Monster of Monsters #1 Part Two: Mortem's Contestant

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

"Do tell," Shukujo spoke, and then she asked, "What was it like?"

  "It was like... How do I put it? It was like he couldn't believe or more like he was shocked that I kept leaving," Kein replied as she laughed again. "It was like he was appalled that I could pry myself away from him, but most of all, I believe he was surprised that I ran. I ran the first two times."

  Kein laughed for a third time, and Shukujo slightly smiled as she imagined the bane of the vampire when his prey fled his wilds not once but twice. Shukujo was curious as to how the human survived three trips to the Crimson Parlor, but then she remembered that the vampire had just fed and that it had been a long time since he had human companionship. Shukujo's thoughts went back to the bane of the vampire, and she was very amused by what the human had done.

  "I could imagine that," Shukujo stated.

  Kein petted Thirteen for a few moments, and then she asked, "Shukujo, why do you hate humans? You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, but I don't believe all Kumovons hate humans, but you seem to really hate them."

  "I decline to answer your question if I have an option. My hatred is my own, and you do not need to know anything about it."

  "That's fine like I said, you don't have to answer, it's just that it's hard for me to understand how you feel," Kein said. "I don't think I ever hated anyone. I've disliked a few people, but hate... It has to be something like anger, but it never goes away."

  "You do understand," Shukujo told her. "Hatred never goes away. It is always in the back of your mind. It is how I have survived in this place. If I did not have my hatred, I... I do not know if I would still be alive."

  "This is another question you don't have to answer," Kein began. "How important is family to Kumovons? My real question is would you leave someone you cared about behind, I mean, would you abandon them?"

  "I would never, and I cannot see one of my kind doing something like that to one of their own family. Are you thinking about that Kumovon lady you mentioned earlier?"

  "Yes, I want to understand the relationship we had. She said she wanted to devour me. I thought that meant she wanted to bring me into her clan, but I just wasn't big enough. If this was the devour she meant, why did she leave without taking me?"

  "Baka... to us monsters devour just means eat and nothing else. You should be thankful that she didn't devour you. I would have the moment I saw your defenseless naive presence if I had been in her position."

  "Right..." Kein replied, feeling a little heartsick. "I should be thankful she left."

  Kein sat up, placed Thirteen on the floor, then turned away from Shukujo, and wiped her hands over her face as she said, "Enough talking about things like that. I have a Mortem I need to win, and I need to ask you one more question."

  She turned back around, and Shukujo noticed her eyes were even redder than they had been when she first came into her lair.

  "I want to survive this week, so that I can go home," Kein stated. "You want to kill me because... umm... you'll enjoy it. Both of those things can't happen, so one of us is going to end up very unhappy."

  "More like dead," Shukujo commented. "What point are you trying to make?"

  "Isn't there something more you want than to make my wish impossible to achieve? I thought if there was something else, maybe we could help each other out. Surviving alone is very hard."

  "I will offer you this advice, baka. We are all alone here. Understand that, and you might survive a few hours more," Shukujo told her, and then she emphasized, "We are all alone here."

  "Maybe whoever is in charge of the Mortem wants you to think that way. Maybe they don't want all of you to work together because that's the only way to win the Mortem."

  "I tried once to work with one of the other Residents, but he only ended up betraying me," Shukujo said, and then she insisted, "I will trust no one again."

  "The vampire..." Kein muttered, and then she asked, "Is there a way we can work together that doesn't involve a need to trust me? There must be something you want more than to make a human dead."

  "There is nothing I want that you can help me attain," Shukujo replied. "You only wasted your questions pursuing the possibility. You are truly a baka."

  "At least you didn't lie to me, and I clearly see where I stand with you," Kein replied.

  "Do not stand with me," Shukujo told her. "Do not even stand where I can see you."

  "If that's what you want," Kein said as she started for the door. "I do need to..."

  "Wait, I change my mind," Shukujo interrupted her. "First I want you to answer some of my questions."

  "Okay," Kein said as she walked back over to where she was standing. "What are your questions?"

