Who are the Real Monsters? by: Elsbeth Ken Umeki will learn that not all monsters come out at night.

While regaining my strength, I spent most of my time sleeping. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to my dreams. Not exactly disturbing but they were strange to be sure. Whether it was Katie dressed as Alice in Wonderland running next to a small white haired girl dressed in a rabbit outfit being chased by the Red Queen, who looked a lot like my mother, or Sile playing a game of chess with a beautiful nine-tailed white fox, none of them made any sense. However it was dreams of mirrors that frightened me the most.

Standing in a terribly white room, I wandered through the emptiness until I come across tall bronze mirror. Dressed as a Miko, my reflection always stared back at me with the eyes of one who had accepted some terrible fate. With a deep understanding that the reflection wasn’t truly me, I felt sorry for the imprisoned girl. Wanting to help, I would touch the mirror, each time producing a different result. Sometimes our two reflections would merge, becoming one. Other times, we switched places. Suddenly finding myself looking outside, my screams would be unheard as I slowly faded away; disappearing entirely or sometimes it was the other way around. While touching the mirror, a feeling of emptiness would overwhelm me as she faded away. Either I lost myself, or I lost the other girl. All of the choices were horrible.

A soft voice pulled me away from a troubling dream in which a strong wind roared out of the forest destroying all of Skogshaven. As usual, it was still dark outside. Did anyone in this family sleep past sunrise?

“Morning, what time is it?”

“Early.” Aya walked around my room, pulling several articles of clothing out of my dresser. “Come Kimme-sama, it would be inappropriate for you to miss your own ceremony.”

That at least brought a smile to my face. It had only been a couple of days since finding my mother at my bedside. What a difference two days could make. Yesterday I awoke to find myself ravenous. I half expected to be told that I could only eat soup or whatever sick people were fed, but instead found myself eating my usual fare. Somehow I even managed to eat half a pepperoni pizza right after I helped Rebecca with her dancing.

“Are you excited?”

“Yes, not that I’m complaining, but I’m surprised the ceremony is taking place so soon after I was sick.” Standing up, Aya slipped a soft white robe over me.

“Your mother has her reasons.”

“As usual.”

Aya smiled. “Hibiki should be by momentarily to accompany you to the baths.”

“Ceremonial cleansing and all of that, I’m sure grandmother had everything planned out in excruciating detail.” Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I looked about. “I’m surprised Katie isn’t here.”

“She is on an errand for your mother, which I will be also, as soon as Hibiki arrives.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I am to pick up your girlfriend.”’

“Oh, my mom was able to get a hold of her? She hadn’t been picking up her cell phone.” That had made me a little concerned but my mother was pretty persistent; one of her assistants probably either went over to her house, or kept dialing her phone until she picked up. “She was probably still being chased by the Red Queen?” I mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing…just talking to myself.”

Aya shrugged. “Your mother did not inform me if she contacted your girlfriend or not. I was just commanded to bring her to the shrine.”

“Typical, doesn’t matter as long as Sile is coming to the ceremony.” I couldn’t help but smile. With the promise of a large birthday party a few days after the ritual, it was turning out to be a pretty good day.

A dark red Volkswagen sped through the early morning, the sunrise still a number of hours away. Inside, Sile shifted gears while mulling over the last couple of days. Last week’s festivities brought to her a sense of urgency for the fate of her lover. Agwe’s explanation had unfortunately been very believable. Her initial magical findings were confirmed. Only knowing that Kimme wouldn’t have approved of her ripping the doors off their hinges had kept Sile from storming the Shisaa compound.

Kimme’s mother too, was something of a mystery. For a mortal there was no doubt about her power; however there was something uncomfortably familiar with it as well. Disgusted with herself for taking so long, the Scottish Vampire knew what she needed to do. Learning a long time ago that she couldn’t always do things by herself and as much as she despised asking any Aos Sidhe for help, she really needed to speak to the Princess. Sile wasn’t exactly sure what was going on inside the Shisaa compound but as a member of the Town’s council Morgan could definitely find out.

