Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 051

The room she was in now was full of Egyptian artifacts, and though she had been fascinated, a large sunbeam had been shining through the bay window at the front of the house, and she had curled up on the seats.

Once the beam had faded, she woke from her nap to see Beth speaking with Sulyvahn.

She watched them for a few minutes, but she couldn't hear what they were talking about, so she became bored very quickly. Looking around the room, she saw plenty of things to investigate. Rubbing her hands together in anticipation, she slid off the window seat and started looking around.

Kisa couldn't help herself.

When she had come in before, her entire world had become about the sunbeam on the window seat, but now that she saw the contents of the room, curiosity had her digging through the contents of the shelves. There were many leather bound books, and way too many statues.

She eventually spotted a device with a pair of lenses like binoculars attached to a stick with a double picture on the end. When she held it to her face, she found that when she relaxed her eyes, the image of the Sphinx would turn three-dimensional.

"Fascinating device, isn't it? It is called a stereoscope."

The voice was like a chill down her spine, and when she lowered the stereoscope, she found herself looking up at the grim visage of Death. His bare teeth were twisted into a queer grin, and he set down the picture he had been holding.

Kisa hissed and dropped the stereoscope, then backed into the shelves, knocking several books on the floor. The Grim Reaper frowned at her, his boy visage twisting macabrely, then picked up one of the books.

"You folded some of these pages," he told her, then tucked the book back in its place. "You should be more careful next time."

"You're...you're..."

"I am Death." He tilted his head to one side, then crouched down until he was eye level with her. "Have we met before?"

"Hell, no, we haven't!" She started to climb the shelves, panic overriding her senses. Part of her was embarrassed to be acting this way, but the flight or fight response had made its choice.

"Are you sure? Hmm." He picked up the stereoscope she had dropped and held it to his eye sockets. "Ah, the Sphinx! I could tell you an interesting story about what's inside if you're interested."

"Aren't...aren't you here to kill me?"

"Preposterous." Death lowered the stereoscope. "I am Mike Radley's guest, and am only here until I can reap the soul of the one called Amir."

"That's...you're..." Her hair stood on end, and she tried to flatten it. Her tail had poofed to three times its original size, and she grabbed it at the base and smoothed it out. "Nobody told me that the Grim Reaper lived here."

"Not everyone can see me, so they may have forgotten. Hmm." He inspected her for a few seconds. "That's odd. Your soul is both human and animal at the same time. That must be why you can see me."

"Wait, so...the others can't see you?"

"No. Yuki can see me because she summoned me. Mike Radley and I met once when he was younger, and he also has Fae magic in his blood, so he can see me. Oh, and the zombie can see me too, but I cannot see her. That is quite the mystery."

Kisa shivered, then straightened the hair on her tail again. "What were you saying about my soul?"

"It's a mixture. Human and cat. Animals can see me, especially the smarter ones." He flattened the front of his robes. "I prefer dogs. They will wag their tails, and don't stare at me quite like cats do. I find it unsettling."

"You...you're Death. Why would you find anything like that unsettling?"

Death's left eye socket twitched. "Because, young kitty, it is very rude to stare."

"I have a name, you know."

"And I have yet to hear it." Death held up the stereoscope again, then adjusted the picture in it.

"You can call me Kisa, I guess."

"You are uncertain of your name?"

She shook her head. "It isn't that. It's just weird to be talking to a skeleton."

"And yet I have no problem speaking with a cat." Death lowered the stereoscope from his face and then held it out. "Well, young Kisa, would you like a turn with it?"

"Um...I guess." She took the stereoscope back and looked at the Sphinx again. The picture seemed like it was taken at the turn of the century, and she lowered it from her face. Amnesia was a weird creature, sometimes. She clearly knew what the Sphinx was, but had no idea what month she was even born in.

"Here. You can change the picture if you want." He handed over another photograph, and she took it from him. It was easy to remove the Sphinx and slot another picture inside, and when she looked, it was an image of explorers in a burial tomb. The men were surrounded by native Egyptians, and all of them stood around a large sarcophagus on the floor.

"So where did these pictures come from?" she asked.

