The Eternal Sanctum (Holy Knight Headquarters)

Anais and Yume were having a conversation which seemed to be about schooling to anyone who wasn't already privy to the adjustment they'd made in their lives. That being said there was a conversation which needed to be had when no one else could hear so that the teasing of Anais could reach its peak. In this moment, it only seemed to be light and about the choices of the elafia girl. "Your question is completely ridiculous it makes no logical sense," Anais finally managed. True enough in her own mind the idea of her even having a secret boyfriend was purely fictional in the minds of her friends who seemed to think she had a lot more going on in her life than she did. "Of course it is logical, circumstantial yes, but still logical~" Yume teased. She had a whole list of incidents which individually might be explained away, but surely Anais didn't have an answer for every single point on the list. "Hm, what are we learning... he does that deep in thought thing that's always really interesting to see," nudged Yume into the Anais's ribs as she motioned with her eyes towards Ailen after breaking her initial eye contact. It was very interesting to think about what changed the ideas. "Sorry still reeling over how invasive of a species you manage to be less than 24 hours after you were summoned into the world!" mentioned Anais. "It's a gift!" Yume claimed. But if Anais was being sarcastic she wasn't actually in a bad mood, which was good.

There was a conversation happening between Sakura and Siegfried which seemed to be full of vital information. According to the Dragon Knight, he'd been attempting to use a skill he called disengage, which would have allowed him to return the battle status to zero. She looked at the man and gave those specific words a great deal of thought, and then a rather large smile broke out on her face. If one could easily set battle conditions to zero as a goddess she could probably do something much greater. As a child of all of the people she was sired by, she really could break reality. She didn't care for last-ditch efforts to stop something from happening, it would be much more useful if one could just keep things from happening at all. Yes... it would likely be considered a control skill of an ultimate tier, disengage but without anything expended. Disengage, but with no real drawbacks. "Arigatou gouzaimasu..." she said perhaps she should be nice. It seemed small gestures went quite a long way with people especially these sorts of people. Yes that would do just fine, she'd begin work on her skill while bringing to the forefront of her mind a very specific memory she wished to give the knight who wouldn't be accompanying them on their adventure.

Charles on the other hand would be asking a very open ended question of the 'angel' he now shared a connection with. Though he'd been given exactly the information he sought, he'd not been given much else. He even claimed that it was a good thing she could keep an eye on him as he might not know when he might need to call upon her again. 'Anything else you need to know?' she repeated that part of his sentence as if giving consideration to how to answer him. 'I figure you need to know eventually that how you ask these questions directly changes the way they're answered. I am too old a creature to be given so much leeway with my word choice~' she said giving that bit of advice. 'But, generosity is something I am capable of, so you should share the information that the missing leaders of Chaldea are also within the future Tower of Babel... per the special invitation of King Gilgamesh. Jeanne was not targeted this time and is under the watchful and protective gaze of many...' she noted. 'Oh, and just because history doesn't make sense thorough the window you are currently looking, does not mean it is untrue...' she added right there. As a person pushing towards certain means and ends she understood the usefulness of such statements.

It seemed Ailen had become lost in thought over a certain learning opportunity. Though he commented on it aloud, he spoke only to himself regarding a personal learning experience. The other two could benefit as well, but it remained primarily a topic of self-interest. He could discover the true dichotomy of the apprentices on their individual learning journeys, and thus begin to theorize matters regarding future apprentices. "Hmm. I should keep watch and ensure they both grow as necessary. When the other three appear, this should be very intriguing. One might even wonder how many differences and similarities will be between them, and between them and us," he mumbled additionally.

Meanwhile, Siegfried gave Sakura the information she requested, and her response was a smile for some strange reason. She even went on to thank him. What a strange girl this was, asking the oddest of questions and then thanking someone for simple answers. No matter; Siegfried wasn't put out by having to give said answer. "If you believe thanks are necessary, I will accept. You're welcome," he said, choosing honor over confusion. Perhaps that answer was something she needed for her apparent reality-warping ability. If that were the case, maybe giving that explanation had done some good for the others. Alas, Siegfried's primary concern remained the whereabouts of Jeanne.

