The Keepers of Chaos: A Vault of Hell

Vaelle Lurval: XLVI

Initiation: XLVI

"You ready?" Donna squeezed her hand. Vaelle looked down. Ready.. 'How can I be?' she wondered. Vaelle was shaking; she had been told nothing of how the initiation worked, only that it came in multiple steps, now.. According to Donna and the head priestess.. It was about to start.

"Yes." She fibbed, she didn't want to say no, afterall. This was all in service of..

"You've got this." Holvier smiled, she looked into his eyes, her body was waning she felt tired.. Hungry and most of all sleep deprived for the last few days she hadn't gotten anymore than maybe.. Three hours a night? "It'll be done before you know it." she pursed her lip. She wanted to be home, eating pasta, or maybe out atop Waterdeep's many hills having a picnic with Holiver. Instead she was steadily approaching the altar in the midst of a low humming ritual. She took feeble steps to a small altar tucked neatly under the large brazzier, many faith members were on their knees chanting with each other.

"Oh Lord Asmodeus!" Donna yelled suddenly, Vaelle nearly jumped when her friend pulled out a small archaic looking dagger, holding out her hand. 'Oh.. oh no don't..' she tried to look away but felt Damien's hands on her shoulders steering her sight towards Donna slicing her own hand open above the small little chalice of an altar. Vaelle cringed watching blood spill slowly over the grey stones marking them in a terrible crimson paint. She wanted to puke, her stomach churned with disgust the smell of rot and blood had filled the air, combined from the dead corpses they had burned in the brazzier above. She wanted to vomit from just the sight of a few drops of blood.

"Accept our prayer.. zicy ul hafr qryiz oiuzm zmuw aly ao ullatylty!" Holvier switched to a different language, Vaelle had looked to him for a sense of sanity she hoped to see someone noticing how clearly wrong it was for Donna to be bleeding like this. 'He has t-' she nearly vomited. Holiver raised his hand and sliced into it with his own dagger, his soft pale flesh opened like a shovel sliding through soft soil dripping free scarlet liquid.

"I'm.. gonna be sick." She tried to turn around and puke but felt Damien steady her, his grip suddenly iron tight she thrashed a little. "Let- let agh.. U- oh." She gagged, catching the scent of burning flesh pushing a hand against her mouth.

"Vae." Donna stared at her demandingly, like she was screwing up a performance on a worldwide stage. Vaelle's bottom lip trembled; she wanted to scream at Holiver and Donna for this absurdity.

"Holiver.. Please this is dis.." She gagged again, searching her lover's eyes for some kind of sympathy, some kind of escape she pleaded with him silently.

She was met with nothing but contempt.

Vaelle swallowed hard, choking down whatever bits of breakfast she had, and had back down her throat. She fought the urge to run, lifting her hand up into the air she gently plucked; Tròcair from her locks cringing at the pools of blood now in the goblet atop the altar. "I-I" She stuttered, reaching her left hand out in a trembling grasp. She didn't want to do this, everything in her body told her this was wrong.. And unnatural.

"For Nessus's sake Vaelle!" Donna snatched her arm forcefully spreading her fingers out over the goblet. Panic settled in over her body she struggled to pull away suddenly painfully aware of how much weaker she was than Donna.

"S-stop w-" This wasn't like Donna, her friend had never hurt her before. The two of them struggled.

"Vaelle.. Please." Holiver hissed, she couldn't believe what she was hearing the two of them had lost any sense of compassion while she hesitated over such a disgusting action. She clenched her eyes shut taking deep breaths. 'Its ok.. It's ok.. Just.. remember the shop.' She silently imagined her storefront, the times she had tossed dirt at Holiver when he made too many terrible jokes, when Donna had first visited the store after Vaelle scraped together every last coin to open it.