claimed she had no intention of motivating. Well, it didn't much matter whether she wanted to or not. By their very existences, she and the other Tenbu would serve as pillars in the mortal community, and they would hardly have to lift a finger to do so. "It is of little importance whether you try to inspire or not. You will all be great. Greatness, when observed, is the cornerstone of development in those who see for themselves. Fulfill your own desires. If they are just, you will inadvertently cause positive growth in the world around you. As you've both implied with this transformation, even the little, possibly meaningless things can have great effect," he rambled further. Of course, Anais went on to prove the transformation sequence was not quite meaningless at all. She did have a point; changing one's wardrobe could be a terrible waste of time when rushing. Few could understand that better than Ailen. "I concede to that logic. I even suppose, if one desires anonymity, the change would be necessary before taking action. It is an interesting concept overall. Keep your dreams, both of you. I may not understand the thrill of these things, but I will not judge you for your preferences. After all, at the end of the day... I may still be trying my best to become the next Silverheart~"

[Apollymi]

Ailen's explanation of his childhood hero, made the claim that he was not a possible real existence. That was kind of sad, Anais was sure she would have enjoyed meeting someone like that, and more positive that it sounded like something she'd heard before as well... "Box it," she murmured seeming to be in thought about the things which were mentioned as feats and finding most of them to be perfectly possible within the mechanics of the world they currently inhabited. "It's sad that such a person doesn't currently exist. I feel like they'd be really cool, and I've definitely heard of something like that before, I'm sure of it..." Anais mentioned seeming thoroughly perplexed by her own lack of memory.

Meanwhile Ailen had some pointed words to share with both girls. A bit of inspiration for Kaguya whom he thought would be capable of rousing the masses so long as she could and would have a positive effect on the world, and thus she didn't need to try or be motivated to do such a thing. And the notion that he hadn't given up on his dream of becoming like the elf from his childhood stories. "Eh? You're pretty good at that whole unobtrusive encouragement thing~" the now silver haired girl teased, though not nearly at the same frequency as her previous self. And beyond that, his words about his still trying to become the next Silverheart seemed to warm both of the girls' expressions as they considered the man. "Well, dreams like that are always so fleeting. Only as the moonlight and bedtime stories fade, do we find the true source of light~" she spoke almost ominously. "This is what I was talking about yesterday," mentioned Anais about the nature of those words spoken by Kaguya.

"And you should check your list... if it's still floating around somewhere in that head of yours~" she said in a much more direct manner which immediately made Anais's face redden. "I'll take that as a yes!~ Oh, right... my favor... it's related to this," she said of the instrument. "I made it and a few other such things while processing Mon-sama's lessons... but I don't really know how to tune or play it," she mentioned to her musically talented friend. "I was just thinking I haven't seen a Koto in ages... it's barely a favor, more like a present!~" Anais said finally unraveling herself from Ailen's embrace for the sake of engrossing herself in the musical instrument created by Kaguya. Upon being handed the instrument, Anais sank to the floor beginning to fiddle with the strings and tune the notes which was an interesting experience given her own hearing and mana sensitivity. It was an activity of dexterity and skill but also one of her former life which left her feeling oddly normal.

[Bloodedge]

Something said amongst the group had Anais storing away yet another mental note. Ailen wasn't sure what that could have been, but he thought it would eventually be worthwhile to question her process and learn if there was a better way to manage things. Over the past two days, she'd yet to readdress something she said that about, after all. Perhaps there was a way to help with whatever issues she had, even by thinking with more than one brain? Well, he'd yet to find out if that was even necessary ─ and he wouldn't be finding out right now either.

Moving on, the newly-changed lass received his message well. Ailen shrugged as she teased the quality of his motivational speech. However she responded didn't matter, as he was sure the Tenbu would shine brightly regardless. She went on to do something strange, though. Moments after commenting on unobtrusive encouragement, she chose to offer... obtrusive encouragement of a cryptic nature. She truly sounded like the result of someone throwing the essence of Mugen and Solomon into a cauldron... but that was alright. What could those words be getting at? Ailen took pause, then let loose a chortle upon reaching multiple conclusions, the most prominent of which involved his earlier thoughts about Anais. "Ah. That's why. Boxing it," he decided.

