Act IX

by Alexander Gordon

  “Um, Reiko?” he finally asked glancing to the harvester. “Do you know what she said to me just now?”

  “Something about you being crazy for wanting peace between humans and monsters,” Reiko carelessly answered, being more focused on rubbing Star’s ears than anything else. “I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening to you either after a while.”

  “What do you mean you weren’t listening?” Kroanette demanded. “He just told you that we’re trying to help put an end to the raping and killing between our races, we’re trying to unify our world, we’re-”

  “Boring me,” Reiko finished with a sigh. “I understand what he’s saying, however such a dream doesn’t involve the likes of me. My kind feed upon souls of others, having ‘allies’ means there’s less food for us to reap. Not to mention we’re perfectly content living as we are and require no assistance from anyone to continue doing so.”

  “Perhaps not,” Daniel had to agree with. “In all honesty I wasn’t planning on winning over monsters such as yourself with my beliefs. I didn’t think the idea of forming relations with others for mutual benefit would have interested you. But with her I don’t understand what the problem is. Squeak’s queen agreed that it could be done if we try, we both have reason to benefit by coexisting peacefully instead of treating each other as enemies.”

  The ant girl squeaked with a smug grin at him, pointing to him and saying something in a mocking manner.

  “She said her kind don’t see you as enemies,” Reiko relayed in a knowing tone.

  “We’re just seed sacks to you,” Daniel regrettably guessed, with the ant girl nodding to that. “Just tools for breeding and nothing more.”

  The ant girl squeaked again while gesturing to him and shaking her head then pointed to Squeak and squeaked something more in a stern tone. Squeak lowered her head with a concerned expression from what she heard while the others turned to Reiko for an explanation.

  “They don’t need the likes of humans for anything more than breeding,” the harvester relayed. “Something they use your people for without consequence. They don’t need your help with anything, they’re perfectly capable of defending themselves against danger. Just because your friend’s queen is so weak-willed that she needs to resort to asking for help from her tools doesn’t mean they are.”

  “Stop calling Daniel a tool!” Alyssa yelled out at the ant girl.

  “So your people are okay being viewed as Darker Ones?” Kroanette scolded. The ant girl glanced to her with a raised eyebrow as the centaur crossed her arms in discontent. “You’re fine living your lives as wretched monsters that rape others just as the vilest of all demons do? That’s the life you want for you and your sisters, to be enemies of the world for acting so harshly towards others?”

  The ant girl scoffed and squeaked something at her, with Reiko chuckling as she gently brushed Star’s hair.

  “Call us what you wish,” she translated. “It makes no difference to us. We don’t need others as allies, we survive just fine on our own.”

  “Quit being so fucking stupid,” Clover snapped. “He’s trying to help you, he’s trying to-”

  “That’s enough, Clover,” Daniel spoke up. The girls looked to him as he shook his head while keeping his eyes on the horse before him. “It sounds like these ant girls and the ones in Squeak’s nest are very different from each other. This nest isn’t afraid to fight, they don’t believe they need anyone in the world to help them with anything.”

  “But they do,” Clover insisted. “She said it herself, they’re at war with other monsters and they’re running from them.”

  The ant girl squeaked at her with a furious look, seeming to resent the elf’s words.

  “You are running, you cowardly hypocrites. You’re creating massive roadblocks the size of countrysides to keep your enemies from getting to you. All you’re doing is retreating while burning bridges behind you. But that’s not going to win a war, that’s not going to stop your enemies from coming after you. What are you going to do when they finally invade your nest? Blow yourselves up along with them? You don’t know how to fight worth a damn!”

  The ant girl growled through clenched teeth, glaring at Clover with fists forming as she seemed ready to lunge at her and test that theory.

  “We just want to help you,” Daniel said, getting the girls’ attention again. “I don’t want your kind to be seen as Darker Ones or horrible monsters, I don’t believe we have to fight each other. I know we can help each other, we can grow and build in this world together if only we would give it a try.”