"I am unaware," Death replied. "There are photo albums, but I am not certain who owned them." He picked up one of the closest albums and handed it over. "I am currently unable to read, so you may have more luck than I do?"

"Death can't read?" She set down the stereoscope and took the book from him to examine it.

"It has never been necessary." Death picked up the stereoscope and held it to his sockets. "I like looking at these because I remember quite a bit about the Egyptians. Normally when someone dies, it is a short process. But something about their rituals enabled me to see a bit more, and stay a bit longer. I always appreciated the work they put into preparing themselves to be taken to the other side."

"And what's on the other side?" Kisa opened the book. It was more pictures of Egypt, but other than some inscriptions with dates and locations, there was nothing that identified who had made it. The pictures were often of people and locations, but rarely did she see the same person more than once.

"I could tell you," Death replied. "But then I would have to reap you."

She lowered the book. "Seriously?"

"No. I was making a joke." He looked over the top of the stereoscope at her. "Perhaps my humor is too dry?"

"Ugh." She set the book down and grabbed another photo album. When she opened it, something fell into her lap.

It was another stereoscope image, but this one felt different. There was golden ink along the edges, and someone had drawn odd symbols on the back. It was in color and looked more recent than the other pictures. The picture was of another expedition party, and they were all saluting the cameraman with small glasses of wine.

"Hey, can I borrow that thing?" Kisa asked.

"Yes. I believe it is your turn." Death handed her the stereoscope, then turned his attention to the window.

She slid the new photograph into the stereoscope and then looked through the lenses. The three dimensional effect was immediate, and she looked at the group of men who were clearly celebrating in front of a wall that had been torn down. Inside, torches illuminated what appeared to be a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room. Treasure was piled along the sides of the room, and hieroglyphs were painted on every available surface.

Like magic, the torches appeared to flicker in place. Kisa held her breath as the shadows on the picture moved in time with the torches, and then the image moved in slow motion. It sped up gradually, and the silent revelers toasted each other and waved, then beckoned for the cameraman to come join them.

A woman stepped in front of the camera. She had long, blonde curls that poked out beneath her explorer's helmet, and she took one of the offered glasses and then turned toward the camera and gave a mock salute with the drink before slamming half of it. The men in the room were enamored with her, and they practically scrambled over each other to interact with her. There was no sound, so Kisa had no idea what was being said, but when the blonde looked directly into the camera, a long, low growl came from Kisa's throat.

"Are you okay?" Death asked.

"No," she replied, anger blooming deep in her gut. She knew this woman, but didn't know her name. She ripped the photograph out of the stereoscope and handed it to Death. "Do you know who this is?"

"Hmm?" He took the picture from her. "I am familiar with all of these men, actually. They died quite some time ago."

"Not them. Her." She stood on her tiptoes to point to the woman, but the picture had reverted to its original state. "Wait, where did she go?"

"I don't see anybody—oh! Oh ho ho!" Death practically dropped the stereoscope and rushed to the window. He pressed his long, bony fingers to the glass and tapped them in excitement.

"What are you talking about?" She followed his gaze and froze in shock at what she saw happening in the front yard.

Beth followed Sulyvahn away from the house and into the hedge maze. The aroma of flowers filled the air, and a small cluster of bees buzzed through the northeastern quadrant, their bodies laden with thick pollen.

"I'm surprised to see the bees are still around," Beth said. Outside of the property line, the weather in the neighborhood was chilly, and she wondered where the bees had come from.

"Oh, these belong to the centaurs. They lured in a queen shortly after moving here, they did, and now they be cultivating a hive," Sulyvahn told her.

"Where is the hive at?"

"With them. Here." He knelt down and pointed to a small wooden box hidden in the bushes. It was roughly the size of a deck of cards and had a pair of tiny holes in it. "The rats helped. Chewed a tiny little hole in the back. The bees be living in the greenhouse and can come here for pollen."

"Ingenious. I don't know that I would have thought to do that."

"Their chief be both wicked smart and a right beauty." He stood and picked up his bucket. "They mean to make a go at establishing their tribe in the greenhouse. She be wanting pollinators working full time for them, on account of all the food they want to make. They already be planting flowers on their side, and hope to harvest the seeds. Someone they have o'er there has plans to make hybrids of the lot."

