He could feel himself plummeting through The Void- the name he gave this place, the abruptness of his involuntary descend causing Lancelot to not be able to form any coherent thoughts. He felt himself being dragged down to the bottom of this abyss.
After an indefinite amount of time, he awoke.
He sat upright with a gasp, breathless. Cold sweat soaked the back of his cheap linen shirt. Lancelot noticed that he was no longer in the Orphanage, instead, he was lying in a bed belonging to a spacious basement of an unfamiliar place. The walls were made of cobblestone bricks and there was a lone, wooden door that led outside. A few tables were spread about, accompanied by numerous chairs and wax candles of various lengths that illuminated the room.
'Where am I?' Lancelot thought as he stirred, sliding out of the cotton blankets and standing up. He wiped the perspiration off his forehead as he took steps towards the door.
First things first, he had to find out where he was.
He unconsciously clenched his fist, disgust and anger raging inside him as he remembered what had happened. Quickly, he took closed his eyes and sighed, adopting a solemn expression.
'From now on, my life will be dedicated to one thing; Revenge.' Lancelot vowed, calming his shattered heart.
There was no use ruminating over that scene, it would only serve to make him inch closer to despair.
'Those strange things that I felt.. ' He remembered the scene of him transforming into a monster. 'The world isn't as simple as I thought, there's definitely supernatural things such as vampires, werewolves, mysticism and spirituality. Once I get to a safe space, I'll figure out what to do next. Maybe, I could find a way to contact that mysterious existence? He did say I was his Blessed..' He mused.
Since he underwent those supernatural experiences, he believed himself to be one of those with extraordinary abilities.
Feeling reinvigorated, the corner of his lips curled.
He could find a way to bolster his strength and get revenge!
Soon, he was barely a meter away from the door. He reached out to grasp the doorknob, only for it to swing open!
Entering through the door, an adolescent with soft features, blonde hair that fell freely down onto his shoulders, looked at him with shock and extreme joy flickering through his bright green eyes. He was dressed in a priest's attire, completely white with gold accents running through the edges of the cloth.
Immediately, Lancelot was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug!
"You're awake! I'm so happy!" The boy ecstatically shouted into Lancelot's shoulder.
His body stiffened as he stood there awkwardly, slowly being suffocated.
"Le-let go!" He exclaimed hoarsely, his face turning blue as he tried extracting himself from the priest's iron grip. He pounded his fist against the adolescent's back, only for his hand to ache as if he had struck metal!
'There's no way I'm dying here!' Lancelot squirmed as he felt his ribcage press down against his lungs. He stopped struggling, his eyes rolling upwards as he lost consciousnesses.
Upon feeling Lancelot go limp in his hands, the priest quickly extracted himself, watching as Lancelot's unconscious body cluttered onto the floor. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, apologising repeatedly before easily picking up Lancelot's body, placing it gently onto the bed once again.
A minute or so later.
Lancelot stirred awake for the second time that day, all pretenses of sleepiness disappeared instantly as he jumped out of the bed.
One thought resounded through his mind; He had to get out of here!
Clearly, the priest had left a deep impression on Lancelot.
"You're awake!" An innocent voice resounded through the room. Lancelot jumped in fright as he noticed the priest from earlier, sitting on a chair near the side of his bed.
".....Who are you? Where am I?" Lancelot questioned measuredly.
He feared this innocent-looking adolescent very much.
Indeed, the strength of this boy isn't inferior than that of a bear!
"I'm Eric. You're in Saint Helios Cathedral, in the city Neruda." Eric answered with a genial expression.
'Neruda...I've been taken away from the town? Who brought me here..' Lancelot thought.
'I've had a lot of questions recently..'. He self-depreciated
"You've been brought here after you awakened your spirituality. High Priest Wilhelm will be here shortly to explain things to you." Eric informed with a small smile. "Are you hungry? You slept for nearly a day.."
Lancelot locked onto one word: 'Spirituality? My hypothesis was right.. I need to ask more questions.'
Just then, in a very clichéd manner, Lancelot's stomach decide to let it's hunger be known in a loud, reverberating growl.
"Yes." Lancelot answered in a clipped tone, face devoid of emotion.
Seriously, this sequence of events was too embarrassing!
