We return to the interesting characters.
The Pilgrims have finished crossing the area around the mountain, and are beginning to climb the mountain proper. Creamy has leveraged her badass stand against the "mutant music monster" to be treated like royalty by the other Pilgrims.
Creamy and Myrracle are being carried on the top of a chair that they fashioned from what they could find in the Divide.
Kamata requests a break, which Creamy grants.
But ahead of them, the scenery changed radically. A lush garden of flowers no one in the group could identify greeted them. The aroma of the buds was almost overpowering—strong citrus that stung their nostrils and a sweet aroma of honey that made their eyes water.
Myrracle says she wants to make a "boo-tay" of the flowers, and her mother corrects her, saying that the word is "bouquet."
They hear something like a woman in pain, and Abigail discovers a small cemetery with six graves.
ಠ_ಠ
Here's an idea. If you're going to use the Muses, actually use the muses. Otherwise give your group some other name. So we have muses of music, dancing, colors/painting(?), drama, clothing and whatever the heck "chitectia" is supposed to be. (Architecture, maybe?) The muses are apparently dead and buried.
Lynne touches one of the headstones, which starts glowing. The Pilgrims immediately get in "defensive mode" which involves getting in a protective ring around Myrracle and Creamy.
Abigail suddenly screams, saying she's not willing to put up with crap anymore.
Abigail finds what seems to be a dagger. Her expression makes it clear that she can't hear what other people are saying to her. She yanks off her clothing. Abigail brings the knife to her chest . . .
And starts scraping the hair off of herself. She "shaves" all of her hair, including her eyebrows, head and "most private of parts" with the dagger.
*sigh* If you want a scene to be taken seriously, don't be cute about this. Either say she saved her crotch, or that she shaved everywhere.
I have donated hair before. And I can tell you right now, none of that hair is appropriate and not just because some of it is from her pits and "most private of parts."
To donate hair, most places require the hair to be a minimum of 8-10 inches. Hair is donated in the form of a ponytail, not as loose hair. And no place is going to accept hair that is filthy and is lying on the ground along with a bunch of body hair.
"Preee-teee ...," Hunchy slobbered, ogling Abigail.
The organ eater was wrong, though. Abigail was not simply pretty. She was out-of-this-world, breathtakingly beautiful—absolutely, undeniably, soul-stirringly stunning.
Why is she beautiful? What makes her beautiful? The only physical description I can remember so far is that she's hairy. It's not enough to tell us she's beautiful. There needs to be something in the text to make us believe it.
I'm pretty sure this is the first time that Hunchy has spoken. I was beginning to wonder if he could talk at this point. And his first word is used to slobber over an underage girl. Ick.
Abigail is now the most beautiful girl in the group, which makes Creamy give her a death glare while Kamata smiles at Abigail for the first time. Considering she's completely naked, this comes across as a bit pervy.
Then the group is attacked by a spider-like creature three times the size of a bus.
Lynne heckles the thing, saying that her husband would like it since he's a leg man.
Then things get weird.
The "Leg Leech" extends two of its leeches and clicks them together. Myrracle says that it's "snapping its leg-fingers" and starts snapping with the same rhythm. This pleases the monster. The others start snapping as well.
Lynne is struggling, since she can't snap very well with both hands. Harriet stops snapping to go help Lynne, and the monster strikes.
It attacks both women, slicing them in half at the hips. Abigail demands that Creamy do something.
The creature adds the two women's severed legs to its body. Then it begins waltzing towards the remaining Pilgrims.
Myrracle tells her mother she can save the group by dancing. Creamy agrees, telling her to dance with her body and soul.
Myrracle begins dancing with Bellissima in her arms. The Leg Leech watches and then retreats. The tombstone marked MUSE PRANCIA begins to sway along with Myrracle.
Then a ring of fire encircles Myrracle, who is still holding Bellissima.
The flames then shoot up and form a fireball, which heads towards Kamata and Abigail. Kamata tries to get Abigail out of the way. Creamy yells at his to go "that way", and he's panicked enough that he doesn't realize that Creamy just pointed him towards the flames. The two are hit by the fireballs, not even leaving ash behind.
Creamy feels smug about this, while Myrracle is reduced to saying "Oh my God" over and over.
Creamy slaps Myrracle, telling her that Bellissima is managing to hold it together and Myrracle should be able to as well. Myrracle whimpers. The second her mother turns her back, she slices into Bellissima's back with a shank.
I love how even the text is starting to treat Bellissima like it's alive. It's surreal, funny and a bit creepy all at the same time.
Then four more fireballs rain down, one for each of the Pilgrims. Myrracle and Creamy run one way, and Hunchy runs another. After the sparks clear, Hunchy finds himself alive, but doesn't see Creamy or Myrracle. He calls out to them, but doesn't get an answer.
Alone.
R.I.P. Pilgrims
I don't believe that Creamy and Myrracle are dead. Not even for a second. The text has devoted way too much attention to them for them to be killed off now. Especially since Tookie hasn't had a chance to confront them. It's a bit predictable that Creamy, Myrracle and Hunchy would be the ones to survive from the Pilgrims, but I'm willing to forgive that since the Pilgrims have been the most interesting thing in this book.
It's strange that characters who have gotten so little screen time - only four of the thirty-six chapters so far - became the most complex characters in the narrative. Most of them weren't very nice people, but they did enough to make them at least somewhat sympathetic.
Harriet obviously cared deeply about her daughter. Meena got killed trying to save her daughter. Kamata, who started out not giving a care about the Pilgrims, tried to save Abigail's life. Hunchy, whose entire motivation is killing Piper and eating her organs, is shown fighting the monsters who attacked the groups and has done nothing to threaten the other group members, even though the group is shown to hate him. Creamy, who comes across as severely mentally ill, shows some twisted feelings of affection for Myrracle. The entire group is willing to risk their lives to attain their goals.
The chapters about the Pilgrims have been like a horror movie: weird monsters, characters being picked off one by one, and a dangerous and hostile environment. They've been a welcome contrast to the otherwise glacially-paced book.
Rest in peace, Pilgrims. You will be missed.
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