The moment the liquid hit Vincent's tongue, he felt as if he would be lit on fire. His first instinct was to throw away the goblet, but he gripped it tighter and opened his mouth wider. Victor watched the entire process.
He saw how Vincent almost buckled from the pain, but he stayed strong. "There you go! Hold it, do not stop drinking!" Vincent did not hear his cheers; his mind was somewhere else.
Vincent opened his eyes and saw himself floating. His space was crimson, and different colors were splashed everywhere. 'I guess I just float?' A great wind and a bright light swept around Vincent.
A woman of unparalleled beauty stood before Vincent. 'She is too beautiful even to exist.' She opened her eyes, and their color made him stop. They weren't one color, but they were all of them. She looked around and then looked at Vincent. His heart rate grew faster and faster with every step she took towards him.
She took her hand and placed it on his cheek when she reached him. Her touch was softer than a pillow of clouds, she was warmer than the sun, and the feeling was even better than sleeping with your lover. His soul felt complete at that moment.
"I did not think a descendant of mine still lived." Her voice sounded like an angel to Vincent. "Speak your name, my child. You have little time with me; do not squander it." She woke up Vincent. He blinked away the daze. "My name is Vincent James Frost. Who are you?"
The woman moved her lips, but Vincent didn't hear anything she said. "It seems you are not ready to hear my name. Call me Millie; that is what my siblings called me long ago. I am your ancestor. I am the first in your family lineage to bear the name Grimm. We are in the nexus. This is where those who awaken the Grimm bloodline come to when they awaken their blood for the first time."
Vincent thought the blood was from him drinking from the goblet, but it turns out it was where it originated. "Why are you here? I highly doubt I am worth anything." Millie gently took his hand and brought him to a different part of the nexus.
"I am here because you are the last of my line. That means all of my other descendants have passed." Her voice was low and slow.
"Vincent, I can sense my child Silas' blood within you." She raised her hand, and a tiny serpent slithered out of the ground. She let it wrap around her palm. "Silas, you little whimsical boy, you gave away your beast bloodline."
Tears fell from her eyes and made the once-red ground where they landed turn golden.
Vincent didn't know how to console her, so he rubbed her back. Millie gathered herself.
"You are much like him. Silas was carefree and didn't care about anyone else's opinions, but he paid attention if his siblings said something. His family was the only thing he was serious about." Vincent let her vent.
"I was worried about him most of all. A frost titan, and I conceived him. I lived on a planet with almost no winters and was surrounded by nature, so I named him Silas. I was even more worried when he got this beast's bloodline." She held up the snake.
"I was worried for nothing. He created his region of ice by the time he was ten. He was the most creative of my kids and didn't like violence." She turned and held her hand out at Vincent. Vincent held his hand out, and the serpent slithered on his arm up to his neck. The serpent grew and wrapped itself around his twice and laid its head over his heart.
"This is not the bloodline I will give you. In return for you keeping my son's bloodline alive, I will try to get you one stronger or on the same level as it." Millie left no room for arguments, and Vincent had no problem either.
"Thank you. I was going to keep his blood either way. I used a bloodline isolator." Millie smiled and placed her hand on his cheek again.
"You are a sweet child. I have seen your future, and it is not a pretty one. The bloodline I gave you before was powerful, but it wasn't enough. No matter what I do, you will still become a villain. I am so sorry." She gave him a pitiful look. He laughed and smiled.
"Thanks for trying anyway." Millie kissed him on his forehead. "It is time for me to give you your bloodline. We will not see each other again until you reach the Saints realm. I must warn you that you will feel horrendous pain upon returning to your body." She waved, and a little gap appeared, and Vincent saw what was waiting for him.
His body had literal tears all over it. Any place blood could come out, it did. Ice, lightning, water, and flames that came and went surrounded him. He was still standing and drinking the blood. Vincent gasped at the sight.
He somehow puked and fell to his knees. The thought of returning scared him.
"Do not fall, Vincent. Remember the reason for you going through with the blood ritual. That is your strength. That is the reason you still live no matter the hardships."
Vincent took deep breaths rapidly to calm himself down. He stood on wobbling legs and wiped his mouth.
"I am and will forever be proud of you, my son. Go back and conquer to your heart's content. Anyone who gets in your way, make them kneel or crush them." Millie enveloped him in one last hug.
"That is your birthright. Vincent means to conquer. James means to take over and replace. Frost means to freeze. Last is your new name, Grimm; it means to be stern."
With every sentence, Vincent felt new strength and new life breathed into him. He hugged Millie tight and then opened his eyes.
He smelled his burnt flesh in the air and felt himself falling. He caught himself and turned to face Victor and the others. Victor was stoic and stood with his hands behind his back.
The others had concerned expressions.
He tried to move his mouth, but nothing came out. His earrings had long ago burned away. He thought as hard as he could, and he made sounds. He couldn't hear them, but that didn't matter.
"I will not fall! I will stand above everyone and everything in existence! That is why I was named VINCENT!" He chugged the last of the blood, and the building shook.