Chapter One - I Swear it Was an Accident
It was a dream. That much Vin could confirm. From the hazy edges of his sight, to the slightly delirious feeling that prevailed his body, to the overwhelming sensation that he could both perceive everything in front of him clearly, yet not at all. From all around him, there was nothing but an inky void of black.
"Vin…" A voice echoed out from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
He turned every which way, desperately trying to find the source of the voice, to no avail.
"Vin…"
It sounded female: a light titter backed with a much deeper treble. Unusual, yet still distinctly feminine.
"Vin…"
And suddenly, the black realm in which he stood gained light, and an overwhelming epiphany surged to the forefront of his mind.
The room, a massive dome of pure white crystals, jutting out in every direction, light refracting off of them in rainbows of color countless times. He had been here before, had this dream before, not just once, but multiple times. It was like a memory that had been seemingly forgotten deep inside was suddenly roused from its slumber.
And if this dream was anything like the others, then there must be…
"Vin."
Ah. There she was.
From the wall of crystals descended the massive head of a dragon. It's neck and head being made of the very same crystals that surrounded him from all sides. Two massive amber irises serve as the only true break from emanating light around him.
The dragon opened its massive crystal jaw, even the inside of her mouth being composed of the mineral as the rest, she was practically a crystal statue brought to life.
"Vin… remember… the crystal's light…"
That was the last thing the dragon had said, before sluggishly closing her eyes, folding herself back into the crystal wall right before Vin's sight ebbed and flowed back to darkness.
"Oi! Vin, wake up!"
With a gasp, Vin shot up in bed. His dark green eyes wide as he took in generous gulps of air to quell his racing heart. He winced as the light of the morning sun pierced through the blinds, stabbing him in the eye with the accursed accuracy of an arrow. No sooner than when he slumped back down into the warmth of his blankets, did the door to his room slam open.
Standing in the doorframe was a young girl in her early teens. Already dressed in a soft yellow and white blouse and a pair of light cream-colored shorts. Her dark-brown hair styled in braids and a bun that gave her a youthful appearance.
"Big bro~ It's time for school!" The girl sang in her high, pre-pubescent voice, bounding over to Vin's bead, and mercilessly ripping the covers off his curled-up body.
"Lisaaaaa…" Vin whined, "Stop it!"
"Nope! No can do, bro! Mom sent me up here to get you, since we gotta hurry!"
Vin shifted in bed, "Lisa, when did Mom send you up here?"
A smug smirk began to stretch across Lisa's face, "Oh, about thirty minutes ago, why?"
Vin sighed, "How much time do we have left, Lisa?"
"Oh!" Lisa perked up, giving a massive, shit-eating smile to her sleepy older brother, "About fifteen minutes."
Vin fell out of bed.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES!?" Vin spat in disbelief, "Oh, you're asking for it!"
Quirky, Vin swung out with his arms in an attempt to catch his wily little sister, to no avail, unfortunately. Eventually, he gave up, instead choosing to slam the door in his sister's smug face, and get down to business.
Quickly running around the room, Vin yanked his pajamas off his body, tossing them in the general direction of his laundry bin, as he threw open the cupboards of his messy wardrobe. Numerous bins and stacks of all sorts of things ranging from endlessly tangled clumps of wires, to stacks of motherboards.
Rummaging through his dresser with the speed of a madman, Vin eventually pulled out a basic outfit for himself, a pair of basic jeans and a band t-shirt. Something that hopefully didn't scream 'I just got out of bed, and threw on the first thing I saw'.
After darting to an equally mechanically littered desk, Vin all but ripped his phone away from it's charger, catching a half-disassembled toaster that threatened to fall off his desk. Pocketing the phone, and silently cursing his little sister to high heaven, Vin stepped out the door to his room, and padded down to the kitchen below.
The main floor was like most houses, simple, homey, and where it didn't have the most expensive furniture or art, it was made up for by caking the walls of the house with all manner of framed pictures of the family. Everything, from Vin's first drawing as a toddler, to his parent's wedding photos, to a copy of an ultrasound scan with the label 'Lisa: 6 months due'. The Corsetti family's entire history laid there on those walls, archived proudly for all to see, like the world's coziest art gallery.
