Upon seeing this, Shinso cocked an eyebrow. "And this means?..."
Catherine picked up the card, studying it at face value. "The Slayer."
"Huh?" The boy seemed taken aback. Catherine looked towards him and smiled softly. "This card symbolizes the Barbarian Pathway—the path of the warrior."
"So...I pick that Pathway?" Shinso's expression remained skeptical.
Catherine shook her head. "Give me the next card, the one that is second closest to you."
Shinso followed the woman's instructions, flipping over another card. This card showcased a beast with crimson skin and covered in scales. It sat at a table which was overflowing with food, and it stuffed its face with delight, licking its lips greedily.
Gazing at this card, Shinso scoffed. "Am I supposed to take that Pathway?"
Catherine picked up the card, showing it to Shinso. "This is the Hunger Pathway, or the Zenith Pathway."
Hearing Catherine, Shinso was suddenly confused. He looked towards the other potions on the table, cocking one of his bushy eyebrows. "They're only two potions. How will he get one?" Shinso pointed in my direction.
"You don't consume both of the potions I mentioned, Shinso. Now flip the last card."
"Ok..." Shinso flipped over the last card, showing it to Catherine. The card showcased a being composed of radiant light, an uncountable amount of wings on its back. A crown formed of dazzling starlight sat atop its head.
"What's this one?" Shinso asked.
"This the Saint Pathway. The pathway of benevolence and compassion."
"Didn't Ayumi already take that?" Shinso crossed his arms. "I'm beginning to think I'll never receive an answer."
"Patience." Catherine's voice grew slightly stern as she held the three cards in her hand. After a few seconds of silence, she placed them back on the table.
Suddenly, we heard a loud crash echoing from another room. A white candle flew out of a room in Aaron's house, landing on the table in front of Catherine. Shinso couldn't help but flinch as it approached him.
"You should have cleaned your mysticism room." Catherine grumbled, looking in Aaron's direction. The older man chuckled and sighed self-deprecatingly.
"I apologize."
The woman slowly let out a long sigh as she turned back to Shinso. "Now, Shinso..."
The wax of the candle suddenly ignited with blue flames. Within the embers, he could see faint images of the figures he had just seen on the cards. He saw the armor-clad warrior severing the dragon's head from its body, he saw the creature eating gluttonously at the table, followed by the figure composed of radiant light.
The scenes began to turn hazy, melding together into a singular scene of chaos, warped images and a liquid-like haze. Catherine leaned to her right, looking past the candle and at Shinso. Her lips parted as she asked a question.
"What did you see?"
"What...was on the cards I picked." Shinso's eyes were slightly wide with astonishment.
"So the ritual is working, that's assuring." The woman smiled as she leaned back in her chair. "Now tell me, what symbol do you see in the fire?"
Shinso gazed back into the embers of the candle's flames. The blurry scenes and pictures quickly diffused, conjoining and converged to form an illusory symbol. Before Shinso could speak, Catherine's hand dove into the deck, picking a card and putting it on the table.
"Is this the symbol?"
The indigo-haired boy's head darted towards the symbol on the card, and towards the illusory symbol within the flames. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he gulped and answered.
I-it...is."
"So...you've chosen the Justice Pathway."
Shinso was suddenly overcome with confusion, more than previously. "That wasn't one of the Pathways you mentioned."
Catherine sighed, smiling. "I will teach you why, but you must drink in the meantime."
"Ok..." Shinso watched as Catherine handed him a bottle of glowing purple liquid. Within the liquid, Shinso could see images resembling fireworks exploding within it.
"Like Aaron stated, it's tasteless." Catherine smiled softly.
"Ok..." Shinso took a deep breath as he unscrewed the lid, bringing the potion to his lips and gulping it down with an almost greedy aura. A little of the glowing liquid ran down the corner of his mouth as he finished.
