The Night Awaits

Chapter 7 (The Path of Betrayal)

"Y'all, we only have a few hours left before we turn into setting powders," Bertrand informed. "Everyone, look at the floor! Footprints are trying to lead us somewhere." Satya gushed. The group followed the prints and it leads into the Mayan Exhibit. There are a lot of ancient Mayan gods statue there. They realized that each statue has a small drawer on their feet. Each one of them opened a drawer and found 11 chalices. One of the statue began speaking! "Each chalice symbolizes the great elements of Maya. Place them where they belong and may it be filled by wine. However, 2 of the chalices are cursed by Ah Puch. Those names who drinks them will automatically be voted in the pile."

Rafa notices that below the chalices has different symbols. But he can't find anything that resembles it. The group went out of the exhibit and went to the dining room where they hope they can find something to feast upon. Although they didn't find foods, they found the corresponding symbols for the chalices. Each of them placed the chalice on the right symbols and it began filling up with wine. They sat down and took a sip of the drink. "These are not even wine! It's just grape juice." Phillip babbled. Bertrand and Nadhira's cup glowed red after finishing their drinks. "Damn it! Our drinks are the cursed ones, Bert." Nadhira gushed. "Great. Our names are voted in." Bertrand mumbled. After everyone finished their drinks, a box jumped out of the table. It was just a plain box. No keys, no clues, no hints, just a plain cube. Gazel took it and smashed it to the floor. Inside is a jar with a note in it. "Ixtab, the Goddess of Suicide will only appear once all three of her slaves are freed from their chains. Her slaves are empowered and possessed by fragments of her dark magic. To cleanse them, you must obtain Ah-Wink-Ir-Masa's tear of life. She can only be seen below the full moonlight." Turo read out loud. "Do we want to summon the suicide lady?" Bertrand replied. "There is no other way," Satya said. The group made their way out, into the garden. As they walked in deeper, they saw a beautiful forest with trees made of emeralds. In the entrance, they saw a gorgeous lady with leaves as hair and flowers for a dress. "I am Ir-Masa, Guardian of the Enchanted Forest. How may thee help you?" she introduced. "We need your tears to cleanse some people," Keiona said. "Is that so? Make me laugh." the lady commanded. "Shal, do your thing," Bertrand spoke to Shalom. The group decided to dance and twerk in front of her in hopes she would find that amusing. After a while, the goddess chuckled a smile and then laughing. "She's crying! Get the jar!" Phillip commanded. Nadhira then took the jar and collected her tears.

Nadhira's Confessional: This bitch is crying mini crystals! Honey, if you were in 2019, you would be the new Bill Gates.

"Where do we go now?" Leonna asked. "Her tears are cold as ice! Maybe if we're closer, it will be warmer!" Rafa exclaimed. "Divide the tears into three so each of us can free one slave. I'll go with Keiona. Here take some." he continued as he handed Bertrand and Phillip some crystal tears.

Rafa's Confessional: Keiona and I went north and it leads us into a foyer. On the staircase, we saw a demon-human-dog kinda thing tied into one of the poles. The thing had horns, sharp teeth, and claws reminiscent of Bertrand's long nails.

"Should we just cut the rope?" Keiona asked. "Wait no, he'll kill us," Rafa answered. He tried giving the slave a crystal but it failed. He realized that the slave was very skinny. He gathered some berries from the garden and stuck a crystal into one of them before giving them to the slave. The slave greedily ate the berries and slowly, it turned into a normal human being. "What happened? Who are you?" the slave stuttered. "It's okay, we're here to set you free." Keiona comforted. She took off the rope and he was finally free from slavery. He turned into specks of golden sparkles and ascended to the sky.

Bertrand, Gazel, Shalom, and Nadhira went south and arrived in the Greek Exhibit. They saw a slave chained to the wall as she tried to eat the shattered statue pieces. As the group tried to come closer, the girl covered her face in shyness. "She won't take the goddamn crystal!" Gazel bellowed. "Sweetie, she looks like she's insecure," Nadhira replied as she tried to calm Gazel down. Bertrand took a shattered statue face and placed a crystal on it. He then gave the mask to the slave before she wore it. She seemed cheerful and her claws shortened, giving signs that she is no longer cursed. Shalom took an ax and chopped the chains down, freeing her.