Eventually, Vin skidded into the wood and title paneled kitchen, wasting no time in getting himself seated in the chair he claimed over a decade ago, and immediately began to dig into the tantalizing plate of bacon, eggs, and toast that laid before him.
"Woah kiddo," Vin spared a glance to spy his father staring him down from across the table, newspaper in hand, "You're going at your plate like a pack of wolves, calm down, no one's gonna take it from you."
"I don't have much time," Was Vin's response, "Thanks to someone."
Lisa plopped down in her chair next to him, her own plate of food next to her, "You're welcome, big bro!"
Vin just grumbled as he continued to work on finishing off his eggs.
"Now you two, let's get along, alright?" A woman walked over to the table, two cups of steaming coffee in her hands. She set one down in front of his dad, while she set one at her own place at the table.
"Thanks darling," Vin's dad chimed in, as he leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Mom, why did you let Lisa wake me up so late?" Vin asked venomously from across the table, as she sat down and sipped at her own coffee.
"I don't control your sister, Vin. All I did was ask her to wake you up," She paused to take another sip, "As a matter of fact, at your age, you should be waking yourself up. You have a phone, use it."
From that point forward, the Corsetti family breakfast was quiet, with the little sparse conversation in between holding no real value aside from basic chatter. And soon enough, Vin and Lisa finished their plates, and dumped them neatly in the kitchen's sink.
"Alrighty kiddos, I'll give you guys a lift over," Vin's father said, as he folded his newspaper onto the table, and stood up.
"You don't have to keep bailing them out all the time, Vincent. They won't learn otherwise."
Vincent leaned down to give his wife a kiss, "Nah, it's alright, they know already. Plus, I'm going to be heading down that way this morning anyway."
Vincent turned into the front entranceway, "Hey kids, you ready to get going? Got your bags packed and everything?"
"Yeah, we're all good Dad!" Lisa answered.
"Alright sweeties, I'll see you later tonight," Their mother said, "Oh, Vin? Don't you have that volunteer thing tonight?"
Vin's eyes remained trained on tying up his black and white sneakers, "Yeah, it starts an hour after school, so I'll be late for dinner."
"Ok, I'll pack you what I make, and give it to you when I drive you over after school."
"Thanks Mom," Vin stood up, readjusting his bag on his back, "I'll see you later."
"Have a great day, you three!" His mother declared, before all three stepped out the door.
Soon enough, the three piled into their family's basic navy blue SUV, with their father in the driver's seat, and after a quick game of shotgun, Vin in the passenger's seat, and Lisa in the back.
"Passenger's seat privilege," Vincent turned to his son, "What'cha putting on?"
Vin pulled his phone out of his pocket, and plugged it into the aux cord hanging loosely from the car's console. After a moment, the sounds of music began to emanate around the car's cabin.
"Huh, a little bit of Hendrix to start off the day?" Vincent smiled.
The rest of the car ride was spent in peaceful silence. A peaceful time that years later, Vin would recall as a cherished memory in the most bittersweet day of his life.
School was boring, as usual. Either classes were drier than the Sahara Desert, or were simply too vapid for Vin to find himself connecting to at all. The majority of the class periods were spent doodling idly in his notebooks, and contemplating just what scale of disaster would facilitate shutting down school for the rest of the month; so you know, business as usual.
It wasn't until the final period that anything particularly noteworthy came into effect. The teacher came up to the front of the class, and began to speak.
"Alright class, we're talking about volunteer hours and opportunities."
You could feel the disinterest surrounding the room like a thick miasma, students glazing over their eyes, and shutting off their ears, all in preparation for the incoming lecture.
"So, you're all likely aware from the beginning or your high school careers that you need to have a required number of volunteer hours in order to graduate. I'm going to tell you now, that as you come through this and next year, these hours are going to become really important. Some of you have already completed well over the amount of hours, some, not so much."
The fact that Vin could feel the teacher's gaze land on him at the end of his sentence did not inspire confidence in Vin whatsoever.
"Vin, why haven't you gotten any hours yet? You're the only person in the class who has yet to log anything."