Putting the bottle back onto the table, the boy leaned back and sighed. "Ok...that was...weird." Shinso looked down at his stomach area, noticing how it was bulging and contorting as if it had a life of its own.
"Is this...normal?" He asked, looking up at Catherine with wide eyes, his voice uncharacteristically fearful.
"In some cases, abdominal swelling is the body's attempt to accommodate potions."
"So...I'll look pregnant for how long?..."
Catherine paused for a beat, her face turning a little red as she sighed in defeat. "In anyone's case, periods of digestion can range from a few weeks to months."
"I'm sorry...months? I'll look like this for months?"
"Maybe. Just wear thicker layers—no one will know since it's already cold outside."
"Ok..." Shinso continued to look down at his stomach. Suddenly, his face turned a ghastly green color, and the boy began to gag. Shinso's mouth shot open as he unleashed a torrent of vomit onto the dusty floor. This vomit wasn't the usual color, it was purple and brown.
The boy let out shaky and sharp breaths as he heaved on the couch, his face still pale. "T-this...keeps getting worse."
"Hmm...it appears your consumption is...tricky." Catherine's lips curled into a frown.
The boy gritted his teeth, clutching his stomach tightly as he gazed at the three adults in the room. "Will I be puking like this for months too?"
"I mean, when I first consumed my potion, I only suffered like you are for a week." Carter gazed at Shinso's stomach, which was now less inflamed. Aaron remained silent for a few seconds, before looking in my direction.
"We might have to hold off your potion consumption for a while. Shinso's condition is too...delecate to say the least."
The older man's gaze shifted downwards to Shinso, who was almost curled up in his seat. "I'll probably have Isaiah conduct a surgery or two if you don't get tidy soon."
"What?..." Shinso's eyes widened, a small lump forming in his throat.
At that moment, Aaron exploded with laughter. "I'm joking, boy. I won't let him lay a finger on you...if he won't let me stop him."
"Please...t-tell me...you're joking." At this rate, Shinso seemed to be in so much pain he couldn't speak complete sentences without gagging furiously.
"I mean..." Aaron looked away.
"If that old man lays a finger on him I ought to teach him a lesson." Ayumi smirked confidently, cocking an eyebrow.
"Since...when are you so...proud?" Shinso's eyes were now half-lidded.
"Phycological effects of potion consumption can alter and perceive feelings differently." Catherine replied.
"It's a part of the myth."
"The...m-myth?" Shinso tried to lean up in his chair, but the pain in his stomach prevented much movement.
"Yes..." Catherine turned back to Carter and Aaron, her expression turning slightly contemplative.
"They haven't heard of the Myth of Life."
Aaron's gaze suddenly shifted over to me. "Do you want to hear it?"
"What? Will it...y'know, corrupt me?"
Aaron chuckled again, jabbing Carter in the ribs. "It's basic knowledge if you attend teachings. Everyone who attends Sunday school in worship of Mother Nature has familiarized themselves with the Myth of Life."
"Then...why is knowledge of Sealed Relics so dangerous?" I asked.
At that moment, Aaron's brows creased slightly, and he straightened his posture. "Because not everyone knows about it. It's special knowledge that Ms. Catherine here decided to leak so recklessly."
"The...children seemed curious." Catherine sunk down in her chair, sighing in defeat.
After a few seconds of silence, Aaron opened his mouth again. "Did I ever mention the Silencers?"
"The what?" Ayumi's eyes widened. "Are they...evil monsters or something?"
"No. We're the Silencers." Aaron pointed at Carter and Catherine, his wrinkled lips forming a small smile. "We do things that the law enforcement doesn't do."
"But...that's a topic for another time." Aaron then looked towards Catherine, smiling. "I feel like you could recite the Myth of Life without knowing it to begin with; that's how familiarized Catherine has made herself with spiritual practices."
"It's my speciality." Catherine, who wasn't as embarrassed, ran a hand through her hair.
