Authors: Summer Wigmore
That was a much better kind of strong than brute strength.
So she nudged at Saint as his body shook with coughs, as he spat out salt water, as he at last turned to look at her with extreme suspicion. Fair enough.
“Are you going to waterboard me or something?” he said, as soon as he could speak: hoarse and exhausted but still
fiery
, it defined him, he would never ever give up. She tightened her grip on him, wary, kept his hands pinned to his sides – she’d have to lock him up somewhere while they figured out what to do with him, maybe.
They drifted. He coughed again. “Because I have to say that if there’s going to be torture on the cards, I would’ve expected more of the crushing-with-brute-force and filleting-with-deadly claws and whatnot.”
“I’m not going to torture you,” she said, then added, “though you deserve it,” because he was a murderer, after all, and he didn’t even seem to be
sorry
.
“Yeah yeah, you’re as intimidating as a really intimidating thing,” he said, and then, “Wait,” in an entirely different tone. “Wait, I know that voice.
Tony
?”
“In the flesh,” she said.
He stared at her, and then, at last, he sank back, fell back, let his head sag as though supporting it was too much effort. “You’re one of the atua,” he said, blankly.
She beat her tail once to take them to a pebbly scoop of beach. “Well yeah.”
“But,” Saint said. “You’re human?”
Tony dug her claws into the shore and hauled herself and Saint up. She dropped him not un-gently on the ground, and stretched to let the water slide off her slick skin. “Uhhh… ” she said, because human she pretty obviously wasn’t.
He shook his head. His hair was plastered against his head, his coat dragging down his shoulders. He looked smaller, somehow. “No, I mean you’re a person, you… That means you’re all people.” He said it again, incredulous: “You’re all
people
.”
“Um. Well
yes
. Isn’t that… obvious… ” She trailed off, because he looked like he was on the edge of a nervous breakdown; he’d bit his lip to a bloodied mess, and his face was so gaunt. She hadn’t noticed until then how painfully
thin
he was, how tired.
“Fuck,” he said, almost a whimper. “No. Oh, fuck,” and he buried his face in his hands.
Tony said nothing. She shifted back to her human-shape, not letting Saint out of her sight – but he didn’t move. Hadn’t moved, since they’d got back on land. Just… sat there.
It was peaceful down here, far too peaceful, still water and a few startled ducks and boats bobbing in the distance. Hinewai stood a few metres away, watchful. There was no sound except the lap of water and Saint’s ragged breathing.
Tony crouched beside him. “Hey,” she said.
He looked at her. “So,” he said. “I’m not a hero, then.”
“Huh?”
“Because I’m a murderer,” he said. He breathed out, a long whistling sigh. “… Figures.”
She frowned quizzically. “You thought you were being a … hero?”
“Yep,” Saint said, and forced a grin. It looked like Hinewai’s type of smile, gaunt and glaring and joyless, too much teeth in it. “What a laugh, huh?”
“I… I wouldn’t put it that way –”
“Christ,” he burst, savage. “I just wanted to
help
people for once in my useless fucking life, I… No wonder they all just leave.” He ran his hands through his hair, swore. Slammed his palms savagely against his forehead as though to punish his brain. Then again. Tony had to grip his wrists to stop him from hurting himself, though he winced at the tightness of the hold.
“Owww,” he said, tilting his head to grin at her more. “You’re
hurting
me.”
She released him, unsettled. “Are… are you all right?”
“Can’t stop till I burn the whole world down,” he said, eyes drifting away from her face, aimless. “That’s what he said.”
“What? Who?” She frowned. “Māui? He’s the one behind this, right?”
“Mm,” Saint said. “… Well. To be fair, he did tell me to stop, not terribly long ago. And it’s not his fault, really; he had what he thought were good reasons, which was better than
I
had, and he – I mean, yeah, he said you lot weren’t sentient, but I never even questioned it. I never questioned anything and I killed
so many
… ”
“I think you should calm down,” Tony said, and patted at his shoulder. He was such a mess. For the first time in a while she wanted to help someone but had no idea how to do it, or if she even should.
“Can’t stop till I burn the whole world down… ” he said, softly, and then he said, much louder and with harsh laughter in his voice, “May as well!”