"Okay!" Enthusiastically, Eric stood up and quickly rushed out the room.
Lancelot sighed in disappointment and relief, he thought about what to do next..
'Since I'm that being's Blessed, he should be watching over me, right? Or, is he still sleeping...? He never told me how to contact him. Do I pray to him inside The Sun God's cathedral? Will I be roasted like a vampire once I step into the sun?' Lancelot lampooned.
Organising his thoughts, he decided on his priorities for now.
Number 1: Join whatever organisation Eric belongs to- which was suspected to be the Church of the God of Day. Only by learning how to use his 'spirituality' would he gain the strength required for his revenge.
Number 2: Contact 'that' existence again. He needed answers.
Number 3: Investigate that hooded man. He was the prime suspect in Lancelot's mind, clearly having had a dark, malevolent aura. He felt as though this man was terrifyingly powerful, making his desire for strength grow stronger.
Loud footsteps echoed as Eric appeared at the doorway holding a wooden bowl, inside it seemed to be stew, a loaf of rye bread in his other hand.
"Here you go!" Eric cheerfully handed the two items to Lancelot.
Sitting on the bed, Lancelot received it, thanking him. He broke a piece of rye bread and dipped it in the brown coloured stew, capturing a morsel of hot, delectable beef. He chewed slowly, savouring the taste before quickly finishing the delicious meal, setting the empty bowl on a nearby table.
"You're an amazing chef, Eric." Lancelot complimented sincerely, rubbing his belly and sighing in contentment.
"Thank you! I really want to be a chef, my dream is to cook for the king one day." Eric replied with a pleased smile.
The wooden floor boards creaked as they heard someone approaching. Eric had a look of excitement on his face. Lancelot couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. He could finally get an answer to his many questions.
Stepping through the door was a man in his thirties. He had moderate, slicked-back black hair with a bonnet on the top. He was dressed in a white alb, chasuble and stola with yellow outlines. On the stola was embroidered suns, flaked in gold. He held a gold-inlaid staff, this item gave a supernatural feeling to Lancelot. His bearing was calm, confident and analytical, giving a reliable vibe.
Eric bowed, face filled with admiration.
The man swept his gaze cross the room, his gaze settling on Lancelot.
"I see you've awoken, you must have many questions." His lips curled into a small smile.
"I am Father Wilhelm, High Priest of Saint Helios Cathedral." He introduced professionally. "Sit down, and I'll brief you on your situation." He pointed to the chairs.
After they pulled some chairs together and sat down, Father Wilhelm clasped his hands together and started explaining.
"Each being in this world has spirituality. Only that it's in a dormant and sealed state. People can 'awaken' this spirituality. After doing so, they'll gain extraordinary powers. Spirituality can be awakened via two ways: A sufficiently powerful person can unlock the persons spirituality by injecting some of their own into the targets body. The other case is your situation, the spirituality being awakened by an extremely strong surge of emotion or desire. Either way, the awakening of spirituality is extremely dangerous."
Father Wilhelm took a deep breath.
"The most common case is mutation, the person is unable to control their spirituality, letting it overwhelm them and become a monster. This is the same for the second case, the person is unable to rein in their emotions and they succumb to their spirituality." He paused momentarily, "There is only one thing we can do for those who become 'monsters', and that is showing mercy and sending them to the Lord."
This was indeed an act of mercy, most people would rather die than lose their sanity.
'So, that's what happened..' Lancelot nodded before deliberating, eventually saying
"I showed signs of mutation, why didn't I become a monster? Was it because of something you did?" He questioned.
Father Wilhelm smiled. "That's what we were wondering too. It turns out someone had sealed your spirituality temporarily, saving you from your fate. Perhaps, you had been saved by God." The smile on his face grew.
'Yeah, just not the God you're thinking of...' Lancelot lampooned.
Father Wilhelm propped up the golden-inlaid staff. "This staff is called 'Angel's Embrace'. Along other abilities, it has the ability to re-release your spirituality, it was made from the remains of a bishop that unfortunately fell in battle to a group of cultists." He explained.
"This gives you two options, one is to join us, the Church, and serve the Lord, fighting against evil, monsters and the heretics from the God of Night's cult."
"And the second?" Lancelot asked.
"The second," Father Wilhelm heaved a heavy sigh.
"Is to die."