She then took a deep breath and began explaining. "In the beginning, there was chaos, darkness, and entropy—a desolate absence of life, of humanity."
The air around us began to cool, and I couldn't help but shiver.
"But then, "He" awakened, casting the first rays of light upon all of existence."
"W-who's..."He"?" Shinso asked.
"The Primordial Creator, what most of us believe is God." Catherine replied.
"After "He" awakened, "His" body entered a state of chaos and destruction, collapsing in on itself. This created everything we see around us. "His" eyes became the sun and moon, "His" bodily fluids rushed into the rivers, oceans, and lakes. "His" fingers became the mountains, and "His" toes became the caverns."
"His" mouth, nose and eyes became the distant planets and stars, "His" ears became the black holes, and "His" genitals and other bodily organs became the monsters and mutants, and demons."
"After it was done, "His" form had been completely dispersed across all of existence. "His" soul gave birth to every living being across the universe, so every being of "His" creation is...also "Him"."
"Wow..." Ayumi's mouth was half opened with wonder. Shinso was still clutching his stomach, while I listened without feeling much of anything. After some silence, Catherine looked towards Shinso and sighed.
"His state is too pitiful for walking, someone must carry him."
At that moment, Shinso looked towards me. "I carried you around, you should return the favor."
I nodded, feeling my face flush a little as I approached Shinso, scooping him up into my arms and proceeding forward. He was pretty heavy.
The entire carriage ride back to the Parterre de Fleurs, Shinso was groaning quietly in his seat, constantly looking like he was about to vomit. Outside, the snowfall had increased a marginable degree.
"I apologize for you not being able to consume your potion." Catherine said from the front seat, the insulated barrier being pulled out.
"Didn't you say...I would get corrupted or something from such knowledge? Why hasn't that happened yet?"
For a few seconds the woman fell silent, pondering. "Well, I have a few hypotheses."
"Perhaps you didn't hear enough information, therefore you didn't suffer any negative effects?"
"I guess that could be an answer."
I felt the same buzzing inside my pocket, and a faint crimson glow emanated from my pocket. Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
Before Catherine could press forward, we were all caught off guard by the wet sounds of Shinso vomiting inside of the carriage. Me and Ayumi scooted far to the right, avoiding the foul and warm mixture of potion and previously consumed food on the ground.
...
Back inside my apartment room, I entered the bathroom and took out the Blood-Moon Charm from my pocket, noticing it had been growing brighter than before.
"Huh?" I was taken aback by this. The charm hadn't acted like this before—it concerned me even if it hadn't been in my possession for very long.
Outside, I could hear Shinso's light breathing and groans as he lay down on the apartment bed. Catherine had given him a bowl in case he had to vomit again. The inside of the bathroom was somewhat chilly.
The necklace continued to vibrate and pulse in my grip with an ethereal red light. At that moment, illusory black cracks formed on the pendant's surface, before disappearing moments later.
I suddenly heard a familiar voice echo in my ears: Catherine.
"After "He" awakened, "His" body entered a state of chaos and destruction, collapsing in on itself. This created everything we see around us. "His" eyes became the sun and moon, "His" bodily fluids rushed into the rivers, oceans, and lakes. "His" fingers became the mountains, and "His" toes became the caverns."
"His" mouth, nose and eyes became the distant planets and stars, "His" ears became the black holes, and "His" genitals and other bodily organs became the monsters and mutants, and demons."
"After it was done, "His" form had been completely dispersed across all of existence. "His" soul gave birth to every living being across the universe, so every being of "His" creation is...also "Him"."
I heard the Myth of Creation resound in my mind, her voice ethereal and layered, just like mine in the dream. The black cracks on the pendant resurfaced, and it began to shake and tremble as if it had entered some kind of struggle.
The voice suddenly ceased, along with the changes in the Blood-Moon Charm. At that moment, I finally figured it out.
The charm had removed my past and current chances of corruption!