7.06 Bloodlust II


ACT ONE

FADE IN

EVE:
     Go ahead.

XENA:
     Octavius--Augustus raised you, didn't he?

EVE:
     I was sent away to the Provinces when I was very young, but he provided for me--sent the family I lived with money and things like that. I never really saw him.

Eve remembering the past

As Eve continues speaking, we see a close up of her face, which morphs into a young Livia, no older than seven or eight. She is running around, playing happily with a dark-haired, wiry boy of about the same age.

EVE (voice over):
     I lived with a good friend of Augustus, Toricles, his wife Orphelia and their son, Larus. Toricles was a Senator, and as we lived a good distance from Rome, we didn't see a lot of him. Orphelia was never interested in running a household. She'd have much rather lived in the city with Toricles. She kept herself shut away a lot, and I never really saw her. But Larus and I, we were always very close.

Scene morphs to a ten year old Livia and Larus sitting on a rug in a dark room, which is lit by a very few candles. They are pouring over a long scroll, very interested in it. A candle is perilously close to Livia's hair, which is tied up in the same way as it was in "Livia" and "Eve".

EVE (voice over):
     It was a very lonely household, but we contented ourselves with...we had a great thirst for knowledge. I don't know what I planned to gain from it, but I remember always loving to read, from a young age. Larus enjoyed spending time with me--I had been in his family ever since we could remember, and no one ever mentioned that I wasn't a blood member of it.

[FLASHBACK]

LARUS (whispering):
     I found something the other day--something cool. Want to see?

LIVIA (reading):
     What is it?

LARUS:
     A scroll. I found it hidden away in here the other day while you were out. I don't think it's ever been opened--so I waited for you.

LIVIA (leaves her scroll where it is, stands up):
     What kind of scroll is it? Go get it. Did you leave it in here?

LARUS (has walked over to a shelf and is sifting through the piles of scrolls on it):
     Where is it? Ah, I got it. It was buried under some others. (he takes a small scroll over to Livia)

LIVIA (examining it):
     Do you know what this is? (she points to a fish emblem on the unopened seal) It's an Elijian scroll. Are you sure it was just in here? You could--we could--get in trouble for having it.

LARUS:
     Not if we're careful! If we just read it once, and then put it back, it'll be okay. C'mon, Liv...I thought you'd be interested.

LIVIA:
     I am...but I don't want to get arrested either. We can look, but I'm going to keep an eye on the door, just in case. (she goes and peeps out of the half open door, before closing it tight and returning to Larus, picking up the candle near her other scroll on the way.) Well, open it!

Larus fumbles with the seal, but eventually gets it open. He and Livia stand and read it. Eve voices over as we cut to Larus' bedroom. Larus is lying on his red four-poster bed and Livia is standing, watching him.

EVE (voice over):
     Well, he didn't put it back like I told him. He read the scroll and decided that he agreed with it--and nothing would convince him otherwise. I wasn't so into it, but I had no problems with him believing in it.

LARUS:
     Liv, will you promise me that you won't tell a soul? I know it's a crime to follow Eli's teachings, but I do, I guess. At least I hope so. But, seriously, if they catch me, I could be put in jail, or killed. And I'd prefer that not to happen, thanks.

LIVIA:
     Larus, why would I tell on you? You're my brother--I don't want you killed at all! I am not going to tell a soul, so don't worry. You really like them, don't you?

LARUS:
     I do...it just makes sense. Why bother persecuting people who believe in love and peace above all things?

LIVIA:
     I don't know. But, I promise not to tell.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

FADE OUT

END OF ACT ONE