The statue of Prince Terrence looked as if he was trying to reach for something before he was petrified. He looked exactly like what he did when he showed himself to us when he was a ghost.
I glared at Serena. “Lady, I understand that you have not interacted with other people for a long time but this is just sick. You can’t just show Nate the corpse of his father.” I pointed out.
Serena’s eyes widened in horror. “Wait. Wait, my friends. Prince Terrence is not dead. He was simply placed under a spell!”
“Who would...who would do such a thing?” Ren asked while we cautiously glanced at Nate, who was staring intently at the stone figure of his father.
“King Varon of course!”
“I thought King Varon was a good king. Why would he put my father to stone?” Nate had a heavy look on his face. The look on his face says that he was fighting a turmoil of feelings inside of him. It was a look that I have never seen him wore. “Does he know that by doing so, he rid a child of his father. Made him suffer feeling like a bastard child.”
“Hold on, friend. King Varon is a good king. Probably the best there is.” Serena said. Her tone going soft as she probably felt the emotion that Nate portrayed from his tone. “The only reason why he did that was to stop Prince Terrence from joining the war and dying as well. Prince Terrence has always been loyal to King Varon ever since he saved him and gave him a new purpose. He was one of King Varon’s loyal knights.”
“The war ended. Why is my father still a stone?”
The nymph casted her gaze downward. “There was an unforeseen event.” She says. “The original plan was to kill the Chimera that Ferius created. Unfortunately, it was too powerful for Nagga alone. By sealing Nagga along with the Chimera, his presence was cut off from the world that the spirits that he kept at bay started rampaging. And because he also sealed...him.” She whispered and pointed to Viex, who was currently sleeping on the floor. “No other royal spirit can contain the others. And because of that…” There was a solemn look on her face as she continued. “My sisters...they were gone the moment I returned to hand over the Chalice to the villagers. I don’t know what exactly happened to them.” She sighed.
“How long ago was that?” I asked.
“A long long long time ago. I don’t even remember. You know when you are alone for too long that you just don’t care about the time and stare at the ceiling and laugh and talk to everything that moved like the wind and water?” She asked and started laughing. Ren, Ace, Nate and I all exchanged glances and took one step back.
Just to be safe. You know. In case she goes crazy and demands that we stay with her forever.
“But that’s all in the past now! All of that can change! As long as you claim the rights for the Chalice and acknowledge Custard as a royal familiar!”
“A what?” I looked at Custard, hoping that he would have an answer to my question. Judging by the tilt of his head from side to side, I can only assume that he was as clueless as me as well.
“A royal familiar. It’s the usual ceremony for crowning the next ruler of Gija.” As the words left her mouth, I was stunned as a particular sentence kept running inside my mind.
Next ruler of Gija. Next ruler of Gija. Next ruler of Gija....
I laughed out loud for a good 10 seconds, turned 180 degrees, lifted up my skirt, and started bolting for the magical doorway. As usual, this damn PRINCE must have read my mind that he simply tripped me with his foot. Before my face could even touch the ground, he already grabbed the back of my dress to keep me afloat.
“No! I don’t want to rule! May I remind you that I barely do my homework and now you want me to do more paperworks!? I need my rights!” I demanded.
“No one in their right mind would hand over a whole kingdom to an imbecile like you. Haven’t you been listening!? They need a royal familiar to keep the evil spirits away! It’s a ceremony for your familiars.”
I blinked and allowed him to pull me back to my feet. “Wow. You really are a nerd. You got all that just by listening?”
“I am a PRINCE.” The way that he said it was like it was already common knowledge.
“Yeah yeah. We get that already.” I sighed and returned my gaze to Serena. “So...how does this work?”
“Come here. I have to hand over the rights of the Chalice to you.” She gestured for me to follow her to the fountain in the middle of the area. I followed her and stared at the water in the fountain. Serena placed the chalice in the middle. “When I grant you the recognition and the rights of the Chalice, your familiar - or should I say familiars - will automatically gain the title of royal familiars. Do you understand me?”
“Um...so far yes.”
“Good. Now I want you to think of a word that would bind the Chalice to you. Any word that only you should and use. Whenever you use the Chalice you will use that word to command the spirits to lend you their magic. Think about it while I start the ceremony for your ascension.” She says and opens her palms for me to take. I placed both my hands on top of hers and watched as she uttered words that I could not comprehend. It reminded me of the vision that I got. Of when she and the rest of the Nymphs were casting a spell to make everyone forget about this place.
My mind started to wander as I was trying to think of a word. But apparently, my stomach was in control at the moment because I clearly have not eaten for who knows how long. My last meal was that apple and it wasn’t even enough to fill up my hunger.
Boy. What I would give just to eat meat for today. I wonder what’s for breakfast? Or was it lunch? Dinner perhaps? If I was back in my world I would love to order a large burger for myself with a side of Nachos.
Ah...Nachos. I miss those. Especially the cheese and ground beef toppings. My stomach started to growl just by thinking about it.
