Welcome back everyone! We've got another exciting chapter for you! The last months have been busy ones, I got married! Hopefully things might get on a roll again, but I wanted to thank everyone ahead of time for sticking with us through the long waits between chapters! Thanks to new and old reviewers – Aine of Knockaine, Erin Sasaki, Qualia Des, and Demon Kid – it's great to know we've got some new readers! I hope you enjoy the next chapter! ~MillyT & Dwellin

"We are not responsible for any stock market fluctuations, acts of nature, or the common cold, only for the story we are submitting. If you have any thoughts we would like to hear them (kind ones are acknowledged, mean ones are fed to our pet dragon, Slumberbumpkin the Not So Fierce.). We don't own Trigun, (wish we did though!) and we certainly don't own Vash (I know, I already checked into it) , and we don't own Nightow (do I need to repeat myself?), all we own is not really worth mentioning here. Please enjoy your stay and keep all hands and arms inside the ride at all times, and your seats...well, you don't have to keep them in the upright positions! Enjoy your stay!"

Chapter 25

Jeneora Rock

[Stardate: 11-03-0110-12:00]

Meryl was convinced the city of Grandal did not want them to leave. The next afternoon, long after Knives and the others had gone, she and Milly went down to the stables to retrieve their tomas. Mr. Cotswold saw them coming and handed them a padded envelope. "Mr. Millions told me to give this to you since you weren't coming along with them." He crossed his hands over his chest and smiled, "I'm glad you decided to sell your toma, they sold at a high price last night at the auction."

"Ah, thanks yes..." Meryl stuttered out, her attention caught between the envelope and the information he just gave them, before blinking and replying, "WHAT?"

Mr. Cotswold unfolded his arms, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Mr. Millions came to me yesterday saying you no longer needed them, that you were going to head back on the Sandsteamer next month, and you needed the money. I got an excellent price for them since they came with all their gear, should be enough to last you a good few months."

"But, Meryl, did you..." Milly started, looking over her partner's shoulder as she opened up the envelope to see it was stuffed full of double dollars. Indeed, enough to live quite comfortably for a few months.

Swallowing, she nodded to Mr. Cotswold, "Yes, well, thank you for doing such an excellent job. I was wondering, are there any busses headed out of town sooner, say, to Jeneora Rock? I thought since it's only a few days a way we might go see it before the next Sandsteamer comes through." She gritted her teeth, angry at Knives and how he had somehow tricked her after she had tried to trick him!

The toma breeder puckered up his lips in thought, "Well, I don't know of anyone going out that way for a few days. I'll be needing to go there for feed in a day or two if you don't mind waiting that long."

Meryl nodded reluctantly, "That will be fine, thank you." She grabbed the arm of a hesitating Milly and shoved the envelope into an empty pocket of her traveling cape. Milly looked at her, obviously confused, and when they were out of earshot of the older man, she stopped walking. "I can't believe he'd do that to us! Sell our tomas right out from under our noses! And then add money to it even, I know he didn't get all that much from selling them...it's like he was trying to buy us off to make us stay away even though I told him we were staying away!"

While Meryl fumed, Milly looked down the road. "They didn't even say goodbye." She bit her lip and then nudged her friend. "So, what are we going to do, Meryl?"

"We'll hitchhike. There's bound to be more people coming through here before Mr. Cotswold makes his trip, right?"

Milly nodded slowly, "I guess so, Meryl."

However, after a couple days of trying to leave Grandal, Mr. Cotswold eventually drove them to Jeneora Rock himself. Of course, it was nearly three days after the others would have arrived, and Meryl was sure the city wouldn't be there when they finally made it.

However, instead of finding another Lost July, the small city of Jeneora Rock was as peaceful as any other. City folks went about their business; people were shopping and working, pushing children in strollers, walking dogs, and all of the things of a normal city.

It was highly suspicious to Meryl, because she was sure that Mr. Knives and Mr. Vash were supposed to meet here, in this town, so why hadn't sparks flown? Why was the town still standing? Why weren't people cowering in fear?

She was still puzzling over the questions in her mind as Harold unpacked their luggage on the curb in front of the small Sand Dollar Inn. He tipped his hat to them as he got back into his car, "I hope you can find your way from here, Ladies," he said with a soft smile. "Good luck to you! Come back to Grandal any time!"