Just then, the elf's arms were made empty via Anais's departure. It seemed the 'favor' requested involved learning a musical instrument, which Anais showed interest in as something long-unseen. While she went about tuning the instrument, Ailen figured he'd play the role of an observer. He'd yet to see the girl work with an actual instrument, despite understanding she had some sort of musical passion.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that of the things that this form of Kaguya said, what Ailen immediately and outwardly came to the conclusion of was, the habit of his apprentice boxing things up in her mind for the sake of recalling them when they were relevant. His chortle was a rather happy sound and Anais could do nothing but smile at his revelation. "Yeah, when I can't process something, I put it in a box... the rest of my mind will filter it with relevant information and then when the box is full I tend to understand it," she mentioned. "This one's cryptic hints. Mugen-sensei's innocuous statements that are more relevant than they appear.... random information I obtain or questions I have that may answer themselves...if given enough time..." Anais mentioned seeming to find it an easy explanation to give. Still Kaguya could only scoff, she didn't think she'd been overly cryptic she just wasn't being direct and didn't want to steal anyone's thunder, so to speak.

Speaking of easy things, she looked to Kaguya's current form and held open her right hand. "I need a tsume so will you... first two fingers and thumb of the right hand. They are usually made of ivory but I assume there is something better to interact with these specific strings..." she mentioned as she attuned. "I'm tuning it to the Hira-choshi, for your likely solo performances but I can teach you a couple of others if you decide you'd rather play with an accompaniment of some sort~" Anais mentioned. The tsume Anais asked for was something that Kaguya knew of by name but didn't quite know the purpose of until it was mentioned. Given this, used mana to materialize the item in question around her fingers, in the form of Orichalcum instead of the standard ivory. This would be better for the strings. "Is this the item you were asking me for?" she asked as she handed it to the girl, given their proximity this set was fitted to Anais's fingers and she smiled when she slid them onto her fingers so she could test it out. "Hai hai!~ exactly this. I think you'll enjoy the more modern form of play given your handedness... but these fingers to pluck these strings... left hand to further manipulate the sounds on the other side here..." she mused.

Only after this did she begin playing. It seemed she wanted to give the instrument a test run, an a series of string plucks would start off as a somber but a bit of a haunting melody that built upon itself for several moments. It would seem all else disappeared for the girl in the floor for a few seconds. It'd been so long since she'd touched one of these, she'd ended up playing one of the pieces she'd originally composed for the celebration of Abe no Seimei's birthday at the Shrine she worked at periodically. It was a nice and peaceful pace but the evolution into a more playful and active peace was definitely something worth listening to. At the end... she seemed pleased by the sounds which left the instrument and happy about its tuning.

[Bloodedge]

And so began a change in the morning's agenda for this room's group. Anais had taken up a musical instrument, meaning to tune it and teach her companion how it was played. Why Kaguya chose to create an instrument she couldn't play, Ailen did not know. Oh well; perhaps humans had even more strange mannerisms than he thought. Whatever the case, there would soon be a melody to hear. Ailen wasn't a bard or musical connoisseur by any means, but even he could stop to appreciate a quality tune or two.

The music played did not sound like what one would expect of forest-dwellers. In fact, he could call it something both foreign and familiar at the same time. Surely the elf had never heard this melody... or had he? "Hmm," he mumbled, thinking otherwise silently. It was easy to assume the ongoing music was something he once heard, but did not retain... yet that made little sense. Perhaps he'd simply caught wind of it in Anais's mind during one of their mana transfers? That was technically possible, even if a bit unlikely.

