(Untitled)

[oliverplus]

Characters: Oliver Day (oliverplus) and OPEN
Location: Your reality!
Time: After Oliver's fairytale has ended, and during or after yours, as you prefer
Summary: Oliver goes on an involuntary reality-hopping tour of the multiverse~
Warnings: Oliver is a geek, and depending on your reality, he might just show it. Possibly a lot

Comments

[oliverplus]

"So they just...showed up?" he asked, frowning curiously. He thought he would have remembered if Morgana had mentioned something like that. Then again, there had been a lot of other things for him and Morgana to worry about lately. "And then disappeared later? That's what I've been doing, anyway."

When Mu offered a tour, Oliver kept grinning, despite Mu's claim that the temple was small. "That's okay. I mean, it's a temple!" he declared, which he thought summed up his feelings on the matter rather well.

He followed Mu inside the dark corridor, squinting to get as good of a look as he could do. He still wanted to take in everything and was more concerned about doing that than watching where he was going. When they reached the half-flight of stairs, he stumbled but quickly caught himself, hoping Mu hadn't noticed.

"Ohhh." Oliver followed Mu into the workroom, smiling at the warm atmosphere. "This is nice! Do the kids come in here?" He was struggling to remember how old Mu had said they were now. In any case, this definitely looked like a room suited more to Mu than someone younger. Oliver certainly had never had a study--or a bedroom--this neat.

[lamb_of_gold]

"Something like that, yes." He watched Oliver's face with some degree of amusement. In some ways, Oliver was like a Trainee being summoned up to Aries for the first time - wide-eyed and awestruck. He hadn't missed the slip earlier, but chose not to comment.

"Very often, actually. As I said, it is my workroom, and I teach them much about the cloths here." He gestured to the table, which hosted some scattered tools, and then to three very heavy-looking stone jars next to the fireplace.

"The door on the far wall there used to be a supply closet, but I've since converted it into a bedroom of sorts. I work late into the night sometimes. You can have a closer look at this room, but be careful with the books. Many of them are very old."

[oliverplus]

Oliver was very much like a Trainee, particularly in the ways Mu was thinking of. He had already started to wander the room, poking at the books and other items in it. It struck him as rather like visiting ancient Greece--a concept which could keep him awestruck for nearly forever. He opened one of the books gently, coughing from the dust. "What are you--" He cut off, coughing again. "--working on?"

[lamb_of_gold]

"Nothing at the moment," Mu said quietly, fanning some of the dust away from his face. It was a half truth - he was writing out some information for Jade, but that was hardly important right now.

"You may linger and look, but there is still much to see and little time in which to see it."

[oliverplus]

"Oh," Oliver replied, rather disappointed. But when Mu pointed out how much else there was to see, he hurriedly closed the book--in a rather impressive shower of dust that had him coughing for a moment--and then hurried to the doorway. "Yeah! What's next?"

[lamb_of_gold]

"All I have left to show you are bedrooms, the bathing room, a kitchen and a sitting room. I wasn't fibbing when I said the living space in this temple was limited."

[oliverplus]

"Oh, okay." That was rather disappointing, too, but Oliver was curious why Mu kept referring to the living area. "What about the rest of the Temple?" he asked as he followed Mu out of the room. "I mean, there's more, right? Not just the part where you live?"

[lamb_of_gold]

"There is," Mu said, leading Oliver back up the hall they came from and into the main area. Here he stopped and gestured around. "But very little. This temple is designed for me to fight in, after all, and it would not do to have sacred relics or something of the like in here, where they are likely to be ruined."

[oliverplus]

"Ah, yeah. I guess so." Oliver frowned, not quite understanding despite his assent. "But where do they keep those if they're not in the Temples?"

He followed Mu, glancing around at the other directions they could take from the main area. Small or not, he was still eager to see whatever was in the Temple. After all, it wasn't every day he had the opportunity to see a place like this!

[lamb_of_gold]

"The Holy Father's temple has most of the relics, as that is about the safest place in Sanctuary."

He looked at Oliver's wandering gaze and smiled. "Pick a direction."

[oliverplus]

"Oh." Oliver supposed he should have worked that one out, but really he'd been hoping for a different answer. He was sure the chances of his being able to see that Temple were basically none. Still, there was more of this one to explore, and that was exciting enough on its own.

"Well, um..." He walked around in a slow circle, looking around them, before pointing randomly into one of the rooms. "That one first!"

[lamb_of_gold]

Mu pushed the door open a crack, smiling. The room beyond was not messy, but there was some level of disarray - a few things were out of place and the room itself looked very well lived in. Against the wall was a large-ish bed under the room's only window, with two chests at the foot, one of which was open, showing them to contain clothing.

"This is Kiki and Atla's room. They have a washing room on the other side..." he pointed to a door on the wall opposite the bed, "which is shared with the other bedroom on this side. There is nobody there at the moment, however."

Mu pulled the door closed, and led Oliver to the other side of the main hallway, voice and footsteps echoing slightly. "There are four bedrooms in this temple that are not mine. Times when the Sainthood is very small, like now, a full Saint cannot afford to have only one or two students. This temple would be full, were the current trainees not already so well established on the grounds below."

On the other side of the temple, the small hallway Mu led Oliver down branched in two. "To the left of us is the kitchen and sitting room, to the right are the other bedrooms, including mine, and the bathing room. Which way would you like to go?"

[oliverplus]

"Ohhh." Oliver peeked around the door, but he didn't move any closer since Mu obviously wanted to respect his students' privacy. "How many other trainees have you got?" he asked curiously. He realised he really didn't know anything about them, beyond the fact that they gave Mu headaches. "And what do you mean, on the grounds below? They aren't living outside, are they?"

As they continued down the corridor, he considered Mu's options for their next destination. "Ah...let's go left!" he decided, feeling like he would be less of an invader in rooms like that. He even started forward in that direction, but...all of a sudden, he started to see double. It was an odd sensation; it wasn't simple double vision. Rather, it was as though he could see the floor of the Temple before him, but also another floor. Or ground? As Oliver watched, it slowly came into clearer focus, and he realised he was looking at grass. A park, maybe? "Mu?" He turned quickly to his friend, knowing he didn't have much time. "Hey, Mu, I think I'm going somewhere else now. We'll have to finish the tour another day. But thanks! This's been great!"

[lamb_of_gold]

"There is housing for them, don't worry. I train most of them, but Kiki and Atla are the only ones who are 'mine.' There's one other living with me at the moment, but that is because he took some fairly serious injury not long ago...and before you ask, yes, he's quite alright."

He would have continued but for Oliver's exclamation. "Ah. In that case, safe travels, Oliver. You are welcome under my roof any time."

[oliverplus]

Oliver had just opened his mouth to ask exactly that, but Mu answered the question first, and Oliver nodded instead, relieved by that response. More than anything, he was glad to hear that Mu had so many people nearby--even if they were just trainees. He couldn't fail to notice Mu's loneliness, after all.

But for the moment at least, there was nothing else he could do for his friend. Mu and his world were disappearing fast. "Same to you!" he called. "See you soon!" And he waved.

The words had barely left his mouth before all sign of the Temple was gone and Oliver gazed out over another new world.