"Oh, of course!" Milly chirped happily, waving him off as he disappeared down the street. She was still smiling as she turned to Meryl, seeing her friend with a perplexed expression. "What's wrong Meryl?"

Meryl shook her head, "If they came here don't you think there'd be some kind of…trouble?" She waved her hand at the quiet city. She scanned the long rows of shingled houses with white picket fences, of brick bank buildings, and above it all was the focal point, a huge mountain that arose seemingly out of nowhere.

The rock named Jeneora was thrown here when one of the SEEDS ships crashed nearby. The power plant was still in use a few miles outside of the city, apparently, but most of the town was built here, after a foolhardy reverend built a church on the top. Everyone built around the church, and thus the small town was born.

Milly stood contemplating as well, but Meryl waved at her, "Don't hurt yourself now…" She turned to the hotel, "Guess we'd better get checked in and then find out where Bernadelli is located."

"But Meryl… what about…those…" The big girl trailed off, picking up her bags. "Didn't you say that we should avoid them so they don't send us home?"

The smaller insurance agent nodded. "Yes, Milly. But we can't avoid a place we haven't staked out first. There are two possibilities really," she added, hefting her bags up as well. "That they came here and stopped Vash and Knives, thus averting disaster, and if that's the case, I guess we probably should go home." Milly gulped, but Meryl continued on. "Or two, they haven't gotten here yet."

"Oh, you think?" Milly asked. Meryl ignored her comment and they continued into the hotel to get settled in. The woman at the front desk looked relieved to see them, perhaps business had been slow. Of course, it wasn't pilgrimage season, so most likely they had very few visitors. They were checked in, unpacked, and ready to explore the town within the hour.

Meryl glanced up and down the street. Nothing seemed amiss. She shook her head and instead focused on the paper the lady gave her with instructions on how to get to Bernadelli. "Well Milly, here goes I guess. Let's get this over with so we can find out what happened to the others."

Milly nodded eagerly and followed after her little friend. The town itself was laid out simply, all streets radiated from the rock, but for a few cross streets that made arches around the mountain. Meryl had a strange feeling that all streets lead to the church, as long as you pointed yourself toward the huge monolith.

"It's pretty strange that they'd build something way up there, don't you think?" Milly commented after they'd been walking awhile. "I mean, sure, they're trying to be closer to God, but it looks like a mighty long hike to get up there." She had her neck craned to look at the steeple perched at the very top, shielding her eyes from the sun falling behind it.

"That's probably the reason that it's been abandoned," Meryl commented, looking down at her note and then pointing. "There, there's the building." They cautiously came up to the brownstone where the Bernadelli office was supposed to be. It was empty. "Well now, that's odd."

"Yeah, you'd think they would have hired a cleaning lady or something…look at all the dust!" Milly chirped, peering in above Meryl's shoulder.

"No, no," Meryl corrected, "It's not dusty because they're sloppy, it's dusty because no one's been here!" She went over to the door and tried the handle. It was locked. Then she went around the side of the building, waving Milly around to help her up to see inside a taller window. "Just like I thought, no one is here."

"So does that mean no one's going to take our place, and we can just go back to following Mr. Knives and Mr. Wolfwood…?" Milly smiled to herself, and automatically toyed with her bracelet again.

Meryl tried to ignore her look of bliss and put her hands on her hips. "It means… Well, I don't know for sure what it means! Either they never got here because they were stopped, or maybe it's because we were on the wrong trail." Meryl thought about that for a moment. Could Knives have lied to them? Saying they were on their way to Jeneora but in fact were going to some other city? What if Bernadelli figured that out and headed them off? Throwing Meryl and Milly off the scent by sending them here? She breathed out in a frustrated gust and stormed past Milly to the street again.

"What is it, Meryl?"

"Why is it there hasn't been anyone at all in the office? This should have been a thriving area with all of the claims for gang activity and theft." She shook her head, "But before we investigate Bernadelli, I think we need to do a little research to find out what happened to Knives," her friend answered. Meryl's eyes turned and focused on the church on the mountain. "We were traveling with priests, right?"

"Yes, Meryl, which is mighty frustrating, what with their vow of chastity…but then again I suppose it was good since many of them happened to be really old and ugly, and the looks we kept getting…I'm really glad that Mr. Conrad wound up getting rid of a lot of them along the way, because those guys…"

"You're way off track, Milly." Meryl cut her off. "Where do priests go?"

