Tez retreats back to her tent, to rest and recuperate a little from her trial. She falls to her makeshift bed and groans. "Agnes?" she asks quietly, "are you still there?"

Agnes ~~Yes, how's it going? Is your god still torturing you?~~

Tez "No," she replies miserably, "not yet. It wasn't Him, though. It was Shira."

Agnes ~~Shira is the other priestess of Akalatan, right?~~

Agnes ~~Is she authorized to torture you in your god's name?~~

Tez rubs her wrists and arms, where the rope bit into her skin. "Yeah." a flood of bad feelings towards her. "She said she was helping to prepare me for the Quest... and it seemed right."

Agnes ~~So are you ready now for the test? Is your testing over?~~

Tez "I don't think so... I didn't even pass the first test..." she's clearly unhappy and afraid of the testing, and moreso about the quest itself. "If I can't pass the tests, how can I save everyone?"

Agnes ~~What's the next test? Have you considered cheating?~~

Tez "I don't know... i don't know how... and if I use my power, I won't have enough left for the real thing. And... I... don't want to have to get more." A picture of a very sharp knife, dripping with fresh blood.

Agnes ~~Only one of you will be the chosen priestess, right?~~

Kerem watches Tez uncomfortably.

Tez "Yee-ees... but it's got to be me. I have the blood."

Kerem "Who are you...talking to, Tez?"

Tez looks up at Kerem, startled. "Oh... It's Agnes. Can't you hear her too?"

Kerem "...no."

Tez looks confused. "Why not?"

Agnes ~~Once you've passed the tests, what good will Shira be? Maybe she's supposed to help you recharge your power.~~

Kerem "That's a good question!"

Agnes ~~Maybe that's the only way to really pass your test anyway...~~

Tez blinks, "Kill Shira?"

Kerem "uh..."

Agnes ~~Is her life supposed to be devoted to Akalatan?~~

Kerem "Right now?" Kerem looks apprehensively behind him.

Tez "Yes.... no, after the tests."

Kerem "Uh...why do we need to kill Shira?"

Tez "If I run out of power, during the tests... I need more." she looks with somewhat disturbing directness at Kerem.

Kerem "Okay, well, uh...let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

Agnes ~~Are you ready for the next test? Shira won't wait forever.~~

Tez "Next? No... I don't want to." she curls up into a ball.

Agnes ~~Maybe you're not the chosen one after all. I can see that the weak part of you would like that. You have to decide who you are.~~

Agnes ~~Can you walk away from the tests and Akalatan still?~~

Tez "I guess... I don't want to kill people... but I have to, to save them. If I do this... if I become the Chosen One... My friends will all hate me."

Kerem "Hey...hey wait a sec."

Kerem "I won't...I mean...I mean, listen."

Kerem "I...huh. Wait, you have to?"

Agnes ~~I don't know how these things work, Tez, but I'd guess that you either _are_ or _are not_ the Chosen One and you can't become it. So are you?~~

Tez uncurls a little and looks up at Kerem.

Agnes ~~Your friends won't hate you. Those who hate and fear you aren't your true friends.~~

Kerem "Why do you have to?"

Agnes ~~I can feel your inner strength. I know that you can pass whatever silly tests Shira has for you. But only the Chosen One will choose to.~~

Tez "I am... I felt it, in Ruin House. Even my Uncle didn't realize, I could see it in his eyes." her thoughts go back to that day, the murals on the wall depicting her ancestors, the prophecy. The rush of power. "I have to kill for power. I need power to defeat the High King. I have to accept Akalatan, To show others His ways."

Agnes blinks.

Tez "Green Lake must bow to Akalatan to be saved."

Agnes ~~When the High King comes, if it is a battle instead of a deal, the plains will run scarlet with blood. You might like it.~~

Mike Holmes Kerem sees a large, white snake rearing up behind Tez.

Agnes begins walking toward the sacred grove where Tez is being tested.

Tez "Yes... A great battle. There will be much blood shed, that day." her eyes acquire a far-off look.

Kerem "Whatever you say, just...just hold still."

Kerem reaches carefully into his pocket, rubbing his coin, and grabs his knife.

Tez "Will you bow to Him, Kerem?"

Mike Holmes The snake looms over Tez's head, and seems to be coming slowly down onto it.

Kerem "I'll answer that question in just a second."

Mike Holmes Kerem's blade leaps forward, it's keen edge managing to scrape through the snake's scales. It reels backwards, it's mouth agape in a silent scream. As it writhes back and forth, it seems to Kerem to fade. Before he can put his blade into it again, the snake disappears completely.

Tez looks up at him, suddenly back in the present, "What did you do?"

Agnes ~~I started walking, why? Could you tell?~~

Kerem "Nothing...just...just keeping you safe."

Tez "I thought.. I felt His approval."

Kerem "Tez."

Kerem "There's got to be a better way."

Tez "There is no better way. There is no other way."

Kerem "I don't believe you."

Kerem "There is. And we're going to find it."

Tez "He will be angry."

Kerem "So let him be angry. Are you scared?"

Agnes ~~Who will? What are you doing?~~

Tez "Yes." she says in a small voice. "Akalatan will be angry. Kerem says I shouldn't be Chosen."

Tez "He stabbed...something..."

Agnes ~~Why? Does he fear you?~~

Kerem "I didn't say you shouldn't be Chosen."

Kerem "I said you can do better."

Agnes ~~Perhaps he too thinks that Shira is nothing but a bag of blood for you and should not be inflicting tests upon you -- who should be her highpriestess.~~

Tez "Better? There is no better."

