The Matrisa gestured for them to sit on the floor with all the soft pillows. Daniel and Vala threw themselves down, muttered threats under their breath and glared profusely at each other.

The Matrisa's grin seemed to grow as she watched them pass enraged glares. "You have not preformed the Tolyen?"

"No," Vala said before Daniel could say anything. "Don't even know what Tolyenie-thing is."

The woman smiled. "Then the madness is still in you?"

"Yes," Vala said again, ignoring Daniel's sigh.

"Our doctor had created an antitode of sorts," Daniel began to tell the Matrisa, he peeled his eyes away from Vala.

"You're the one who lost it!" Vala suddenly shouted.

The tent went quiet. Vala and Daniel were trying their best to keep self-control but they stared at each other, breath heaving and brows sweating.

"I understand," the Matrisa said. "You have moved past the simple madness," she told them, trying her best to regain their attention. "You have moved onto the hunt, and it would appear you have both found your prey." The woman seemed to be suppressing laughter, which made Daniel want to rip her eyeballs out. "The Tolyen will have to be preformed carefully."

Daniel was having a growing fear about this Tolyen. He knew Dr. Lam hadn't told Vala about the other 'antidote' but he had a bad feeling that she was about to find out.

The woman sat down across from them. Parlo went to the back and stood quietly. The woman looked at them with a soft smile. "I have heard of worlds where the madness does not exist. Most travelers do not make this far from the Veniusa."

Daniel's eyes lit up. Vala stared at him for an explanation. He looked over at her and mouthed the word 'Stargate'. Veniusa? Daniel's mind tried to work, but his head was too fuzzy.

This room felt calming. Vala felt like she could relax. She felt like she wanted to rip this lady's head off, but she was frankly too tired to do it. She felt like maybe she could be violent and kill Daniel or something, but right now it wasn't worth the energy. She was still in desperate pain though; even the warm air in the room seemed to hurt.

"The Tolyen happens when two children come of age," the woman began pouring them a drink. She was very calm, as if she barely noticed that the two people sitting in front of her were mad idiots. "Until such a time the children are kept and taught in isolation."

Both Vala and Daniel felt appalled. They looked at each other sharing a moment of shock. The children were kept in isolation? How did they learn? How did they build social relationships?

The Matrisa smiled again. "Our people are born with the madness," she tried to explain. "Many years ago when children ran free… violence and slaughter were common. We lack the ability to prevent the children from not only harming others but also harming themselves."

She smiled at them knowing. "It has been several ages since we have lived so barbarically. The Tolyen is a gift. It sets us free from the bonds of the madness." Her eyes suddenly looked sad. "There are still a few villages that perform the acts on the young, before they come of age." She shook her head as if this were the worst thing imaginable.

Before Daniel and Vala could speak she carried on. "It is our way. It is how it must be." She handed them their drinks with a smile. "All of the adults here spent their youths in such solitude. It too is a gift. For without suffering there cannot be true peace."

Daniel stopped Vala from killing the woman by interjecting. "What exactly is the Tolyen?"

The woman smiled again. "It is the cure for madness. For seven days and seven nights the couple will engage in violent sexual activity. When they emerge they are free of the madness and may enter society."

"Sex?" Vala asked smiling viciously. "Tolyen is sex?"

Daniel's worries were coming true.

"Specifically violent sexual activity," the woman told Vala, with a look that almost oozed sympathy. "After the Tolyen…" the Matrisa paused for a moment as if she were trying to gather her thoughts. These two were strangers; their costumes and laws were different. "Sexual activity is something that must be embraced if the madness is to be overcome," the woman told them. "To suppress the madness fully Tolyen must be exactly seven days and seven nights so the violence may be fully cleansed."

"What age is coming of age?" Vala asked with an itching feeling it was much to young.

The Matrisa looked at Vala eyes wide. "It depends on the couple. It is a physical change in the body. Most come of age within their 14th year."

Vala's eyes widened. "14! You force children to do this! Arranged marriages for 14 year olds?"

"Though the partnership is not binding many partners of the Tolyen will stay together for many years." She looked at them and saw how confused they were. She nodded as if to herself, there was more she had to explain. "For the first three years for the madness to remain repressed sexual activity must take place every sixteen hours. Unlike the Tolyen these activities are not usually violent.

"Adults," she said gesturing to Parlo. "Are not so dependent. It is only required every three days or so

"The elderly in our society are very secretive as to their resistance against the madness. Though my understanding is with age the madness is overcome."

She took a sip of her own drink and waited for them to do the same before she carried on.

"There were times before the Tolyen when terrible things were done to suppress the madness. It is one of the ways we have learnt to protect our children and our societies."

Vala understood. The truth shocked her. The woman was saying that before the ritual was put into place children were being raped, repeatedly. Vala shivered. She was starting to hate this planet more and more.

"So everyone just…" Vala looked the woman over her cup. "Literally has to have… that is there is a prescribed amount of…" Vala tried to smile despite how much it hurt. "Sexual Activity?"

The Matrisa smiled knowingly. "This is not your way?"

"No," Daniel said abruptly. "Our societies are not so open with such…" Daniel paused. His fuzzy head wasn't making this any easier. "Intimate relations."

Vala glared at Daniel. "Speak for yourself!"

The woman smiled. "We know our ways may be hard to understand but they are fundamental to our culture and survival." She stared at them. She could see the madness in them and she could feel the tension building in her tent. It was not something she was willing to let her village experience. "If you wish to overcome to madness you will have to engage in the Tolyen."

Daniel's eyes went wide. "No, no, no," Daniel muttered.

Vala glared at him. "I'm sorry you find me so unattractive that you'd rather kill me then engage in… Tolyen!"

The woman did not seem at all surprised. "If this is the case, there are others who would gladly serve you in the Tolyen." She smiled at their shocked faces. "That is what the tents are for." She looked back at them but her smiled was gone. "However you have already begun the hunt," she told them as if it were the most logical thing in the world. "The Tolyen would be much easier if you could overcome your aversions and remain partners."

Daniel tried to mutter something. He wanted to say no. He wanted to say anything to stop this from happening. "I think… we will…"

The woman rose. She looked at Parlo. "Please arrange a tent for them."

That wasn't exactly what Daniel had meant. Seven days and seven nights trapped in a tent with Vala? He was bound to kill her. He tried to sputter out an excuse but the Matrisa just raised her hand.

"If you refuse the Tolyen we shall have to escort you back to your world," the woman told him. "Without the Tolyen you are a danger to my people."

Both Vala and Daniel were thoroughly dumbfounded. They were going to be forced to… If Vala had been in a better mood she would have been bouncing. Daniel despite his better judgment felt his stomach twirl in anticipation. Then they looked at each other, and the madness returned swiftly. Vala couldn't even imagine sex right now; all she wanted to do was torture Daniel, slowly and painfully. Daniel could feel the slow emergence of an animal inside, one that was ready to devour Vala in a single bite.

The Matrisa started to leave the room. She turned back to them and saw their passing glares. "Drink." Her voice was commanding and their glare was unlocked. They both turned to look at her, and then stared into their cups. "It will help with the pain."

They slowly sipped their tea in silence, making sure they avoided eye contact. Vala wasn't sure if the woman had meant the pain she was in now, or the pain of Tolyen.