The only thing that kept Maui from steering right back onto a sure course for Motunui was the fact he knew the moment he did, Moana wouldn't fight back. She probably wouldn't even protest. One thing had been made clear, that this desire to make a pit stop at Lalotai was simply a request of hers. A very crazy wish. Something she wanted to do. But they all knew if a journey to Lalotai was to be made, Maui's consent and navigation was needed to get them there.
Going to Lalotai was nuts. Offering a dirty, man-eating crab caught up with his own beauty a mere peace offering was nonsense. Only a crazy person would want to try such a thing. Maui focused on Moana. She stood ahead of him at the front of the boat, her stooped posture as straight as it could be. Her hands were planted firmly against her hips, her back to Maui as she devoted all of her attention onto the horizon and the faint blotch of dull brown and gray rock that served as the only proof they were sailing in the right direction.
Maui felt a twinge of pain inside his chest as he did a double take. He'd seen Moana stand like this before. So eager. Ready for anything.
Yeah. She'd convinced him to sail for the rocky spit of land that served as entrance to the infamous realm of monsters. He'd thrown every excuse in the book at her: the monsters, the fall through the ocean, possibility of being eaten, Tamatoa's claws and inexplicable urges of violence, 'he tried to eat you, Moana!' And let's not forget Moana's elderly self.
On hearing that, Moana had lifted a single eyebrow and fixed the demigod with a challenging smirk. "If you think you can pin my age against me, you're asking for trouble, demigod." Akamu waving and shaking his head in the background also convinced Maui that using her age against her wasn't a good route to persuade Moana into being reasonable.
This was still Moana, after all.
Ultimately, Maui's choice was simple. Either humor the crazy mortal's wish, or actually play the role of demigod in charge and refuse. He would rather not earn Moana's disappointment a second time.
Whatever dangers they would face in the deep, Maui knew she was fully aware of the risks that could meet them. If anything happened, she would have nothing to blame but her own determination to try and make friends with a demonic crab. But nothing was going to happen to her, regardless. Not if Maui was still demigod of the wind and sea.
Moana glanced over her shoulder and met his eyes, likely reading the seriousness that came with his thoughts. The old woman stepped her way over and smiled, squeezing his forearm. "You're so amazing, my friend."
"Pfft. Nah, I'm crazy to be letting you do this. There's still time to change your mind, you know."
"Nope. I've planned this for far too long to abandon it now."
Maui blinked. "Really? What's this 'peace offering' you mentioned?"
Moana hummed and slipped a hand into a pouch on the side of her hand-woven dress. She produced a blood-red rock that lay perfectly in the palm of her dark hand. Maui leaned in and looked. He whistled, tracing a finger over the slightly smooth surface. "A gemstone, huh? Where'd you ever get one of these? Volcano? You jump into any volcanoes while I've been gone?"
"It was a gift. But not of much … if any use to me."
"Who gave it to you?"
Moana tipped her head from side to side and stowed the gemstone away. "If you must know, it was a foreigner who gave it to me. I helped him find his way to fresh water and in return he gave me the stone. To him it's a priceless treasure, I'm sure. But for a girl from an island, it's only use is to just sit and look pretty. So I decided I would try and find it a new home."
Maui snorted. "On the shell of a giant crab."
"Basically."
It wasn't long before they reached the base of the rocky tower. Maui merely glanced it over once he'd secured their canoe, but then he noticed Moana had gone rigid, and still hadn't left the boat. She craned her head back, those large, brown eyes taking in the whole mountain slowly. The moment Maui started to wonder if he should check on her, Akamu stepped dutifully to her side and touched her arm. "Moana?"
"Look at that." She grinned, grabbing his arm in excitement. "I knew it was tall, but it's even taller than I remembered."
Maui closed his eyes and nodded, silently scolding himself. The last time Moana had been here had been a lifetime ago, in her perspective. And this was just the outside of Lalotai. His eyes popped open. How would Moana react to seeing the actual Lalotai after so many decades? What if it shocked her a little more than she was prepared for …?
"... The top? Well then, how do you get down to Lalotai?" Akamu was asking the woman.
"Simple. Real easy." Moana turned her face up to the young man, a truly wicked smile blossoming over her wrinkled features. Her voice deepened. "The entrance only opens after a human sacrifice."
'Did she just …?' Maui's jaw dropped.
Akamu's eyes bulged to the point of nearly falling from his skull and he inhaled sharply. Quickly, he masked his horror with annoyance and looked away, knowing he'd been had. "Aw, come on."
A cackling Moana hopped off the boat and waddled past Maui. "Gotta keep the tradition, eh Maui?"
His mouth still hanging open, in fact his jaw could have probably reached Lalotai by now, the demigod wheezed and burst into laughter, hugging himself and doing a small dance on the rocks. "Oh, no way. She did it! Did you see that?" He looked down at Mini-Maui and was rewarded by his tiny pal slapping his own knee, silently guffawing right along with him.
"Well I learned from the best," Moana said.
Akamu's face burned beet red. He started forward. "Okay, let's just climb to the top."
Maui placed a halting hand on the boy's chest. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Gullible. We're not climbing. Not with Moana."
The silver haired woman turned, starting to frown. "I told you not to -"
"Not tryin' to be the voice of doom, here, Mo', but you have slowed down a little. Tiny bit, really, buuuut ..."