  "What sort of hex did you place on the one you call Thirteen?"

  "Hex?" Kein repeated as she glanced at the Kumo'usagi who had started to crawl up the wall to the corner where he had made his home.

  Thirteen felt that Kein was paying attention to him again, so he paused and looked at the new addition to his family. She saw his eight puppy dog eyes and wanted to snatch him from the wall and snuggle him again, but she resisted the urge.

  "Yes, see the way he peers at you," Shukujo pointed out. "It is almost like he likes you, no, I would say adores you. He is my Kumovon child, so he should only look at me that way, but his fondness for you seems to be greater, unnaturally greater even though you are a human."

  Kein glanced at her gloved hands and then said, "I'll only apologize to you one more time for taking him away from you, but I did warn you to call your children back."

  "I do not accept your apology as I did not accept it then," Shukujo told her. "I want you to answer my question."

  "I didn't place a hex on Thirteen, but that doesn't mean a hex isn't on me," Kein replied as she walked over and held out her hand for the Kumo'usagi to crawl across it. He gleefully crawled into her palm and balled himself up so he would fit, and Kein noticed how light he was for his size as she said, "It does seem he really likes me, but is it real or some curse? I wish I knew. I want to believe Thirteen's affections are real. It would make life a little less harsh."

  "Kumo'usagi are not affectionate."

  "They're not, so this is unnatural?" Kein questioned as she petted him. "It took me a long time to realize that normal spiders were acting unnaturally around me. Spiders are also not affectionate, but they were with me. I just thought Kumovon children would be different since they're more like your people than spiders."

  "As I said, you must have placed a hex on him either intentionally or unintentionally, but I do find one thing peculiar."

  Kein asked, "What is that?"

  "Your affection towards him. Do you not see him as grotesque? Is he not like some monstrosity from your nightmares? Do you not see him as some grossly hairy beast that wants to hurt you?"

  "Not at all," Kein replied as she felt the life essence of the creature in her palm. "I see him as beautiful, not as pretty as you, but wondrous in his own way. Don't you think the same? All your children are wondrous, and it's been very hard for me not to pick them up even though I really want to." She thought about what Shukujo had told her before, and then Kein asked, "Are you saying that your Kumovon children aren't affectionate with you?"

  "We are not talking about me," Shukujo told her.

  "I guess not," Kein said, and then she held Thirteen close to her cheek as she stated, "I love how soft he is, and how he cuddles up to me." Her eyes widened with delight as she added, "Listen... He's purring."

  "Purring..? Kumo'usagi are capable of purring, but I have never heard one do so," Shukujo said, and then she ordered, "Give him to me."

  "Are you saying that you'll take him back?" Kein questioned as she moved to the white border line. She nearly handed him over, but then she demanded, "Tell me you won't hurt him."

  "What kind of Kumovon do you think I am that you believe I will hurt one of my own Kumo'usagi?"

  "I am questioning your hatred of humans. Would you hurt Thirteen just to make me suffer?
"

  Shukujo glanced at the fluffy Kumo'usagi Kein held with care, and then she answered, "I would not. They are family."

  Kein set Thirteen down, and then she told him, "Go on to Shukujo."

  Thirteen crawled across the Kumo'sakai, and Shukujo picked him up and took a firm grip of his bunny-ear antennas as she said, "I am surprised that you believed me. I tricked you so easily. Now come on this side of the Kumo'sakai or I will hurt Thirteen."

  Kein didn't hesitate and moved to cross the white borderline, but then she stopped and said, "No, you won't hurt Thirteen."

  "Sure I will."

  "No, you won't," Kein insisted. "You won't do it because I have to be right about you."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You won't... you can't hurt one of your family. I have to be right about this."

  Shukujo tightened her grip on his bunny-ear antennas as she said, "You are wrong about Kumovon. We devour our own."

  "No!" Kein yelled, and this was the first time Shukujo witnessed her become angry. Kein shouted, "You won't! I have to be right about this!"