However it was Kimme’s friend Tabitha who had taken up most of her time the last few days. Although Nina and her daughters had provided some very impressive support, the newborn Vampire was not taking her change very well. A friendly face immediately brought to a halt what could have turned into a terrible situation. Although the loss of family was alien to Sile, she had lost loved ones through the years. To Tabitha it was as if everyone she had ever known had died. Not every new born handled the transition well. At least Agwe and Kimme would still be part of her new life, a small consolation, but that in itself seemed to break Tabitha from the destructive path she had been taking.

“Sile!!” A white haired rocket flew through the air. “I have been looking for you for like forever, where have you been?” Opening the door, the two entered the top floor of the old Victorian home. “Never mind…doesn’t matter…listen.”

Sile eyes opened wide. To think that the Umeki family had the ability to capture Fae, lesser ones perhaps, but that wasn’t the point. Such powers were common place among certain powerful members of the Winter Court, for mere mortals to possess such powers was very suspicious. The second bit of news brought Sile to her feet.

“Are they insane? Mortals holding an Aos Sidhe as a slave; they will be lucky if the Princess only burns their enclosure to the ground, much less destroys the entire town in the process”

“She wouldn’t do that.” Lily squeaked.

“Don’t be so sure.” The Scottish Vampire said absentmindedly as she glided towards a bay window overlooking the side of the house. The wards surrounding the History Center had been breached by the Unseen. She cursed. So engrossed in the prospects of assaulting the Shisaa compound, Sile had failed to notice the three black SUVs that had parked down the road. So they have come for her instead. The Scottish Vampire had no illusions why they were outside.

“Considering the circumstances this is not totally unexpected.” Sile laughed.

“What? Is someone out there?”

“Yes, it appears Lily, that we have some unexpected visitors. From what I surmise it’s Aya and at least a half a dozen Were-temple lions and I do believe a number of Witchlings.” The Scottish Vampire body immediately began to change. While Sile’s human glamor fell away, a feral grin formed on her lips. Dressed in a long green gown, she now stood before the white haired pixie in her true form. “You need to find Morgan.”

“She’s off somewhere speaking to group of troll clan elders.” The Princess was trying to stop the practice of the troll wives kidnaping infants and replacing them with changelings.

As Sile’s animal like hoofs struck the hardwood floors, long black nails began to grow from the Baba Sith’s other hand. “Doesn’t matter where she is, Lily, you need to find her now.”

“Where are you going?”

Sile laughed, with her long white hair now moving on its own, her right hand began to glow with a blood red hue. “I’m going to have a little discussion with Kimme’s Warden.”

Closing my eyes the warmth of the water put me into a comfortable place. The familiar smells of my grandmother’s ritual incense brought up memories, good memories of the time I spent with her. Looking back, I tried to find signs that my grandmother was anything but what she appeared. I couldn’t see her harming Yakoi, quite the opposite. Unfortunately my mother, as much as I loved her, would not hesitate if it was a means to an end. That much I have always known about her.

Enough was enough. I knew that my family was still hiding secrets from me. After the ritual when I became the true heir of the Umeki family, the four of us, me, my father, mother and grandmother were going to sit down and discuss our family’s future. Hostilities with the other Unseen would come to an end, I promised Agwe that as well.

Rising out of the water, I was intercepted by my aunt and cousin as I stepped onto the cold tiles. Wrapping my body in warm fluffy towels, they began to dry me off. This all was done in silence; one of the things that surprised me was how annoyed I was about all of this. I truly missed Hibiki’s incessant chatter. There was sadness to both of them too; neither of them would look me in the eye. We all had to follow the script laid out, but I wanted to tell them that after the ceremony nothing would change between us. I would make sure of that.

Removing the towels, my aunt replaced them with a beautiful white silk Iromuji, a type of kimono with off white cherry blossom patterns across the arms and back. The first of three ceremonial outfits I would be wearing today. Escorted into another room, I was brought to a low table adorned with half a dozen dishes. Recognizing them instantly, I took a seat and as explained to me by my grandmother began to eat them in a certain order. Not for the first time I found myself the only one eating while numerous people stood around me watching. This time the numbers included members of my extended family, most of mother’s assistants and all of the older female members of the Shisaa family. The one glaring absentee was my great Aunt who, I was informed, went to Hawaii to help with the preparations of my arrival.