"So, you'll just use your hawk form." Akamu brushed away Maui's arm and nodded. "It's the best way, I think. You take Moana up first."
"Actually," Maui stepped forward, planting a firmer hand on the boy and carefully causing him to backpedal towards the boat, "Seeing as Lalotai is, well how do I say this? Really, really dark and, you know, DANGEROUS, I'm only gonna be able to concentrate on taking care of one person. That's Moana. And since you're afraid of the water, and there's kind of a lot of water to get through-"
Akamu stumbled onto his rear, landing on the boat and stared at them first in disbelief, then determination. "What? No. No, I'm not leaving Moana."
"Nuh uh, ah, no, Maui's got a point this time." Moana stepped closer, her playfulness fading. "What I'm wanting to do isn't going to be a walk on the beach. It'll be safer for the two of us to do this alone."
Akamu's brow furrowed. "I'm a liability?"
Maui's answer was a flat, "Yes." He caught Moana sending him a stern frown. He hastily added, "I mean, just this once. Monsters and water and stuff. Just wait here. Moana and I will be back before you know it."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Guard the boat. Try to practice some swimming lessons."
Maui whipped out his hook between both hands and the weapon sparked. Instantly he was transformed into giant hawk form. He rose, nimbly caught Moana by her shoulders, and launched upward with his signature, tell-tale call of glorious hype. A grin spread over his beak. Laughing heartily, Moana was mimicking his call, like she'd done on getting them both out of Lalotai in the past.
Just five feet from the floor of the glowing, foreign realm within the sea, Maui released his hold on her shoulders and she dropped for two seconds. She never made impact, however, as the demigod had once more zipped back into human form and caught her frame up safely in his arms. His feet hit solid ground and Maui's head lifted proudly. "Hah! Two for two."
"Huh?"
"Last time I came I made a good landing. Two for two, y'know ... did it again?"
Moana lifted an eyebrow, crossing her arms right where she was, carried by the demigod. "That may have been ages ago, Maui, but I distinctly remember landing," and here she lightly whacked his chest, "on you. Did you forget?"
"Uh huh, and now you're probably gonna tell me you planned it."
"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't."
"Tch, you toppled all over the place. You know what? You're just trying to avoid thanking me for the excellent landing I just nailed us." As he spoke, Maui bent over and set her carefully on her feet again. She gratefully gripped his arm, because soaring up into the air and then taking a plunge straight into the depths of another realm was a lot more intense than she remembered. Moana looked up. Despite her friend's teasing tone, there was an alertness behind his eyes. Good, good Maui. Using humor to disguise concern, as usual.
Moana looked away and froze. She kept a hold on Maui's arm as her eyes wandered across the bio-luminescent world of Lalotai; the purples, pinks, blues and greens that supplied the aquatic-like plant life; the many, variously sized shells and barnacles; how the sky was replaced with a background of being submerged far beneath the ocean, so far that she could see a whale drifting in the distance. "It's the same," she breathed.
"Yeah, what did I tell ya? Two for two."
Maui picked up his fishhook and tossed it over his shoulder before sobering as he looked around. "So, you wanna find Tamatoa, huh? His lair should be ..."
Just ahead of them, a blackened stump jolted and swung around. A glowing, purple face carved into a wood-like mask stared lifelessly at the duo as four black, tendril-like arms extended from the stumpy body.
"Oh, oh, I remember this guy," Moana remarked while Maui brandished his hook and eased forward a few steps to meet the challenger. She tilted her head, calculatingly. "Hm. Last one had a pink face. Maybe this is a brother."
"Really, Moana?"
"... Sister?"
The masked monster garbled viciously and bounded forward. With one swing, Maui sent it flying. The monster crashed into a warped, undersea tree and lay on its back, growling lowly.
The demigod tapped the edge of his hook gently against his other palm. "Wanna try another move, ya little punk?"
Moana stepped up beside him, lightly rubbing her chin. The monster was tossing its arms and legs, slapping the ground and surrounding plant life in a fit of anger before it lurched back to its feet. Moana sensed Maui tense at her side and she held up a hand to postpone his defense.
"Whoa, whoa, Maui. Just a hunch, but lemme try something."
He caught her arm with a disbelieving splutter. "Wha-hey, no. No way, that thing is a monster. An angry monster."
Moana rolled her eyes and yanked free, stomping forward. She snatched up a partially glowing stick and pointed it with a jab towards the raging creature and it immediately froze with a puzzled noise. "We're not here for any trouble, pal. If you wanna throw a temper tantrum, okay. Not up to me. But we're not leaving 'till I feel like it, and you already met my friend the demigod over here."
The monster hissed and shrank back.
"Yeah. The big guy back there. Helped me defeat a lava monster, once. So take it from an old woman and don't go lookin' for a fight. Yes?"
The masked monster made a series of angry growls and whining garbles. It turned over and skittered off for a darkened path.
"Heh." Moana turned to Maui, lovingly patting her stick against the palm of her hand. She met his surprised eyes and smirked. "You know, now I see why you like carrying that hook around with you. Think I'll just keep my stick."
Author's Note: I promise Tamatoa will appear in the next chapter. And OH MY GOSH you guys are amazing! Over 1,000 views on this story!? I'm stunned. Thanks to everyone who's reading and following along. I really appreciate the support! Please leave a review.