  "It looks like I have touched on a sensitive subject," Shukujo spoke. "Why is it so important that you be right? Are you still pouting over that Kumovon lady you claim you knew?" She studied Kein's agitated reaction, and then she said, "By your response, I am right. There is more to the story between you and that Kumovon lady, is there not? You two became close... no... We do not become close to your kind, so it must be that you became close to her. My poor baka... You are upset that you do not know if the friendship you struck with your lady was one-sided. You might be even more upset over that point than you are upset that I am going to hurt this Kumovon child." Shukujo paused, waiting for an answer, but Kein held her tongue, so Shukujo told her, "I know something. I know of the whispering specter that you have been trying to keep at bay. I know what this vengeful specter whispers in your ear each time you think of the lady."

  "What would you know?" Kein yelled.

  "I know that your kind does not stand a chance here. I know that the Mortem will eat you alive. I also know, my poor baka..." Shukujo pointed at her as she accused her, "I also know that it is your fault that the lady abandoned you."

  "You can't know that," Kein insisted. "I never told anyone, so you can't know that."

  Shukujo vowed to herself that she wouldn't let up on antagonizing the human and spoke, "In your mind, you became very close as close as a mother and daughter could become, but you are the only one who saw it that way."

  "Shut up..." Kein told her in nearly a murmur.

  "Why are you upset? I only speak the truth. I know... I know that she cared nothing for you, and the proof is when you gave her a new name."

  "Shut up..." Kein spoke louder. "You can't know this."

  "I do know this. I have seen your pain. I have seen what should have been a warm joyous moment for a child turn into a cold flurry of confusion and doubt. It... that very moment has caused you to go on a quest for the truth, but I am afraid that you already know the truth."

  "You know nothing," Kein shouted back as panic set in, and the misgivings she had snuffed out, rushed back like the furious flames of a rekindled wildfire.

  "Do you remember how your lady reacted when you blessed her with such an endearing name?" Shukujo questioned her. "You thought she would be delighted to be honored with such a name. You thought she would wrap her arms around you and give you the kiss a mother would give a daughter, but nothing like that happened." Shukujo's next words crawled out of her mouth as if malice had grown eight legs, "Baka... You gave her such an endearing name befitting one you thought loved you, but she only screamed at you..."

  Kein shook her head, denying everything she heard, denying that this Kumovon could know her deepest shame and sorrow. She denied it within her mind with furor as she backed up and repeated with anguish dripping from her lips, "You can't know this... You can't know this..."

  "You called her mother and..."

  "Shut up!" Kein screamed as the tears she had been holding back, tears she normally sealed away deep within her broke through her carefully laid barriers and came gushing out. "Don't say anymore! Shut up!"

  "You called her mother out of great affection and... and she rejected your love. She rejected you and your silly thoughts and beliefs. The only thing you shared with her was time," Shukujo told her as Thirteen tried to wriggle from her grasp so that he could go to Kein, but Shukujo held a firm grasp on his bunny-ear antennas. She told the human, "What agony the lady must have been in to put up with one such as you? A tiny little morsel not even worthy enough to eat." Shukujo continued her onslaught, "You are a baka now, and you were a baka back then. Loneliness blinded you to reality. I still do not know why the lady stayed so long with you. It is more likely that you exaggerated the length of time you spent together."

  "You can't know this..." Kein said while she gave a numb ear to the Kumovon. She stumbled back a few steps and hit the wall with her back as she spoke, "No one should know this."

  Shukujo witnessed the pain she dealt against the human, and she believed it was enough for now, so she released the hold she had on Thirteen and then stroked his head as she said, "It seems I do not need to hurt him right at this moment. I found another way to hurt you, and I should score very high for it."

  "You did hurt me," Kein replied as her tears continued to flow. "Why would you want to hurt me in this way? I haven't cried in nearly a year, and that's all I seem to do in this Mortem."

  "Causing tears... actually I should say... causing tears of sorrow ranks as one of the highest non-lethal scorings," Shukujo told her. "How could I pass on such an opportunity? I should be set for a few days now."

  "How did you know? You couldn't possibly know what happened that last day with the lady," Kein insisted.