[Apollymi]

A few moments of play and the sounds would eventually taper off. All the while Kaguya was watching with wide eyes and a gentle bit of sparkle to them. She also really enjoyed that particular song and the sound itself was something she thought would be good for the type of build she intended with her current self. "Sugoi, sugoi!~ That sounds even better than I thought it would... it's definitely what I remember from the festival last summer!~" she mused seemingly pleased by her choice in instrument. Her words seemed to reveal why she may have thought of this instrument in the first place for her new self. "Oh, I guess it's been like three hundred years for you though... the things you are keeping in your memory are quite impressive," she mentioned seeming to find the girl's ability to hang on to a single instrument which wasn't even her main one to be something rather strange. Meanwhile, Anais finally looked up, with a slightly reddened face. "Hai, I haven't seen one of these since I got here. Still... I can't forget music I write myself. I don't think that is a statement about my memory," mentioned Anais. "What did you think, Shishou?" she asked of the man as he was the one who hadn't heard it before. She didn't play music too often in this world, but she did like to gauge how her musical tastes were received.

While she waited for her reply she decided it best to comment on the instrument itself, as it was quite a stunning piece after playing it a bit. "For you not to know that much about it, the craftsmanship is immaculate. It's a really nice koto, I'm sure it will be nice for whatever you're thinking about using it for," Anais mentioned. Of course she'd take a moment or two to gather her thoughts as she looked over this. She wasn't sure how her friend planned to take lessons on such things, nor was she entirely certain she would be capable of planning such a thing. Koto playing was a complicated thing and left the still topless girl considering how to make her friend into a reasonable player of it without it being overwhelming. All the while Kaguya had moved herself back to the bed to peek over the girl's shoulder and at her mentor a bit. She knew how she figured she'd be learning this particular instrument.

[Bloodedge]

Little was to be said about the elafia's musical ability. With senses like hers, one could only assume some great capacity for music. Besides, the methods by which she employed her own techniques implied much the same. Deft fingers, a melodic voice and attention to auditory detail were features found in the best of bards, after all. When asked about the song so recently finished, Ailen seemed to be in deep thought still. It took a moment for any words to leave his mouth, as per usual once he began a mental tirade about... almost anything.

"Hmm," he murmured first. What did he think? There were quite a few thoughts crossing Ailen's mind as he watched the lass play. As per usual, he'd share every single one. "The fact that you did not choose to become a bard, is frankly astounding. It was an interesting tune that I would expect to hear at a shrine of some sort. In fact, if Ying-san heard it, he'd probably demand that it be played on the next Burning Day. That should be relatively soon, by the way. As for the sound... what is there to say? It is excellent; refined, calming, and easily capable of facilitating mental and emotional progress if one has themselves set to a particular goal. While it isn't the most incredible thing I've heard in my long life, it is better than anything not produced by bards of legend," he surmised. At that point, Ailen's gaze was briefly drawn away from the elafia due to the other girl's movements. That one had a few things yet to be addressed, now that he was thinking about it. "I've not yet considered what to call you, and you've already taken a new form that presumably has a different name. I suppose Asakura-hime would be even less appropriate now?"

[Apollymi]

Anais's question to Ailen resulted in a bit of a tirade after a brief pause. She'd expected something like that and heard out everything the man had to say about a piece she'd written at all of 16 human years old. It was recieve positively to say the least, with the note that he was surprised she hadn't become a bard. He claimed that it wasn't the most incredible thing he'd ever heard in his rather long life, but that someone like Zheng would have enjoyed it and want it played at 'Burning Day'. While Anais had no idea what that was she knew a few different spans of emotion in the moment. All of them culminating in a reddened face and a bit of shyness. "Arigatou gouzaimasu..." she managed softly. Which only made Kaguya chuckle from her new perch. "Hoh? You're really still that shy 300 years later," she mentioned thinking the girl's response to praise was very her. A little huff left Anais at those words but she couldn't deny her retained shyness. It was at least partly the reason she didn't start her life as a bard, besides not being able to find the instrument she would have preferred playing.

