"I would like in on this wager," Green Serpent spoke. "I would like to wager on the side of Purple Rose."
"I accept your joint wager," Purple Rose said. "Would anyone else like to join in?"
"I'm still very new at this," Yellow Dragon stated. "I think I'll step back and watch the outcome of this."
"What about you, Blue Wolf?" Purple Rose questioned.
"I guess I can make it ladies versus gentleman, I am in," she replied. "I do like to root for the underdog. I also see this kindness of hers. I think it is a useful tool for her and has many ways that it can be used."
Controller spoke up, "Are there any other wagers at this time?" He waited a few moments, and then he said, "There is not, so I call the wagering at an end for now."
Basement Level...
Kein finished her cry, dried her eyes, and moved on to King Ammon's room. She wanted to update him on her progress and wanted to ask him her other question for the day. She was in better spirits since crying. Kein usually never let herself get to the point of breaking down, but for some reason, she felt better after doing so. She called out to King Ammon, but he never answered, so after about twenty minutes, she started through the tomb, calling out to him.
The Egyptian tomb passages were dark and in ruins, and Kein expected some creature or thing to spring out of the darkness at her and try to take a bite out of her, but none did. She noticed light ahead, then the passage ended, and a large valley with a river flowing through it was on the other side of the tomb. The place was gorgeous and full of life and light, and she stood there in awe of the sight and never heard King Ammon approach her from behind.
"It is a wondrous sight," he said in her mind.
Kein jumped with the intrusion to her thoughts, and then she spoke, "You startled me."
"I did not expect for you to venture through the tomb or that luck would allow you to find this place. You are braver than I thought."
"I never expected to see a place like this," she told him. "I thought your domain would be all creepy and full of... darkness," she spoke, then turned to him, and asked, "Was that rude of me to say?"
"It was," he replied. "And you have used your final question, but I will allow you one more for today."
"Oh..." Kein complained. "I keep wasting them." She noticed that he peered at her differently than he had when they stood before his tomb near the hallway's door. He didn't seem as angry, so she asked, "If you were me and you wanted to survive the week among a group of monsters, what question would you ask you?"
King Ammon seemed to smile at her, not that she could tell a difference with his skeleton expression, but his essence seemed amused by her as he said, "Follow me. There is something I want to show you before I answer your final question of the day."
She followed him to the edge of the large river, and the valley was like she imagined ancient Egypt would be. He led her to a small dock, then they boarded a large Egyptian boat about 150 feet long, and King Ammon used his power, and the oars magically rowed them down the river. Kein walked towards the front of the boat and looked out at all the wonders before them.
"What do you see?" he asked her.
There were so many things to see like how the native animals interacted with the environment, how the water flowed along the banks, how the afternoon sun moved along the sky, but what caught her eye was a single white flower growing along the banks.
"I see..." Kein began. "I see beauty in many things."
"Tell me about one of them," he spoke in her mind.
"That flower," she started as she pointed. "Some might say it is ordinary, but look at it. It simmers almost silver when the sunlight catches it just right, and I believe I can already smell its sweet honey-like fragrance even from here."
"It is called the Amisi Rose."
"A rose? It looks more like a... a multi-layer daisy but all white."
"It folds up at night and appears more like a rose," he told her. "I named my daughter after this flower. Her name was Princess Amisi Azeneth."
"Azeneth... Doesn't that mean she belongs to her father?" Kein asked.
"It does," he replied. "Princess Amisi Azeneth was my whole existence after her mother died. I cherished her more than my own life, but in the end, that was not enough to keep her safe."
"Did her life end in some tragic way?"
He replied, "She was taken away from me by someone I trusted, by someone I should never have trusted."
"I'm sorry," Kein told him. "Why did you want to show me this place?"
"When Princess Amisi Azeneth was young and I was still the most important man in her life, this boat and this place along the Nile was one of her cherished spots. You seem very like her, so I thought you might also appreciate seeing it."
"I do. Thank you."
They stood at the front for another twenty minutes, enjoying the sights and smells of the living world around them.
"There is something I would like to share with you," King Ammon told her.
"What is that?"
"Come, and you will see," he said as he walked to the very front of the barge and motioned to the horizon in front of them. "This is what I wanted to share with you."
The sun quickly and unnaturally moved forward in time and then slowed as it set over the horizon in front of them, throwing out a brilliant rainbow of light Kein thought couldn't exist in her world, and she was filled with wonder and awe and gazed at the sight unblinking till the last ray vanished into the twilight. Torches on the barge immediately flickered on as she continued to stare at a now dark horizon.
"It was so beautiful," Kein replied, then turned to King Ammon, and told him, "If something like this can happen within the Basement Level, within a Mortem that only wants to claim lives... just think of what can be accomplished if light can outshine darkness." She paused, and then she asked, "Are sun rises as beautiful?"
"Judge for yourself," King Ammon said as he turned and walked to the back of the barge, and she followed.