"Church?" Milly asked, still thinking about creepy old Chapel and trying to rub the goose bumps back down on her arms.

"Exactly." Pointing, Meryl smiled. "And what's at the top of the mountain, but a church? So we're going to go there first."

Milly smiled, understanding what Meryl was saying, until suddenly her lips turned down in a frown as realization kicked in. She sighed, "I was really hoping you wouldn't say we had to climb all those stairs…" Meryl eyed her, and Milly waved her off, her whole body visibly drooping. "It's okay, Meryl, an insurance agent has to do what the job calls for her to do… like you always say."

"That's the spirit!" Meryl replied, smiling. "Let's go to church!" And with that, she started walking. Milly trailed behind a bit, mumbling about hating stairs, but made no other fuss as they went.

Winter Winds Changing

[Stardate: 11-09-0110-14:00]

The winter winds were already starting to pick up in Jeneora. Seasons on the planet ranged, depending on where one was, but in this town, winter was when the winds blew, and summer was when they didn't, and when people only went out when the sun was behind the rock, otherwise it was too hot to do anything. Early for this time of the year, the winds were already turning the windmills above the city, and the engineers were starting to plan on minimizing usage of the plants in favor of the natural power source.

However, on this day, an unusual person was paying a visit to the building. Wearing a long dark coat, he called himself an engineer. He had blond hair that fell messily around his face and ears, as if he had forgotten to style it. His traveling boots clicked against the cold cement and metal gratings as he walked. For the most part, his eyes were covered by sunglasses, but from time to time they would slip, and he would eye one man or another as he walked.

Overall, the plants here were treated kindly. Better than in other cities where they were used for all daily living, and many of those plants were used up until they were dark husks. The plants here looked as healthy as they had upon the SEEDS ship. This visibly amused Vash as he walked the catwalks between them.

For the last week, after clearing his head from desert sand, he decided to settle into the town. As much as he loathed being around humans, the filthy little bugs they were, he knew they were important to his survival. The last bits of change from Elendira were gone with the first hotel room, and he had to find cash some way. So he devised a plan to become an engineer, and thus he gained a place to stay, food, and pay enough for as much alcohol as he chose. The engineers were immediately impressed by the skills in which he used the computer systems, adjusted the energy flow problems they were having, and went about answering any questions they'd had up until that point about the angels within the globes.

To Vash, it was nothing. This was all simply a game, leading up to the final boss. Now was just a waiting game, a way to survive until his brother and the girls joined him. Somewhere, he was sure, Bluesummers was still wandering, but he had yet to set his eyes upon the blue-haired menace again. Although, it was almost as if he could feel him nearby, invisibly watching him. Legato had done such before, and Vash, even with his ever-growing anger, felt nervous at that fact.

"Hey, Dr. Vasquez!" A young man in a white lab coat called as Vash walked by. He'd chosen yet another false name, this one a bit more obviously fake. He had nearly given them his real name, just to see if these oblivious scientists would notice. They didn't even blink twice, merely saying that it was a familiar name, and perhaps it belonged to his father, a plant engineer who visited a few years back. Vash merely nodded at the time, realizing he could have easily told them he was a plant too, and they would have waved at him saying 'how nice.'

"Yes, Jeffery?" Vash drawled, rolling the 'r' in his name. His hair, he no longer dyed, but he had fun changing his accent in this town as he waited.

The young scientist waved him over to a computer screen with bar charts and regulator function graphs. "What do you make of this? It looks like Number 2's output has been steadily dropping this last week." Vash eyed the chart. The young scientist had grown up around plants his entire life, just like his father before that, but really, none of them truly understood plants at all. They knew how to read the computers and make proper adjustments, but the plants were still black boxes to them.

Vash smiled, "Good catch, young man." He leaned over and tapped the keyboard, bringing up new charts and then changing a few things until the power output evened out. "I think she's just ready for her winter's hibernation," he said slowly. What he didn't tell Jeffery was that he'd been using Number 2 at night in order to repair his mechanical arm. It took a lot of energy, and yielded very little result. The only good thing was that the audible humming in his arm had been reduced. He needed at least another week to make it able to function correctly, and another few weeks before he could again use his machine gun.

