Munetsuchi

[Apollymi]

"She's a bit invasive, but not nearly as much as you might think. In this case, you're underdeveloped..." mentioned Miwa as if she completely understood where that mindset of Charles had been leading his thoughts. Whatever the case, Ailen offered congratulatory statements to his daughter and she looked towards him smiling. "Arigatou, Otou-chan... congratulations to you too. You took an apprentice, that's good," she said genuinely happy for her father as well. Yes, she was quite understanding and saw the connection which had already been established between the Elafia girl and two of her male parents, though in very different ways.

After this, there was the matter of her now developed skill which had a full explanation of its ability now that the world accepted it. Mugen seemed to question Charles being the one to do this thing, so Sakura explained the situation as she understood it. "Hai, he did. Though he didn't seem as excited about it as I would have been if I'd done it..." she said not seeming to understand the misgivings the lad had around his powers. Anais cut her eyes at Charles, if he managed something like that... given his personality she made a few assumptions as to how or why it happened. She concluded he'd been ranting about something and this being the outcome wasn't his intention and thus he'd freaked himself out more. He did that from time to time... like now, on the hot seat he was unable to come up with the name of the girl in the picture. Anais opened her mouth to help but... someone else was talking.

That voice hit her ears oddly, it was nice. Actually it was more than nice. Given the way her day had gone so far... Anais shouldn't have looked. She should have buried her head in the sand and lived her life without setting eyes on this man. But of course, with the sound of his voice hitting her ear so nicely she had to look and when she did... her heart stopped beating. 'HE LOOKS LIKE RAIZEN! I'm going to slut hell! But he's gorgeous! It'd be worth it right? Eternal flames don't seem that bad. I've been using flames my whole life... it'd be fine...' when did her internal voice start saying such strange things? She closed her eyes and sighed. 'Is this puberty? Is this what puberty was like for everyone else?' she wondered. Of course, she'd heard the information he'd given and also nodded. "You know what... Finding out Ashikaga Himeko is a goddess also isn't that surprising," she said having a wayward glance settle on Miwa. She could definitely see that resemblance now. And she'd seen Ashikaga Himeko a few times at charity events and experienced some strange feelings when she heard how she referred to her daughter. Yep. All was right or wrong in the world. Or rather it always had been. She had nothing real to add to this conversation. If anything she would have said that calling Ashikaga Kimiko super-famous was likely a bit of an understatement, but it was taking all the self-restraint her body current possessed to avoid a strange series of images in her mind.

At the same time, Sakura received the answer she'd been looking for. She had the name of her sister and her other mother. Beyond this... the appearance of her most wayward father. "Otou-sama, look!" she said pointing at the dark grail in her hands. Moreover she was singularly excited to see this one. "Hm? Metis got married? Interesting, I figured that attitude of hers might pose a bit of a problem but... I suppose I can understand it a bit better now than before. And she's in the other world, no wonder I can't sense her. Meet Exposition, I mean... Solomon," she teased gently at his random appearance. It was about normal. "Now then, what's this about a war of light and darkness?"

[Bloodedge]

All things seemed to change when the tan male made his presence known. Some fell silent, some spoke up... and one did both, albeit mostly in her own head for the latter. On his way up, the male looked toward Anais. Gentle was his expression ─ gentle yet... knowing. He was not reading her mind as a certain other member of this group did, but he seemed to almost look through her during that glance. "Oh? You're the one. Congratulations on your growth. I will have my own lessons for you when the time is right," he said while stepping past the elafia. Then, Sakura decided to show him her creation. He knew of the Dark Grail, but seeing its physical form was a somewhat different story. "Ah yes. I've been waiting for the day you made that. It had to be you who transcended the traditional grail system to create its counterpart. In meeting him, your destiny began officially," he said with a quick glance toward Charlemagne. Sakura's fate began unfolding today. In the near future, it would unravel like the threads of time itself... to great effect. "Greatness is ahead of you. All of you."