The next part was all confusion. A wall of fire flared up with a roar, and it was hot, it was ferociously hot, it singed her skin and scorched her hair even sopping wet as she was. She dived backward, and the wall of flame flickered, and then Saint stepped through it, grinning like a mad thing with his hands clenched into fists and his eyes jagged with desperation.
Tony grew her claws in readiness, but before she could do anything she heard music, wild and wind-like and fae. The song was just barely starting but Saint flinched like he’d been hit, his head jerking in Hinewai’s direction – and then he
ran
, up the steps and away, as fast as his feet could take him. Tony frowned after him.
“I’m sorry,” Hinewai said, lowering her flute. “I know it’s important to be kind –”
“Dude, it’s fine!” Tony said, and then, because it had been a trying half hour and because she wanted to, she grabbed Hinewai in a hug, squishing her tight. “It’s fine, it’s who you are,” Tony explained, muffled, as she discreetly checked her for injuries. “You be cruel, and I’ll be kind, and it’ll all work out… ”
“Yes, all right,” Hinewai said, patting awkwardly at her head.
“And a bit of cruelty’s okay in this case,” Tony said as she pulled back, “because Saint is a massive bag of dicks.”
Hinewai nodded. “Yes,” she said firmly. “He
is
a massive bag of dicks,” and Tony snorted out a slightly hysterical laugh.
“He ought to be punished for what he did and stuff,” Tony said, once she’d recovered. “But… I dunno.”
“What is it?”
“Well, he’s kinda out of control right now, so our first priority is just to get him contained, get him to calm down if we can. But beyond that… ” She broke off, frowning. “I dunno. It’s just. I’m kinda worried by the guy.”
“Because he is completely batshit insane?” Hinewai recited.
Tony wrung water from her hair and stared out into the night, the lights of the harbour. “Nah. Well I mean, he is a few something short of a something else, but I just… He could
really
use some help, I just have no idea how to help him and no idea who
can
. He’s way obsessed with his image and stuff, he’d never admit that he’s in pain. Gah. Moron. Stupid murderous moron.”
Tony couldn’t afford to spend all her time thinking of Saint; there were more people than him to help. There was
everyone
. So she went to the Hikurangi, or where it had been.
“This is really sad,” Tony said, giving up – no matter how hard she tried, the place between the two pillars didn’t lead anywhere but to a place slightly in front of the place between the two pillars, and there was no use pretending otherwise. She couldn’t see trees there, and besides, the whole place just
felt
flatter. Emptier. Lacking.
“Yes, a lot of people died here,” Hinewai said absentmindedly, and Tony stared at her in shock and horror, but before she could ask her to elaborate, Hinewai’s head jerked up and her eyes narrowed, intense. “Someone’s here,” she said.
Tony relaxed. “And not dead?” she said hopefully.
Hinewai shook her head. “You don’t understand. I mean… someone’s here. One of my
kind
is here.” Her eyebrows lifted. “More than one. What… ”
“Yes, that’s due to me,” Ariki said, staggering around the corner, looking weary and defiant. “You may punish me if you have a will to –”
“Oh my god, your
hands
,” Tony breathed, and then she clicked her fingers at Hinewai. “Get bandages.”
Hinewai nodded and melted off into the darkness. It’d be dawn in another couple of hours, Tony thought, and after that Hinewai would have to seek out shelter, but until then they could work together still.
Hinewai returned bafflingly quickly carrying flax and woven cloth, and Tony tended carefully to Ariki’s burns. Hinewai stood by, watching distantly. Come to think of it, Tony had never seen the two mistfolk interact before, which was strange considering they were the only two in the city. Or
had
been, apparently.
“What did you do?” she said as she tended to him, trying not to wince at the wounded flesh, all bubbled and bleeding and weeping.
It must have hurt excruciatingly, but he just stared straight ahead, lips pressed tight together. “Māui and his pawn, they killed
Whai
,” he said, and then he looked slightly panicky and added, “And burned down the Hikurangi – that is the more important part.”
Tony nodded along, to be kind, and carefully tied off a bandage. “So yeah, the humans had to be punished, I get it. What did you do?”
“It wasn’t about punishment, exactly,” he said. “Though that as well. It is more – things had to be fair. Things had to be
even
, do you understand? The tangata killed one of ours, and then burned down our safe place, our sanctuary.” On seeing she still looked blank he explained, irritated, “It is a colossal insult to attack a home, let alone slaughter that many defenceless. It demands repayment. Utu. So I summoned more patupaiarehe here, those of us who wanted to come.”
