Cuphead || The Calix Animi

Her Dark Past

Cuphead and Mugman would follow Ms. Chalice for a while, trying hard not to lose her, they followed her footsteps trying to catch up to her. "Where could she possibly be going?" Asked Cuphead. They continued on moving until eventually, they arrived at a large mountain. A mountain so large that it went high into the clouds. "omg. There is no way she just climbed up this mountain! Look how steep it is!" Cuphead said. "Come on Cup, we're climbing this." Said Mugman. "I don't know man, this doesn't look safe at all...." Cuphead replied. "You wanna figure out who Chalice really is or not?" Asked Mugman. Cuphead sighed as they both started climbing the mountain, they tried hard not to fall, it was too steep to simply walk up, they had to climb it using arms and legs. Due to how large the mountain was, it would take hours to reach the top. Cuphead looked down for a brief moment to see that he was really high up, causing him to freak out. "AAAAHH! MUGMAN!" He shouted. Mugman said back "Don't panic! Just don't let go!" 

They proceeded to climb the mountain for a while until they finally reached the top. They found themselves in what looked like city ruins. "Woah.... What is this place?" Asked Mugman. Cuphead looked around before noticing a sign, when he read it, he was surprised. "Yo! Mugman check this out!!" Mugman took a look at it, the sign said Calix Animi on it. "You're kidding me!" Said Mugman. "This is the home of our ancestors! Or what's left of it." Said Cuphead. They continued to look around the place, before they suddenly heard footsteps. "Quiet! Get down." Said Mugman as he and Cuphead hid behind some rubble. The one who passed by was Ms. Chalice. They saw her approach an old statue. But what was interesting about the statue was that the statue figure looked a lot like Ms. Chalice. Mugman looked at the statue and then back at her. And then he said "Cuphead... I think she might actually be that figure in the statue, it's the same one we saw on the painting, look how similar Ms. Chalice looks to it! It has to be her!" Cuphead examined Ms. Chalice and watched in shock as Ms. Chalice suddenly transformed into a ghost! She continued to look at the statue of her past self. Reminiscing over her past life.
(Not my art)

