The Eternal Sanctum (Holy Knight Headquarters)

Charles and Sakura spent the morning enjoying themselves. For the most part it was Charles own decision to make that happen. Of course, Sakura had nothing negative to say about it, even as they moved past his original plans for the day had to be shifted further into the future. In fact she could only enjoy herself as much as Charles wanted to enjoy the situation. About an hour later he'd finally withdrawn from her and she'd decided to go along with his morning preparations. They shared that short soak in the tub and she'd sat quietly with the man while he gathered his thoughts.

When he finally spoke aloud, he remarked on the length of time of their upcoming journey. "Two years would be most of my life at the point where it ends, but I don't think it will be time badly spent," she mused knowing that she was quite young, but that traveling and adventure were heralded as good life experience. "I think everyone on the adventure will find it rewarding in their own ways," Sakura commented in an almost eerie way. Of course, she had clairvoyance to a certain extent and could see some potentials for their coming future. She'd already had a few related to the parts of the group she'd already witness she could only imagine it potentially getting better over time. Just the same she emerged from the tub not seeming to care about the water dripping from her person as shadows moved to dry and wrap her body back into her little black dress. Perhaps she'd continue thinking about everything else for a while yet.

"Yeah, there is that," Charlemagne said, knowing Sakura's current lifespan was one of the strangest things he'd ever encountered. The one he was most concerned about, however, was not Sakura... but instead the actual youngest of the group in terms of being in this world. Between Yume and their unknown final member, he wondered how the group as a whole would adjust to this world's darkness. Rewards would almost certainly be found; he'd yet to meet an adventure that didn't have some sort of benefit throughout its duration. Some may not have been worth it in the end, but there was always a silver lining somewhere.

One certain thing was the length of their journey. Two years was given as a firm estimate. In that two years, they would have to visit quite a few places pursuit of the Holy Grail. How the Knights of the Round Table managed to find its spawn location, he didn't know. "There are some people I might need to ask a few questions. Well... one specifically, but I am so not mentally prepared for that," he mumbled. Charlemagne would have to revisit the Nexus relatively soon, but first... there was the group they were steadily approaching.

The most random addition to the party happened to be facing away from Charlemagne and Sakura during their approach, but it was his voice first heard at the time. Who was he speaking with? Well, that would possibly become clear moments later. "Eto... it's more like one of those fantasy things, like the wardrobe from that one story. I'm not really sure how it works; I haven't been around for very long. . ."

Sakura could only nod her affirmation. She did have a unique situation, but according to the people they'd talked to the previous day she was far from an outlier as far as her age in this world was concerned. In fact even in their current group, she had a bit of age on someone like Yume. Regardless she wouldn't have been able to comment on Charles's understanding of the current world. Everyone saw and responded to light and darkness in different ways, she was willing to wait and see what this new group of people came up with. To Sakura though two years would be most of her life it would also be a fun way to spend her time, which would have been otherwise uneventful for the same duration. Whatever the case, Charles claimed he wasn't mentally prepared to talk to someone whom he had questions for, "I'm sure it will be fine, Char-kun. Whenever you're ready, I'll go with you," Sakura offered. Even with her soul off, she hadn't decided to abandon the lad to things he found overwhelming. No instead she fully intended to keep helping him along in whatever way she could.

In the meantime, Charles and Sakura approached a group which contained, a lad facing away from them speaking to Martha. The woman with her long purple hair had returned from her mission and had been chatting up the lad for quite a bit. They'd also recently been joined by Anais and Yume both of whom were standing around with them hearing out the newer lad's speech. "So it's like a door?" asked Martha who seemed to be deep in thought. It would be Yume who spoke up. "More like a gate...I assume anyone can't just wander though it," mentioned the dark-haired lass in her short dress. Both she and Anais seemed to be in relatively good spirits with a slight glowing quality to their skin. Anais for her part in this was paying attention but mostly she was looking through an assortment of herbs she'd gathered recently from the Eternal Sanctum's garden, knowing both their medicinal and cooking uses would make long term travel potentially less boring. Sakura had a similar glow as well, mostly due to her morning's activities. "Oh? Did we miss something interesting?" she wondered aloud.

