Author's note: "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear." Marcus Tullius Cicero
2. Mictlan
"Do not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift."
Dante Alighieri, Inferno.
Tamatoa wasn't sure of how long those little freaks have been pushing him around but there was one thing for certain: they were heading into the deeper levels of the realm. He could hear the shouting and roaring of the different monsters echoing through the walls, getting closer and closer until they reached the so-called-Fale Tele, "The Big House". A round big space that served as meeting place and it was surely living up to its name since all the inhabitants of Lalotai had gathered in there to see what punishment was bestowed on the coconut crab. Tamatoa looked around in fear and noticed two figures on top of him, the judges of the realm: Xolotl and Axolotl, the black and the white twins. They decided the fates of the monsters and they seemed to be considering if the crustacean deserved their forgiveness or not. Tamatoa looked around. They were all shouting like mad and were demanding a punishment for the crab had broken the biggest rule of the realm: Never interact and much less bring a human to Lalotai –and yes, that included eating mortal flesh. Maui was an exception being a demigod but the monsters didn't seem to care if Tamatoa had not invited the little human girl or not, he had tried to eat her after all.
The decision had almost been taken when a voice seemed to differ with the others. A female one that was very familiar to Tamatoa. Not far from his cave lived a sea monster that went by many names but everybody called her J.J "Jolly". Long neck, eel look-alike with her horse-like mane, four limbs, tail and a shiny caring nature, she was perhaps the less-ill-hearted creature in Lalotai. Rumor had it that Jolly ended up in the Realm because she lost her previous partner. Tama and her had never been friends but respected each other. If she had heard about Maui's intrusion, then she knew all about the fight in his cave.
"What's up with you lot, hu? It's like there never been humans in here" Jolly stood next to the crab with a deep frown. "You already know Wonder Boy. He always brings his fans along"
"That's not an excuse. He tried eating Maui AND the human"
"So what? I could eat you, Ziggy, and be happy about it!" growled the she-creature.
"You wouldn't like the taste" mumbled the crab.
"Tama, you lolo. Do we care how that toad tastes? No, then zip it. I'm trying to save your sorry butt"
"I don't need your help"
"Says the guy in the mess. Look, we'll talk later. Now, let me handle this" Jolly went back to her tirade. "Listen, you might think you know what's cooking outside but you don't so why don't you guys go back to whatever you evil plans were and that's it"
"We want boiled crab!" shouted one of the large reptiles.
"Throw him into the mantis shrimp!" barked Deadlight, the giant anglerfish.
"Oh, boy" Tamatoa cowered even more.
"You do that and it's clovering time!" Jolly made her knuckles cracked.
"Let's have ourselves a nice crab salad"
"… I think I'll start vegan from this day on" whispered the coconut crab.
"Yeah, sure" Jolly looked for Kuna Loa, the largest and one of the most dangerous members of Lalotai. The Eel King was the keeper of the realm and one of the inmates, all the monsters respected his decisions. "C'mon, Witches Cauldron. What's your decision?"
"…" Kuna said nothing but looked up towards the twins. The two amphibians had said nothing but were looking to the sky light right above them. A beautiful whale shark moved in circles around them and the brothers looked down, as if they couldn't see the other monsters. Jolly frowned in frustration until she noticed that the twins were now standing like a pair of marble statues. The eel then gave out a warning shrill and all the creatures began to sulk back. Little by little, Tamatoa and Jolly were left alone with the two brothers.
"You have been judged, Shiny One" spoke Xolotl.
"Le Mata has seen you, Brother Crab. If that is good or not that is unknown" replied the white brother. Tamatoa had heard of this Mata character- The Eye- but had never seen it, just like the whole lot of his neighbors. They said he was the most powerful being of all. "You are now at ease"
"So, hu, can I go now?" muttered the crustacean.
"If that is your wish, do"
"Uh-hu" the crab wasn't sure.
"You heard the man, let's get out of here" Jolly freed him and they both headed for the entrance.
"You sure?" Tama gulped.
"Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission" they walked away, leaving the twins to their thoughts.
"Le Mata has seen"
"Le Mata will bleed"
"Run away with me
Lost souls and reverie
Running wild and running free
Two kids, you and me"
Yes, my little pet project is finally here and all thanks to the help of InuBunnygirl. I really appreciate your help with this one (the shrimp was one of her ideas, for example).
Lalotai is a Proto-Polynesian word and it means "Underworld".
Thank you all for stopping by and more to come real soon!