Jeffery nodded, "Perhaps you're right, Dr. Vasquez. Shouldn't have worried so much…" He trailed off, turning his attention to other charts and computer monitors as Vash walked on. He frowned; this game of playing with the humans as they treated his sisters like toys was aggravating. He wanted nothing more than to slaughter them all, but without his usual contacts, there was no telling how long it would be before his brother entered town.

Even Zazie had stopped reporting. Midvalley disappeared with Elendira, leaving Vash alone on his mission to bring back his brother's memories and return him to the right side. And perhaps, find those insurance girls once again.

He frowned, there were no agents sent to replace the girls. He was surprised at that fact, until he did a bit of research. Apparently Bernadelli closed his office here in town, thanks to a new insurance company taking all of his business. Augustus Planetwide Insurance had a large office on the far side of town, which was a curious development, he'd heard very little of this company, and yet they seemed to be doing very well the past few months as he traveled. Perhaps at a later time he'd have to investigate, but for now he had more pressing matters.

Vash smiled grimly as he looked up at his plant sisters. They were small like her, and oh how he missed toying with those insurance agents! He wondered when he would see her lovely face again. They were bound to follow his brother, whether or not Knives actually allowed them to come, she'd come, he knew it beyond a doubt. None were as lovely and intoxicating as that black haired spitfire. None would be as aggravatingly addicting to play with. She was smart. Perhaps they were here in this town already. "Yes, excellent idea," Vash said to himself, not even attracting the attention of the scientists whom talked to themselves all of the time anyway. "I think I'll go see if I can't find myself a little entertainment." And with that, he took off out of the plant building, and headed into town.

Windmill Point

[Stardate: 11-09-0110-14:30]

Two miles outside of town was another large rock, thrown from the SEEDS crash site. Most people didn't even pay attention to this dusty little rock, although at one time it had been the two-mile marker for the trade route to Augusta City. Windmill point still housed about five old broken windmills, and a small outpost. Long abandoned after the sandsteamers became the most popular form of travel between the cities, originally it was a stopping post for weary travelers, a promise that the city was nearby.

Knives and the Eye of Michael camped here, north of the city for the last few days. The men grumbled that they were not allowed in the city immediately, claiming they would be late for the services held at night in the church. Knives paid them no mind; he was trying to come up with a strategy. Even though he knew the more time they wasted, the more time Vash and Legato had to create their own strategies against him, he just couldn't quite motivate himself to make the move.

Wolfwood and Livio were no help to him either. They had moped around since they left the insurance girls behind in Grandal. At present, Wolfwood sat slouched in a canvas folding chair, drawing something in the sand with a stick. Livio stood to his left, idly playing with his shorter hair, looking out into the distance.

"Look," Wolfwood said, pointing at the ground where he had sketched something. Livio turned his wary eyes down to the sand. "Okay, first thing that comes to mind when you see this."

Livio craned down slightly, examining it, then smiled, "Pudding cup."

Nicholas grinned, "Yup, what flavor?"

"Sand."

The priest looked up at his friend, "Sand isn't a flavor."

"It is if you're eating pudding during a sand-storm." Livio grinned. "Milly told me."

Nicholas laughed, and Livio joined in for a moment until they both faded into silence. Then they both sighed and Wolfwood scratched out the drawing. "I didn't think I'd ever miss traveling with women like I do now."

His tall friend merely grunted agreement and glanced at Knives. His master was sitting at a picnic table next to the southern wall of the outpost. The small building was still intact, lights flickered inside as the old windmills turned during the winter winds. A few priests were inside having a service of some sort. Knives would hear them chant something and cringe. Livio felt sorry for his master, somehow. Trapped by this group, worshipping memories he no longer had.

Livio heard the stories. Wolfwood had pried Conrad into telling him the history, and old man Chapel spoke of Knives' horrors with an eager lust for the old days. Both of the young men cringed, listening to Chapel speak. All of them, Knives included, were prisoners of this old man. Nicholas spoke many times of killing him. Livio doubted his friend could do it. Chapel was scarily strong for an old man. Even Knives didn't want to cross him, and that was saying something!