"That..." Charlemagne had to take a moment of thought. Sakura's offer to accompany him for the impending discussion was well-placed, but... a bit of consideration had Charlemagne thinking otherwise. "... Yeah, I'm not too sure if that would actually make things better," he concluded. It was impossible for Charlemagne to know how certain people viewed certain things in this world, but he had a long list of thing that would make future dealings quite awkward. To an extent, the difficulty of that meeting would depend on what Jeanne d'Arc had already brought to someone else's attention. Well, he'd have to just deal with it when the moment came.

For the time being, they were stumbling upon a very random conversation involving... an old story from the other world? There was something said about a door, or even a gate, and a story-based wardrobe ─ Charlemagne made a somewhat quick connection to a book he once read. "Gate sounds more accurate ─ I guess like a magical portal or something? It comes with a barrier that stops anything not given permission. That's what the man-god said," he explained just before hearing another voice to turn his attention. This girl and the male with her had not yet been seen by the young man, so he bowed to the pair right away. "O-oh! Tenjou Yuuya! I was asked to meet all of you here for an expedition of some sort," he said hastily. Meanwhile, it was Astolfo who answered Sakura's question... as he lay draped over the back of that stolen horse. "He's got a freaky door that connects the worlds. He walked into Narnia!"

Sakura had offered her assistance to Charles as she seemingly always would, and in return the lad mentioned that he wasn't sure if her accompanying him to ask his question would be better. Hm, she could consider a few reasons why that might be the case, but none of them would really make sense to her as a person. But, she was for making the lad's life as easy as possible while he adjusted to his new style of existence. "I don't really get it, but whatever you decide in this case is fine... if you change your mind about having company, I'll go with you..." she said. She still wasn't quite sure about the nuances that Charles was sorting though, but she figured if it needed addressing it would be fine.

There was a clarification offered to Yume which made the dark-haired girl nod her understanding. Martha for her part in this looked at the group and watched as Charles showed up a bit later than his usual but apparently not in bad spirits. The lad whom they'd been offered to be introduced to the day before, named himself as Tenjou Yuuya which made Sakura shift her eyes towards the lad. "Sou ka," she murmured. "Tohsaka Sakura," she said introducing herself, only to immediately have her curiosity piqued. "What's Narnia?" she asked seeming to find that name a bit odd. Was it some foreign land? Was there context clues she missed before she showed up? In the meantime, Yume could only snicker. Narnia and all its associated lore was quite a bit. "Is there a way to answer that which wouldn't be odd?" she asked Anais who seemed to be organizing a spice rack to put into her bag. "Eh, fifty-fifty, it will either end up being something we have to explain or it will actually exist..." Anais said seeming to have given up on properly explaining Gaia Fantasy tropes to native Alayans. "Good Morning, Charlie and Saku-chan," Anais offered. "Ohayou~" Yume offered both people seeming to have shifted her focus to their forms and gaining a most devious smile as her thoughts about what was taking so long were proven correct.

Sakura was open to a chance of mind on Charlemagne's part. Alas, there wasn't much room for change in this case. "I wasn't saying you couldn't go. It's a weird kind of situation, like... if it's going to be a problem, it's going to be a problem anyway. You being involved would have a chance of making it weirder, but if it's not a problem, then you wouldn't be an issue. Though I'm not sure if that makes any sense," he rambled. Once they were finally among the group, some introductions were in order. Their mysterious extra presented himself as Tenjou Yuuya, receiving the immediate acknowledgement of Sakura. "Charles Martel. Good to have you along," Charlemagne greeted afterwards.

Ah, there was another question presented by Sakura. Once Astolfo referenced Narnia, Sakura made clear that she didn't know what it was. Funnily enough, Charlemagne knew of Narnia twice. Anais's claim of a 50/50 chance on Narnia being imaginary or real ─ he knew the truth. "Eh? Huh, I guess you weren't around back then," Charlemagne murmured. "People like us know of Narnia as a book series. The Kingdom of Narnia is a real place, though. It's part of the Calormene Empire and everything, on on the far-west side of Alea ─ past the huge mountain range. It's one of the few beastfolk-friendly areas on that continent," he explained. It seemed Charlemagne didn't intend to acknowledge his lateness. Instead, he focused on the morning greeting. "Good to see everyone here. What's this about a world-connecting door though?" the lad asked while Yuuya lifted his head. "Gomen. It wasn't really Narnia I went to or anything. At least... I don't think it was. I came to this world through a door. The man-god said he saw a way to connect the worlds through it, and that it needed to be done that way for some reason. I don't really have any more information than that."