"Interesting." She couldn't help but notice the small smile in the corner of his mouth. "You sure seem to know a lot about this stuff."

"I dinna have anyone to talk to, really. Ye and yer lot have been locked away, but the centaurs be friendly enough. Learned a lot from them, I have." He led her further into the maze and stopped at a large rose bush that was attempting to take over a small shrub.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Mike really didn't trust you."

"He dinna have a reason to. We'd only just met." Sulyvahn snipped away at the thicker vines that were attempting to strangle out the shrub.

"Even so...I'm sorry."

He smiled again, the skin around his eyes crinkling.

"So how did you get picked for this job?" she asked. "I mean, was it because you're Cecilia's brother?"

"In a way." He paused what he was doing and looked into her eyes. "Ye see, there be a special bond between a dullahan and his banshee. Unintended consequence of using wild magic and all that. I've heard rumors that mortal twins experience it, being able to feel one another across a distance. Sometimes I can feel what me sister feels, in regards to her emotions in her heart."

"Can you feel her now?" Beth asked.

He frowned. "It's hard. She be in the realm right now, so I be only getting glimpses, ye understand. Mainly I feel loneliness, but she be accustomed to it. She spent many years in this place in such a manner, just waiting for each Caretaker to pass."

"She was lonely here?"

He nodded. "Banshees are accustomed to loneliness, as are dullahan. We aren't exactly harbingers of happiness, are we? She were a constant reminder that mortality comes for us all, and she were largely ignored other than the occasional visit.

"But something changed with this last fellow. Something he said or did captured her attention right away, and I could tell right away that he be special to her."

"Is that why you came? To find out more about Mike?"

Sulyvahn clipped a couple more vines off and tossed them into his bucket. "In a manner o' speakin'. The fae and the human realm aren't quite on the good terms they used to be. On top o' the old ways being lost, there be no shortage of disrespect. Our worlds overlap, you see lass, and the things that people do end up affecting our queen's borders."

Beth frowned. It was a familiar tale in so many books and movies, and it made sense that it had some basis in truth. "Pollution, right?"

The dullahan chuckled. "If only that were the half of it. Yer garbage and yer poison are bad enough on the land itself, but it's what's happening to the fair folk themselves that be cause for concern. Ye see, we've always had a dependency on peace with yer kind, and with access to yer people so limited now, it requires more effort to travel into yer world than ever before."

"I don't follow."

"I'm gettin' there, lass. Ye see, the fair folk are leaving the realm and coming to the human world, but they not be coming back. Yer world is all that glitters for them, but not all that glitters is gold. A creature as simple as a pixie can easily get caught up in the excitement of the wonders yer kind have made, in the flickering screens and fancy lights. But the longer they be away from the realm, the weaker they become, until they wither away in yer world and become twisted inta something else in order to survive, until they becomes hateful things that yearn to destroy the humans for what yer have wrought."

"What do they become?"

Sulyvahn snorted. "Nobody knows, lass. There be rumors aplenty, though."

"Such as?"

"For the fae to survive, they must find sustenance. There have been rumors that some have snuck into people's dreams, giving them frightful waking nightmares. Some of the darker fae have found a way to live in the minds of others, speaking to their darker impulses. And I even heard stories of some fae who found a way to live inside yer wires and tubes to become trolls of a different kind, feasting on animosity and rage."

"I see." She thought on the dullahan's words, the gears of her mind turning. It didn't take much imagination to wonder about the implications of Sulyvahn's words. How many ills in the world could be attributed to the fae who subsisted on such chaos? "So the fae who became trapped are poisoning society?"

"Indeed. Strangle the beast, and the body dies." He ripped away the last set of vines from the bush and coiled them up in the bucket. "With mankind gone, the fae would be flourish once again as the land recovers."

"Is someone leading them?" The idea of a shadow organization consisting of unseelie fae sent chills up and down her spine.

He shook his head. "It's all about instincts, lass. The fae are creatures of impulse. If someone were leading them, yer lot would have died off years ago. As it stands now, both realms be slowly dying, and it be just a matter of seeing who's end comes first."