Indeed, the goddess called Metis had been married to a human in another world. Solomon knew that family rather well ─ to such an extent that one Ashikaga Kimiko could make a claim no other could. Moving on, Miwa introduced the man by his singular name, though not before calling him exposition. That was fine; he could accept that. As for the war he mentioned, it was something he would speak of in only minor detail. "The endless war that began during the time of severance. None of you should concern yourselves with that right now. Our new companion here has questions for you, Miwa," Solomon replied. Just then, Charlemagne remembered his original purpose beyond all the craziness. "Uh... oh, right! Yeah. I need to know how this 'Order' thing works. Apparently I used it without meaning to earlier, and that's how that... Skill thing happened. If possible, I'd like to avoid randomly creating laws by speaking my mind─" Charlemagne cut himself short yet again. Why? Well, there was an unusual amount of silence in the room. Subtle mumblings from the likes of Mugen and Ailen had come to a halt, and... there were a disturbing number of eyes on him again. Suddenly, this was all worse than it had been before. What a shame it was that he couldn't just run away. . .

[Apollymi]

Anais was stunned. Though she was silent, her mind was basically on fire. What was more, the man who'd been introduced as 'Solomon' spoke to her directly, though admittedly not without apparently seeing through the whole of soul for a brief moment. But what did he say after that? Congratulations on her growth, he'd have his own lessons for her at the right time. "H-hai," yes, when all else failed the girl had that single word to offer and a face a shade of red which made her want to sink into the floor. 'I could do this right? I could just live here... career student surrounded by gorgeous people. Be a part-time bard, composer, alchemist... whatever the hell else I end up doing,' she seemed to be talking herself into accepting a future her normal self would have run from. Ah, her internal voice had very interesting things to say, in current times.

Moving on Sakura seemed to take the words of her father in stride. She wondered at least briefly why the deer lass was so very skittish but thought the better of asking in the moment. Solomon stated that she'd transcended the grail system with her creation and that her destiny and that of many present was unfolding starting this day. "Sugoi!" she said seemingly pleased with the attention. Whatever the case, most of her parents had seen her work and only two hadn't. Ah, but Solomon told them not to worry about the war which had apparently been happening since whatever the severance was. Anais locked those words away in her head for later questioning. But... no, right here and now there was something else to talk about, Charles had something called 'Order' and while Anais didn't know what that was exactly, she could gauge by reactions of the people in this room that it was something on the tier of godliness. Miwa for her part in this, heard his words and stopped talking completely. A grin broke out across her face and she began laughing, near hysterically. "Heheh...hehehehe...hehehehehehehahahahahahahahah! !" it went on for several moments and confirmed things for Anais, Sakura on the other hand seemed to see nothing wrong with this behavior. To the ears of the Elafia, this woman's laughter sounded like bells chiming, probably some oddity of her understanding of sound. "That's amazing. He tried to steal your existence, and left you with Order! It serves him right on so many levels, it's just... poetic at this point," she finally managed. Of course, she realized she hadn't answered Charles at all, but she needed a moment to enjoy her own glee and gather her thoughts and feelings. "Alright, alright... I'm fine now, so you want to know how to not use Order accidentally, but what do you think it is?" she asked the lad. It would be much easier to explain how his powers worked to him, if she could gauge his base understanding. She could build on what he knew without overloading his brain with information, specifically when it came to magic she would find this easier to do.

[Bloodedge]

The red-faced elafia would be someone Solomon needed to address eventually. She'd develop into something more than most of the others even realized. As he looked at the girl, he could see her true form. What a glorious thing it was to know some mortals in this world would transcend reality itself. It wouldn't be her alone, though. There was a long path ahead of every person in this throne room, some branching in very unique directions, but all leading to very exciting futures. One of said futures was the topic of discussion presently: Charlemagne. Miwa seemed to understand completely how much a single development turned the wheel of fate, and how karma played a massive role in it all. "As expected. That was never going to be met with silent contemplation," Solomon claimed. Miwa knew of her own father well enough to understand this oversight for the incredible blunder it was. In a failed attempt to consume and overwrite a mere mortal, he'd set in motion events that would overwrite himself instead.

Alas, that laughter confused Charlemagne. He still knew nothing of Order as a conceptual power, nor did he understand the first thing about what it meant to have such a thing. In his mind, it was just some thing a god accidentally let slip into his soul. Little did he know how important that thing was to Father An, or rather... Anu. "Was that supposed to be funny? Should I have laughed? I'm completely lost here," the lad admitted. Miwa seemed capable of helping him along either way, though not without asking what he thought that power was. Of course there was more brainwork to be done. Charlemagne sighed. "It was always going to come to this, wasn't it? Do I really have to become a second-hand scholar to be here?" he wondered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Assuming this wasn't much of an option, Charlemagne did wrack his brain for some sort of explanation. Naturally, he translated it as a trading card. "I'm guessing it's like magically writing a rule. Or... maybe more of an errata in that accidental case earlier."

