Whare Potae (The House of Mourning)

Chapter Two

Author's Note: I am sneakily writing fanfiction at my desk while pretending to respond to customer complaints.

You won't tell, will you?

Chapter Two

Meanwhile, Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, shapeshifter and hero to all was chained by his wrists to the shimmering wall of the goddesses's throne room in the depths of Rarohenga. His beloved fishhook hung a few feet above and to his left, just far enough away that he could see but never reach it, set up as a taunt, he was sure, by Hine-nui-te-po, who seemed to delight in watching him struggle.

The goddess herself was seated nearby on a throne made of sharp, dark wood, bathed in inexplicably black light from luminescent pockets in the walls all around. Her long black, lank hair swathed her entire body, and she gazed curiously at Maui out of deeply sunken, striking eyes.

Maui sighed.

"Look, beautiful," he insisted, "I'm flattered. I really am. Nah, I'm even impressed! I mean you're a real go-getter, and I like that about you. There's nothing quite like a woman who isn't afraid to make a bold play for what she wants, and that's you to a T. I got a lot of respect for that, I really do, it's just....I'm not really on the market for a relationship right now, you know? Maui's gotta be free to do his hero thing. I wouldn't really be Maui the trickster if I was tied down, even to a gorgeous goddess like yourself. I'm a rover, a free agent, a wandering world-saving force, so...I mean, I'm really sorry, honest, but it's just not meant to be. Nothing personal, though. You're a real catch, and I mean that. No hard feelings?"

Hine-nui-te-po stood up, frowning, and glided over to Maui, pointing a long finger at his chest.

"Who," she demanded, "is that?"

Maui looked down at the tattoo of Moana, the one he'd received after they'd restored the heart of Te Fiti together some years ago.

"Oh, uh, her? That's...that's nobody," he mumbled. "Just some kid I helped out, once upon a time. Saved her village, or something like that. You know me, Hine. I'm always out there, doing my best to help those damsels in distress."

Hine-nui-te-po raised a delicate eyebrow at Maui, and he just shrugged, turning his face away from her so that she couldn't read his eyes.

"That's mortals for you," he muttered. "Save their entire family from an all-devouring darkness, and they never even call you. Haven't heard from her in ages. Forget her, it's no big deal."

Honestly, Maui couldn't decide who he was trying to convince; Hine-nui-te-po, or himself.

The explanation apparently satisfied the goddess, however, who returned to her throne, leaving Maui alone with his unpleasant thoughts. The Mini Maui tattoo on Maui's chest gazed sadly up at him, shaking it's head.

"What?" Maui glared at the tattoo. "Hey, come on, don't look at me like that. It's not a big deal, okay? She's probably got more important, chiefly things to do, now. Running a village when you're barely out of puberty has gotta be time consuming, or...whatever. It's fine."

The Maui tattoo slumped over, looking even more miserable.

"Anyway," Maui went on, "it's probably for the est. Can you imagine what it'd be like if Moana was still hanging around all the time? She'd be all 'Maui, teach me how to run my village,' and 'Maui, steal something else from the gods so my people have more food,' and 'Maui, I'm the chosen one, so help me figure out how to make that work,' and on, and on...I mean, she's a nice kid, don't get me wrong, but Maui is nobody's mentor figure; not with hair this great, okay? I was just not born for that role. The girl's gotta stand on her own two feet, and we gotta stand on ours...uh, well, mine."

The Maui tattoo just shrugged.

"Mortals," murmured Hine-nui-te-po unexpectedly. "They're no use at all. Poor Maui, abandoned again and again by those terrible humans, and yet...you keep drifting back to them. Why is that?"

Getting to her feet, she strode over and knelt in front of him, reaching out to lift his chin between her two fingers. Maui winced and tried to turn his head away, but there was something powerful about those sunken eyes that locked his gaze and wouldn't release him.

"When will you learn" she sighed, "that you're so much better off here, with your people...as one of us? You're not a human, Maui. You were chosen by the gods. Why not accept it...learn to embrace it? Embrace your place with us. Here, amongst your own people, you'll be safe, and you'll never be harmed. You need never feel alone or abandoned again, demigod of the wind and sea. You belong here."

She twined her arms around his neck, but this time Maui coughed and shook her off, straightening himself up and turning his face to the wall to avoid her.

"Look," he muttered, "I appreciate that you're trying to be comforting, but I'm fine. Actually, I'm great. No still means no, by the way. I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it; I'm not interested."

Hine-nui-te-po hissed her displeasure, and Maui jerked back around just in time to see her on her standing over him with her sharp, dark fingernails outstretched, her face twisted with anger.

"Don't worry, little Maui," she sighed, the corners of her mouth twisting up into an unpleasant sort of half-grimace. "I'll take away your loneliness...even if it means that I must poison the seas between every island for hundreds of miles to punish those mortals for failing to appreciate who you are. Soon, you will understand...you don't need them anymore. You don't need anyone...no one but me. I'll cure your sadness. I can truly understand you."

Yeah, right, thought Maui. You're so twisted, you're about as disconnected from reality as it gets. Guess living in a hole underground for about a million years will do that to you. Even the souls of the dead are more with it than you are. Can't imagine what you think we have in common.

Hine-nui-te-po eventually drifted away, shaking her head slowly.

"You'll understand soon," she told him over her shoulder, trying on a gentle smile that didn't suit the sharp contours of her face. It only made her look more ghastly than she had before. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright, Maui...I won't ever leave you. I promise. It would be terrible, after all, to spend eternity all alone."

She swept out of the room, off to join the dead in their daily travels through the underworld, and Maui took a deep breath.

"Talk about crazy ex-girlfriends," he muttered. "We sure know how to pick 'em, huh, buddy?"

His Maui tattoo just rolled its eyes.

Author's End Notes: ...welp, I got busted for writing instead of doing my work, so I had to put it away until I got home.

I'll get started on another chapter before I leave for work in the morning.

Anyway, this is a bit of a short chapter, but at least I got to write Maui's character a bit, and that's a lot of fun to do.