"That's terrible! So we're killing each other and the rest of the world doesn't even know?"

"Aye." He tossed the clippers in the bucket. "Tis sad, but that be the way of it. But it's been that way for awhile now."

"I don't understand, though. Why not reveal themselves to the world, then? If we need each other, it wouldn't be that hard to announce their existence, right?"

Sulyvahn turned his dark gaze on Beth and held it for several seconds. He let out a huge sigh, and held a hand out to her.

When she took it, he led her to the center of the maze. Silently, she followed, wondering what was going on. They eventually stood before the sundial itself, and Sulyvahn grabbed her by the waist and lifted her effortlessly onto the stone structure.

"What are you—" she began, but he put a finger to her lips.

"There be powerful magic about this place, lass, and I suspect that anyone listening in would struggle to hear me words through all the static. Especially here." His tone was low, almost inaudible. "Banshee and dullahan can walk yer world without repercussions, as it be our made-for purpose. Years ago, an attempt were made to reveal our presence to the mortal realm, and it backfired badly. Ye see, the human world thought talk of the fae were naught but mumbo jumbo, and the few human allies we had were ridiculed and mocked. Nowadays they even say that ye be away with the faeries if'n yer mind aren't in the right way."

"This is the day and age of information, Sulyvahn. A quick video of the queen could become viral in minutes."

"I dinna fully understand what ye be meaning, but willing I am to bet any proof would be discounted. Like I be saying, me own kind were built to live here. It were believed that the higher fae could travel yer world and find a solution, and there be no one higher than the queen." He looked away from her for a second. "Or her counterpart."

"You mean the ki—" She was silenced again by a finger on her lips. Her mind immediately went to the image of the blasted throne in the queen's court.

"Hypothetically, ye understand" he began, "imagine a being of immense power coming to yer world to study and discover what can be done. A being of immense beauty, ready to change the world fer the better."

"I'm listening."

"What would such a being have to do?"

She thought on the question. "I suppose they would have to find a way to get everybody's attention first."

"Aye."

"A being of immense beauty and power would probably seek fame." It made sense to her when she said it. It was no different than amassing followers on social media. "Once they had fame, they could reveal themselves and spread their message."

The dullahan nodded, his features neutral.

"But something happened, didn't it?" She thought again of the blasted throne. "And I'm guessing it wasn't an accident. This person would make a major screw up while over here."

Sulyvahn remained silent, then spoke softly. "Aye."

The trappings of fame were well known to many. Such a poisoned treasure was still one that millions would possess if they could. So many names and faces ran through her mind, and she couldn't help but wonder which of them fit the bill. "I wonder if this person maybe got caught up in their own fame? Like, maybe the message kept getting delayed?"

"Perhaps." The dullahan seemed nervous, and he kept looking around as if he wasn't paying much attention to her.

She thought about the queen and how she had treated Mike. Even though Beth hadn't been in her right mind, she could still remember pieces of their conversation. The queen had been enraged that Mike and Cecilia had become intimate, and now she wondered if the king had come to the mortal realm and fallen in love with all that glittered.

However, based on Sulyvahn's behavior, it was likely that she couldn't directly ask him. But there were other ways to glean that information. "Were you worried when Cecilia fell in love with Mike?"

He nodded, a look of uncertainty on his face. "That be an interesting question, lass, for sure and for certain"

"Fae who fall in love with mortals don't have happy endings, do they?"

This time the dullahan shook his head. "Not historically, no. Read up on yer legends, lass, and ye'll discover that it oft ends badly for both."

"Is that why the queen sent you here? Because she thought you would hate Mike for what he did?"

He smirked and looked away from her, his eyes on a pair of centaurs who had entered the maze. "Some would say that I should hate the mortal that could steal me sister's heart. It would make sense to send a spiteful fae, would it not?"

"But that isn't how you felt?"

"All I be knowing is that she were happy here. And maybe a place that could make her feel that way would be worth protecting while she were gone." He chuckled, then flicked a piece of dirt off the sundial. "The two of us haven't spoken in decades. She were actually on her way to payin' her respects to me when she were imprisoned."