[Apollymi]

Anais went quiet. All opportunities to learn would be taken by the lass. Of course, this was simply her nature, but the laughter of Miwa was something that one of her husbands felt the need to comment on. The information that Charles held Order as a concept was something she found funny. Of course it would be, she'd been around for a long enough time that she knew the failings of the father god mostly because she was his first mistake. As for Charles's questions they would be answered in turn with the now bemused goddess giving the lad full consideration. "It is hilarious that he continues to be so short-sighted with his actions. You could have laughed, though I think to find it as funny as I do, you would have to understand the full breadth of his faults, and that is a course as old as this world," she said with a shrug. It definitely wasn't the sort of information the lad needed while he tried to figure out how his powers worked.

Of course, when she asked him what he thought of his power he expressed distress at being asked to think. She was willing to give the lad a bit of leeway in his understanding, because of the amount of trauma he'd suffered, but he wouldn't be allowed to have his mind rot on her watch, it went against her nature. "Second-hand would likely be considered quite generous in this case," she explained. Technically speaking this land had top rate students, he was only not being allowed to rest on his mental laurels. "Knowing how you think of your own power will help it be more organic to how you act. And thinking about it from start to finish will keep you from creating exploitable holes in your power structure. Unless of course, you'd rather become like one of those old men who no longer use their minds..." she commented absently. Becoming shut off from thought was a short and slippery road into the kind of actions which had landed this lad in this country to begin with, besides, she was a goddess of wisdom thought was important. 'Eh, when he says it like that Charlie sounds like an underachiever. His inner Japanese schoolboy should be feeling shame. Unless he is actually an underachiever,' Anais thought, knowing that she would probably not have been capable of uttering such a sentence. Ah, but what he had to say was rather interesting. "That is the essential point yes. Writing rules, but the rules are not always so simple or limited as the acceptance of Saku-chan's previously, Imaginary Element. Granted that is no simple rule reversal... but it is in the grand scheme of things a rather simple showing of that power," she explained. "If I were to tell you, that Creation and Destruction were meant to exist hand in hand. And in this world, it is instead Creation and Order... would the scaling be better understood?" Miwa's questions were open and layered. They gave room for more questions to be asked and for conclusions to be drawn based on personal experience and logic formation. For Anais, the place of Order became interestingly obvious, especially with references to the previous god who held it being called the 'Father'. In a world where true magic didn't even have to have the same logic as Magecraft, such a thing was almost omnipotent. It also made this world sound like a badly organized group project, or a dysfunctional student government, or a household with divorcing parents. Yeah any of those metaphors made sense.

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, he could have laughed. Finding the true hilarity in the moment, however, would have required learning a great deal of history in the world. He certainly didn't have the time, freedom or attention span for that sort of lesson. "Right. Well, good thing I'm not looking for a laugh," he said. He'd take the current lesson and, hopefully, move on without issue. Regarding the thinking Charlemagne was still required to do, Miwa alleged it would help him better solidify the power he now possessed. That seemed rather subjective as he thought about it further. "Well nobody wants to be one of those guys, but I don't think I could ever become that without about thirteen people rendering me unconscious─" he murmured.

According to Miwa, he was fairly accurate in the resulting assertion. He could write the rules of this world in ways not even experienced with that little accident earlier. Miwa also explained how very simple the accident was a simpler use of Order. Creation and Destruction were meant to function in unison, she said. That much was a basic Yin and Yang teaching, but she further claimed Creation and Order were forced to be the dichotomy instead. Charlemagne supposed that made sense as well. He'd seen Creation produce something from nothing. With reincarnation existing, he imagined Destruction was a thing that affected souls and the like. Without that existing, however, there would eventually be overpopulation. "I guess that's easier to grasp than nothing at all? That doesn't really help me understand how to avoid using it, though. My biggest concern is that I'll say something else random one day, and it'll just... happen. With the amount of stuff happening in my head, I really want to avoid that," he explained. Solomon stood by, listening intently to something he knew would be said. "Perhaps an even simpler lesson is already missing from someone's mind."

