“Talia, acolyte of the goddess of death, will you willingly offer yourself to the goddess?” The High Priestess, Kaja, asked the young woman who entered the purification room.

“I willingly offer myself to the goddess.” She said in a soft tone, and a smile.

“Then take off your robes of purity, and put on the black robe of consecration.” Kaja, the Temple Priestess, Helena, and Nicci, watched as Talia took off her clothes, stood completely nude, and put on the black robe. A guardian stood near to a forge and heated up the sword used during purification ceremonies.

Kaja helped Talia to lay down.

“We now part the robe of consecration, like the spirit wants to part from the flesh.” The High Priestess pulled open her robe and exposed her white flesh all the way down to her belly button.

“Little one, take this small pot of oil. When she tells you to, pour it onto Talia’s chest.” Nicci nodded as Helena whispered in her ear.

“Now the oil of consecration.” The High Priestess, Kaja nodded. Nicci poured the small pot onto her Talia’s chest.

“Now, help to rub it in, just like in your purification ceremony.” Nicci nodded as Helena whispered in her ear. “Now things change, little one. This is Talia’s Offering. She goes willingly to the goddess, so we must help her. Remember, the more help we give, the more she’ll smile. The more she smiles, the more acceptable she is to the goddess. Don’t hesitate. The difference between us and others are we do not die. The goddess brings us to her side.” Nicci didn’t understand, but she could feel that this was important, and scary.

“Now we open your heart to the goddess.” Kaja said loudly.

“Now, take a firm grip on her ribs, just like we do with you. However, you must pull until her chest opens. It will hurt her, but if you let go, it will hurt her worse.” Nicci nodded, and took a firm grip. “That’s it, now with Kaja, pull. Do not stop.” Nicci pulled on her ribs, pulled until her arms hurt, but she saw the skin in the middle of Talia’s chest tear. “Don’t stop, Nicci! Open her chest!” The ribs broke away, and they pulled her chest open.

“Good girl. Notice how she still smiles?” Nicci nodded. “We have to continue. Go up beside her head.” As Nicci was guided around, the guardian come from around the forge holding the red hot sword.

“Now we purify your sins and send you to the goddess with a light heart.” The sword entered her chest. Nicci watched Talia wince, but still smile. The guardian didn’t drive the sword through it. It went slowly into the muscle.  At this point, Talia would not have long to live, so the Offering would have to proceed quickly as the heart muscle struggled to pump the blood.

“Now we take upon ourselves the weight of the sins your eyes have seen.” Nicci watched as Kaja pulled open Talia’s eyelids, laid her lips down, and sucked in. She saw Talia grimace.

“Now do the same as we do during the purification ceremony. This time, suck her eye into your mouth.” Nicci lowered her lips. “Now close your lips. Feel the small cord? Bite through it. Now chew and swallow.” Nicci obeyed, but as she was about to cry, she heard Helena whisper in her ear.

“See her smile? This helps to distract her from the pain in her heart, and in her chest.” Nicci began to understand the things that occurred in the purification ceremony.

“Now we kiss your lips, and take upon ourselves the weight of your sins, and lies spoken. Known and unknown.” She watched as Kaja lowered her lips and kissed Talia. She saw Talia wince, but it was much weaker.

“Now, at her last bit of strength, you must finish. Kiss her, and take the other half of her tongue. Let it go into your mouth, and bite hard. Don’t try to go easy, or it will hurt her worse. Just bite hard, and severe her tongue. She already knows this will happen. Its what she wants to do to complete her Offering.” Nicci watched as Kaja lifted up, and chewed a mouthful.

She took her courage into her hand, and kissed Talia on the lips. The stump of her tongue entered her mouth. She bit down hard and finished.

“The sword has been quenched. Her sins are forgiven.”

“Now we give you our last kiss, Talia. Go to the goddess with a smile as you have completely offered yourself to her.” Kaja leaned down, opened her mouth and bit deep into Talia’s neck.

“How was that beautiful, Nicci?” She had entered her memories, and now felt confused as she was brought back to the present. She smiled at Lena's question.