Moving on from that point, there was the matter of the question about her name... "Ōtsutsuki Usagi, is the name of this form, still don't go too formal on me now, Ai-aniki~" she encouraged the man to think of what to call her but also figured she'd spend some time giving the cliffnotes of her lesson to her fellow student and explaining why she had a new face so soon. "Mon-sama's teachings encourage evolution and because I am a bit less technically inclined... I'll have an easier time, keeping my important skills in their proper places by making sure they start on cores they belong to..." she explained of her random changing of faces for the purpose of being concise with her lines of Mystic Code. "Oh, and since we are both wondering, what's Burning Day?" she said hinting at the idea that she still had a great deal of the powers associated with her purely demonic form.

[Bloodedge]

Anais's shyness came as no surprise to Ailen. Even with her evolution over the past few days, she seemed to retain that as part of her base personality. That was fine. Ailen was well beyond even addressing it by now, and he even considered it one of the girl's charm points. Regarding the form of address used for Kaguya's new Avatar, she already had a name in mind. Ootsutsuki Usagi, she chose. Interesting though that name was, it was also difficult to alter in Ailen's case. "You aren't making it any easier, you know? It'll be a thousand years before I have something satisfactory," he insisted.

Disregarding the difficulty of friendly names and the like, there seemed to be a common question shared between Usagi and Anais, as stated by the former. He supposed Burning Day wouldn't be something they had reason to know about, as neither had spent very much time exploring Munetsuchi. "Ah, forgive me for the oversight. Burning Day is the ceremony of Ying-san's rebirth. A Black Phoenix's rebirth is a spectacle to see; something like an eclipse spawning at the peak of a flame pillar. If you have the time, you should both see it for yourselves. All of Munetsuchi gathers for a large event when the time comes. It's a great day for togetherness, learning and appreciation of one of nature's great marvels."

[Apollymi]

Anais's shyness didn't seem to be a negative to Ailen and as such Usagi as she was now being called was still satisfied by the girl being attached to such an elf. It was very interesting, watching her develop into a more personable being while still retaining such a withdrawn nature. Whatever the case, it seemed that Ailen wasn't the type to be able to come up with a more familiar term of address for Usagi either, claiming it would be a millennium for him to come up with anything. "Hehe~ don't stress about it, Ai-aniki. I'm sure when you come up with it... it'll be well worth the wait~" the girl said seeming to be amused by his lack of ability to formulate his own ideas.

While he pondered that, he did have more information for them. Apparently Burning Day was the rebirth day for the Black Phoenix which was the form of Ying Zheng. That was an interesting thing to hear, much like the festival they'd recently mentioned was for a different historical figure all together. Anais seemed to give it a bit of thought. "It would be great to see... it also answers one of my random side questions," Anais mentioned knowing that Zheng Ying was one of her favorite historical figures and the like would make witnessing any moments of his life rather interesting. It was also interesting knowing the exact type of magical creature he was, as she'd thought something like peacock originally. "Hm, I'd definitely have to write a different song for that though. It'd be weird playing the birthday song to Abe no Seimei to a different person. No. It'd be sacrilege. I'd definitely need a different instrument too... something for a solo performance of a more traditional piece..." she mumbled a bit, seeming to be in rather deep thought. There was a look of extreme concentration on the elafia's face as she considered the proper instrument and sound for a more Chinese bit of music more fitting to that particular entity. Yes, she could definitely work on that in her off time... especially if she got the instrument for it. She'd definitely do something like that if they managed to see the 'Burning Day' celebration. 'Hoh? She's really going to lose it later... I'm surprised it hasn't come up yet. I want to tell her, but I also want to see how long it takes her to figure it out...' mused Usagi. In that very moment she looked a lot like Ailen had earlier confirming to her the likeness between the two that Usagi was already aware of. "Aww, you two are super alike... it's really cute. This morning really is going to be fun~" Usagi mentioned knowing that she was fairly well decided upon morning sex and music lessons.