Speaking of her whereabouts, Charlemagne now knew where she and some others were. Of course, that knowledge would be given only after the angel made another claim ─ that his method of questioning determined the answers he'd receive. 'So you're fickle,' he scoffed. Oh well. He didn't care about any of that, wanting only the answers. King Gilgamesh had apparently called upon other major figures in Chaldea. What the angel added about history was noteworthy, but currently of no concern. 'Right. Got it,' he said. With that, Charlemagne spoke aloud once more. "Jeanne isn't missing. She and some others are on the tenth floor of a tower with King Gilgamesh. It sounds like there's no real danger," he said, much to Siegfried's immediate relief. "Truly? That does put me at ease... though a bit of warning would have been lovely," answered the Dragon-Knight. "Yeah, well warnings don't seem to be as popular as they used to be."

An interesting conversation was developing between Anais and Yume. Both of them were individually the apprentices of two interestingly different individuals, and their own individuality had them living two very different forms of life. "It's a curse," was the reply of Anais to Yume's assertion of her invasive nature. "No it's not. Curses are way worse... even now you're just really happy to see me. Happy you may have helped me... happy that someone else with you understands you~" she poked at one of the people she knew best in the world with relative ease. Too bad the girls' argument would come to an end as they heard the semi-constant murmurings of Ailen. Both girls gave pause and looked up at the elf as he seemed to be well on his way to a strange amount of observation of them. "He knows we can hear him right? We could take notes..." Yume mentioned seeming to find it amusing. "Yeah, he does this, I think it is part of his normal thought processes..." Anais confirmed. Though admittedly he didn't do so much of it while they were alone together. Perhaps it was a quirk? One which only popped up in public? Yume leaned into the girl and had a thing to whisper. "I know you're really into ASMR but the tall gorgeous rambling teacher is a little on the nose don't ya' think?" she asked, which only made Anais sigh. "I've met the rest of them... it's so much worse than that for me..." Anais admitted.

At the same time, Sakura was learning about the logic of these upright knightly types. The ones who'd landed in Munetsuchi had also been uncommonly polite with upright ways of doing and thinking things which she found a bit confusing, well, except Astolfo. This man was another not understanding why she'd thanked him, but accepting it just the same. She was busy on a couple of planes of her mind. In one she was crafting a skill and in the other she was busy piecing together a memory. This would continue for a few minutes as she quietly awaited Charles speaking again. Speaking of Charles, the angel he spoke with was brought down to a single descriptor, fickle. 'Maybe. Words are important, they are especially important while searching,' she mentioned as if this would make more sense. An announcement was soon to happen, with Charles quickly moving on from the things said in his head to address the information she'd given him. At this news, Martha finally spoke up again, having apparently regained the rest of her mind, "Ah, I will make sure a message gets to the Pharaohs, Albion and those left within Uruk. I am sure they are just as worried as everyone else," she mentioned having been among the first to go help try and figure out what happened to such a group of leaders.

While the next generation of Munetsuchi's wisdom acknowledged their teacher's ramblings, things were progressing elsewhere in the room. Charlemagne reached the end of his discussion with the alleged angel ─ a conclusion that came with a bit of snark on the latter's part. Regardless of the angel's temperament, Martha believed it was worthwhile to inform some others of the disappearances. She could do so if she pleased; it wasn't as if he intended to depart this very day. "Go for it. We'll need a bit of time to get everything together, and I'd like to meet Tenjou before everything's settled."

With all that said and done, Charlemagne finally stood again. There was much to do, including another visit to the Nexus. This night would be the one that determined their plan's functionality, and the next day would be the start of a long journey toward their desired goal. Alas, there was a curiosity remaining in the male. "Has my room been taken?" he wondered. That was such a good room, he'd take his place there if it hadn't been claimed in the past millennium. If nothing else, he'd be able to enter the Nexus peacefully from there. Having a solid location to rest would also enable a bit of wandering. After all, he hadn't been to the Eternal Sanctum in a thousand years. Taking a more literal walk down memory lane would surely be good for decompression after the past couple of days he experienced.