Following Yuuya's explanation, Charlemagne tilted his head. Strange as the details were, he could make a few obvious connections to something he recently experienced. "Man-god? I get the feeling I know who that is," was his immediate commentary. "I guess that's one more thing to ask about. . ."

Charles gave Sakura a bit of a more solid explanation, granted it seemed a bit more open to interpretation. His claim seemed to balance on the idea that it would be weird for her to go, but not that he was saying she couldn't. He simply didn't know if the interaction with whomever he was meeting would be made odder by her presence. He wasn't sure if he was making any sense and in her own experience it made sense but only in a very specific way. "It sounds like a human overcomplication of something that should probably be a non-issue. But given the reactions of others, if I have to assume some amount of the same misinformation floating around. I'll then further assume you see the potential for an oddity I do not based on your understanding of the other world," she said giving her conclusion based on the given information. Whether she wanted to go or not wasn't material at this point... she'd offer herself up if he wanted someone along to support him, but if he'd rather do it on his own she'd be fine with that too. "That is fine though, I wouldn't want to make things weirder for you than they have to be," she said. Without her soul active her words could have sounded harsh, but she wasn't being mean her understanding of things was just pretty clear cut, though it'd been that before.

"Ais-nee, Yu-nee, Ohayougouzaimasu..." Sakura greeted both girls in a rather familiar way making the pair look at each other and then off to the side. They were both fine with it, but given their own morning they hadn't expected such a familiar greeting. Though Sakura would be privy to how they existed as extensions of her parents so perhaps it was actually just accurate for her to think of them in such a way? Yeah, that seemed right. What also seemed right was Charles's explanation of the Kingdom of Narnia, and its actual existence on a continent that Anais had least heard of before. "Sou ka, I might be a bit too young for something like that Charlie. Though I wouldn't mind a Beast Kin friendly kingdom or three..." she said. "Arigatou, Char-kun," Sakura thanked him for the extra information and began wondering if tales of this world often made their way to the other one. "Woo, we got one. I was wondering if we were just going to see shattered tales and the like every time something was mentioned," said Yume who found it amusing that a story seemed to make it over without it being potentially completely ruined. Speaking of Narnia her mind began to wander back to that story which she casually found floating into her mind after the mention of the name. A lion had been among the man focuses of that sort. 'Hm, I wouldn't really mind getting to know a lionman, or maybe a spirit lion or something like that... I don't think my list included stuff like that before...' Anais thought to herself. 'You should...' the quieter of her inside voices said. 'Ride a lionman! I'm for it!' Sinais mentioned making Anais begin tapping her fingers together abasently. Yume watched her friend and heard the speaking of her soul. 'It really is a tell!' she thought seemingly excited. 'I can still hear you, you know~' she mentioned to the elafia whose face only blushed more soon after.

"Right I guess you did mention chatting with god yesterday. Still a lot but I'm not going to think about it too much... are you compiling a list of things to ask him... or is it just a ask as needed sort of thing?" Martha wondered. If Yuuya was potentially needed to connect the worlds then there was an implication that one could move back and forth and that did sound pretty fun. That being said... it wasn't as if she disliked this life she presently had, especially with an adventure on the horizon.

Charlemagne always saw some potentials that Sakura didn't, and the same worked in reverse. When it came to humans of Gaia, Sakura proved her lack of understanding for their mannerisms time and time again. Perhaps though, there was enough Alayan influence on the person he thought to interact with, that she would be more knowledgeable? It had been long enough that he couldn't say for certain either way.

Ah, but there were stranger matters to address still. Hearing about an easy path between worlds was something Charlemagne had gone over a thousand years without even conceptualizing. Narnia existing was one thing, but a tangible method of returning to one's original world was another. What was the Nexus thinking? "The stories are usually off in a lot of ways. From what I remember, Narnia wasn't much different from the story I used to know," he said following Yume's assertion. This gate, though... it was such a bothersome thing. At this point, Charlemagne did have an entire list of questions for the Nexus, though not by design. "I was hoping for an as-needed sort of thing, but it doesn't seem to be ending that way. He's so eclectic it's hard to figure out what he's even trying to do. But... at the same time, it's all immediately helpful in a way I've never seen before. I guess that's Mister Animusphere in a nutshell. AoE's card game was always having new sets release to fix problems the community didn't even realize existed until right before they picked up the new cards. So then... I wonder what sort of problem that door is here to fix?" he mused.

