text: \[ VIII \] Upon looking over the disappointingly disruption of the of patterns that mounted up: Matilda thought of the battle with the Centaur, as it were politely ended with no judgement by both parties. She let the links form naturally as she strolled in the dark, and her eyes gazed across the land near her Golden Fleece. She had returned home in which the land where there once lay massive fire was being covered by a gargantuan red and white tent that gave suggestion of a circus. Matilda had never seen a tent so grand and curiously marveled at the sheer height that the erect tent stood, and all its flimsy glory. The mesmerizing swaying lead her to question the structural integrity of the tent and its inhabitants that seemed to be yelled. She set foot inside without hesitation as to simply observe the engineering feat, and prioritize safety protocol. Her attention was set as natural to enforce safety, and reflex holding her frown under this very visibly unstable situation. Despite all the unarticulated noise of the ignorant people in attendance: she pressed blindly through the stomping crowds and headed west as to find the center of the labyrinth. The giant circus tent housed countless dead-eyed savages, blind and seeking the thrill of sensationalism. This misunderstanding of patriotism was a labor for Matilda, as she was obligated by her title to secure the safety of all those who stood resident on her yard. She yelled frantically and sincerely for them to stop their abrupt behaviors, and fell ill when she grew lost in her thoughts and orders of desperation. Her chest clasp tight as she heard their yells of hate filled intimidation, and she felt her strength weaken for only a second weakened from the endless shoulder to shoulder bumping. She tried standing like stone but the physical blows to her chest forced her lose her wind, and when she said nothing the sounds got louder all around her. Matilda had a migraine that lasted for what seemed like many years and many moons, and she finally fell asleep laying crumpled in a head under the unsteady swaying tent. She laid there being continually trampled over by the dead-eyed savages yelling nothing on her land, as Matilda had failed to find center of the labyrinth. She awoke to the same seizing shock that had once been brought on by the boulder running over her spine in Hades, and Matilda stood up confused surrounded in the masses. They had stampeded over her until her clothes fell torn to shreds and she was left stand there as bare as the day she was born. To this: Matilda looked down her front and shrugged. “Aight then” she said factually to what seemed to be nobody in the crowds of endless randoms. Matilda was an Indigenous Warrior from the West: being naked was how the original ancestors used to gyrate and she held dichotomy to her woman parts. Silly to be offended by something she clearly couldn’t change, and so Matilda continued wandering through the many obstacles the zombie like tenants presented. This precise event was things of nightmares for those with the fear of public speaking and often dreamt they were naked, but for her it just resembled the chilliness of Hades. She continued West to find the the now viewable pillar that stood in the center of the labyrinth. Matilda made her way through the crowds of shrieking dead-eyed savages, and found her small stature made it easy to push past them unnoticed. She stood in front of a pillar made from the wood only found in her yard, and she began to pace its circumference looking for a clue. The massive Redwood pillar held a small door along its backside, and to this ominous door Matilda cracked her neck as she stepped forward to investigate whatever lay within, and moved to the task without hesitation. The interior of the Redwood seemed to have been hollowed out, and sitting center was the beast Matilda had only known as the Minotaur. He wasn’t the quickest of monsters, and his notorious endeavors were often topic of jest to those on her land, as he was one of the many children that belonged to Mechanical Boar that now terrorized her yard. Matilda had known little of the Minotaur, as he were were only quoted when he contradicted himself and ridiculed for his beauty being seen opposite to that of his sister: the daughter of King Minos. Matilda strode up to the beast and observed that he had little in his facility, but saw that the Minotaur also held onto a magic book that held subpar might to her Golden Fleece. She asked him what he had done, and the Minotaur tightened the grip on his magic book lined with gold. He said that he may have pulled at some intertwined threads made of silver and sought favor of the Cyclops, and he was now sitting stuck in the pillar surrounded by the maze of dead-eyed savages. Matilda rubbed her temple in annoyance as his voice was that of a banshee, and it had been already known to the world these facts that he had now presented as new. The Minotaur began to cry at what he had done, as he had no solution on how to leave the pillar that now held up the unstable tent called the labyrinth. To this self-pity Matilda grew enraged, and began yelling at the beast asking if he had any concern for those who stood resident under his circus tent. He slowly shook his head no, and she knew instantly that he held absolutely no understanding of justice. Yelling at this slow beast would solve nothing: forcing Matilda to lower her voice and she asked if he knew how unsound the structure had become. She informed him the dire situation as it posed danger to all those inside, and that danger now included the both of them. He sat there very apparently having never thought of this before, as his woeful face began to show worry. Matilda was left to find solution alone, as the beast was slow in thought and obviously worried only aboot his own safety. She asked him if she could go find help from his rich family that often ignored him, and to this suggestion he stood up in excitement, as he loved the all forms of attention given by his father. The Minotaur didn’t care if the attention from his family was appraisal or disapproval, as he was enamored with the rare occurrence of being center of attention. Matilda said “Oi’” as the Minotaur began to yell excitedly aboot all those in his family that could assist to his problem, as it seemed that the Minotaur had been exiled from his family for far too long. His banshee voice grew old quickly and so Matilda resorted to slapping the beast as to get him to cease with his excited impromptu plan filled with grunts and wails. Matilda didn’t have time for this shit and she stood there watching as he slowly realized how hard she had slapped him, as he hadn’t ever been treated in such an appalling manner. He fell silent as Matilda stood there visibly judging the beast, forcing him to think of a plan: no matter how long it took. He finally whispered something and instantly turned away with self-disapproval at his own opinion. Matilda had little patience without the kind Argonauts beside her, and so she swiped away the balance of the standing Minotaur by way of kicking the backside of his knobby knees. To this he fell awkwardly and Matilda stood above him asking him one more time to repeat what solution he had brought forth before he had turned away from her in dismay. The Minotaur lay there and said under mumbled breath that he were sure that his sister would know what to do. To this Matilda rolled her eyes, as she didn’t understand the hype around the Daughter of King Minos. She had little knowledge of the woman beside the fact that she had once publicly boasted of being complicit, and that she never halted the advances of sexual desire made by her father: the Boar. At any cost Matilda knew time was being wasted on this beast that now lay at her feet and so she left him and his incriminating magic book lined with gold in the pillar and attempted to find way for her to leave the labyrinth. Outside of the pillar Matilda avoided the dead-eyed savages that held tight in the masses around the pillar. She looked up and without second thought began to climb the outside of the Redwood pillar, and found fond ease remembering how much she loved climbing trees. Atop the pillar lay flat surface, and as it stood center the tent: Matilda looked down the cloth as to try and find a way to place her away from the circus tent that shook violently in the wind. Matilda hated heights but found her anxiety heighten being atop this swaying pillar and so she was left with only the option to jump and slide down the cascading fabric. She rolled around and tossed as she fell and it seemed the tent was even bigger than she had originally understood, as she fell for what seemed like forever along the red and white fabric. Eventually Matilda was desensitized to the quantity of adrenaline produced falling and by that time she had came to an abrupt halt, as she hit the ground with heavy force and rolled across the land of her yard. She stood up winded: half impressed she hadn’t died by fault of her own shitty plan, and set afoot armed with her weapons of silver and gold, as to find solution to the dangerous circus that stood over her land. &#x200B; \-A Traditional Yurok origin myth composed and re-mixed with Greek myths by: Matilda Brooks US Federally Recognized Property #562-6146, Yurok Tribe, CA.