Cuphead looked at Mugman and said "You know... I think you're right! But Elder Kettle told us that she along with the Calix Animi perished 2,500 years ago! How is she here? And why is she a ghost?" Mugman then said "I think it's time we asked her." He got out of hiding and said "Hey! Chalice, we've got some questions!" Ms. Chalice was startled by them, she shouted "What the heck are you boys doing here? How did you get here? Stay away!" She quickly flew away from them. "Wait Chalice come back!" Shouted Mugman, he and Cuphead chased after her. They entered a dark room that they saw her fly into. "Hey, Chalice? Come on out, we want just want to understand what's going on here." Said Mugman. The only response he got was silence. Cuphead then said "Hey, Chalice, you can't just save us and then just run off like that. We want to know who you really are!" There was still silence before they heard Chalice's voice say "You two shouldn't be here, the Devil is after you boys. You need to leave the city." Cuphead then said "But he's after you too. We saw wanted posters of you at his casino, we both owe him our souls clearly, just come on out and let's talk." Ms. Chalice sighed and floated out of hiding. Mugman looked at her and said "I assume your the person from that statue." Ms. Chalice nodded her head, she then said "Yes, I was the Legendary Chalice, the lead warrior of the Calix Animi.... I'm the last of my kind." She then changed back into her mortal form as Cuphead asked "How do you do that? How did you survive? Elder Kettle told us you were wiped out along with the rest of your race by the Devil." Ms. Chalice looked down and finally said "I- we were all wiped out, however, during my time trapped in hell. My best friend found a crack through reality, and he sacrificed everything to help me escape... But now I'm the only one left... I've been on the run from the Devil ever since. Using my new ghost ability to avoid him." Cuphead was silent before asking "How... how long have you been alone for?" Ms. Chalice was silent before finally saying "I- I've been running for 2,500 years now, I can't believe it's been so long since the Calix Animi was destroyed, it still feels like it happened yesterday." She turned and walked outside, Cuphead and Mugman followed her. She sighed and said "I'm forever stuck as a celestial being, cursed to live forever as the world keeps moving. I've seen quite a lot during my life. But I could never find any other members of my race who survived, I'm all alone. No home, no friends, no family. All I have is myself and my special abilities." Mugman walked over to her and said "That's not actually true Chalice, you see, your family, was our ancestors." Chalice looked at him and asked "Wait, what?" Mugman nodded his head and said "Yeah, Elder Kettle told us all about your race, and your rivalry with the Devil. And that me and Cuphead are the last remaining descendants of the Calix Animi. There were survivors Chalice. And they had families of their own." Ms. Chalice couldn't believe this, Cuphead and Mugman are actually descendants of the Calix Animi. Cuphead then added to the conversation "Wait a minute, I'm trying to wrap my brain around a lot of this still, so, Elder Kettle told us that our ancestors specifically were your parents Chalice. And if you were their daughter, does that make you our very distant cousin or something?!" Ms. Chalice looked at him and Mugman in shock. She then said "I- I guess it does!" Cuphead couldn't believe this was happening, this whole thing was turning into some kind of family reunion. "Woah, this is a lot to take in!" He said. Mugman looked at her and said "There's still one thing I don't get Chalice, you were the Devils greatest enemy, you used to fight him all the time, and you still have those abilities of yours so, why did you stop fighting back after you returned?" Ms. Chalice sighed and walked over to her statue, she sat down and said "I- I can't, not anymore..." Mugman asked "Why though?" Ms. Chalice then said "I- I left that old life of mine behind, all of my people were killed, my friend never got to escape hell with me. When I returned to the land of the living, I was overwhelmed with sadness. My home was gone, my people were gone, I had nothing left to fight for anymore, I'm not the same fighter I once was. I'm just a survivor now, the Devil won, I failed to stop him. So I decided to go settle down, tried to find something to make a living with. I found a new skill of mine which was some really talented tapdancing tricks. I was able to use charm to make my way past things and for 2,500 years I've been surviving on what I have." Cuphead then said "So you're telling us that you just gave up? Just like that?" Ms. Chalice was silent before saying "What else can I do? Without my race, I'm nothing, the Devil killed them all,  my parents, everyone... I- I lost everything because of him!" A tear came out of her eye as she said that. Cuphead sat in front of her and looked at her and said "I'm so sorry about what happened to you, really. But Elder Kettle always told us that you were a great warrior. The bravest of them all, one who would never give up without a fight, you were always there to protect people from the Devil, and you wouldn't stop fighting until the Devil was finally defeated. Well, where's that warrior now? Because I'm not seeing her." Chalice looked at him and said "I just.... I can't, ok? I lost, the best I can do now is survive. Maybe it's best we just go our separate ways. I'm always going to be alone. You both should get out of the city and as far away from the Devil's Casino as you can, just save yourselves. Please." She began to cry a bit, so Cuphead gave her a hug. Ms. Chalice was still for a moment before deciding to hug back. Mugman then said to her. "Listen Chalice. We all owe our souls to the Devil, even if me and Cuphead run, our souls fates are now tied to the Devil, so one day if we die, he'll still be able to take our souls and probably send them down to hell just like everyone. We're never truly safe from him, I think that maybe the world could use the Calix Animi again." Chalice looked at him and asked "What do you mean?" Mugman then said "You see Chalice, when we told Elder Kettle that we owe the Devil our souls, he gave us something to protect ourselves. The powers of the Calix Animi, he gave us these two drinks that gave us the same abilities you have." Ms. Chalice was silent before remembering how she sent the last two drinks of the powers of the Calix Animi away to keep them safe from the Devil, and then she realized that those two drinks were the ones Mugman just mentioned, she got up and looked at him shouted "You and Cuphead drank the last two?! Are you serious?!" Mugman said "Yeah, watch." He then pointed his finger out and fired a blue bullet, however it didn't go straight. He then said "Yeah I'm really bad at aim." Ms. Chalice on the other hand could not believe this. "He actually gave those last two drinks to you?! The Calix Animi guarded those for years! Saving them for someone who's worthy of such power! Why did he have to give them to goofballs like you!? No offence." Cuphead then said "Wait, were we not meant to have them or something?" Ms. Chalice looked at them and said "Well you clearly have no idea how to use those powers so of course not! Alright, I want to meet Elder Kettle, I want to have a talk with him about the seriousness of this situation!" Mugman then said "Oh, sure, can you take us back down the mountain though because I don't want to climb down that thing, it was hard enough getting up here." Chalice nodded her head and transformed into her ghost form, she picked up Cuphead and Mugman and flew down the mountain. "Alright, now which way is your house?" She asked.
(To be continued...)