“State your name.”
“Rosalie Amber Stan.” I said absentmindedly and briefly felt myself getting cold all of a sudden.
“Congratulations, Princess. The spirits have recognized you as a royal of Gija along with your two familiars. Now, I will transfer the chalice to you.” There was a pause. “I, Serena, current guardian of the Chalice, give soleful rights to Princess Roselia Amber Stan.” She raised the Chalice in the air. “With King Varon’s chosen word: Harold. I now transfer it to you, Rose. Have you thought of a word yet?”
I haven’t. But right now, I was too hungry that I was starting to see food in front of me. “..Nachos.” I whispered dreamily.
“Nachos!” Serena yelled and the cup started to glow.
That broke me out of my trance when I heard her saying it. I gasped in horror as soon as I realized that she was using that same exact word to bind me to the chalice. “W-Wait! That’s not-”
The cup stopped glowing and Serena finally handed me the cup. “Congratulations. You are now the owner of the Chalice. Now no one may be able to use it other than you. And please remember your chosen word well. You may not be able to use it without its binding word.”
“Great!” I said through gritted teeth and a fake smile. Amazing. Of all the binding words that I could think of, it had to be Nachos. Good going, Rose.
“With it, you can finally free Prince Terrence from his long overdue slumber.”
All of us looked at Serena. “Free prince Terrence?” I asked.
“Can she do that?” I glanced at Nate and saw a flash of hope in his eyes. Hope and excitement.
“Of course she can. The power of the Chalice is to reverse every spell there is. Now, what do you say, Princess? You want to give it a try?”
I looked at Nate and found him looking back at me. He looked like a child right now that doesn’t know what to say when being asked a question. I smiled at him. “I guess it’s finally time that I do something for you, Nate.”
A worried look crossed on Nate’s face as he looked at Serena. “It won’t hurt her, will it? I mean, is it not the kind of spell that would require a sacrifice?”
Serena laughed. “Oh this is sweet. You’re just too sweet like your father. But what you’re talking about is dark magic. The Chalice is made out of pure light magic that it is only granted to royal tamers. They have pure souls, that is why familiars like Custard are born when they come to this world.”
“I think you must have mistaken pure for naivety.” Ace commented.
“Hey! This is my moment. Stop embarrassing me.” I glared at him before turning back to Serena. “So what do I have to do?” I asked.
Serena came to my side and started pulling me towards the statue of Prince Terrence. She grabbed the cup from my hand, ran back to the fountain to scoop up some water and hurried back to my side. “Add a drop of your blood in here.”
I gulped. “Why blood?”
“Your blood is now bound to the cup. It only works through that.”
I glanced at Nate and offered him my hand. He seemed to understand what I wanted him to do because he seemed to hesitate. “He is your father after all.”
Ren and Ace gave him a push after Ace handed him a dagger - dude, I swear that guy has all sorts of arsenals! Nate stumbled a little, which was unlike the strong and confident vampire that I know. He slowly walked towards me and grabbed my hand.
“I’ll make it small since I know that you’re too much of a baby.” He teased, but his lips quivered a bit as he spoke. He was nervous.
“You better or I might cry and run away again.” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I really am ready to bold again when something bad happens.
Nate chuckled and lightly pressed the dagger at the tip of my right pointer finger. I didn’t even feel a thing.
Serena immediately went and grabbed my hand to catch the drop of blood into the Chalice. She then handed it to me. “Here. Now all you have to do is say the word and pour the water onto Prince Terrence.”
“That’s all? Seems easy. No mambo jumbo words needed?”
Serena laughed again. “Why do you people associate spiritual magic with dark magic?”
“But you were saying a lot of words when you transferred the rights to me!”
“I am a Nymph. And I like to be fancy.” She grinned.
I grabbed the chalice from her before looking at Nate. “Ready to see your dear papa?” I snorted.
He gave me a small smile. “I don’t know what it’s even like to have a father so I don’t really know what to say or do.” He chuckled.
I grinned before looking back at the stone statue of Prince Terrence. Then I blushed in embarrassment as I remembered the word that I was supposed to say. “N-Nachos!” I said and stood on the tips of my toes to pour the liquid on top of Prince Terrence’s head.
As soon as the rest of the liquid was poured on top of his head, the stone began to crack. I stumbled back in surprise and Nate immediately caught me. We both watched as the stone continued to crack.
“Is that normal?” I asked Serena.
“It is! Oh I am so excited. I can finally see my old friend!”
There was a loud crash as the stones crumbled, creating a huge cloud of dust and smoke around us. We all watched as a red headed man fell along with the rubble. He shook his head and rubbed his neck.
“Damn it, Varon. I must waste no time and-” He opened his eyes and finally saw us. Then his eyes drifted to the dagger on Nate’s hand and frowned. Nate followed his gaze to the dagger in his hands and immediately pushed me to the side just as Prince Terrence pounced at him.