It was early in the morning when Noel had travelled all this way from the East to visit Venus in Oak. He wasn't unfamiliar with this terrain, as it once housed his former guild, Advent World. Noel arrived by his horse Mustang; he'd hitch the horse to a rail near the Eternal Nightmare guild hall. The place definitely gave him the creeps.

Instead of knocking on the front door of the guild hall, Noel took a tour around and picked up some pebbles. He'd try to spot a window with feminine curtails and throw pebbles at it until someone would respond.

The tall Crime Sorcière mage was on his guard, he wore his standard equipment and had a hand on his hilt. "Venus, art thou there, oh Venus!?" He began to yell in a very Shakespearean way at the desolate building. He'd circle a few times around the building, awaiting any response.

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Noel greeted Venus, waving his hand at her as she seemingly left from the main entrance. "Ah, how art thou, oh-Venus?" He'd extend his hand towards her, and help her get onto Mustang. With his strength, doing this without breaking sweat was a minor feat. He'd try to guide her so she could sit in front of him -- so he could hug her properly before

It had been a while since the two had met. Maybe even a few months. After the events of the ball, he had left in a hurry -- unable to explain himself properly to Venus. It was tough to try and verbalize those words on the spot, and being the man he is, he simply dipped. It wasn't the first time he'd dip out like this.

"We should catch up. Let's get some breakfast?" He'd propose, but when reaching into his pockets he could only feel the idle lint. The Crime Sorcière mage, despite being rich, had no pocket money. "Hmm, actually... let's -- uhh. Hm. Let's do a job on the road there, I know of a certain church with ghosts problems when I was still in Advent."

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Noel groaned back at her complaint about the sunlight. "Oh, poor you" He said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I'm sure we can visit a store where you can get thick sunglasses. The sun is great, it gives life to all that is on our globe." He once was in a very familiar position, when he had the God Takeover magic with Pluto as his deity; being in the sun during that time was painful. Now that is he no longer bound by Pluto, being able to enjoy the warmth and light of the sun was the best part of the morning hours. He'd move back on the leather saddle, giving more room for Venus to sit on. He'd hug her once seated with one arm. "I had been travelling over night from Hosenka. I'm actually departing from Fiore soon, and wanted to visit you before leaving."

The question about the ball made him groan, Noel is quite stoic -- verbalizing his thoughts often required him to deeply think things through. "The ball? Well..."

Mid sentence, they would arrive at the Church. Ghosts wandered around the graveyard attached to the church. He'd bring Mustang to a halt. "I have a lot of sins to repent for, Venus. Being with an... 'evil-person' does my karma no good."

With his boot in the stirrup, he'd raised himself off of the horse and held out his hand for her. It was time to slay some ghosts, and pour out his heart at the same time.

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This wasn't the first time a woman was upset about Noel 'traveling' for extended periods. It wasn't going to be the last time neither. That's just the type of person Noel is. "I'm going to Joya. Will stay for a bit, and then come back eventually.... are you okay with that?" The Crime Sorcière mage would rest his chin on her shoulder, slouching backwards a little in order to do so.

The horse cantered further towards their objective as Venus asked him about her morality. "Hmm. Well, the government does classify you as a 'Disaster' - I'm... the opposite, Venus. When Fiore is on fire, heads will turn to me, demanding a response, or retribution -- whatever."

Once they arrived, Noel drew out his sword and began wandering towards the graveyard. "Nefarious ghosts, who linger on to life. Gather the sigil that remains after slaying them, and collect money in return from father Abrahama." This wasn't his first-time here, nor was it his second or third. Along with many of the ghosts easily seen at the surface, a few of the crypts led to the darker levels, where more roamed. Some of them are ridiculously powerful.

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Luckily for Noel, Venus wasn't too angry about him being gone for a long time again. She had some things on her mind, particularly some planning with Odin; he's met this man once, a skeleton standing in front of some buildings in the capital. They had a talk.