  "Look at where you are. You skip around the darkness, forgetting you are among the vilest of creatures, the cursed, and the damned. You should be more cautious."

  Kein wiped away her tears as she said, "I should be more cautious. Did you have to teach me this lesson so harshly?"

  "Teach you?" Shukujo nearly laughed out. "Are you substituting me for the lady just because I happen to be a Kumovon."

  "Maybe," Kein replied. "But you're the one who showed me my error in allowing my trusting nature to have free will here."

  "Tell me what you have learned then, my baka," Shukujo instructed her.

  Kein began as she controlled her crying, "The mummy... King Ammon... he did something to me, didn't he? I heard that those cursed can gain power by feeding on pain. I just thought that nourishment would be pain caused by physical wounds. I never thought the pain would be..."

  "Emotional?" Shukujo interjected as she set Thirteen on the floor. "Humans are such weak creatures."

  Thirteen started for Kein as he desperately wanted to console her, but Kein shook her head, so Thirteen turned and headed for the others of his kind.

  "You are a harsh teacher," Kein told her. "Have you been this harsh to your other pupils?"

  "I have had no students, and I do not wish for any. I will gain valuable resources with the points I have made off of you if you happened to learn something from the experience, what is that to me. Now tell me what you have learned my non-student?"

  "I let my guard down and the mummy fed on my pain," Kein replied as she felt like she was back in school. "I was a baka, and a baka gets no gold stars."

  "Gold stars?" Shukujo questioned. "What is this in reference to?"

  "It's a sticker given as a reward," Kein replied. "Gold being the highest honor." She thought about what the Kumovon told her, and then Kein questioned, "Even if King Ammon fed on the pain of my past, how would you know about it?"

  "You are way over your limit of questions," Shukujo told her. "But I will tell you that those who are cursed must manifest the pain they feed on into something tangible before they devour it."

  She thought about her explanation, and then Kein stated, "You mean you saw it? You
saw my pain... you saw my memory of that terrible day, but that would mean..." Kein paused as she thought about details she let stagnate, and then she said, "The Residents have ways of watching other Residents; it has to be how you know. Labaron had a button that gave him thirty minutes of privacy, and I thought it was from Controller and the Coaches, but it was from everyone. All of you have been watching me. King Ammon manifest my pain and you were able to view it. My deepest shame and everyone saw it."

  "You are not very quick, are you?" Shukujo scolded her.

  Kein wiped away the last of her tears as she stated, "The Mortem's point system it's... it's based on pain and suffering." She closed her eyes as she envisioned a large building rising up through the darkness, and she spoke, "The Mortem is a massive tower to gather all this pain and suffering, but why do something like this? What is the real purpose of the Mortem? Could it be that I was right? You are all being duped into participating in this Mortem for someone else's gain?"

  "The moment I think that you are a true baka, you go and say something that is beyond the wisdom you should have," Shukujo told her. "I have had a similar assumption."

  "For the Mortem to continue, pain and suffering must be prolonged, so the Mortem has to be very hard so no one can win, and no one has won the Mortem," Kein spoke, and then she questioned herself, "How am I supposed to win the Mortem if so many others have tried and failed?" She pushed herself away from the wall and approached the white borderline as she said, "No wonder all of you are the way you are. You've all been down here too long."

  "Are you suggesting we need to step out into the light? Do not forget we live in darkness."

  "Monsters walk in the light and saints move about in the darkness," Kein told her. "What is important is the light and darkness within you." She looked around the dungeon castle area, and then Kein said, "I pity all of you."

  "You pity us. Because we are forced to make others suffer? Have you forgotten what we are?"

  "I pity you, not because you are forced to make others suffer, but that you choose to," Kein replied, then she noticed the unlucky numbered Kumo'usagi that had become her responsibility, and she said, "Thirteen was very scared when you threatened him. You made him suffer, and he's one of yours." She stepped right to the white borderline, peered up at Shukujo high above her, and asked, "Did you suffer when you made him suffer or did you feel nothing? If you felt nothing, you've been down here too long."