Tez holds her head

Tez "Stop talking, please. It's so confusing."

Kerem "Who is that talking? Who thinks there's nothing better than being a slave to a blood-drinking monster?"

Tez rocks back and forth, shaking a little. "I'm not a monster."

Kerem "No, you're not. He is."

Tez "If he is, than I am too. I am his Daughter."

Agnes ~~Who?~~

Tez "who what?"

Agnes ~~Stop talking who? He who? He what? You are whose daughter?~~

Tez "I... uhh..."

Tez "Akalatan?"

Mike Holmes Outside Shira's voice can be heard. "The applicant will present herself for the second test!"

Kerem "You're not his daughter. He can't make anything. He just bleeds."

Agnes ~~Oh, right. We know that being Akalatan's daughter prevents you from being a monster. You have a destiny.~~

Tez "I am too. He is powerful, he is fruitful. He makes things grow, and live, and die.~

Kerem takes Tez by her shoulders and shakes her. "Who's saying this?"

Tez shrieks a little, staring at Kerem. "Saying what?"

Kerem "This isn't the Tez I love."

Tez "You love me? You hate me now?"

Agnes Glaring at Shira outside the tent, Agnes pulls the tent flap aside. "Love!?! Here...now? What the hell is going on?"

Agnes "And what's the bad lady doing out there?"

Tez "Agnes? Can you see her, Kerem?"

Kerem "Not after she CLOSES THE FUCKING FLAP, I can't."

Mike Holmes Shira stands outside, glowering.

Agnes gets a clue and drops the flap, putting her body between Shira and the tent.

Agnes "They need some time. Back off."

Tez "You... can't?"

Kerem "Tez, I know this isn't going to come as a big surprise or anything, but sometimes you act like a completely different person."

Tez rubs her eyes. and frowns. "I'm sorry."

Mike Holmes Shira looks at Agnes up and down and says, "And who are you who invade our sacred place?"

Kerem "I can't...when I met you, you seemed so...innocent. You weren't necessarily in the best place in your life, but you were really trying."

Kerem "I can't deal with this any more. I can't deal with what you want to become. If you want to be a monster, go ahead. But I can't watch you do it."

Agnes Agnes' smile is razor sharp. "I'm your high-priestess' friend. You're merely her bondsman. And maybe a traitor at that. You would do well to consider your future before getting into things you can't handle."

Tez "It's hard... Everyone wants me to be something different... destiny... friends... love... Please don't leave me..." she cries. "I'm sorry"

Mike Holmes Shira appraises Agnes yet again.

Agnes waits for a more direct threat to develop.

Kerem looks her steadily in the eye. "Somewhere in there is the Tez I know. And I want you to know that I'll always love you. If you ever want a way out...come back to me."

Kerem kisses Tez on the forehead and steps out of the tent, sheathing his knife, and looks up at the two of them.

Kerem "Fuck you, Shira."

Agnes ~~Don't let him go -- a chance like this comes along only so often.~~

Tez cries, "Kerem, don't go!"

Kerem begins walking away. He doesn't look back.

Tez crawls out of the tent, and pushes herself to her feet, "Don't go, I want to be the one you love.. Please!"

Agnes ~~If you go after him, I've got your back.~~

Kerem "Then come with me."

Kerem reaches out his hand to her.

Mike Holmes Shira looks on the verge of fury at her loss of control

Agnes "You losing points with the big guy?" Agnes glances at the sky, smiling.

Tez runs to Kerem and grabs his hand like it's a lifeline, completely ignoring Shira.

Kerem smiles for the first time today.

Kerem "Let's go. We'll find a better way."

Kerem "Agnes, I don't...I don't really know what's going on."

Agnes "We're rescuing our friend."

Tez "But..you said I should do it." she says to Agnes. "I...think."

Agnes "I said you _could_ do it. That you had the strength."

Agnes "I told you that Shira was nothing and expendable and that it was up to you." That said more for Shira's benefit than for Tez'

Tez "I don't like her very much," she mutters.

Mike Holmes Shira's rage explodes, and she suddenly throws a serpent out of nowhere at Agnes.

Agnes was expecting...well, something.

Tez feels Shira's power rising a fraction of a second befor the Serpent appears, and she turns, "How Dare You." Her eyes glow red, and her fingers brush against Agnes as she moves, filling her with unnerving power that makes her heartbeat loud in her ears, her veins pulse with strength and agility.

Agnes As the reptile hurls over Agnes' dodging shoulder, with unnatural verve, she shoots forward and buries her dagger up to the hilt in the side of Shira's neck. A pleasant popping noise indicates the seperation of the priestess' vertebrae as her body collapses, incapable of anything but a stammer.

Agnes With that quick resolution, the three friends make their escape from the 'blessed' grove.

Tez feels the thrust of the knife through her connection, now twofold, with Agnes, and feels the power of the sacrifice flow into her. For a moment, she is exultant, and then she realizes what just happened. She withdraws, and allows herself to be ushered out of the grove with no resistance. Maybe, she is a monster.

Agnes *

Agnes *

Agnes *

Agnes *

---

<Mike_Holmes> Chimrea arrives back in the graveyard. The third time in just a few days. It is night again, and the jackals bay in the distance. A good, if spooky, omen for the ritual.

 <Mike_Holmes> The concoction that Fahd had given her is already working on Chimrea's head. The crossing is happening, the spirit world opening before her. 

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