Being called a bandit though wasn't exactly a new one. His morals were tough to understand. "We met in Crocus. That town owes me more than free dinner." Maybe he'd explain more one day.

There didn't seem to be any paranormal activity on the grounds of the graveyard. Noel begun wandering to one of the main crypt entrances, and opened it by removing the obstacle covering it. It was a marble funeral coffer, with some kind of lid attach to it that Noel pried loose and threw to the side. It was quite heavy, a weak adventurer wouldn't be able to pass through here. "Down here."

While going into the underground crypt, Venus questioned whether she, as evil person would date a good person. "In a way, love transcends morality-to a certain degree. Being with you makes me feel like a neutral person, instead of a.. hmm... hero?"

As he finished his sentence, a black spirit appeared near Noel and swung at his upper body, he'd duck and make quick work of it with his sword.

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"... yes ..." She had changed him. It was tough to say in what way that was exactly. Noel didn't excel at self reflection, like his younger peers. It took him more time. Due to his expanded experience in these caves, he could tell by the malignant scent where the spirits roamed.

"Can only remain ignorant for a bit -- I don't want to know what I would do, ..." Maybe that's why he distanced himself from her for longer periods of time. Not wanting to risk it and be forced to act. To make a choice between good, evil & his beloved.

Upon the spirit being vanquished, Noel would tap one of his feet - activating his Sensus spell, granting him vibration sense across a stretch of roughly twenty meters, this in combination with his wet nose, were powerful tools to knew exactly where the ghosts roamed. He'd make his way down deeper into the crypt and occasionally free the souls attached to the malignant spirits, occasionally picking up their sigil. He'd use magic sometimes, and rely on his natural strength otherwise.

This physical activity helped him gather his thoughts some. "What about you? If I slay one of your wicked friends. How will you respond?"

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Noel raised his brow. This was maybe one of the first times he'd ask Venus a question, in which she'd take a hot minute to think about a response. Fair enough, questions and discussions around morality and ethics was the spicy topic should the two grow closer would likely argue a lot about. The interaction gave some insight into Venus, she didn't seem as hotheaded - maybe she simply appeared that way when treading familiar ground. She'd explain that it would depend on who it was. That was tough for Noel to accept. "I understand your perspective." There'd be a pause. "A duty to protect. This is ingrained so much into me, that I will act indiscriminately, regardless what faction someone is from if they pose a threat to those to weak to protect themselves; and if needs be, I will protect them with fire and fucking fury." It was quite rare for him to curse. Of course his passion in the matter was rather explanatory.

Noel is a decorated hero, having seen multiple charges of guilds like the kin of Phantom Lord, all occur near the capital of Fiore-during these times, he was committed to helping out way beyond the call of duty. This was a not man easily persuaded into standing down, lest for personal reasons. "Assume I'm not aware of your relations to those who presumably accept the risk and do something that would cause this response out of me; will you still be angry?"

There had been quite a few sigils the two could've collected up to this point. "Lets head back up, I think we got enough of these sigils for a decent payout." His pockets had been full of them, some were colored differently--indicating that it came from a stronger presence (thus resulting in a higher payout). Noel would have slayed a couple of specifically malignant spirits, it looked like this action was noticed by one of the spirits who broke out and spread the word. It most likely guaranteed he would get a contract from completing this job.

His stomach grumbled. It had been about thirty minutes since they went on their detour. The Father at the church most likely was awaiting their return with a fair share of gold.


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Even if he didn't know the association between whoever would be the victim of his relentless violence; Venus didn't care, she'd still be angry. Noel chuckled at the absurdity of it, but didn't plan on prying in any further. He much like Venus disliked being confronted with that line of questioning anyway. He loved Venus to bits, but that love didn't extend towards her friends.

He decided to lighten the mood a little with a joke. "Oh? When you're furious, I bet you can funnel that passion in a different way with me. ~" He said not to downplay her emotions, but to move on. All the while slaying monsters left and right, he was quite the multi-tasker.

