Sorry...I've kinda taken to writing longer chapters than the usual rounded six pages. I just somehow end up with five pages, then I zoom off and can't stop myself. But then, it would be SO wrong to stop in the middle of Vash's inaguration speech and it needs some feeling after...
CCS does not belong to me.
Adjust!
I collapsed on the marble floor of the town square and just sat there. Two dwarfs wandered by, carrying a water fountain that was supposed to lie in the middle of the town square. We watched them. Obviously, they were just normal dwarfs, not even attending the execution ceremony, and they thought it was over, as they ignored us, otherwise with a curt bow and was done with the installation within minutes and walked away.
"So." Kelli walked over and looked at Lair. "I think she's dead."
"She is?" Vash asked wearily.
I watched as the rest of my cards returned to their card form. Silently, I summoned the watery card and it filled the fountain.
"Yes, I'd assume." Kelli said. "My only sister."
"Hush Kelli, she's caused enough damage already." Vash said, rubbing his eyes and talking a seat on the corner of the floor by Nakita and Clay the Elder. "I'm exhausted."
"Vash." Kelli said, exasperated. "How can you not even care?"
"You try it when you're this tired." Vash grumbled.
"Are you saying that you did more work than I did?"
"No."
"Well then!" Kelli walked over to Lair, and then paced the marble floor. Everyone else, by that time, was already resting on the floor, all fatigued.
"Oh gosh." Nakita said. She walked over to the fountain and washed the sleeping Cherry while Snowy's wings evaporated.
"I don't know what to do about them." Clay the Elder said. "You will likely need them repaired, and the dwarfs know best. But right now, I can't do anything about it." Snowy sighed and dipped her head into the fountain, which seemed like a good idea. I ambled over and did like.
"So exhausted." Kanari moaned as she drenched her head and then sat on the edge of the stone fountain. "I might as well go swimming." She examined herself carefully.
"Soon enough." I said. "The boat shall be built and everything shall be finished and we shall be able to go home."
"Yuki?" Doughboy asked.
"What?" I grumbled.
"Do me a favor. Stop saying shall."
"And then, when we get home, maybe I shall stop saying shall." I said tiredly, lying down on the marble. "Ooh!" I groaned. More dwarfs were coming back now, and returning to their normal tasks.
"How about us returning to our rightful places?" Clay the Elder asked.
"Home?" Nakita asked eagerly.
"No, back to the mansion." He said. "A change of clothes seems good." By now, everyone's clothes, which had seemed casual and rightful when we left the Third Dimension, was now all tarnished and tattered and full of holes.
"What a battle." Snowy said, trying to make conversation as we walked back to the mansion for the, well, I've lost count by now. Everyone else just grumbled, and grumbled still when we entered the mansion all exhausted.
"A good rest and clothes and food will truly do!" Clay the Elder said, somewhat cheerfully. "Come on people, keep up your spirit."
"I don't think I have much left." I said, gulping down a glass of water.
"Yuki." Rene said, contradicting. "Come on, you have to have SOME spirit. It keeps you alive."
"Maybe I'll have more when I'm less tired." I said, groaning and dragging myself upstairs. Rene sighed.
"Hopefully, it's just a phase." She said. "A phase we're all going through."
"I wouldn't count on it." Doughboy said.
"And what would you know?" Vash asked.
"A lot more than you!" Doughboy said.
"Well, let the arguing cease and then we can all enjoy a nap, but remember to wake up before the night." Clay the Elder said.
"What for?" Vash asked.
"It is night." Doughboy grumbled.
"You'll see." Clay the Elder said mysteriously, winking. "It's a very special night."
"It will be, when Vash learns some responsibility." Doughboy added.
"Responsibility? What are you talking about? Look at you!" Vash cried.
"Guh." Kelli said, as the rest of the girls (minus a very lazy and tired Yuki) watched with sweatdrops on the back of their heads. "This could go on for a while."
"What is happening tonight?" Rene asked.
"It's somewhat of a surprise." Clay the Elder said.
"Somewhat?"
"Well, you'll see." Clay the Elder said. "Of course, Vash has the upper hand on it all."
"I do?" Vash asked.
