Hikari elected to do the cutting – it was, after all, quite exciting to see what the inside looked like after spending so much time on the prepwork! Nicolas's serving idea grated at… something within her, it might be easier for them, but it felt like an abdication of duty. Like she should do more for the serving process then just slicing and carefully portioning the centrepiece.

Maybe it was those same instincts that had her hold back from taking anything herself until everyone was happily tucking in.

Hmm, these new skills had quite an annoying attitude accompanying them, didn't they?

Their hunch that the Church might be safe had proven correct- upon entering the church grounds, the zombie did not follow- instead it came to a stop and sauntered off.

That was too close, Javal thought. He didn't want to make it a habit of relying entirely on vague hunches for getting out of trouble, until they could figure out what was going on, that was all they'd have to go on. For now, however, this was probably the safest that they had been since waking up in this world. Javal believed it would be best for them to thoroughly explore this sanctuary.

There were no survivors in the church, but at least there were no corpses. Something had damaged these pews, but there were no corpses and no blood. As Javal's eyes fell on the altar, he couldn't help but wonder just what sort of faith built this church.

Javal moved in closer to take a closer look at the altar, which like the pews, appeared to have been disturbed. He was hoping to get a look at whatever symbols might be here, but what instead caught his eye was what looked like a gap in the floor peeking underneath it. Just what was underneath it? A passage, or perhaps a hidden compartment? Either way, it was worth a look.

"Looks like there's an empty space under the altar," he answered Sephily. "Help me push this out of the way, there could be something in there," he spoke, placing his hands firmly on the alter and attempting to push.

@VitaVitaAR@FujiwaraPhoenix@Rune_Alchemist

"I guess it would make sense if you can fly." Jor mentioned, poking at her head, though hearing there might be a map in the library was a help. It would be nice to have an idea of what the surrounding area looked like. "Guess I'll go look at that after they're done doing... whatever with food in there. Thanks for the help, Relki." The snake woman said with a grateful tone to her voice as she considered what to do while she waited for the others to finish food. Perhaps... She'd practice her shapeshifting? If she kept the feeling of her legs in mind she'd be able to shift back and forth pretty easily. So that's what she did. Shifting to and fro a few times. Nothing like a bit of practice while waiting.

The smartest and cutest doll - Lena
@FujiwaraPhoenix@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin

---

"Haaa, that was too close." Lena echoed Javal's words aloud as she'd take a moment to catch her breath and rub her forehead. Was it luck? Entirely so, all things considered though it was a miracle the church was even in still good condition. Did this mean here at least, undead didn't like holy places or power?

maybe she could come up with some sorta...holy weapon? Canon?...hand grenade?

"If only we could put whatever power is keeping the undead away in our pocket." Lena walked over to the altar where Javal was, grabbing it from one side and helping him push it over. "Mhm, this place is well made too...whoever built it was certainly good at their job."

---

---

The fairies were quite eager to try the milkshake, having never seen anything like it before, and quickly began trying to sip down as much as possible. The moment they realized that it was entirely unique to them, they were soon both drinking as much as they could as swiftly as they could.

At least until they had their first case of brain freeze.

Ilsa continued to watch with suspicion, until the food was completed and ready to be served.

At the very least, she sat down with it, took a knife, and cut into the wellington, eyeing it for a few moments before finally taking a bite, and---

"... Hmph."

Ilsa averted her eyes, her cheeks faintly coloring.

"If you're going to do something bizarre with magic you claim you don't understand, at least it tastes good," she commented, still looking away as she spoke. It was almost as if she was annoyed by just how good the food was, even as she immediately cut into it once again for another bite.

"Aww, don't be too cranky, Ilsa dear~" Relki declared cheerfully as she sat down for her own meal, "Our guests made us food! That's more than you can say for some of the others, isn't it?"

The petite green-haired witch shot a look towards the raven familiar between bites.

"Our other guests don't usually wield high-level magic and pretend not to know how they learned it, but fine. I won't question it. For now."