Tony nodded, thoughtful. “Okay,” she said. “Okay. I can work with that. I mean me and Hin’ll be working overtime trying to get them to understand what they can and can’t do, but – I agree, it’s only fair. Atua and humans should be able to live together.”
Ariki looked surprised. “You seem to misunderstand. I was thinking more of us slaughtering all of them,” he said, and she pulled the bandage tight, decisively. He yowled and said nothing more.
“Can we rebuild it, or something like it?” Tony said. “Now that there’s more of us?”
Ariki shrugged. “Maybe. I won’t help, either way,” he said, and he held up his arms.
“If it helps,” Tony said, “the guy who did that is pretty broken. Already, I mean. Pre-vengeance and everything.”
“Not as broken as he’ll be when I get my hands… ” Ariki stopped. “When I get him,” he finished, with a bitter, sardonic twist to his mouth.
“Y’know,” Tony said, “I thought I hated him too, for what he did to Whai and all the rest, and for this.” She gestured at where the Hikurangi wasn’t. “But I don’t, not really. Hasn’t there been enough hating?”
“Compassion is a weakness,” Ariki said. “One you and Whai had in common, though he at least had a sting in his tail.” He shuddered, once, convulsively. “The last thing I said to him was unfair. I mocked his people. They’re mad and broken and gone now, but it’s not
their
fault. Why did I say that? He was a good foe. He deserved better.”
Tony rested a shoulder on his hand comfortingly.
“Good kisser, too,” Ariki said.
“Oh my god! I did not need to know that!” Tony said. “Oh, gross, oh man.”
Hinewai sat on the step above her. “You seem disgusted,” she said warily. “Is kissing wrong?”
“What? What, no, of course not. Kissing is fine so long as the person you’re kissing is okay with it. It’s just… ” Tony sought for an explanation. “Like, hearing about
Whai
smooching people, specifically, that’s like – how would you feel if your sister told you in-depth about what happened when, like, she and rainbowguy were hanging out in his house?”
Hinewai wrinkled her nose. “Bleh.”
Tony grinned a bit at that reaction, glad of having any cause to smile. The smile soon faded. She sighed.
“There is someone else here, as well,” Hinewai said, and nodded to a corner. Tony blinked and followed her gaze. A man was huddled up against the wall, shivering.
“Oh, him,” Ariki said. “I left him here to give you a message. I suppose he failed. Typical of humans, really.”
“When?” She hadn’t even noticed him. It was dark, true, but there was also a sort of smallness about him.
You need to know we’re there before you see us
, Hinewai had said, and maybe that went for humans under atua spells as well. “How long has he been there? Just sitting there?”
Ariki shrugged. “Why should it matter? He’s just tangata.”
“I’m here to guard
everyone
,” she said, glaring. “You’d best remember that. Atua from tangata, yes! But tangata from atua as well.”
She stood and went to the huddled man, and recognised with a start that it was Steffan, the easily flustered scholar with piercing eyes behind his sort of dorky glasses. At the moment, though, there was a blankness in his eyes that she recognised.
“I guess,” she said, quietly, “even before we rebuild the Hikurangi I need to lay down some ground rules.” She knelt beside him. “Hey, bud. You okay?”
He looked up at her and blinked and shivered. “Oh,” he said, then recited tonelessly: “It seems this murderer was not a coward after all. And Ariki will seek revenge, regardless of whether you are too much of a coward to; but if you wish to then the man who did this was –”
“Hey, shh,” she said, putting a hand to his mouth. “A guy called Saint. I know. Message delivered,” she added, hoping it’d get rid of the blankness in his face.
“Is it really true?” Steff asked. He ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, jeez. Oh, Saint. He can’t have been the one who… ” He trailed off. “I was the first person here, did you know that? There was still some of it left. There were bones… ”
“Yeah,” Tony said. “Saint did that.”
Steffan shivered. “I just wanted to
learn
, that’s all I wanted, that’s all I’ve ever… The people there
smiled
at me, they were mainly kind, I mean not –
him
–” He jerked his chin in Ariki’s direction. “But the others, you and that big friendly guy. He was going to make meringues. I wonder if he did. Everything was so warm and now it’s so cold.”