That too came as a surprise, a pleasant one though. During the winter break the family was going to travel to Hawaii for a so called family reunion. I was sure there were other things that were going to happen but those would be revealed to me after the ceremony. Still, I was looking forward to getting in some serious surfing time. I was a little worried about my new curves, however if Aya could be a devil on a surfboard so could I.

Aunt Naomi showed off her fine culinary skills once more, breakfast or whatever you wanted to call it, although traditional, was superb. Once again, this time by several of my mother’s assistants, I was escorted into another room, a smile shrine, for some meditation. Actually, I was pretty sure it was to give the others time to clean up and get ready for the next part of the morning.

At the end of this period, I would be dressed in another more ritualistic outfit. This time, I was not looking forward to walking in the shoes. Getas are like Japanese wooden flip flops, but these monstrosities were tall. Thankfully, there was a way to gracefully walk in them so I wouldn’t fall, more gliding than walking. Still they were hard on legs. Personally, I think they are making me wear them so I won’t run away. After four or five hours of the ritual I was pretty sure I would be ready to bolt.

Aya sat back stunned at the carnage the Scottish Vampire had just inflicted on the Temple Dogs. They didn’t even see it coming. Off to the side of the house, three of the Temple Dogs lay smoking, hit by some powerful spell that flew from the Sile’s hands. The others she simply threw around like they were puppies, one of them across the street to impact a fire hydrant. As the long black claws retracted from the back of a prone Japanese Witch, Aya understood that the Umeki clan drastically underestimated Kimme’s lover’s abilities. Centuries of contact with Yokai, the Umeki family believed gained them insight on how to deal with such creatures, obviously they were mistaken.

“I believe I am your opponent, Aya.” Sile said as she walked over the Witches crippled Warden. “Although you’re a little late for the party.”

Aya nodded, a long black katana appearing in her hands. “I was told to simply watch, to only intercede if the situation demanded it. It appears that we have underestimated you.”

Sile smiled as the two began to circle one another. “You’re not the first.”

“I’m surprised that you left all of them alive.” The Japanese Warden understood that it took amazing skill to make sure that the wounds were crippling but not fatal.

“I made a promise that I would only kill if I felt truly threatened. I might make an exception for you.”

“I will take that as a compliment.”

“It was intended as such.”

Suddenly the two moved, passing one another with a quickness that would make the wind jealous.

Aya stood back, blood soaking her butler like suit. The Scottish Vampires claws had cut through the reinforced ballista cloth like it was paper. Sile was not without injury, black blood dampening her green dress. The two began to circle each other once more.

“That’s an interesting sword, Aya.”

“Yes, it is a present from my mistress.”

“Not Kimme, I take it, her mother?”

“Yes. It’s rather potent abilities do not seem to bother you, odd.”

“Not really, I have spent a lot of time with those who wield such weapons.”

Sile leaped forward, her claws catching the blade, her other hand reaching through the Warden’s defenses. Aya used that momentum to bring the sword around. Both jumped back.

Spitting some blood out of her mouth, Aya warily watched the Scottish Vampire circling her once more. “So who did you make that promise to Sile? Was it Kimme-sama?”

The white haired beauty shook her head slightly. “No, an Aes Sidhe Princess I am acquainted with.”

“You must be speaking of Morgan Rynders.”

“I am. You have no idea what kind of shit storm your Umeki family has just kicked up, Aya. I’m not sure that your families will survive it.”

“I see; we will have to deal with that when the time comes. I am here to simply escort you to Kimme-sama’s ceremony.”

“You know, you could have just asked.”

“Would you have come peacefully?”

“No, but it would have been nice to be asked.”

“Unfortunately, as I see it now we will need to select another for the ritual, however as we cannot leave you behind to interrupt us... “ Aya frowned. “Once again, I have underestimated you. Sile, you are stalling for time aren’t you?”

The Scottish Vampire laughed. “Sorry.”

“No, I must apologize, Sile. You are truly a worthy opponent. We dishonored you when we did not take you seriously. Come, I will fight you now with all of my power. I expect you to do the same.”

The Scottish Vampire stopped circling, “I understand Aya. By Ash Oak and Hawthorne, I will try and kill you now.”

“I understand, by the Spirit of my Ancestors I shall do the same.”

The two warriors acknowledged each other with a simple nod then sat still. When they moved again, it was with deadly purpose.