“Empress, though it seemed cruel, other human sacrifices are much worse. Those sacrifices have no choice. They also do not believe they will go to live in a good place where they no longer have to feel alone, afraid, or sad.” Nicci sighed softly. “And Talia smiled. She felt the pain, but she smiled. She knew she went to the goddess.” Lena frowned.

“Did she go to the goddess, Nicci?”  Lena asked her, though it was in a quiet voice.

“You tell me. Talia was offered to the goddess hundreds of years ago, but she bandaged your wounds, did she not?”

“You’ve been quiet for a few hours, Empress.” Nicci wondered if they put too much on Lena’s narrow shoulders.

“I offered a piece of myself, but you offered your entire life.” Lena said in a subdued tone. “Is she upset with me for not doing the entire thing?”

“Empress, if she was, you would already know. The other method was used to punish one of the Others. It is not to offer up a human. We feel pain differently then humans. We feel a lot more pleasure during pain, and if our pain is sexual in nature, like that method was, the sensations are incredibly intense.” Nicci explained and waited.

“So if I was offered to the goddess today, it would be like your offering?” Lena asked carefully.

“I do not know, Empress. That method is centuries old, each step added to over decades, with many discussions among the Priestesses. They wanted to make the Offering ceremony be one that the Offerings could smile, and the ones who performed the offering not regret participating.” Nicci smiled. “When I went to Haven, I eventually learned that the original ceremony was a simple sword through the heart.”

“That would be quick.”

“And meaningless. The Priestesses of the time felt that nothing was accomplished. The death was so quick, no one was tested. No one worried about it being willing. So, they decided to add the chest opening part, with the sword heated. After a decade, they decided that this was too brutal. There was no personal intimacy with the ones being offered, and the ones doing the offering. The sacrifices became things. The Priestesses hated that idea. So came the swallowing of sins through the eyes and tongue. The smile stayed, and became easier to see.” Nicci sighed.

"It does sound more intimate, somehow."

“Then came sacred flesh.” Nicci said softly.

“Sacred flesh?” Lena asked quietly. Nicci groaned.

“No, you can’t pull back now. Explain.”

“Alright. Damn, the goddess is going to punish me for this.” She sighed.

“To be pure, we didn’t eat meat. Domestic animals were housed in such a way that there could be no way to keep the meat clean. Also, the pens were always filthy, so how could initiates, acolytes, or guardians be expected to clean the pens? So we had nuts, and lentils. The health of people was not great, but not bad because they exercised, and ate vegetables and eggs. But what do we do with the bodies of our sacrifices? They were clean. Purified monthly. Cleansed daily.”

“I’m starting to see where this is going.”

“Yes. Since we already ate their eyes, and their tongues, it didn’t take much to go passed that. We ate the body now considered sacred.” Nicci waited, but was surprised at the response.

“The goddess already ate my breasts. Clean flesh. Tongue. Eyes. No, not unexpected. I also imagine that each sacrifice that offers themselves to their goddess, once they are in Haven and realize what their sisters do…” Lena said thoughtfully.

“Yes, being eaten by their close family wasn’t unexpected.” Nicci said. “That is surprising, Empress. I did not expect you to be open about that.” Nicci saw Lena’s ears redden.

“I already bit the goddess, so I am not against it.” She pursed her lips. “But in order to maintain good health, and a population base of initiates, acolytes, and guardians, there had to be rules for being offered.”

“Yes. Priestesses were offered twenty years after their first child. Initiates could only become acolytes, and when they did, their offering was twenty years later. Guardians were twenty years after their first child. No one reached fifty as a human. The limit for a first child was thirty. If a guardian or Priestess didn’t have a child by thirty, they would turn into acolytes, and be offered ten years later. It was to prevent someone from becoming an old woman who feared death, but had no problem sacrificing her charges.” Nicci stated some rules, and though there must be more, it kept things simple and prevented cruelty.

“What are you thinking, Empress?”

“That this temple is rather empty, and my goddess must miss the willing smiles of her Offerings.”

“You see? You see!” Kyrie yelled out in her throne room. She lifted Rachel and put her forehead to her own.

“All her thoughts are of me! Oh, my Empress! I can’t wait until I can taste you again!”