Day 17. The Exorcist and the Son
The day has come in which a hippie woman seeks enlightenment in the woods. Instead she gets something else, a blue light floating in the woods surrounds her and possesses her. She has fallen prey to a spirit who hasn't found proper rest. Now her eyes are deep blue, like shining, and her skin goes pale. But she isn't the only one, there's a British Lady like that too. The difference: the hippie isn't in control!
And the possessed woman enters the town… she scares the hell out of everybody, with her antics. She can't even be locked up! She moves weirdly, like a toad. Jumping from street to street, in a small Canadian town. Never to get tired of jumping, and managing to eat any bug that comes by. News of this event flies, and gets to an exorcist and his son.
The exorcist is a towering, blonde German priest, under the name of Father Heissturm. He arrives at the town in search of the possessed woman. First cometh the Saint and Archangel's light to dispossess the toad woman. Luck is not under the exorcist, as the woman jumps and escapes, like a toad would against a prey. Slippery, slippery run away, makes the prayer land on the grass and the bugs. Regular, living species get blessed instead.
A faster tool is then used, one under the Periapt Shard. It is said to have a purer version of the Divine Spark. Yes, that spark with which humans were created. You might have heard this as the God Image. A piece of God's blessing is channeled through that tool, which turns it into the ultimate exorcism tool. No prayer required! And so the Shard makes its trick… You can use its properties without stabbing it for the purposes of exorcism.
The hippie lady pukes. She surely remembers eating flies like a toad would have. But she's human, and conscious again. "Spirits feel unrest here," Father Heissturm says. "Even animals are affected by whatever demonic force dwells here." When the hippie lady regains composure, she shares her journey into the wild. "Stick to the Church next time," is the advice of Father Heissturm.
The exorcist and his son then venture into the woods, in search of the demon. Yet it's nowhere to be seen. "I'll use it!" Kurtis says. "No! Wait!" Father Heissturm warns. A bit late though. An eager demon hunter apprentice he is… And he uses farsee to detect the demon, but he gets detected and possessed instead. He levitates surrounded by a blue flame while remaining dormant. He's stuck on his vision.
Father Heissturm tries to use the Periapt Shard to no avail. He hits a tree nearby and advances in search of the demonic force. He knows why the Shard's failing now, but he's so stubborn he won't admit it. By the sin of pride, you lose humility, and the sanctity required to perform exorcisms. Walking and walking he finds himself before a Native tribe and its shaman. An eyeless shaman, holding a peculiar necklace. "That's it!" Father Heissturm thinks. "The source of evil."
Normally people would protect their own tribesmen. But this is not the case. The shaman has been trying to die or be killed from times immemorial. No one had the guts but for today. Father Heissturm unsheathes his divine weapon, the Periapt Shard. Yet the ritual's stopped. The Father's shoulder is bleeding. It has been shot. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned," a British lady says. She's holding the gun. She's the one who shot him in cold blood. "But that man is innocent, isn't he?" Father Heissturm kneels and repents, for he has sinned. Lara's in the same state as the toad woman and the eyeless shaman. But her will is so strong that she can endure it. She has become a proper shaman.
"You defeated Thunderbird, like my ancestors have," says the eyeless shaman. "But I'm useless and unworthy." Lara kneels to Father Heissturm and takes out the bullet. Then, she puts a bandage on him. "You almost untune that dagger," Lara says. "Are you aware of the consequences of that?" Lara's new shamanic state allows her to see with an inner eye. She approaches the eyeless shaman and takes his pendant, which is equal to hers, a thunderbird crystal. The eyeless shaman simply dies; he has endured so long and so much. Then, Father Heissturm gives Lara both Periapt Shards. "Save my son," he begs.
Lara finds a floating and possessed teen Kurtis Trent. She empties her heart from malevolent feelings. She remains as pure as she can. Enough to feel the warmth of St. Michael, the Archangel, on her shoulder, like a father would support a child. Then, the divine spark of the Periapt Shard releases Kurtis Trent from his possessed state.
Kurtis lies on the floor and wakes up with both Periapt Shards. He has seen it all while possessed, how he was saved by an angel withstanding the dark. "Dad!" he laments himself. From now on he won't be able to perform exorcisms. The sacred rites are now his responsibility, a crash course of how to become a man. As for the angel, she's gone to continue her adventures. That's where her heart lies.