8. A Shy Spider

~ Anari ~

Don’t come over here. Don’t come over here. Don’t come over here.

Anari’s internal mantra did not keep the immortalized monkey spirit at bay. He moved as one does through a cultural exhibit – to him the trolls were nothing more than installations on display, to be ignored or acknowledged as the monkey pleased.

<What are you, stupid?> The saboteur taunted. <He can get you out of here and then some! Look how powerful he is. See how his aura shines!>

The problem and the solution were one. The immortalized monkey was too strong. Anari had never seen a clone’s strength develop like this. It typically took hours, sometimes even days for them to amass such radiance.

<So what if he's a freak of nature? You like him.>

The monkey was standing in front of her, glowing and handsome. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and smiled a boyish grin.

“Did you see what I did back there? Cool, huh?”

“What do you want, Sun?” There was no way that the clone she had met before was in any form of control.

There was chaos all around them. Half of the trolls moaned while the other half attempted to suckerpunch the monkey. He paused periodically to fire a kick to the face or elbow a poor victim in the eye, not even looking as he did so.

“Well, I want to find my staff,” he said, glancing around hopefully. “But I also want to go for a walk –” A troll came bellowing from the right. He smashed a glass bottle over his head and tipped the stunned monster over with his big toe. “ – with you.”

“I –” Anari gasped as the monkey swept her up in his arms and said, “Excellent! I know just the place.”

Moments later, they were on the roof. The monkey had already let her go before she got around to demanding that he release her. She didn’t want to thank him, but he had gotten her away from those trolls and that was worth acknowledging.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

<You call that a thank you? Where are your manners?>

The monkey had his hands folded behind his back. He was looking up at the moon.

“You smell like saltwater, shy spider.” He sniffed the air, his eyebrow rising. “And do I sense a hint of cane sugar?”

Anari’s saboteur wrestled her tongue from her. “Peach soda pop,” she caught Sun Ritsu’s eye, “is what you smell like.”

They walked to the end of the shingled rooftop. Anari noticed that the monkey’s overwhelming glow seemed to step aside for the soft moonlight.

When they reached the edge, they could see out across the liquid void where more parts of the giant peaked through as craggy little islands.

“I have to go,” Anari said, searching the rocky bay for some manner of boat.

“Come with me,” said the monkey. “Just until I find my staff. I’ve been gone for a while and I don’t really know my way around the Ninth Heaven like I used to. Everything has changed so much . . .”

Anari sighed. “I have better things to do than escorting a sun clone around.”

“Of course you do,” he slapped the side of his head. “How incredibly insensitive of me. How could I ever begin to repay you? Let me see.”

Anari backed away. “You don’t have to –”

“I know! The pig! He’s got Luck. Where is that Lucky porker?” He slapped his knee. “Oh damn. I left him back in the restaurant. Wait here, shy spider. I’ll be right back!”

He cartwheeled away.

Anari looked around helplessly.

<You really like him,> said the saboteur.

“Shut up.” She was angry now. And tired. The night had gone on too long. This mission had gone as sour as those peaches the pig had barfed moments ago.

The only thing that would give Anari peace of mind and silence the saboteur was to prove her wrong.

~

~ Bodhi ~

Bodhi had a feeling that the squid and the shark spirit thought that they were setting them up.

Bodhi tried to convince them otherwise, but the spirits weren’t buying it. So after the monkey left for the second time, the gambling spirits escorted the monk to a more private booth and proceeded to violently rob them of their Luck.

Bodhi let the spirits beat the shit out of them. The attackers didn’t stop until Bodhi puked the stolen alcohol. The spirits tried to take away the monk’s gourd, but instead, poured its contents over their head once it became clear that it was just a sloppy concoction of drinks.

The shark and the squid dumped Bodhi outside in the bay. The rocks felt sharp, but cool against their face. They could have ruined those two spirits. It would have been easy.

But then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this.

The monk went from the inside of a dumpster to the edge of this landmass giant, still drunk, still unsatisfied. They had experienced a brief moment of pleasure, watching that sun clone wreak havoc on those trolls. And it was sweet how he had come back for the pig.

Sweet, but bizarre.

The monk would have never gone back for anything or anyone, they were sure of that. As they drifted into painful, blissful sleep, they wondered, If the monkey had seen those spirits going in like that on a poor monk, would he have come back to help me?

They imagined it and how sweet it would be if it were so.

The rocks were slick, threatening to let Bodhi slide into the liquid abyss. The sea of Ninth Heaven was no place for humanae.

Their body was not fastened well to the rocks. They slid closer and closer to wet oblivion.

But they were too drunk to really care.