Oh boy, here he was, being put on the spot. God, he hated the teacher for this.
Vin cleared his throat, as he sweated under the gaze of his other twenty-something classmates, "Um… Sir, I actually just got a job opportunity lined up. I was going to start working today, actually."
The teacher raised his eyebrow, "Oh? Where exactly?"
"Uh… The Vatican, sir. A friend of my Dad's got me a position."
Vin could see more than a few sets of eyes go wide in disbelief. Good, he'll just, um… not mention the fact that it's for a janitorial position.
"The Vatican, huh?" The teacher gave a low whistle, "Wow, very good… I expect you will be on your best behavior, then."
What the hell kind of response was that? Regardless, soon after, the teacher went back to talking about co-op opportunities or something, and most of the class forgot about the whole thing.
Most of the class.
By the time that class finally ended, and everyone began to pack away their books for the day, the chair in front of Vin's swing around to reveal a beautiful, strawberry-blonde girl smiling ear to ear.
Now, the general student body of the school knows a lot of things about Irina Shidou. You couldn't be considered one of the prettiest girls in school and not have people know more than just your name. One of those things though, was that Irina was very religious.
Lucky him.
"Oh Vin, it's wonderful to hear that God's great generosity has shone upon you! I know you'll do just great! Are you excited to be visiting the Vatican?"
Wow, she could talk.
Thankfully, Vin was spared from having to undergo any conversational gymnastics to find answers to Irina, as the door opened, revealing another renowned girl.
"Irina, it's time to go. We don't want to keep the others waiting."
That blue and green hair was recognizable anywhere. Xenovia Quarta, best friend of Irina Shidou, current reigning champion in nearly every category of the school's track and field (Both for Men's and Women's), and the unofficial record holder for the most weight lifted. She was a complete atlas of physical perfection, which combined with her usually either detached or cold demeanor, created a very powerful, and intimidating image for her. Her popularity within the school was summed up perfectly by one particular hormone-addled teenager.
'I'd let her step on me.'
Anyway, it didn't take long for Irina to turn around to face her friend. Her chair twirling back to face the front of the class as she grabbed her back in a shockingly acrobatic display.
"See ya around, Vinny!" Irina smiled, as she reached into her collar, pulling out a rosary hanging around her neck, "If you have any questions about the Lord, don't be afraid to ask! Amen!"
Xenovia simply nodded, before the two of them left the room.
Did they… know he was an atheist?
It only took another ten minutes of waiting before a text came in from his mother, letting him know she had arrived.
"So sweetie, how was your day?"
"It was fine, Mom."
"C'mon, let me know a bit more."
"Nothing happened today, Mom. Same old same old."
"Hmmm…" Vin's mother smiled, "Really? I find that hard to believe, given the beautiful girl waving at you."
"What."
"Seriously, look!"
Vin looked up from his phone, and sure enough, there in the parking lot stood Irina waving with an exuberant amount of energy. Behind her stood Xenovia, along with a handful of other students who he didn't really recognize at all, who were all milling amongst each other in the back.
"She's quite the beauty, I guess that you do have your father's charms, after all."
Vin gagged, "Really Mom?"
"Come now, I fell for your father, and I considered my standards pretty narrow back then. It's not out of the realm of possibility that if you stopped looking down at your phone, and started chatting with your classmates, you could find both friends, and a girlfriend."
"Look, she's not my girlfriend, nor will she ever be my girlfriend. End of story."
"Not with that attitude, she's not. We're pulling out, but say bye to her."
"What? Mom, it's not like that!"
"Sure it's not! It's at least proper courtesy, she's waving you bye, so I'm going to roll down this window, and you're going to say bye back when we pass them."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Nope! Now get ready!"
Sure enough, the passenger side window rolled down, just as the car began to pull out of the school parking lot. This was non-negotiable.
The car began to pass by the group, Vin poked his head out the window, shut his brain off, and hoped for the best.
"Uh...Um… See ya."
Yep, real 10/10 response.
Vin slipped his head inside the car as the window shut, cheeks ablaze. Without being prompted, Vin grabbed the car's aux cord, plugged in his phone, and proceeded to blast the heaviest metal music he could to drown out the wave of embarrassment sloshing around in his body.