"No fair, why does HE get it all?" Doughboy complained.
"Yes, you'll have to know the surprise before all of them, since you are the one who must make the decision." Clay the Elder said, and suddenly Vash was very alert.
"A choice?" Vash asked, softly, hardly above a whisper. He exchanged worried looks with Kelli.
"Don't you worry." Clay the Elder said. "And I do really want you all to know that Lair wasn't really as evil or ghastly as you all think. After all, 'behind every villain, there is a soul; behind every hero, there is a choice; and behind every battle, there's a destiny.'"
"That's...true." Vash said, slowly. "Lair was a villain, but she did have a soul, did have a heart, just we weren't able to reach out and touch it to affect it. And if we're classified as heroes ("Of course we are!"-Doughboy-"Oh, but I forgot, all of us except Vash. "::mockingly:: Doughboy was poked in the ribs, very hard, by Rene. "Shut up Doughboy! Hasn't he done enough already for us?" "Well, he caused all of this!"-Doughboy. Rene steps on Doughboy's foot and the discussion ends.) and we had to make a choice. I guess that's something all heroes are entitled too, and I guess they don't like it either, and every battle does have a destiny, a purpose, just as there is a purpose for everything." He looked off.
"Hear, hear." Nakita and Rene clinked glasses full of water. "That was a good speech Vash." Nakita said.
"Yeah." Rene said, with an added, unnecessary look at Doughboy, who grunted what seemed like his approval.
"Yes." Kelli said. "And it is, well, so true." She started up the stairs and paused when she reached the first step. "And pray they make the right choices."
"I like the part about the 'Behind every battle, there is a destiny.'" Vash said. "Because, I don't know, every time I hear it, I get a tingle go up my back and-hey!"
"What's wrong?" Kelli asked. The whole group had started up the stairs, and while the girls were halfway into the girl's room, Vash stopped and stared at the place where a set of stairs had once been.
"Um, Clay the Elder? My gosh." Vash said, looking ahead of him.
"By golly." Rene said. "How is Doughboy going to get up that?"
And in front of them, where the stairs to the boy's room had been, was a big hole, supported by a big ladder.
"I'm afraid," Clay the Elder said, approaching from behind, "that while the battle raged from above, the lights from the ceiling fell and the stairs caught on fire, and was badly damaged. I'm afraid that we will have to use this for now."
"Uh, sure." Vash said, grabbing the third rung and pulling himself up. "No problem sir!" Clay the Elder turned to leave, and Doughboy, watching Vash climb up the ladder, blinked and frowned.
"What a long ladder." Rene said. "Must be at least (she counted) wow, twenty rungs long." She slid to a spot beside Doughboy, and Snowy went to his other side.
"Do you think you can make it up?" Snowy taunted him from the other side.
"What if you fall?" Rene asked, giggling. Doughboy scratched his head, and then removed a greased hand behind his back to wipe of in the back of his shirt.
"I won't fall." He said confidently. I appeared in the hallway to watch this. Snowy and Rene watched as Doughboy walked towards the ladder. Clay the Elder had already disappeared down below, and Kelli and Kanari stuck their heads out in the doorway. Nakita was watching from one of the rungs. She had climbed up for practically no reason at all and was now watching Doughboy wipe his obese hands clean of oil and start to attempt the ladder.
"I think that you should get out of the way." Vash said, from the top, where he was confidently sitting on the second to last rung to the top. "Nakita, you might get hurt. Or at least get up here, he could knock you onto the ground."
"I have wings." Nakita protested. "This is a great view!"
"Your wings won't have room to expand." Vash said, lowering himself and dragging Nakita up to the top. "Here, stay and watch." Doughboy touched the first rung, and then grabbed the third one and put his foot on the first, slowly transferring the weight from foot to foot. Slowly, the ladder started to tilt and tip over.
"Ah!" Nakita said, as she started to fall. Vash, sitting at a more stable area, grabbed her and the top rung.
"Hey!" Vash said, pulling the rung towards him and the top landing.
"Yeah, hey!" Cherry said, trying to help, but being unsuccessful.
"Doughboy, you big lump of fat, get off the ladder before Nakita and I fall!" Vash said.
