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{Part One: Cindered Shadows} Chapter Three: Gold Lined in Blood II

You finally exit the passageway leading towards the Chalice of Beginnings. You find yourself outside, and You raise one hand to cover your eyes. It's rather bright, and You see the sun resting high in the sky. You guess that it is about halfway through the day, and You have to wonder how everyone else is doing back at the monastery now that You have gone missing.

Eli: It looks like we're just outside the monastery...

Grey: Look over there... It's Garreg Mach.

Saias: Let's keep following the path. We'll be there soon enough.

Gabriel: Who knew that it would be so close to Abyss?

Quinn: I hope that we'll be able to acquire the Chalice without any issues.

Ernst: I hope for the same, but part of me is concerned that it won't be quite so easy.

Magnus: I can feel a strong magical presence from up ahead. We're definitely going in the right direction.

Chris: I can feel it too, but... I don't like it. To be honest, it makes me feel sort of sick. Then again, I've never been great with dark magic, and that's got to be what this Chalice is made of.

Ansel: This will certainly be a discovery for the ages... Imagine it. We're making history by finding the Chalice of Beginnings.

Taiyin: I hope that you're right... I just don't want us to be making history for the wrong reasons.

Tsubasa: Only time will be able to tell. I think that we've done enough talking. Let's go and find the stupid thing.

Illona: I have a bad feeling about this... Listen.

Raithius: I don't hear anything.

Magnolia: That's the point... There aren't any living creatures nearby. Everything has gone silent.

Sofia: I guess that the wildlife can sense the same dark presence that Chris just mentioned.

Tuncay: I suppose that no animal would want to get close to something that's probably cursed.

Ernst: Studies have shown that animals tend to avoid areas that have suffered from great strain... After a fire, birds will fly away until the area has recovered and is safe again.

Quinn: In that case, I guess that this area has never been safe for the animals... I feel awful for them.

Saias: There has to be something else that drove them away too... I can't imagine that they just avoided this area from the start.

Magnus: If something is guarding the Chalice, we'll just have to get rid of it. If it's standing in our way to find the thing, then we'll just beat it up and throw it to the side.

Tsubasa: We won't know if there's anything to be worried about until we get there. Let's keep going.

Ansel: Sounds like a plan to me.

The group presses on, and Seraphine appears at your side.

Seraphine: I definitely know what they're talking about... I can sense something is off about this area. If I had a body, I would probably be getting sick now. This Chalice is nowhere near as good as it sounds.

You nod and say that You feel the same.

Seraphine: If it was made to resurrect the goddess, then I guess that's fine, but... I have a bad feeling about this. After all, the rite seems to have gone wrong somehow, and if it really is capable of bringing back the dead, imagine what else it could do. Many people could get hurt if something goes wrong... This is our only option, but... I still don't like it.