Once done, Noel concluded the fighting with his shoulder slightly bruised, but he wouldn't show Venus or let her know about it. His audible hunger made Venus make a comment, in which he agreed. "Yes. Lets get out of here." He'd guide her to the passage leading to the exit. The church was very close, a simple option was to travel there by foot to talk to father Abraham. He'd collect the sigils and assemble the gold that was to be rewarded. It seemed Venus felt a bit withdrawn from the treasure, the conversation from before was likely still on her mind. Noel picked the treasure chest up and led Venus to his horse, Mustang.

"Life's good right now Venus, let's not focus too much on the bad. -I- love you dearly, it's not something I see changing easily." He'd mount up, and then extend his hand towards Venus so she could get on too, preferably in front of him so he could wrap his arms around her as they drove. The treasure chest was stowed away, presenting a small obstacle on the horse to avoid with thy legs. Once they were ready, Noel would press his keys(heel) against the ignition mechanism (stomach) of his car (horse), making it start(gallop) and depart into the general direction of the Oak town square. Despite much of the land being controlled by evil and nefarious beings, the quiet countryside was to be appreciated.


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The tall Crime Sorciére mage appreciated how his lover could laugh at his joke. Maybe she too wanted to avoid a lovers' quarrel, amidst the spirits. They weren't exactly airing out their dirty laundry-but, Noel reckoned they would talk further about this a later time. "I know how you can be when you're passionate, miss Rose." Once saddled upon the horse, Venus remarked how they rarely did this type of activity together. Despite the enemies not being grandiose; it seemed she was in for the company of the mage. Truthfully, he was too. "Mhm." He'd cup his hands over her soft(er) hands. He'd nuzzle her neck and remark, "Well. Let's do this more often then." While he didn't exactly need the money these jobs gave him, it was more about the experience of helping people out & a combination of him being sloppy with money kept on his person.

With the occasional tug on the leash, he'd direct Mustang towards the general populous, feeling Venus lean into him. Lucky for her, he kept his hands to himself for the most part. Though when she admitted a possibility of the day ending with him being sucked dry, a tingle ran across his back. Aroused & scared; scaroused. He'd chuckle dryly and remain stunlocked for a few seconds, until she elaborated further -- he wouldn't buy it though. "Oh yeah? If you manage to subdue me under a full moon, I might submit."

He wasn't like one of those adventuring warriors, his skin wasn't made of steel--no way it could stop the biting power of Venus, who is a vampire. Noel knew, of course. It didn't bother him as much. "I got some other stuff you can drink though." He'd point at a sake stall they'd approach on horseback. "I don't intend to travel with this chest of gold all day, so let's spend it all somewhere." There was a nice breakfast place Noel knew of when he was still with the Advent. He'd led the horse there, and was happy to see it was still thriving. The menu didn't have seemed to be changed, so once seated, Noel began to order a lot of stuff. Truly a `man of the world`

It was still quite early in the day, as the two had solved the Fathers problems quite quickly.

The food was mostly of Joyan origin, Noel would point at certain dishes to explain what they were--and why they were composed as such. "This is my favorite, it is called: Nigirizushi, Nigiri is more commonly mentioned." He'd explain how they were composed of a topping (in this case salmon) pressed into a ball of rice. After his explanation, he'd gently scoot over the dish to Venus. Of course, he'd do the same with all his favorites and once they'd move onto things he didn't like, he begun eating some of it. Saving the best for his love. "Now these are called Kakinoha the leaf they're wrapped in can be very bitter." He'd scoot the plate to the side, indicating neither of them should try it. Of course he didn't know that one should take off the leaf first before eating it. It'd been a very long time since he was in Joya.

When the clock hit 1PM though, Noel knew it was time to go. His boat was departing in a few hours. "It's time for me to leave, Venus. I promise I'll be back." He'd give her one final hug, and kiss her before putting on his hat(hypothetically) and leaving towards the greener pastures on his way to Joya. As for how long he'd be gone? Well, he didn't really know himself either.

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