The sun peeked over the Eastern horizon and threw out a blazing orange color that burned across the sky. The sunrise was just as magical as the sunset, and Kein felt all warm inside, knowing this scene of endings and beginnings was what King Ammon wanted to share with her.
"Is it ever dark here?"
"Only if I allow it," he replied. "Darkness is here for only a few minutes each day."
She turned to him and saw him more as a caring father than a rage filled mummy, and she said, "Princess Amisi Azeneth must have cherished these times with you."
"I believe she did," King Ammon replied, then after a few seconds, he questioned, "Daughter of fear, did you also have someone close to you that you lost?"
"I did," Kein answered as she thought about the lady.
King Ammon questioned, "Does it hurt when you think about this person?"
"It does," she replied as happy and sad memories of her past took turns occupying her mind.
King Ammon sensed the anguish of a child within her, a child still trapped within the body of this woman.
"I experienced so much joy with her, but it hurts to think about the lady," she spoke and then asked, "How can so much happiness also bring pain?"
"One of life's great mysteries," he told her. "Look at the river, and see how it flows. Life is the water, and the rocks and banks are circumstances we encounter. The water continues to flow, but is changed in different degrees, depending on what it encounters, and so is life. Joy, hatred, happiness, envy, and all our other emotions are the ripples caused by these encounters, and we as the water can only move forward, bringing the ripples with us."
"I think I understand," she told him. "You believe we are the water, and we're forced along the banks."
"Yes," he replied. "Sadness and joy is a part of life and cannot be avoided." He headed back to the front of the barge as she followed, and then he said, "Look... and take care to observe. Look at the flow of the river," he spoke in a soothing way in her mind. "See how calm it is. See the sm
oothness of the current. Do you feel a part of this water? Do you feel a part of the current? See the joy..." King Ammon spoke and said as if a command, "Relive the sorrow."
She watched the flow of the river as his voice became more and more distant, and then she blinked, and they appeared to be someplace else along the Nile, and King Ammon was standing on her other side.
"Did something happen?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"It's just that... It looks like we're at a different spot along the river, and I thought you were standing..."
"Time does flow differently here," he interrupted her. "I should have warned you beforehand. Time here can move forwards and backwards at my whim."
"Oh..." she replied, but not sure that was the peculiar sensation she felt.
"What were we talking about?" she asked as if pulling out of a haze. "I remember how you were telling me life is like the river, but what were we talking about after that?"
"Family," he replied. "Fathers and daughters... Mothers and daughters..."
"I don't remember," Kein said as she sniffed and realized her nose was runny and her eyes were watering.
"You might have gotten too much sun," he told her. "Allow me to end the day."
He lifted his right hand, and the sun that was high above them immediately set, and for the first time in a long time, night lingered over the river valley. The torches on the barge flickered on again.
"Do you have total control of your domain?" she asked him.
"Nearly," he replied. "This is the Mortem."
She blinked a couple of times as more of her senses came back to her, and then Kein remembered why she had come in the first place.
"I forgot to tell you that I have the Atlantian going after the Waters of Life, and if all goes well, I'll have it sometime late tonight."
"I would be careful if I was you when dealing with the Atlantian," King Ammon warned her. "He is a peculiar sort and should not be trusted."
Kein didn't know what to say to his comment, so she remained silent.
"I will now answer your final question for the day even though I did allow you other questions. The question I would ask myself if I was you would be what I would ask all of the Residents. You should ask what is it that we want from you."
"What all of you want from me?" Kein repeated as she thought about his reply. "I'll take that to heart as I interact with all of you. I would like to leave now."
"I am surprised that you have not asked me the question."
"I've already used up all my questions for you today and... I don't think I want to know the answer yet. I mean, I hope to change the answer, so I shouldn't waste a question on something that will hopefully change."
"You are very peculiar," he told her.
"I'll take that as your way of telling me that you're starting to like me and maybe you don't want to feed me to your beetles."
"They are not hungry today," he replied.
They said no more on the subject and quietly rode on the barge till the dock magically appeared, then she disembarked, and he followed her onto the small dock.
"I would like for you to meet me here from now on," he told her. "It is my way of showing you trust, a trust I wish to build upon. I believe you will have no problems transversing my tomb to come to this river valley since you have already done so."
"It could have been just blind luck," she told him.
"I doubt that," he stated. "There is something about you that is... special."
"You'll make me blush if you keep saying things like that," Kein told him. "I'll meet you here the next time I come."
"I will bid you farewell till next we meet, daughter of fear."
"Why do you call me, daughter of fear?"
"Are you not she?" he questioned.
"I'm no one's daughter," she replied.
"You are wrong," he told her. "Many will vie for your love, and many will use your love against you."
Kein didn't know how to take his warning, so she merely ignored it and said, "I think you're mistaken about the daughter part. I am Kein after all. I am no one's daughter."
She turned and headed through the tomb.
"You are wrong about one thing, daughter of fear," King Ammon spoke softly to himself. "I can already see my Amisi Azeneth within you."
Shukujo's lair...