Knives turned over the map he was studying and picked up the pencil sitting next to it. He glanced up for a moment, locking eyes with Livio. Livio shifted his yellow eyes away, had his master seen him staring? He hoped not. The master was not to be annoyed, and wouldn't that annoy him? For a moment, he felt perhaps it was safe to turn to look again, but then he heard that deep resonant sound, "Livio, come here a moment."

Cringing as if he were to be punished, Livio stepped into motion and went to stand in front of his master. "Yes, Sir?"

"I'm sending the priests into town today. Actually, I want to get rid of them…" He eyed the outpost warily. "We won't be traveling with any of them from now on."

Livio blinked, realizing something, he turned and looked at Wolfwood, who had turned his attention out to the desert. There was one priest he didn't want to get rid of. Nicholas knew his job so well that the moment Livio left his lookout Nicholas took it up immediately. "What about…"

"Don't worry about Wolfwood," Knives said, waving his hand. "You two are my most trusted guards, I wouldn't send either of you away. However, he will have to break his ties from the church. I'm sick of their idol worship of me." He shivered noticeably, his shoulders tensing. "They don't treat me like a human… just an object. Hearing them in there now… I wanted to blow up the entire building with them in it…" Knives looked disgusted with the thought and stood, folding his maps, and gathering other supplies.

Nicholas turned at the sudden movement of his master. Knives picked up his things and walked with Livio back over to where the two were standing. He saw the drawing Wolfwood was doing; it looked vaguely like the blond girl they had left behind. He sighed. "Once I face my brother, if I don't come back, you two are free to go wherever you want."

Livio and Wolfwood gaped at Knives. "What?!" They both said at once, then Livio corrected himself, "What do you mean, Master?"

Knives shifted the items in his hands. "It means that I will no longer be your master, and you can go back to that girl of yours." He nodded at the drawing, and Wolfwood hastily stood and scratched it out of the sand with his foot.

"You can't mean that. Even if you stop Vash, you're still at risk from the bounty hunters…" Wolfwood thought about seeing the insurance girl again, but at the same time, he couldn't bare to leave Spikey alone, he doubted the man could fend for himself. Just look at what a wreck he was when they found him! "And what about Livio's condition? Without Dr. Conrad…"

"William will be free to leave with you," Knives replied, looking out of sorts now. "Take him with you, keep him safe." Then he turned. "When the service ends, notify the Eye of Michael they are to finish their pilgrimage into town and that I will join them in the morrow. You two will stay with me and Conrad until we find Vash."

Livio nodded, bowing slightly at the shoulders, "Yes, Master…" He turned to see Wolfwood, looking irritated. "Nick…" he said through gritted teeth at his partner. Nicholas sighed and nodded, "Yes, of course, whatever ya say."

Knives half-smiled and turned away from them, going back to his tent. This was it. No more waiting. He had to face Legato and Vash now. He couldn't keep running. This time, he would end it.

The Climb

[Stardate: 11-09-0110-17:55]

Milly paused to take a breath. Then, for good measure, another one. Hands on her knees, she heaved, sweat rolling down her red cheeks, her hair sticking to the back of her neck and forehead. For a short time, she stood just like this before lifting her eyes to the huge stone staircase in front of her. Meryl was quite a ways ahead of her at the moment, and hadn't even noticed that Milly stopped. She panted again for good measure, and started up the steps, one at a time again, until she reached a small landing with a bench. And there, Milly stopped to catch her breath.

After a moment, Meryl stopped and turned, looking down at her friend. "Milly Thompson! You get off that bench right now and come up here!"

Milly waved, "I'll be fine, Meryl, just go on without me…"

"I didn't say that!" Meryl stormed, she pointed at the ground only a few dozen steps from where Milly had stopped. "We aren't even as high as the third story of the Bernadelli office yet!"

"I know Meryl," Milly panted, "But don't you think it's handy there's an elevator there?" She stood up a bit wobbly and looked down. That wasn't so bad. She could handle going back down that direction, but up… there were so many more hundreds of steps going up! Milly started moving again, but still slowly, taking one step at a time. "It's really a pity that there isn't an elevator here. Seriously, who would build a church so far up?"