After a few blocks of driving, Vin's mom turned down the music to a volume where they could hear each other.
"She seemed nice."
"Mom…" Vin growled.
"Hey, stop trying to shrug this off, ok? You'll never get a girlfriend if you can't listen."
"I'm not interested in getting a girlfriend."
"Hmmm… Are you gay?"
"No."
"Asexual?"
"Mom, no I'm not. I'm straight, can we stop the interrogation please."
"Geez, alright, alright. Sorry for being a caring mother who is interested in what's going on in her only son's life."
"..."
"Let me guess, you like the blue-haired one."
"MOM!"
"I'll be honest, when she had her back turned, I thought she was a boy. But wow, she's got some massive boobs; just what are they feeding you kids these days?"
"Oh my god. I actually can't believe I'm having this conversation with my own mother right now," Vin thought aloud in horrified disbelief.
"I know how men think, she's built like your anime wife-somethings, right?"
"I'm never talking to you again…"
"Alright, I'm just teasing you, sweetie," She said as she pulled into a parking spot.
"Here," Vin's Mom rummaged around behind her for a second, before pulling out a lunch bag, "Here's dinner all packed away for you. When do I come pick you up?"
"10:30."
"Alright, either me or your father will come pick you up then. We'll call you when we get here," Vin's Mom gave a soft, caring smile, "I love you, sweetie."
Vin sighed, as he got out of the car, "I love you too, Mom."
With that, he slammed the door to the car shut, and began to walk towards the entrance for The Vatican.
"Ah geez, you 'ave no idea how much we needed help like 'dis kiddo."
Rizzo Warshaw, or simply Rizzo, as he preferred to be called, was his father's best friend, a born and raised Brooklyn kid from a family of Italian immigrants, who moved back to Italy to reconnect with his ethnic roots. He'll tell you the full story if you ever ask.
In addition to all that, he was also the head of the janitorial staff for the Vatican, at the very least, Vin thought, he could count on having a familiar face be his boss in a place like this, after all The Vatican was beautiful, but it had a certain… aura to it. Like how despite the fact that he's supposed to clean it, he should never, ever touch anything.
"Alroight' 'ere's how things are gonna go. Eight d'irty, we have the final sermons of 'da day. 'Round 'den, we go 'round cleanin' 'da other halls and rooms, basically, we do everything we can while stayin' outta people's ways. 'Round ten, everyone's gone, so we come 'round, and clean 'da dirt an' grime in 'da main hall and cathedral 'den."
Rizzo then handed Vin a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, he found a basic floor plan of the Vatican, with certain rooms marked with highlighter, and times next to them.
"I's made you's a map to help getting' 'round here. 'Old onto it, will ya?"
Vin nodded.
Rizzo smiled, his crooked teeth gleaming in the church's lights.
"Alright, well 'den. Let's get started, shall we?"
It was backbreaking work, but that's what Vin sort of expected, signing up for something like this. And anyway, beggars couldn't really have been choosers.
He had just spent the last hour making sure that the bathrooms labelled on his map were spick and span, and aside from one or two people walking in, the job left him relatively alone to listen to his music through his headphones, while working away.
Now, he had regrouped with Rizzo, and was getting shown the procedure for cleaning the actual church halls.
"Alcohol on 'da wipe, give 'dem pews a good wipe-down, and 'den we go back an' give 'em a polish with da varnish 'ere."
There were twenty-four sets of pews in this hall. It took a while, but thankfully, with Rizzo helping him out, it didn't take too much of his remaining time, and after a few more wiping and polishing activities, it was time for dusting.
"Now, 'dis one's reeeaaal important-like, capiche? You's gotta get up on 'da ladder, and climb up real high so you's can dust da light fixtures up 'der. Don't worry 'bout it tho', ol' Rizzo'll be holding 'da thing steady for 'ya 'da whole time."
Vin gulped, he never was very good with heights. But nonetheless, he wasn't getting paid to be scared of heights… actually he wasn't getting paid at all… focus Vin!
