Roy

What the hell?

I have no idea what's going on right now. I feel like I'm hallucinating or something... Either that or I'm on drugs. But considering that the night cold is telling me otherwise, and I don't even do drugs outside of my typical medicine.... Yeah, I think I'm conscious and sane right now.

But, whatever the fuck happened to Nicholas was very wrong. And, I feel like there was some weird tension between Lemos and Nicholas.....

Eh, who fucking cares about that now. I can't believe he made a deal with a 'devil' or whatever the hell that means.

More importantly, now that Lemos is gone, and Nicholas became the new guardian of this terrible secret; that means as his successor I'm next in line as a target....

Shit. This is terrible. So fucking terri-

Wait. Then where'd the chalice go after? Lemos handed over to Nicholas the chalice, our source of troubles and despair. If I was the one who had it, then where did it go?

I took a look at the calendar and saw that the 23rd of the Elevating Month was just two days ago. Considering it is likely past midnight, it's already the 25th, so that means three days had passed since Nicholas made a deal with a devil, he made no records since then.

Having made said deal, Nicholas hid the chalice away. And considering that the last words in his entry was about 'drinking the poisoned wine of Dark Magic,' I suspect the chalice has something to do with this deal.

Thinking in line with this, I had a thought. What if the chalice was hiding underneath the bed? I mean. Honestly, an idiotic thing to do on Nicholas's part. But hey, everyone does stupid things once in a while. Not this stupid though, but everyone's different. Can't blame him for keeping it close to him. Despite it being relatively lacking in security.

I swear, if the chalice was actually under there; I might have to rethink my life choices. Well, his life choices technically.

With a groan, I crouched down to the side of the bedstead and reached my hand down under the bed. I saw the dust being agitated and flowing out from under. Wafting in the wind.

Grunting, I knelt on my knees and stretched my arm forward, my hand blindly touching things until my fingertips felt the smooth feel of metal. Caressing it around, I searched for the stem of the chalice and once I had done so, dragged it out into the moonlight.

I stood up and admired it under the light, it was a silver chalice embossed with strange sigils and patterns. The node seemed as if it were carved entirely of a striking and deeply purple amethyst, contrasting the diamonds imbued with the hue of each of the seven colours of the rainbow encrusted at its golden base.

This chalice was truly magnificent, but I saw nothing really special about it. Until I let it bask in the blue-gold moonlight.

The cup itself seemed to be filled with some sort of a viscous navy blue liquid with remnants of scattered stars across its dark surface.

The light from it spoke to me, telling me to drink it....

I gulped. Staring at this liquid made me feel... Thirsty. As if I had just been stranded in the middle of a desert, with no source of water. And this chalice, beauteous and lovely, was an oasis amidst the sands.

I let my lips touch at the rim, and the turbid liquid wet them slightly. That bare contact was enough to let my mind go into overdrive. I felt an immense thirst overtake me, my throat croaked as words spilled out of my mouth unwillingly.

"Pure conceptions I imbibe, let the truth be revealed to mine eyes. May my name ring aloud for you to hear, in my power; crystallise."

As the final word spilled from my lips, I chugged down the liquid in the chalice. Upon taking every last bit of the strange concoction, moonlight converged upon me.

My mind grew hazy as I felt a strange sensation grow over me... Literally.

The last scene I bore witness to, was the gems on the chalice cracking. Obliterated into dust as the powdered crystals sprinkled over me. And then, crystalline shards started to sprout all over me body. Encasing me into a cocoon of crystal as I fell to sleep.

....

The chalice in Nicholas' hands shone resplendently as he was encased within crystal. His form shimmering with bright green light as he became entirely made of peridot.

The chalice shifted slightly in his motionless hands. But realising they were stuck in his grasp, the inside of the chalice filled up with liquid once more until it overflowed.

The overflowing liquid then forced the chalice to sublimate the moment it fell off the rim, transforming into liquid itself.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A voice filled the space. Softly spoken, yet oily and sultry.

The navy blue liquid graduated into a magenta until it lightened into hot red. The liquid washed over the crystal statue of Nicholas, condensing into a slime-like substance that oozed off into all the nooks and crannies of Nicholas' crystallised form. Inspecting him eagerly.

"What a strange scent... Two names is a rare delicacy.... I wonder what they taste like."

The voice seemingly salivated at the thought of devouring Nicholas's names. No, it wished to squeeze them out of Nicholas and distil his names into a rare concoction.

But, "Unfortunately, the Master told me not to..." The voice sighed, feeling life was not fair. A delicacy was right in front of it, but they could not even take a single sip.

"Well, what Master says goes. May as well help this little one out. Wouldn't be much of a Chalice of Gem if I didn't..."

The oozing purple slime condensed once more. Converging into a simple gelatinous orb above Nicholas's head, it then stretched itself out into a halo. Radiating a psychedelic rainbow light within the ring.

"I, Naised, Drinkkin of Roy. May You, my Great Lord; bless this young one forevermore. Under my light, may he find a Path of his own...."

.....

I dreamt a dream.... One of a dark void. The same one I've been trapped in for years. And yet this time, it didn't feel so lonely...

Not this time. A vibrant violet light floated beside me. Pure and crystal clear.

It spoke to me. With sweet words of a future, past and present unknown to me.

The light drew a map of stars... For me and me alone; countless constellations hanging high in the sky.

Unravelling a kaleidoscope of horoscopes that were familiar and yet strangely also unknown to me at the same time.

"I am a Drinkkin of Roy... These stars shall align for you tonight. Choose the right one, and I shall foretell whether or not your wishes shall be destiny."

By their words, I followed the kaleidoscope. As I entered, my visions were odd cosmic symbols. Configured within striated constellations. The void around me transformed into a dreamscape of a starry sky.

I knew not whether it was a dream or reality, but I felt drawn to the scene. As if I belonged to it.

The symbols encircled me. As if they were urging me to pick amongst them. I saw some that were familiar to me, constellations that were undoubtedly known by all who had some basic cognisance of the Zodiac. Such as Aries, Pisces or Libra...

They were all shining amongst countless other symbols, swimming around. The closer I got to each, the less resonance I felt towards them.

Each of the Zodiac signs felt wrong to me. I could sense a vague connection, but nothing truly clicked....

I cycled across at least eight of the Zodiacs I was familiar with. Until my eyes landed on one in particular....

It was Virgo. The Maiden. The Virgin. The woman who wielded a shaft of wheat in her hand. And yet, despite being the opposite of all these; I could feel resonance with the symbol. As if it and I were one and the same.

I reached out for the symbol, and it too drew closer to me.

The voice spoke aloud once more the moment the symbol and I came into contact, and the sign fused onto the back of my right palm.

"Virgo... Light of life. Of truth and justice. May this star guide towards you, people you will trust most in this world... This is a destiny..."

As those final words fell, I suddenly saw the violet light empty itself like a liquid poured out from its receptacle. Leaving behind a blank white space that merely existed momentarily only to instantly become filled with stars the next second.

I looked all around me and saw a golden fog creeping in slowly. And within the fog, three resplendent lights. Distinct auras that resonated with me...

Just as the Zodiac sign did.

I wonder what it is this time?