Apparently among the things that Charles wanted to do, he wished to do, he wanted to meet Tenjou and speak with him before anything else. Though Martha was also approved to go do the other activities she planned on doing. "Yeah, I'll figure out where Tenjou wandered off to and send him your way while I am out," she said. That lad was one who would be invaluable and maybe mentioning that she was going to go as well would help out. She didn't know if he'd been up to anything in particular but he was a helpful guy so he'd likely be interested at least a bit. But there was also Charles's last question before Martha could vacate. Was his old room taken? Well, the answer to that was surprisingly, "No, it hasn't been taken. It's just like you left it," she said knowing how Jeanne was currently it was a bit odd that she hadn't either destroyed the room or let it be taken by anyone else. But her general desire in this world was to make sure all the Holy Knights had a home, and this was it. Or maybe it was a hint at that tsundere nature possessed by her less than amiable self? Whatever the case, he likely would have gotten a much warmer reception from the lass, even in her present state, if he hadn't felt like Father An upon their meeting.

Moving on, Sakura assumed they'd be going soon, and this was fine. She was keen enough to follow Charles but first she had something for Siegfried, "Sie-nii..." she looked to the dragon knght and motioned his face downward a bit. He was quite tall and if he accepted she place a hand upon his head, conferring to him one of her more recent memories, the one in which she was hugged by Jeanne d'Arc. She figured he might enjoy that, even after finding out that she was not in the same sort of danger. It would have that same sensation associated with it, as Sakura concluded the woman gave nice hugs and he probably felt strangely about her leaving without being able to tell him. She also fully acknowledged her future closeness to this man given his relationship to Jeanne d'Arc whether anyone else fully understood it yet or not. After that she'd simply head off with Charles, curious about his room within this rather immaculate building.

"Good. I'll be at my usual haunts," Charlemagne said to offer guidance for the eventual arrival of Tenjou Yuuya. First and foremost, he had to vacate this stuffy old meeting room. Ah, but that would be held off just briefly by another matter. Charlemagne wasn't too surprised that his room hadn't been taken; it was in a very advantageous spot for anyone potentially untrustworthy. What he didn't expect, was the fact that it hadn't been tampered with since the day he left it... over a thousand years ago. 'Tsun,' was all he thought after several moments of hesitation. "In that case, there's something I should grab. Whenever you're back, meet us in the training yard at dawn," he said prior to taking leave.

Meanwhile, Siegfried was approached by Sakura once more. She addressed him affectionately in a manner befitting one's sibling figure, as he recalled of a language he never learned much of. Noting only her view of him from that utterance, he looked to the girl quizzically and moved toward her. She was motioning for him to lower himself, which... he found rather suspicious. Siegfried experienced such a thing normally when Jeanne herself was the one gesturing, and that had a very specific purpose. Well, this girl gave him no reason to believe she was literally insane, so... he lowered. Her hand reached his head then, and a vision entered his mind. For a moment, it was not Sakura standing before him, but Jeanne, offering a very real and very familiar embrace. How did this girl produce such an event? He wouldn't question it. No, he could only appreciate the gift he was so randomly given. Beyond the vision, however, he seemed mostly unchanged ─ if only far less aggressive-looking than normal. "You have my thanks. Enjoy your stay," he said, bowing to the young goddess. To the others, he offered welcome. "You are all free to whatever open rooms you please. If any of you have need of a training partner during your stay, I offer my services."

Charlemagne left the room with only a wave, but it seemed he wouldn't be alone. Sakura had also taken her leave, and he realized she was walking along with him down the corridor. She could have gotten a room of her own for the duration, yet... he doubted that was going to happen. Did he mind the thought, though? Not really. "Should I even be surprised at this point? I'm guessing you're not just on your way to find an adjacent room."