At that point, Yuuya thought it best to chime-in once more. "Ah! I'm not sure if it has any limitations or anything like that! He wouldn't tell me much about it ─ just that I'd have it when it was necessary. I mostly used it to have a safe place to rest when first getting here, and to try avoiding too many days lost at school... though I came to realize time works very differently than I expected," he added.

The influence of Alaya on people from Gaia seemed to be the sort of thing they either naturally aligned with or shunned. As far as Sakura understood this was mostly due to a lack of information or a lack of understanding for the way things were supposed to work. But she'd been raised to be a tolerant individual and as such she was willing to at least figure out what it was she disliked about certain things before making individual judgements. Whether she ended up chatting with whoever Charles wanted to talk to next or not, she had little negative to say about the potential to learn more from someone else.

In the meantime while Anais died of embarrassment, Charles explained what he'd encountered of their fairytales on Gaia and the like here. Apparently, Narnia wasn't too far off as a story, but that was an outlier of some sort. Sakura got to know what Narnia was for both sides of the world and Yume got to hear all the random things that Anais was thinking about animal people in her head. Ah but they weren't just talking about that... they were also talking about the whimsy of God, known to most of them by the name Albertus Animusphere. "Hm, the data books for the table top campaigns were the same way..." mentioned Yume who didn't participate in other forms of AoE given her own disposition. Anais gave it a bit of thought and could only nod her confirmation, what she knew of that man fit the same general description and all was well... "Hm, I remember the game I loaded up having a whole set of updates when I first tried to play it. It must just be his way..." she concluded. Until of course Yuuya specified the nature of his abilities.

A pause came from both Martha and Anais in that moment as both stared at the gate wielding lad. "Wait you're going back and forth?" asked Martha seemingly surprised. "And you know how time works between the two?" ask Anais. That was news which needed to be shared and dissected immediately. "More important, you get teleported to the magical world and you don't want to miss school?" that was the question from Yume, who found the lack of true immersion on his part rather interesting, compared to what she'd seen in the others of this group so far. Sakura stared at the mall in turn seeming to be deep in thought as she processed the information they were sharing and what it might all mean.

Matters of Albertus Animusphere aside, the mind-boggling creation of a two-way portal between worlds was worth everyone's attention. Martha questioned his trips in both directions, Anais questioned the time differential between worlds, and Yume questioned his interest in school despite entering a fantasy world. Charlemagne had different things in mind, most closely related to Yume's question. Not to bombard the lad with too much at once, though, he refrained for the time being. Yuuya would have quite a lot of questions to answer right away. "Eh... I do go back home from time to time. I mostly come here on weekends and off days, which... answers your question?" he said with an upward inflection, his attention shifting from Martha to Anais. "When I come back here, it seems like months or years have passed since my last visit ─ even though it has only been some days on the other side. I've nursed little creatures back to health, and they've been fully grown greeting me like an old friend when I revisited. After a few trips back and forth, I noticed trees were growing taller in the forest," he explained.

As for Yume's question, Yuuya didn't really know what to say. When he arrived in this world, he was the only human in a forest of monsters. He didn't even realize others were in this world for a long time. "Well, that's what I was trying to say at first. I didn't get teleported; I just walked in and back out. I figured out that if I spend about three months here, it'll only take up my Sunday at home. It'd be more accurate to say going to school is like a vacation from fighting monsters in the forest, until I came here. I'm on spring vacation now, so I've got a little less than 2 years normally ─ but when I leave the door in place, time is consistent between both worlds."

With that explanation, Charlemagne was glad he'd waited for his own question. Some serious math would have to be done, but a glimmer in his eye belied an idea. Two years could be easily passed if they could reach the right area quickly enough. "So if we went to the other world right now for a few days, we'd pass the whole waiting period over? If we could figure out the conversion of that, we might be able to make some aspects of this trip way simpler. Though... I think a good few of us are up for a long adventure, so I wouldn't want to suggest trying to wait the whole thing out. What do you guys think?"