Meryl shook her head, not waiting for her friend to join her. It had taken her a few hours just to get Milly on the staircase, little lone, headed upwards. Seriously, what was her problem? The big girl surely wasn't out of shape! She could carry that huge stun-gun of hers across the desert; she helped the boys tear down the tents two or three times, and even bested a few of the priests at arm wrestling. It wasn't as though she were afraid of heights either. Milly had no problem hanging outside on scaffolding to clean windows, or hang over the railing of a sandsteamer to watch the sandworms ride the wake. So, just what was it about stairs?

Shaking her head, she glanced back at Milly. Thankfully, her friend was still trudging along slowly, although panting and red in the face still. Meryl knew this little obstacle would be the least of their worries if they found that monster Vash the Stampede at the top! Or any number of the other nasties that Mr. Knives talked about from time to time. Meryl had a feeling that there were even more than what he let on. Just one look at Chapel told her the whole Eye of Michael group was dangerous. And this church, from what she could tell, was a sacred place to them!

"Senpai?" Milly called from below. Meryl paused and turned to look at her. She was on her knees on a step, her hands planted on a few steps above that. "I…I don't think…I can…make it…"

Meryl's hands went immediately to her hips. "You get up here right now! What if Mr. Wolfwood and Mr. Livio were up here? What do you think they'd say if they saw you like that?" Meryl grinned evilly, she just realized she could use the two as bait and what better time?

"They'd probably carry me…" Milly whined, but stood up, looking a lot less tired instantly, and started trudging up faster. "Do you think they might be up here, Senpai?"

Her friend shrugged in response, "Who knows? Maybe. Means we should get going, don't you think?"

Milly nodded, catching up to Meryl in only a matter of moments, the idea of the stairs apparently over-ridden by the idea of the two men she liked. Meryl, even though a bit offended that two men could drive her friend to do something she couldn't even when absent, couldn't help but smile. Of course, her own hopes were she'd find the men that drove her absolutely crazy – and not exactly in a good way – helped her move and keep up with Milly along the rest of the climb to the top of Jeneora Rock.

When they reached the final stair, Meryl paused, putting a hand out to stop Milly from barging right into the church. "Now Milly, we can't go in there yet, not without proper reason or investigation." She lowered her hand as Milly nodded, and then smoothed her skirt and cloak. Then, she checked the positioning of her derringers, carefully out of sight in case anyone was watching. Finally, she turned to see Milly adjust the strap of her stun-gun under her coat and pulling the hair back from her face.

"What's first?" Milly said, ready and willing, looking around at the surroundings. "Sure looks peaceful. I haven't seen anyone suspicious, in fact, it doesn't look like there's much of anything around here but that pretty church."

"Let's check around the surroundings, peek in a window or two, then we'll go in." Meryl instantly set to work with her plan of attack. However, Milly was right, she really didn't see anyone around, and for the most part the place was spotless. No activity or suspicious movement in the shadows either. Meryl crossed her arms, and then waved one finger at the door. "Well, Milly, I guess there's only one thing left to do, and that's go on inside."

The big girl nodded, "Alright! It's kinda cold and breezy out here anyway." She went up to the huge white wood doors and pushed. It took only a second for them to both push open at once, allowing the light to spill into the interior. Milly squinted her eyes, and peered around. "Well, I don't think there's anyone in here either…"

Both girls trudged inside, leaving the door open for good measure. Meryl started a routine search of the inside, around pillars and pews, around the pulpit, inside the tidings baskets, and up into the choir loft. She frowned, waving at Milly. "For once, you're right, this place is totally empty. We've checked every nook and cranny…"

"Except that," Milly said, pointing to the far side of the room. There, shadowed from the light of the door, was a huge dark wood confessional. Meryl was surprised she hadn't seen it before this moment. It was so dark and imposing, carved in heavy wood with fancy latticework doors. There were two signs hanging on the outside, a bit unusual, but the whole church seemed to be a mixture of different religions and ideas.

Meryl walked up carefully to the two doors. The signs upon them read, "Vacant" and the other "Occupied." She tapped her finger to her nose and examined them. There was really no way to tell if someone was inside the confessional from the outside besides these signs. The latticework was heavy and had dark cloth on the inside to block sound. Meryl tapped briefly on the side that read, "Occupied".

Milly reached out, then swallowed and closed her mouth. She wasn't really sure if Meryl should find out who was behind that door. But in the seconds that passed, no one answered. Meryl tried the door, but found it locked. "Don't suppose they could lock it from the outside, you think?" Milly asked nervously.