Charles claimed he would be at his usual haunts. If Martha was thinking about it correctly she could give some accurate directions to Tenjou when she found the lad. Of course, it wasn't just that, it seemed the news that his room was both unoccupied and still intact seemed to bring about an odd reaction from the lad, though it wasn't spoken of directly. She also wondered about that, but she figured it was simply a matter of Jeanne having nothing against Charles. "Yeah, I'll send him your way when I come across him and I should be back by the morning as long as no one needs me for anything else," Martha mentioned. She wasn't the type to abandon anyone, even if she was just visiting to deliver messages she'd be sure to help out whenever she could. And with that she got ready to properly take her leave but not before she witnessed the rather odd exchange between Sakura and Siegfried.

He may not have had a full understanding of the way she approached and spoke to him, but Martha's original nationality let her know exactly how friendly this girl actually was. The only thing she couldn't know in the moment, was exactly what she did by patting the Dragon Knight's head, she figured whatever it was gave him something he'd not really had recently, peace. He went on to welcome the lot and let them know they could have unoccupied rooms if they wanted and access to him as a training partner if they desired. Sakura smiled as he bowed to her but that was all. "You're welcome and thank you... see you around~" she said seemingly pleased with her own actions. And then she followed out Charles.

Charles seemed to be rather intuitive this day, but chose to question if he should be surprised. He asked about the idea of the girl finding her own room and she looked at him in a rather confused manner. "Why would I do that?" she asked. It was completely foreign as a concept that she'd purposefully separate herself from him. It wasn't necessary nor did she feel like it would be beneficial in any way. Oddly enough Charles likely wouldn't be alone in this sort of situation. Anais was quite certain she was about to be sharing whatever room she chose with at least one other person and it was possibly two given Yume's previous life habits.

The moment they were instructed to take whatever room they pleased, Astolfo knew exactly where to go. He had a room of his own long ago, but that didn't matter. He knew where Martha's room was. If she wasn't going to be there for the night, he was going to wait around for the morning... and perhaps rummage through her unmentionables, diary, or whatever else he found within. Ah, what a night he had to look forward to! To make things better, he even still had the horse! What more good could come of this day?

On the other hand, someone like Charlemagne could only wonder how much weirder today could become. Sakura had gone completely native in terms of their connection. Of course, they had spent every waking (and sleeping) moment together since his arrival to Munetsuchi. At this point, even he might consider it weird to separate. Ah, and there was the pregnancy thing mentioned by the Nexus. Two women were carrying children of his, one that he just met and one being the crush of his relative youth ─ neither was his wife. How terrible. The one currently in his company, he didn't even take issue with. He did, however, have a massive problem with how little he minded... but Sakura didn't have to be on the receiving end of that. "Never mind. It was a stupid question," he said. From there, Charlemagne continued up a winding staircase in a tall tower. A climb to the top, followed by a short trip down a connecting corridor, and he just about reached his room. Ah, but there was something strange just before reaching the door. Another door that he knew belonged to one Gilles de Rais was black from burning, yet his own was in pristine condition. It was so strange that nothing had been done to his own. "The tsundere is strong in this one," he mumbled with a sigh.

Ignoring the oddness of his room being left alone, Charlemagne walked inside to see things just as he remembered. The room was adorned with tapestries depicting tales of valor and righteousness. An intricately carved and glowing crystal orb was suspended above the bed, radiating a soft, ethereal light that bathed the room in a gentle luminescence. Polished armor and a gleaming sword rested against one corner. Rays of morning sunlight would later be able to filter through frosted glass into the east-facing window ─ something Charlemagne always enjoyed about this room for its gentle waking properties. "Tadaima..." Charlemagne whispered after a long, deep breath of familiar air.