He climbed up the ladder, duster in hand, slowly ascending up the ridiculous distance to the light fixtures above.
Stupid tall church roofs.
At long last, with sweat, stuffed-down fears, and all too many uttering of the phrase 'don't look down', Vin reached the top, and primed his feather duster to sweep off the massive fixture above.
All he had to do was reach out a little…
Vin… Remember… The… Crystals… Light…
A sudden pulse went off in Vin's head, as the worst headache he's ever experienced blossomed forth like an ugly flower of pain.
Vin...
The pain was all-consuming, as his vision swam, his eyes dilating the reflecting colors of the artificial lights off of the stained glass like a kaleidoscope of a million colors, colors he couldn't even see before.
Awaken me, Vin!
And before he knew it, a pain welled up in his fingers, as if the base of all his fingers were simultaneously set on fire, dunked in acid, and were rotting off. The combined pain made his stomach heave uncomfortably, as if he wanted to throw up.
VIN!
His sense of balance was lost, and soon enough, he was falling.
He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he could barely stay conscious. Rizzo watched in horror, as the boy began to fall down the equivalent of three stories, the only ending being wood and marble.
The fall would kill him, no doubt about it.
But then, as Vin blindly waved his arms around in an attempt to grab a non-existent hand-hold, something incredible happened.
One second, Vin was falling to his imminent death.
The next, a wall of crystals burst forth from the ground, thick as a truck, like a tidal wave. It caught Vin's falling body safely, as it swung so far, it embedded itself into the adjacent wall of the room, crystals spread around the point of impact like a bloody stain around a flesh wound.
Rizzo gawked, witnessing how the wave of foggy-clear crystals had kicked up pews and completely ruined the room.
He cared more for the potential life at risk.
"Mudder of gawd… KID! Can you's 'ere me!" Rizzo screamed, as he raced over to the crystals, and clumsily tried to climb up the structure.
As for Vin, his barings finally returned to him, groaning, he sat up, wincing at the bruises already forming on his body.
"Rizzo? I'm alright, I just-YEOW! I, I think I just busted my ass."
"No kidding kiddo, what da hell was 'dat?!"
"What the hell was wha- Oh holy fuck."
Vin looked down at the crystal below him in rapt fascination, running his hand across the glossy side of the crystal that caught his fall. Wait a second.
"What the shit?! What's with these rings?"
On each finger of Vin's hand, excluding his thumbs, resided a dark bronze ring, studded with a band of crystal around the middle. Absolutely befuddled, Vin lifted his hand up to get a closer look.
Only to cause a sudden spike of the same crystals to shoot up from the ground a few feet away from him in the same arc he raised his hand in.
"Geez!" Rizzo leapt back from the crystals that sprouted just a few feet from where he stood, "Watch were you's aiming 'dat kid!"
"Do… Do I have super powers, Rizzo?!"
Rizzo nervously chuckled, "I's uh… I's 'dink you's might, kid."
The two stared at each other for a second, before both of them broke out in uncontrollable laughter. The nerves, pressure, and the scare of what had just happened somewhat shedding away as the two laughed without reserve.
If only that moment of peace could last, however.
"Intruders! STAND DOWN, NOW! HANDS IN THE AIR!"
The set of massive oak doors were kicked off their hinges, as a woman, maybe in her twenties or thirties, led a group of costumed figures, each carrying weapons from swords, to bows, and even some kind of energy surrounding their hands. Looks like he wasn't the only one to have magic, after all.
Instantly, Vin and Rizzo shrieked from the noise, and in a quick attempt to comply, Vin threw his hands into the air, which caused the rings to glow, causing two massive spikes of crystals to shoot up from the floor to the ceiling.
"I SAID CEASE YOUR ATTACKS!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Vin screamed.
One of the figures in the back perked up, "That voice…"
Vin looked closer at the group of people, and as he did, the gears in his head turned, until.
"IRINA?! WAIT, XENOVIA?! WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS GOI-"
Vin never got the chance to finish his sentence, as the woman had somehow vanished in an instant, appearing directly behind both Vin and Rizzo, and with a quick chop of her hands, knocked both males completely unconscious.