[Apollymi]

Miwa gave a casual shrug. This lad wasn't looking for a laugh, but... perhaps he'd learn to find his joy where it could. A thousand years was both a long time, and not very much time at all to a woman like Miwa. Given this, she could find herself very easily amused. No matter, they were able to carry on their conversation without much of a problem. Given her words about what lack of thought could do, the lad claimed that he would be rendered unconcious by thirteen individuals if he wandered from his mental path. "That is a large number of people... if it works for you though, fine. Even so, don't forget to think for yourself, lest your own voice be lost in that of the crowd," Miwa mentioned, that was friendly advice, given in an unrelated manner because of the simple fact that she'd lived long enough to see a few different outcomes to letting others in on one's development. All the while Anais smirked knowing the truth of that statement, even she as the quietest member of their group wouldn't allow any waywardness from Charles. That was simply how their group worked.

Moving on, it seemed that Miwa's explanation was one which was better than nothing, but not at all what Charles was looking for. He made the claim that he was concerned about accidental uses of his power. Ah... that was an entirely different matter. But, Miwa gave it some thought and tried to consider it from a human perspective. Understanding magic was a thing she did with ease, she knew that same ease didn't appear in others. But Solomon was also present noting that an earlier lesson was missing from this lad's understanding. Oh. "Sou ka, how any of you manage to do anything is completely foreign to me. Fine, fine, back to basics... all the way back to basics," she mused thinking of the way to describe the information the lad needed to know. "Order is a power from the beginning of the world. It is True Magic, thus rooted in Mystery not logic," she explained. "Unlike your understanding of Magecraft or other such things... if you do not wish to use Order accidentally the answer is to use it purposefully. Do what you wish, when you wish... with whatever conviction or emotion you use as the base for such things," she explained. "True Magic is innate, it requires feeling to use to its full potential. However you could always apply a logic to it, if it would help you think of it easier..." she said with a nod. "I assume there was some emotional dissonance when you decided either consciously or subconsciously to make Sakura's Imaginary Element real in the world," she hypothesized. If she could understand the lad's trigger for his magic, she could indeed help him keep control of himself. "He probably thought it was unfair or uncool..." Anais said, having heard a great number of such rants from Charles in their time knowing each other... Oops. That statement slipped out of her head. But it changed nothing, the idea that the lad was moved by unfair or uncool things was rather interesting to Miwa... it meant he didn't have the innate arrogance to truly abuse or misuse his new power.

[Bloodedge]

Thirteen was indeed a large number when it applied to people throwing themselves at an opportunity to keep one other person in check. For all such friends, Charlemagne was thankful... except, that number wasn't quite thirteen anymore. "Oh. Ganelon was the one calling out. I guess that's twelve at most, actually," he said solemnly. "For that loss of one, you may find yourself gaining at least three," Solomon corrected. Charlemagne didn't know who else could be counted, but that was neither here nor there. Now was the time of learning. More importantly, now was the time of preventing a very unexpected event in the future.

Charlemagne needed a different lesson first and foremost. He needed to know for certain the difference between Magecraft and True Magic, the latter of which being where Order fell. Simply put, avoiding the use of Order was a simple matter of not wanting to utilize it. To Charlemagne, this made no sense. He wasn't consciously using any power the previous time, yet something still happened. Ah, but Miwa had another curiosity to express. The assumption of some subconscious desire being the cause was quite on-brand for Charlemagne. In the words of Anais, he probably thought the situation was unfair or uncool. How very accurate. One could always trust Anais to have a calm, unbiased opinion to throw in. Upon hearing her words, Charlemagne instantly remembered how he felt back then. "Well, yeah. It was uncool because it was unfair. I just thought there shouldn't be a power disallowed just because it's not understood by the format. You're all scholars here, right? I'm sure you get even better than I do how good something can be if you just try to make it work instead of shutting it out," he explained. So then, Charlemagne had an understanding at last. Only what he felt strongly about would produce Order's effects unexpectedly. Luckily for him, he didn't have very strong feelings that may produce negative results. "Are you saying I've got literally nothing to worry about? If that's the case, I should be thinking about my first move already. Though... I thought about it on the way here, and we may be stuck for a little while. . ."

[Apollymi]

Twelve at most? Charles mentioned Ganelon as the one calling out against him for the sake of the Holy Father. Anais had seen that as well, she'd also noticed a strange effect taking place which she had no real understanding of. As for losing Ganelon on the count, after Solomon's speech she did have something to say. Though that man opening his mouth was enough to quiet her for a moment all so she could hear his voice. "I don't think Ganelon is much of a loss. He triggers my trauma response because he was there when I was picked up as a child. I figured I might have just been traumatized by the experience, but he's always made me feel a bit uneasy..." Anais stated. Her own skittish nature made her avoid the man and as he'd never actually done anything to her, that she knew of, she figured she was just associating bad memories with him. She'd take that as a learning experience, and trust her own gut a bit more. She shared information she understood with Charles both as a matter of comfort and so he could know how she felt about it, if it came down to it.

