2017-08-20: A Priestess' Trial
- Cutscene: A Priestess' Trial
- Cast: Tethelle Cirdian
- Where: Guardian Temple
- Date: 08-20-2017
- Summary: Tethelle is tested by the Guardians. Happens during the events at Guardian Temple, after reaching the central point. (When that log is uploaded, I will put a link to it here.)
As soon as she touches the scepter offered to her by the Guardians, Tethelle finds herself elsewhere.
A desert town, near the coast. 'Town' is being generous; 'village' is more accurate, and not a big one at that. It might have been a town once; there are buildings falling into disrepair around the edges, being destroyed by the slow action of wind and sand. Only a small core remains, overlooking the sea on a nearly dead, rocky shore. Even the temple that overlooks all of it looks old and run-down and small; a shrine with outbuildings, not a large temple.
There are no people here but Tethelle, who stands in the courtyard of the temple, overlooking the empty, dead town. It is her home, and even as she overlooks it, some of the temple wall crumbles, worn away from the endless rasping wind.
"There you are."
Tethelle does not immediately recognize the voice, which comes from behind her. She whirls, to look at the only person she has seen or heard here, reaching for her sword - but her sword is not there, the carrier at her side empty.
It's her. Not in the travelling clothes she wears in Ignas but in the more formal robes of a Zoa Priestess. The other Tethelle does bear a sword in her hands - not as a weapon but as a symbol, she's not holding it like she intends to fight. She only bears it, and it looks as old and beaten as everything else here; ancient and battered and rusted to the point that it cannot be repaired.
"The last priestess has left her home," the other Tethelle says. "Gone on a journey, gone on pilgrimage like she was one of the ancient warriors of the tribe - like a crusading hero of old!"
Tethelle - the original Tethelle - tenses. "I followed the command of the Guardians," she says. "Equites spoke to me - "
"Did she?" The Priestess of the Sword smiles softly. "I know she did, because I am you. You're here now, and that is proof enough. But that isn't what the village saw. The tribe saw a girl trapped in a dying village find an excuse to leave. They see someone who abandoned their home and heritage to seek their fortune elsewhere. They do not expect you to ever come back from pilgrimage. That is why you were not given a Medium, not because of tradition as you tell people, and you know it."
The Priestess steps forward, toward Tethelle. "You ran from us to play at being a hero. You fight and gamble with your life as a Drifter to feel alive, to make the moment feel significant. You take the role of the wise Zoa Priestess for others to hide that you are having a great adventure. And you don't even do that well," the Priestess adds critically. "Nobody believes that that formal way you speak when you're trying to sound 'wise' is real, even if there's merit in what you say. You should be more honest."
Tethelle turns away from the Priestess of the Sword, looking out over the village for a moment - and then back, boots brushing against the worn stone. "I did nothing of the sort!" she objects. "I did not run!"
The Priestess shakes her head. "You did. You ran from your duties, here, as the last priestess - the only priestess of your generation in this village. You owed it to us to be with us as we vanish from the world. Our tribe is fallen. We were important, centuries ago, but not now. We don't matter any longer, and you are afraid you do not matter either. You could die tomorrow and change nothing. Cecilia would have one fewer guardian, but her quest would continue. Those you drink with would shrug their shoulders, your friends would move on, and it would be as if you had never been. And you hate that. You hate that we are lost and forgotten and you run from that fate for yourself." The Priestess doesn't sound judging; she sounds like she's stating a fact, and nothing else.
Tethelle's entire body tenses - and then she whirls, delivering a powerful right hook toward the Priestess of the Sword. "You lie!"
She never connects. The world fades to white; Tethelle reappears from wherever she was taken in a room with the rest of her party, staggering from the unchecked momentum of her punch as she bumps into a wall, catching herself and breathing hard, eyes squeezed shut.
But even here she can't escape the voice, though now it is in her head. ~I do not lie to myself, even if you do,~ the Priestess of the Sword says, and that is all.