  The ant girl scoffed and rolled her eyes to that.

  “Squeak’s queen is cautious about the idea,” Daniel admitted. “But she does see the potential for it to come true, that’s why she entrusted Squeak to us. To help us achieve our goal and show the world that not all ant girls need to be enemies of mankind.”

  Only getting silence from her still Daniel motioned for Alyssa to stop Lucky, the witch then tugging the harness and halting the horse and carriage.

  “Do you have a name?” Daniel asked. “I know you’re a worker for your queen, but do you have a name for yourself?”

  The ant girl merely squeaked once as she looked away, with Daniel then glancing to Reiko for an answer.

  “Saffron,” Reiko relayed.

  “Saffron,” Daniel repeated. “That’s a nice name. Saffron, I don’t believe that you or your sisters are evil. You’re just following your inner nature, and very adamantly from what I’ve heard and seen. I can only extend the invite for peace to you, I can’t force you to take it. If you truly believe we can never be friends and that your queen wouldn’t even give me the time of day, then I suppose that’s it.”

  Glancing back to Daniel with a raised eyebrow Saffron saw him smiling remorsefully at her and giving a small shrug.

  “It sounds like you want nothing to do with us. I wanted to help you out of this cave and hopefully find your sisters again, but I’m not sure if you need my help now or even want it. If there can be no understanding between us then you can go, I don’t need to keep you from doing your job out here. I hope you stay safe during your conflict. You and your queen.”

  Saffron remained silent as she stood up and hopped off the ride, not saying anything back or even giving him one last fleeting look. She began walking back the way they came before Squeak ran over and squeaked at her. The newcomer glanced behind to see Squeak squeaking with a worried smile on her face. Saffron just looked at her for a moment then gave a simple squeak in return before walking off.

  “What were they saying?” Alyssa asked.

  “Your friend expressed her wishes for Saffron and her queen to remain safe. She replied with a simple ‘you too’,” Reiko explained.

  “I didn’t think they were completely heartless,” Daniel mused with a small smile.

  “They’re still arrogant idiots,” Clover scoffed.

  “Weren’t we once like that as well?” Kroanette reminded her.

  “Clover especially,” Alyssa mentioned.

  “Fuck you,” Clover muttered.

  “You think we should let her go?” Triska asked Daniel. “Maybe we can still win them over somehow. If we could at least talk to her queen-”

  “We were talking to a wall just now,” Daniel sighed. “Even after hearing why we’re out here and what we’ve done she didn’t care, she wanted nothing to do with us. Their view of humans won’t be changed so easily, and right now it sounds like an audience with her queen is out of the question. For now we have to keep moving forward and let them be. Hopefully one day we can speak to them again under better circumstances.”

  Squeak lowered her head and walked back towards the group, seeming to be saddened by her kin’s refusal to listen to Daniel.

  “Squeak, it’ll be okay,” Triska assured her. “Saffron just doesn’t see the same world we do. Not yet.”

  “A world with monsters and humans living together as one,” Reiko chuckled. “I find that hard t
o believe coming true. Star, do you honestly have faith in this human’s words?”

  Star nodded slowly while watching Daniel while meowing, the group seeing her showing obvious signs of concern while flinching now and again as the harvester continued running her fingers through the cat’s hair.

  “You truly think monsters and humans can get along as he says? That all can be forgiven between us? Star, I know you can’t possibly mean that.”

  Star meowed and knocked the harvester away, shooting her a fierce glare and arguing something in her own tongue while Reiko watched her curiously.

  “But, Star,” she innocently replied holding a finger to her chin. “You of all monsters should know that such a dream isn’t possible for us.”