Kein returned to the dungeon castle area still sniffing and wiping her runny eyes. She headed directly for her pillow, and Thirteen spun down on a web from the corner above her and landed on her arm as he chirped happily. Kein picked up the Kumo'usagi and snuggled with him, so glad to see a friendly face. Shukujo seemed to know immediately when she arrived and came out to give the red nose and red-eyed woman a greeting.
"Welcome back, one I will soon kill."
"Hey," Kein replied as she petted Thirteen. "I'm glad to be back."
"Ask me your question and be done with it," Shukujo told her. "I grow tired of waiting on you."
"You make it sound like you've been thinking of me all day," Kein spoke in a toying manner as she looked to Shukujo. "It just warms my heart, knowing you care. I'm so glad you're looking out for me."
"I am not looking out for you, and I do not care!" Shukujo yelled louder than she planned to and lowered her voice before saying, "I care nothing about you. You and I have no other connection than you are a nuisance to me and I want to make you scream. Making you cry is too easy, so now I want to hear you shriek in agony."
"I don't think you'll have to wait long," Kein told her. "So far it sounds like these Mortem points are all based on how cruel and wicked someone can be. I guess there are no points for being kind or considerate down here."
"You are among monsters. Does a human expect such things from us? Your kind and ours only kill one another, but if you think it will make a difference, I can kill you while I smile."
"I would like to see your smile, but not at the expense of my life. I'll just have to find another way to..."
"Baka! Do you believe we are playing some sort of game here?"
"It's that what the Mortem is? And that's not a question. I see the Mortem as some sort of giant game to entertain someone."
"Are you talking about the Mortem Masters?" Shukujo questioned her.
"They're a group of people," Kein replied. "I get this feeling that the Mortem is designed just for one person's enjoyment."
"Even if you are right, what does that knowledge benefit you or me?"
"It has no benefit right now," Kein replied. "Shukujo, you couldn't possibly want to be here, and if you do, whatever your reasoning, it must be..."
"My reasoning..." Shukujo interrupted, "... is none of your business. You would be better to utilize your energy into surviving. Your chances by the moment become slimmer."
"You're right, and thank you for your advice. I'd be in real trouble in the Mortem if you didn't teach me things."
Shukujo started to let out a scream of frustration, but instead, she merely glared at the human and said, "You are welcomed, but do not expect any future advice to be helpful. I do mean to kill you. I mean to kill all humans."
"Okay," Kein replied as she continued to pet Thirteen, then her eyes grew heavy, and she shut them and nodded off.
Kein fell asleep, and her unguarded mind filled with images. She had made a mental vow not to intrude on Shukujo's past, but with fatigue and sleep, Kein slipped into Shukujo's mind as she had with all the other Residents. She saw a Japanese style mansion and hundreds of slashed bloody bodies scattered about. She heard screams of sorrow and then of rage, and Kein felt... she felt this uncontrollable bloodlust. Kein realized she was seeing Shukujo's past, so she forced herself to wake, and sat up breathing heavily for all the terrible sights she saw.
"Nightmare..." Shukujo spoke with a slight hint of pleasure. "I wonder if I will be rewarded for your sleep terrors."
Kein made no reply to her comment, but she did stare at her with this sad expression mixed with sympathy as if Kein had peere
d into her atrocious nightmares and not her own. Humans didn't possess that ability, so Shukujo dismissed that idea.
"Should you be sleeping when there is work to be done?" Shukujo questioned her. "Do you not still have things to do?"
"I do," Kein replied. "I shouldn't close my eyes until it's time to sleep."
"You should never close your eyes, baka, for death will be all that you will find."
"The advice is sound, but it's impossible for a human not to eventually fall asleep, so I should thank you again for allowing me this small space. I feel somewhat safe here."
"And that is why you are a baka," Shukujo told her. "A fly should never feel somewhat safe in the spider's lair."
"I've always felt at home in the spider's lair, and for some reason, I feel really safe with you like a familiar safe."
"You keep insulting me with your talk. You must understand that you can trust no one here. We are monsters..."
"I heard a different tale when I spoke with Labaron. He made it sound like you two knew each other very well and that... some sort of disagreement came between you two."
"The vampire is a back stabber and a liar," Shukujo spoke as hatred that wasn't aimed at Kein seethed from her voice. "He may have fooled me with his charms, but I will not fall for them again."
"You were close then. I wasn't sure. I can't tell when he's lying to me."
Shukujo questioned, "You can tell when someone's lying?"
"Me..?" Kein pointed to herself.
"Who else is here, baka?"
"Please don't count that as a question," Kein pleaded. "I was just startled from sleep, and I'm a little groggy." She waited for some sort of response from the Kumovon, and when none came, Kein stated, "The vampire does like to talk."
"You mean he likes to hear his own voice," Shukujo restated.
"You're right. I was just trying to be polite," Kein spoke as she laughed. "He actually was the only one among all of you that looked like he actually wanted to talk to me when I entered his parlor, but I kept leaving. You should have seen the expression on his face each time I left."
Monster of Monsters #1 Part Two: Mortem's Contestant Page 9