While Astolfo wandered off, Anais finally stood and when she did Yume immediately joined her. They would begin walking along as Anais considered the kind of room she was looking for. As opposed to Charles desire to high east-facing windows with frosted glass, Anais's mild stroll would lead her towards something nearer to ground level with a western facing window, with a single subconscious thought 'As far away as possible... my hearing is too good, I don't need that'. On the western side of the building given her own preferences. Just the same Yume would begin to speak again apparently finding this whole thing rather interesting. "So, we just break now? We catch up?~" she mused as Anais stopped in front of a room. "Yeah, that sounds about right," she mentioned. It had an open door and thus was marked unoccupied. It was homey, warm with an amber colored ball of light hanging in its ceiling. Though there wasn't much by decorations, it included a tapestry of a large tree and some greens, oranges and golden hues. It had a larger bed than her standard fully made that could easily fit two people, even her giant of a mentor wouldn't have his legs hanging over the side. Why were king sized beds basically standard in this place? Well, given the size of the Dragon Knight perhaps it was meant to make anyone comfortable and given his relationship with Jeanne d'Arc, maybe she or others accounted for sleepovers? "My room at Aincrad was really really bad. This one is only lightly decorated and is way better. It feels so much better... Does it work for you, Shishou?" she found herself observing and wondering assuming her elf mentor hadn't really wandered off at all. And she stepped into it finding it to be easy on all of her senses while giving her a view of a deep forest that the sun's light set behind. Nice... she liked this. There was a little desk unoccupied with another smaller globe of light atop it. And even several small sconces if she decided she needed more light along the walls. Beyond that the slight tint to the deeper frosted glass kept the light from feeling overly intrusive. She'd also chosen this spot because acoustically less sound reached it, so she might actually be able to rest, at least a little. It also seemed less prone to traffic.

Meanwhile, Sakura watched Charles go through several sets of emotions as they walked through. He apparently thought his question was stupid and she lightly agreed. "It's just that I said I'd stay with you and I meant it," she said seeming to find his questions surrounding them odd. Perhaps this too was part of his emotional instability and she should prod a bit to find out how he was actually feeling? She also saw the door obviously blackened by Jeanne d'Arc's own hand and heard the comment made about it. "I don't completely understand that statement, but given what she had to say about him, I would say he can't call this place his home anymore," she seeming to understand that Gilles was at least partly responsible for the current less than charitable state of Jeanne d'Arc and that he'd likely been someone she trusted deeply.

Moving on, she'd find herself walking into the room that apparently belonged to Charles. it was quite the room if she was being honest. A bright window, bright light, and even tapestries and armor set up. It seemed to scream mentally of someone who wanted to be a knight and do the right thing. It also seemed to feel rather accepting of him in the moment a very nice and open space which welcomed him home. "Sou ka, did you miss this place, Char-kun?" she asked the lad. His mind was an interesting place, and so was this room. She'd be seen curiously inspecting tapestries and the general feel of this room.

Just as he said he would, Ailen followed along behind Anais. He was still rambling, but had recently been reduced to total incoherency while his mind raced. There were so many possibilities on the horizon, what more could he do? Far too many advancements were worth seeking, and so many of those advancements were gravitating toward Anais, as well as Mugen's new apprentice. Ailen was absolutely astounded. He couldn't even be considered conscious to the masses, until Anais said something to him directly. Only then did the elf realize there was a bedroom in front of him. "Hmm?" he said immediately. Ah, she wanted his take on the room. It was a bedroom, and therefore acceptable as a form of shelter. Apart from that, he didn't think much of it. "If you find it sufficient, then I can only agree. It is certainly easy on the eyes, but I am not very picky... in this case," he added. Elves tended to exude an aura of aristocracy, but Ailen would be taking a different approach while accompanying his apprentice. So long as she was satisfied with a situation, he took no issue with anything.

Sakura was only doing precisely what she said she would, as she pointed out to Charlemagne. "You did say that, and you've been doing that. Ignore my being weird; I'm still getting used to all this stuff," he said. Charlemagne wouldn't be trying to alter the mannerisms of a goddess. Just as he once told Angelica, however, he also couldn't change his own outlook in a short amount of time. "Feel free to just... not acknowledge me doing a 180 like that. It'll probably be easier to make adjustments with more exposure," he suggested. Right away, Charlemagne partially regretted that statement. Did he sign himself up for something he'd later hate? Maybe... or maybe not. Time would tell regardless. First, there was a question from Sakura, asked while he stepped inward to approach that glowing crystal. "I didn't have much time to give it thought, but yeah. This was my second home before Aincrad. When I wasn't in France, I was here with Jeanne and the others. Now that I think about it, it's weird that I haven't been here in a millennium. Though... it's also still weird looking back on a millennium of life for me. I remember when this kind of stuff was just fantasy."