Miwa heard out everything spoken and understood the nature of Anais and Charles. A member of their group was obviously some sort of betrayer. And whatever else had happened, that one likely couldn't be counted as trustworthy. The words of Solomon implied that he'd be replaced likely both in quality and quantity. "Ever cryptic, Solo-kun," she mused but let it go for the most part. Now she was here to listen to Charles mental status when he managed to change the element that belonged to Sakura. According to the lad after the speech of Anais, the situation was uncool because it was unfair. "Well, of course we do... I've made it my life's work... making what I want work, within the confines of the current order..." mused Miwa. "It is a good sentiment, I can at least expect something closer to fairness to be applied to the world, which is worthwhile regardless," she stated seeming to understand how he came to his conclusion. "Well, nothing would be a bit of an overstatement, but as long as you can avoid having your feelings spill over accidentally, using Order accidentally should not be a problem for you..." Miwa explained. "Though, I'd still advise taking care if you plan to craft any new rules. You have a power which has the ability to influence the lives of many, it'd be great if you could avoid letting it turn you into a senile tyrant," she stated as her understanding of what had truly happened to the previous holder of that particular power. "You can consider what you like. You are in my care until you go through whatever plans you have... the lot of you," Miwa mentioned as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do. Well, it wasn't as if she would turn away children in her country, nor would she turn away people with the potential to learn at all. "Oh are you planning something?" asked Sakura who seemed at least interested in his plans, after all... she did intend to accompany him on his journey. Anais did the same knowing that even in the pursuit of her own knowledge, she wouldn't be abandoning her friends at all. At the very least she was requiring herself to return Charles to their other friends so he had some more level-headed people to look after him.

[Bloodedge]

Anais had something to say about the loss of Ganelon as a trusted companion. Her instincts were always to be trusted, and those apparently had her steering clear of Ganelon. Moreover, he'd been around when she was acquired by Aincrad, which meant... he was in the group who probably slaughtered her people. Busy as he always was, Charlemagne never even realized she was having a reaction to one of their own. "Damn. I never even noticed you kept your distance from him. I should have," he said, clicking his tongue. There were many things he had to be more attentive to moving forward, whenever they made it back.

It seemed this 'Solomon' individual was always so cryptic. Surprisingly though, that wasn't to be the case this time. "Hardly so. Two of those three are right here in this room. If I were being cryptic, I would say three of five are right here," he countered. Whatever that meant, Charlemagne did not feel it was worth attributing brainpower to just yet. He'd take it as an overall victory, and move on. The goddess was speaking of how she essentially threaded the needle of Order to accomplish her goals. Such a thing was likely how Sakura managed to save his very existence recently. People doing good things like what he'd seen here shouldn't be restricted by an old racist, Charlemagne thought. Maybe Order could play a role in that as well? "Hmm," he murmured. It definitely wasn't cool that such restrictions existed. While he was thinking, Charlemagne figured the best way to avoid becoming an old tyrant was to remove the potential for tyranny altogether. There was but one distraction that kept him from speaking his mind, and it was the question of Sakura. "Huh? Oh, yeah. We'll need to find our way to the Holy Knights in Chaldea. I have to let someone know everything's going to be alright," he replied.

Still buried in his own thoughts, Charlemagne was soon to make an abrupt decision. Those blue eyes of his gained red rings within the irises, and a sparkling golden glow slowly spread out from his body into the atmosphere. Miwa was the wisdom goddess governing all things magical, so why should she be so limited by another god? That wasn't what he believed godhood should entail. Miwa should have proper authority over her own area of expertise, establishing rules and regulations for magical use as she saw fit. Just the same, her own abilities should not be restricted by the world's 'Order' mechanics so long as she wasn't truly evil or misguided in her approach. Now that he was thinking more consciously, Charlemagne could actively see the world's rules being rewritten as if changing a guidebook. Certain restrictions were removed entirely from the 'card' his brain applied to Miwa, and that was... "Awesome!" he said. Of course, that was all he said. Charlemagne had no mana to pull from. How he even managed something just then was a mystery to him, but what little energy he had was gone. With that, he collapsed right then and there.