  “It is possible,” Triska argued. “At least for her, she doesn’t have to take the lives of those around her to survive. She can control herself around humans and earn their trust, she can be recognized for who she is and not what she is. She can find a mate who would choose her willingly if she didn’t try to take him against his will.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” Reiko laughed shaking her head. “This has nothing to do with me being a soul eater and her not. It has nothing to do with her inner nature to breed with a man which could compel her to take him by force. This is about the preposterous notion that a human could ever love monsters like us who have wrought sins aplenty in their past.”

  “Most of us made plenty of mistakes in our past,” Alyssa admitted. “But Daniel still forgave us. I know I’m the worst one here, I used to be a very bad witch before Daniel came into my life. And he loves me just the way I am, even after all the horrible things I used to do when I was so stupid.”

  “It’s true,” Daniel agreed. “I know very well about Alyssa’s past and what she did, how she acted when following her nature blindly, and even what she did by accident that still caused pain towards others. But she is a pure soul, she just needed help showing it. What was done in her past can be forgiven, just as it is with the other girls. They can still be kindhearted girls who gain real love in their lives, just as any could.”

  “Is that so?” Reiko wondered turning to him. “Let me ask you this, Daniel. What if a monster wanted to believe in this, in what you say? What if a monster really did want to have that kind of life with a man? What if she truly wanted to be a kindhearted girl in life and learned to control her lustful nature? Could a human really accept her?”

  “If she learned the error of her ways and wanted to correct it, yes,” Daniel insisted. “I know that if monsters learned to control their inner nature and show their heart to humans they could be accepted in the world even if they’ve been bad before.”

  “Even if they killed others before?” Reiko asked with a frown. “Thousands even. Men, women, and children. Maybe even their pets too for all we know. What if a monster had her hands dripping with blood from her sins, what if a monster had slaughtered an entire town of humans all on her own? Could you honestly forgive her still?”

  Daniel fell silent just as the other girls did, with Reiko showing a slight smile to their stunned reaction while Star nervously awaited Daniel’s response that never came. After waiting long enough Reiko slowly nodded and held a hand to the boy’s cheek.

  “Your words have faltered, just as your argument has. Like I said, monsters such as us can never exist in such a world as the one you wish to bring to light.”

  “My beliefs don’t include the likes of monsters that kill so horrifically,” Daniel argued. “If a monster really was a kindhearted girl inside then she wouldn’t be a bloodthirsty murderer in her life. If a monster chose to willingly slaughter an entire town and kill even children then they are not ones that I would want to have in my company or to stand as proof of my beliefs.”

  “Alyssa isn’t like that at all even with the deaths she caused,” Kroanette defended. “And she never wanted to claim those lives to begin with, they were all by mistake that she felt the full burden for ever since. She’s nothing like the one you describe.”

  “We’re trying to talk to peaceful monsters, not death dealers,” Triska agreed.

  “Monsters that slay children are nothing but heartless cunts,” Clover added. “Those kinds of monsters need to be strung up and have the shit beaten out of them at the very least.”

  “How very amusing to hear you all say that,” Reiko chuckled.

  “How is that amusing to you?” Daniel questioned.

  “Because you have one of those monsters in your company as we speak, Daniel. A death dealer, not even five feet away from you.”

  “Yeah, and I’m thinking she needs to go right now,” Triska threatened with her sword aimed towards the harvester.

  “I’m not referring to myself,” Reiko admitted with a shrug. “I’ve never slain an entire town of humans in one night before. This colony of swarm is the biggest soul catch I’ve ever scored in my life.”

  “Then who are you talking about?” Kroanette sharply asked.

  The group slowly turned to Star as she was staring at Daniel with fright. The jinx gulped and slowly took a step back, with everyone showing surprise at seeing her backing away. She faintly meowed and shook her head before Reiko floated closer to her with a sympathetic smile.

  “Star, enough of this foolishness,” Reiko pleaded. “No more senseless running.”

  “Star?” Daniel slowly asked.

  “What sort of trick is this?” Triska demanded. “She’s not a death dealer, she’s a kindhearted girl. We’ve all seen it.”

