The Eternal Blood Chalice

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**

"Tell me where I can find the Eternal Blood Chalice," says Nisha.

Carmilla gives her a smug before talking. "If it is possible, I would've sought it a long time ago."

"Just tell me where and I will bring it for our people."

"No, you will fail." She lets go of the young maiden and walks to the wide window. She gazes at the shores in the distance. They're lit by the lava that's meeting them there.

"Tell me," she insists.

The Queen is not convinced by the maiden's words.

Carmilla turns around. "Trust me, my dear. It's impossible. For I have tried, a long long time ago. Even I barely survived. How much can you?" She takes Nisha's hand and takes her to bed. "Lie down on my lap. I'm going to tell you a story." While Nisha is on her lap, Carmilla brushes her hair with her clawed fingers. "Thousands of years ago, my grandfather King Constantine was the holder of the Divine Daemon Frame. With it, he created the Eternal Blood Chalice that never ran out of blood of any kind, giving him infinite power that he can harness whenever he wished. But when he battled against the other Divine Frame Holders, the Chalice was lost along with him at the Edge of the Shannia.

"I was but an innocent girl like you, when my King Father led the vampires after the extinction of the Anthropae. Our Underworld Empire was collapsing and there was nothing we could do to change its fate. Soon, the Angeli whom we plotted with, turned against us and shifted all the blame unto us. With no sustenance, we could not properly wage a war against the Daemons and the Angeli. And that ended our reign and ever since been exiled to live in this volcanic archipelago where hunger killed us.

"I had a dream like you, my dear. I wanted to find the Eternal Blood Chalice and end the suffering of our people. But that would mean—"

"Taking the Divine Trinity Quest?" Nisha asks, sitting up in awe.

"Exactly."

"You took the Divine Trinity Quest?!"

"I did, but it was short-lived. Upon facing the first trial, I and my hand-picked warriors fell. I was the only one who survived. That's when I knew that I'm not worthy of this quest. This quest is only for gods and goddesses."

"Then I shall be one!" Nisha proclaims, proudly. "I will save us!"

Putting her hand on Nisha's cheek, Carmilla says, "I admire your thought but I don't want you to suffer. You are far too precious to be lost in that fool's errand."

"But—"

"This is the last time we talk about this. Understand?"

Depressingly, Nisha looks down and to the side. "Yes, my lady."

"Good girl. Now, let us gor to bed."

**

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I'm feeling sick! Ugh. . . I feel my stomach about to burst. What happened? What did I eat?

*Gasp*

I remember! But. . . this can't be real. I would never do that!

No, I did and still am. My cheeks are stuffed with Daemon flesh that I can't chew all at once. I spit it out and others grab it, not disgusted to eat it. We are covered in blood. The whole place is covered in blood. Here and there, fights are happening over some left-over flesh. Some are resorting to licking the blood on the floors and on their skins.

"Boy," says Algron to me. He's clean and he must haven't had a bite from this slaughter.

Behind him, I follow. My feet are heavy and I want to vomit but I can't. I want all of the flesh I ate to get out. I'm a monster now.

Once in the empty hallway, I say, "I'm a monster."

"Yeah, Lazarus always had a monstrous appetite. But don't worry, kid, that ain't you."

"But I remember that I did it with my own will. I gave in to the hunger."

"You were disgusting, I admit, but I need you to get over it and help me get Nisha out of this place."

Oh, right. . . we're here to get her out of here. Wait. . . Get her out? The way she stood with Carmilla didn't seem to look like she wanted to get out of here. She was smiling. Is that because of Carmilla's control over her? I think not. She's here because she wanted to.

Algron stops before a corner and checks if we're being followed. Everything's good so we proceed to turn to the right hallway. We then climb a spiral staircase until we reach the top. We're at the top of the tower. Floating in the middle, there is a huge dark stone with a violet aura surrounding it. I notice there are other stones like this on the other towers of the castle. There are seven in total.

"What are these?" I ask, wiping my face.

"The Darken Stones—the source of Carmilla's power." He kneels on one knee so that we could see each other face to face. I can tell that he's about to tell me something serious. "Listen to me, boy. Carmilla is invincible as long as these stones exist. But destroying these stones is very tricky. Usually, there should be guards stationed here if not for the feast. So, we could make a move during those times. The trickiest part is that we have to destroy them all at once. If we fail to do that, the destroyed stones will repair themselves. The solution to that is to hide these Angelus Light Bombs near one of the stones and detonate them all at once."

Oh, it's a proceeding questline.

He shows one Light Bomb to me. In his huge hand, it looks like it's just candy but it's larger than I could grasp with one hand. He gives me three and I keep them in my inventory.

"We need to be very careful," he continues. "If we get caught once, it's over."

Carefully, he places one bomb below a loose brick so it can't be found. That's when we make our way back down the staircase and to the dining hall without anyone knowing.

As he walks away from me, he whispers, "I'll be counting on you, boy. Tell me when you're done."