The fairies, who had by now figured out that drinking too fast was what was causing their heads to hurt, were now staring at the various guests.

It was, not unexpectedly, the pink one who spoke first.

"What is it made with? You can drink it but it's thick and creamy and cold!" she began, excitedly, "Can we make more? I've never seen anything like it even in the fae realm!"

The blue-haired fairy, who was still hiding slightly behind her friend, nodded slowly.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Raineh Daze@Pyromania99

With the food completed and those present happily digging in (or, well, one less than happily at a glance), Nicolas regarded the scene with a brief smile before taking some food for himself. Dodging Ilsa's pointed questions about their origins would mean that it would probably come up in the future, supposing they ever met again once she had seen them off, but for the moment it looked like they were in the clear.

Of course, that meant that small talk was probably the best way to proceed for the moment, and as luck would have it, the fairies provided the perfect topic to do so with.

"Well, you saw the ingredients yourself, didn't you?" the chef asked as he gestured back towards them. "The only thing that might be a bit less common is the ice, but everything else I assume you should have on hand. It's just a matter of how you mix them; I just have a special tool that turned the ice into super-tiny pieces that let them mix with everything else."

The topic of magic brought to mind Ilsa's own parting comment about high-level magic—more specifically, the extent to which magic could be performed and it's limits. Obviously, with no knowledge of the systems at play or how to manipulate them, it wasn't exactly something to be explored now...

But it'd be criminally ignorant to not ask more about this in the future—just as it would be to ignore what the pink-haired fairy had just said.

"Is the fae realm a place where people don't experiment much with their food? Personally, I don't think that milkshake was anything revolutionary, but..."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Pyromania99



With the combined efforts of both Javal and Lena, the stone altar slowly slid across the ground, leaving skid marks as it scraped across the floor and revealed a ladder leading down into what seemed to be complete darkness—or, at least, that was how it seemed to be at a glance. After a brief pause, a dim glow from something built into the wall opposite said ladder slowly came to life, and one after the other the path down seemed to be left illuminated, if only slightly. The deeper the path went, the slower the lights were to turn on; with that said, it was nothing if not inevitable that they would all be alight with enough time.

Supposing that one of the trio was brave enough to delve into the depths first, though, what they would find at the end of that ladder would be a narrow passageway that, after a bit more walking, would give way to a hidden room. This one, however, was still dark.

Dark, save the pair of glowing red eyes staring back at them.

Eventually, the lights would make their way down here, too, and the being who was staring back at them—a white=haired woman who seemed to be resting against the back wall—simply stared in silence.

A keen eye might recognize the subtle shift in her body's position as they grew closer, but whether or not that would mean anything to them was another matter entirely.

@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin@Rune_Alchemist

The smartest and cutest doll - Lena
@FujiwaraPhoenix@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin

---

"Wahaha. This new body of mine does not strain easily. Tis quite useful, da." She'd have probably tried to move that heavy altar and broke her back trying it. Now that just left them to see where it lead.

"Last one down owes me a drink!"

Lena, would thus nearly leap down the ladder without looking, grabbing one end of it swiftly and quickly descending fast enough that one may question if she did in fact, just leap all the way down. Reaching the bottom, the doll rubber her hands together before setting out down the passage.

Honestly she was hoping this was just an elaborate entrance to a hidden wine cellar full of vintage alcohol. Old churches and all had that stuff, right? If she was remembering her ancient architecture right. Monasteries and churches always had that kind of thing. Or maybe she was just biased and only was interested in that kind of church.

...she had to wonder, if this was fantasy with magic, did magical alcohol exist? Oh, she hoped so-

"Ah." Interrupting her definitely not alcoholic musings, Lena would suddenly halt as the pair of red eyes showed themselves. She almost retreated behind Javal as the lights flickered on. "Its just a person! Ah, uhm, privet, my similarly colored haired friend!" Lena, entirely oblivious to the subtle shifting and whatever it meant took a few steps closer. "Ah, but manners! I am Lena! The cute elf and armored fellow are my friends. We seem to be in a bit of trouble...such as being utterly lost."