The Cup

CHAPTER 13

Back in their room at the hotel, Selena carefully unrolled the scrolls and laid them out on a low coffee table. She photographed them and began working on a translation. Ronnie and Lamont were next door, catching up on sleep.

After a while she looked up and said, "No one has ever seen anything like this. The descriptions of the crucifixion in the Bible show minor variations, but they're all pretty much the same story. This one is similar up to a point, but then it's different."

"How so?"

"Because of what it says about Joseph of Arimathea."

"Who was he?"

"A rich follower of Jesus, one of the ruling council in Jerusalem. He donated his tomb for Christ's burial. Tradition says he purchased a shroud to wrap the body when they took it down from the cross. That's in here, but there's more."

She looked at him, her eyes wide.

"It says Joseph held a cup and caught Christ’s blood as He hung on the cross. You won't find that anywhere in the Bible."

"A cup?"

"There's only one cup like that. The Holy Grail."

"That's a legend. A story made up in the twelfth century. King Arthur, all that."

"That's what most people think. But this scroll changes that. My God, Nick, think about it!"

"What if it isn't authentic? There are plenty of phony relics out there, made up in the Middle Ages to encourage pilgrims. It could be one of those."

"I've seen a lot of documents from the first century. You get a feel for authenticity after a while. It would have to be tested, but I'd be surprised if this is a fake. The box must have been in a church ISIS looted. It's valuable because of the silver but the scrolls are worth far more than the box. I can't imagine what this would bring if it were auctioned off at one of the big houses."

"If it's real."

"Yes. It will create an uproar. It's sure to be attacked as a hoax. People have looked for the Grail for a thousand years. Emperors and kings. Napoleon. Hitler searched all over the world for it. It's part of the Arma Christi."

"What's the Arma Christi?"

"The weapons of Christ, symbolic of how Christ defeated Satan. The Grail is one of them, along with the lance that pierced Christ's side and the nails from the cross."

"The lance is gone. We know it was destroyed."

"Nobody knows that except us. It doesn't matter anyway, when you're talking about the Grail."

"Even if this manuscript proves the Grail was real, nobody knows where it is or if it still exists."

"If this becomes public, people will start searching for it."

She began reading the second scroll.

"Oh, my."

"That doesn't sound good."

"There's a prophecy about the Grail," she said. "Simon repeats the story of the open tomb. Then he says that as he was praying in front of the tomb an angel appeared, dressed in robes of fire."

"Sure," Nick said. "Sometimes I think there must've been something in the water back then. Or maybe magic mushrooms in the soup."

Selena ignored him and began reading from the page.

"That's a hell of a prophecy," Nick said. "He's talking about the End of Days, isn't he? The Last Judgment?"

"It would be hard to see it as anything else," Selena said.

"Is that all he wrote?"

"Almost. There's one more short section."

"If Joseph was the one chosen, how come the vision didn't appear to him?" Nick asked.

Selena looked at him and shook her head.

"Sometimes I really wonder about you, Nick."