  “Star, listen to reason,” Reiko begged. Star meowed and tried slashing her claws at the harvester, her arms being caught and held by the floating monster who continued to show a saddened smile. “Star, enough of this. Stop fooling yourself, stop running like a frightened kitten in this world. Please, I’m your friend. You have to listen to me. Monsters like us can’t have such a future as he says!”

  “Get away from her!” Clover ordered, taking aim with her arrow towards the harvester. “Let Star go, you bitch!”

  “Star, calm yourself, please!” Reiko shouted as the jinx was thrashing around in her grip. Star warped free and struck again at Reiko from the side, the harvester catching the hands and struggling to hold her off before the cat warped beside her and struck her across the cheek. Another swipe was made across her eye socket, scratching across the bone and electing a scream from the ghostly monster. Reiko stumbled back and floated off the carriage, holding her face with a sorrowful look towards the jinx that was yowling at her with evident rage.

  “Star, stop fooling yourself like this,” Reiko begged. “You fled your home to escape your past, you hide your identity in hopes it will change your future, but all of that is for naught! Stop pushing me away, Star! I understand you, I’m like you. We belong together, we always did. It was cruel that fate pitted us against one another before, but now we are not bound by that silly war, we don’t have to fight each other anymore.”

  Star screamed at her while keeping her claws and fangs bared, the first time she ever displayed so much anger towards anything in front of Daniel or the girls.

  “Star?” Daniel asked. The jinx turned to him, her rage instantly being replaced with fright as she lowered her ears and stepped back from him. “What’s wrong, Star? What is she talking about?”

  “Monsters like us cannot be with humans,” Reiko insisted desperately. “You know this, Star, you know this to be true.”

  Star trembled with a faint meow as she watched Daniel with eyes that began to water. She shook her head with a loud yowl then quickly teleported ahead of the group, everyone then turning to see the jinx backing away from them with heightened anxiety showing.

  “Star, don’t run away again,” Reiko pleaded as she floated closer.

  “What is she talking about, Star?” Kroanette asked nervously.

  “What are you afraid of us knowing?” Triska carefully asked. “What are you hiding from us?”

  “Calm down, Star,” Clover urged holding
a hand out towards her. “C’mon, talk to us. Or meow, whatever. Just tell us what the hell is going on here.”

  “Star, wait,” Daniel said standing up on the seat. The jinx looked to him while slouching back, her ears drooping low like her tails did as she slowly took a step away from the group.

  “Please, try to understand,” Reiko begged. “We’re kindred spirts, you and I, Star. We were destined to become best friends, we have so much in common and we work so well together. You must see that.”

  Star screamed at her in frustration, tears falling from her eyes as she waved away the harvester with harsh meows and hisses.

  “You can’t mean that, Star,” Reiko whined. “I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to help you, why can’t you see that? You’re deceiving yourself here with them, you’re trapped in a false dream and its time you woke up.”

  Star meowed loudly at her while stepping back towards the shadows.

  “He can never love you for who you are, no human will ever love you for who you are, nobody else will ever love you, Star! I’m the only one who understands you, who respects you, who you can be with and face no judgement or scorn.”

  “Stop whatever it is you’re doing,” Triska snapped at her. “You’re only upsetting Star more.”

  Squeak held a hand out towards Star and squeaked at her, seeing very clearly along with everyone else the frightened look in the cat’s teary eyes.

  “Star, please talk to us,” Daniel insisted as he hopped down from the carriage. He slowly walked out before everyone and reached out towards the jinx, the girl only backing further away from him as if fearful to get closer. “Don’t run away, please. I don’t know what’s upsetting you or what Reiko is talking about, but you don’t have to be afraid. If there’s something in your past that’s troubling you we can help you overcome it, we can help you, Star. We’re your friends, I’m your friend.”

  Star slowly started to reach out towards him then looked to her hand, visions of blood covering her fingers and claws drawing further despair from her as she quickly shook her hand around then backed up more from the group into the cave.