"From the latch on this door, I didn't think you could lock them at all." Then she moved and tried the other door, finding it swung open easily. Meryl looked inside at the dark velvet covering the walls, all but a slightly more open lattice on the wall that joined the confessional. "Hello?"

"Welcome, my child," a voice came from the other side. "Do you have a confession to make?" The voice was deep, and had a slight accent, but from where, she was uncertain. Meryl shook her head and turned to look at Milly, giving her a thumb's up.

Meryl sat down and closed the door of the confessional. "Actually, Father, my partner and I have come looking for some men."

"The church is not a dating service," the man said chidingly, but then he chuckled. "I'm sorry, I have been cooped up here for quite some time. What men are you looking for?"

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Meryl leaned back in the soft chair, "They are brothers, and were supposed to have met here a few days ago. But I'm starting to think we may have missed them. You haven't seen anyone suspicious around this last week, have you?"

"Suspicious?" The priest asked. "No, I don't believe I have. Brothers, you say? What do they look like?"

"Annoying, blond, spikey-haired and tall. One's sorta gangly and the other one is a bit more built. But they're twins, so it's kind of hard to tell them apart at times." Meryl crossed her hands over her chest, trying to look through the lattice at the man she was talking to, but he was well hidden. All she could see was that he wore black. "Really, they're both excruciatingly annoying, but my partner and I have a job to do, see, we're from the Bernadelli Insurance Society, and at first we thought it was only one guy we were worried about…but then come to find out they've both been going by the same name."

There was a rustling as the man repositioned himself. "The same name, you say?"

"Yes, Vash the Stampede. Although, and this is strictly confidential," Meryl said, leaning toward the wall a bit, and lowering her voice. "But between you and me, the real Vash the Stampede isn't the man everyone thinks he is. That guy is actually a really kind hearted man who will do anything for the woman he…" Meryl trailed off, blushing. "Anyway, the real Vash the Stampede usually goes under a whole bunch of other aliases, and is a complete and utter monster."

"A monster… you say?" The voice said, the accent slipping slightly.

Meryl didn't even pay attention, "Oh yes. He nearly killed my friend and me if it weren't for his brother! And he's the most horrible womanizer! Followed us everywhere, and harassed us!" Meryl was burning now; she was practically shaking in her seat, thinking about what the real Vash did to her. "I swear if I get my hands on him again, I'll…"

"You'll what?"

"I'll…well, I'll…" Meryl faltered suddenly, "Oh, I'm sorry Father, I suppose that's a sin to think about killing someone…" She bent her head, "Do I have to say some sort of Hail Marys or something for unclean thoughts?"

"Nah…" the priest said, all vestiges of the accent were gone. "Because I'm just fine and I think unclean thoughts all the time." There was a chuckle, and Meryl stood abruptly.

"Wait a second…" She bent down, trying to see him through the lattice, "You aren't a real priest, are you?"

Milly was snoozing on one of the pews. She didn't even notice as the door opposite of Meryl's opened. Meryl could hear it creak as the man on the other side chuckled. "Oh, but my dear child, you came here to see me, didn't you?"

Suddenly, Meryl's door was flung open and the tall priest blocked her path to freedom. Meryl took in the long black coat, but as her eyes rose, she could see that sarcastic grin, that annoying spiked blond hair grown long and falling around those glittering aqua eyes. They had an otherworldly gleam in them. "Vash!" She gasped.

Vash grinned, "I see you know my name now… My brother told you, I take it?" Vash reached in and grabbed Meryl by the wrist, hauling her up on her feet and held her tightly as he stepped into the booth and closed the door, locking them inside.

"HELP!! MILLY!" Meryl screamed, kicking and struggling against his grasp.

Milly heard a muffled sound, and moved to lie across the pew, mumbling about how much the stairs had worn her out.

"She can't hear you," Vash grinned, grabbing her other wrist and pinning Meryl to the back wall of the confessional. He placed one of his knees on the chair behind her, wedging her legs where they were. "It's so handy that a church would have a place like this, don't you think? Quiet and secluded like this. Of course, I know it wasn't meant for this sort of activity, but, I'm sure it's not the first time." He grinned, leaning down to kiss Meryl possessively on the lips.

Meryl squirmed and could feel his body pressing into hers as he tried deepening the kiss. She bit his tongue and Vash flinched, withdrawing. "That's not very nice…"

"Neither are you! What did you do with Knives? Did you kill him already?" Meryl tried raising her legs, but the back of her knees were pressed tightly against the chair.

"Knives? I haven't done anything with him. I thought you came here to see me? Or am I just a pale comparison to my brother, is that it?" Vash scoffed, moving Meryl's wrists both to one hand, his left, which was still horribly strong, even after Meryl recalled it having been the one wounded. "Knives is just a pale shadow of what he was before. Do you think that I am the bad guy here? Knives slaughtered hundreds…thousands…before you ever met him. I merely picked up where he left off." Vash slid his right hand over Meryl's lips. "You like him though, don't you? If you like kissing a murderer so much, why not choose me instead? My hands have been bloodied by far less than he."

Meryl gnashed her teeth at his fingers, but Vash slapped her. She swallowed, tears threatening her eyes. "YOU are the monster! Whatever he did in the past, that's not who he is now!"

"Perhaps…but that is what I want to change," Vash replied, his lips pursed together as he saw her cheek flare red from his handprint. "And then you won't have any reason to deny me this beautiful lovely little body of yours…because we will be the same. Perhaps we'll even share you." Vash kissed her again, this time on the cheek, then down her neck, sending shivers along Meryl's spine. His body was warm against hers. Her own body reacted in an unwanted manner, she pressed back against his body, feeling his warmth and his tongue as it slid behind her ear.

"NO!" Meryl hissed, coming to her senses after a moment of pleasure. She tried pulling both of her hands out of his fist at once, then tried twisting her body away from him. "Knives isn't like that! He'll come here and he'll stop you!"

"Oh, I'm looking forward to him coming here." Aqua eyes glowed in the dark room. Meryl stopped moving, looking at them. Where they really glowing? Vash grinned. "I want him to come here, I'm planning on it. That is why you and your sleepy friend out there will be my hostages until then." He kissed her again on the lips, but this time, Meryl couldn't move. She couldn't take her eyes off of those glowing orbs. Did he have some sort of power over her? No… She very much doubted that, she could still think, but why was her body reacting like this?

Vash moved his hand toward her side, sliding it up under her shirt, slowly feeling skin. Cool fingers on her flushed body, Meryl shivered and he deepened the kiss. Meryl allowed him to, feeling his roaming hand find her breast, and she let out a moan of surprise and closed her eyes. Vash chuckled, "Yes… I knew you would find me…"

"MERYL? Are you IN THERE?" Milly's voice came through the hard wood door. Then suddenly it was on the other side of the confessional, through the lattice. "Meryl? You've been in there an awfully long time, did you fall asleep? The priest is gone you know…"

With a moan, Vash lowered his hand and sighed. "Just as it was getting good…" He turned and opened the door, stepped out, and then slammed both doors shut, locking the girls in. On the other side he could hear the muffled question of surprise from Milly's side, and a boneless thud as Meryl fell to the chair. He grinned, wiping his lips with his fingers and kissing them. "Oh, you will be mine after all!"

Vash turned, and reached up, there were two locking mechanisms hidden in the heavy scrollwork, meant to keep the parishioners from getting in on off hours. Once the girls were locked in, he turned. "So, they beat my brother here, did they? He didn't do such a good job protecting them after all. I wonder where he is?" Vash tapped the doors, "Don't worry, you'll be safe in there." Then, smiling, he walked away, catching only a vague hint of the girls talking within.

"Meryl? Meryl, is that you in there?" Meryl asked, trying to open the door, but to no avail. She sunk down on her knees, trying to see Meryl within. Her friend was sitting slumped in the chair.

"Yes, I'm here."

"The door's locked, Sempai," Milly replied, sounding confused. "Do you think the wind blew it shut?"

Meryl shook her head, "No, Milly, it was a trap." She rubbed her wrists and tried straightening her shirt where Vash had un-tucked it. Embarrassed and angry, Meryl shivered. "We're going to be in here awhile, I'm afraid."

"A priest trapped us?" Milly scratched her head and got up to sit in the comfy chair. "I guess I don't get it."

Her friend normally would have argued, but she couldn't seem to get the words to form for quite a long time afterward.