"I don't care about you and, okay, I'll get off." He briskly got off, and Vash straightened out the ladder.
"Here, tilt it, and he'll have an easier time climbing." Vash said, tilting the ladder. Doughboy started to climb again. He got to the fourth rung, then his hand and foot missed a rung and he rolled down the ladder. Snowy sighed in exasperation.
"This could take a while." I observed.
"I think this is the beginning of a rival ship between Vash and Doughboy." Kanari said.
"How do you see a rival ship?" Kelli said.
"Just listen to them rat each other off!" Kanari said. "Yikes."
"Of all things and people." I said, watching Doughboy do another attempt and tumble down again. Nakita giggled at the top.
"These rungs are slippery!" Doughboy grumbled. "And small!"
"Well, I had no problem." Vash said.
"Maybe you spread oil over them." Doughboy said.
"Well, neither did I." Nakita said. "It isn't nice to blame other people when you can't climb up a ladder, Doughboy."
"Due to his obesity." Vash said.
"Vash!" Nakita disparaged.
"Sorry." Vash apologized.
We watched Doughboy miss a rung and slip, then another attempt.
"Perhaps he should just use his Pink Bubble." I suggested. "And if it won't fit through the hole into the room, he can grab onto the rung there and pull himself up."
"Release!" Doughboy called, pointing his pendant up. He was suddenly enclosed by the pink bubble and moving up.
"It looks like bubble gum." Nakita said, climbing gently down the steps. Vash got out of the way, sticking his head slightly out of the hole to watch. Doughboy reached the top and grabbed the rung, got rid of his bubble, and clumsily got in the hole. He poked his head out.
"You can all stop watching!" He called.
"I wonder if this will happen every day." Rene said, giggling, walking back into the room.
"I think we have to get used to this new lifestyle, with Vash and Doughboy constantly arguing." Nakita said.
"Oh, cool!" I said.
"Cool?" Rene and Nakita asked. Kelli raised her eyebrows.
"This will make it a lot more interesting." I said.
"Oh yeah." Kero said.
* * *
Grumble grunt, pant huff. I blinked my eyes open and moaned. Sitting up on the bed, I looked around me. Doughboy was passing the door, all red and sweaty from his long trip down the ladder. Shaking my head, I went and approached the kitchen.
Practically everyone was there, in their nightclothes, as our normal clothes had mysteriously disappeared during the night. Kero and Suppi were already crowded around my plate, Kero greedily feeding on deserts. Nakita was feeding a famished Cherry first, and Anora was eating something big and round from what looked like a dog's bowl.
"What time is it?" I asked, looking at my frozen watch by instinct. Not even twenty minutes had passed since we left Earth and the Third Dimension. Not even five minutes had passed wince we first got to Uri. And yet, so much had happened. I assumed time traveled faster in the Fourth Dimension than normal. "It feels like morning, yet, it's so dark out, and it feels like night."
"That didn't make any sense." Doughboy said, stuffing food into his mouth, and forgetting his napkin.
"I mean, it should be morning, but it feels like night." I repeated. "And, well, I'm a little tired."
"Tell me about it." Kanari said, walking down from the stairs, the last one to, well, I had no clue to what meal this was.
"Eat now, question later, that's Doughboy's motto." Snowy said. "Vash, what time is it?"
"It's the evening." Vash said. "Not even five, and the sun's still out above."
"How can you tell?" Rene asked.
"I can't." Vash said. "Clay the Elder has a chart of sunsets, though."
"Yes, our last day in Uri, why don't we watch the sunset." I suggested.
"Is that sarcastic?" Doughboy asked, mouth full.
"Does that sound the LEAST sarcastic to you?" I retorted.
"I don't know, I really don't know." Doughboy said.
"He's too busy eating to think." Snowy explained. Doughboy grunted, as his mouth was full and he was afraid something would drop out if he opened it.
"So, where IS Clay the Elder?" Kelli asked. She had been rather quiet to Vash ever since the incident about Lair. "And what is going to happen tonight? Are they going to bury Lair?"
"They will tonight, I suppose, but that's not the important thing." Vash said. "Clay the Elder already told me. He's making the preparations right now."
"Oh, and Lair isn't important." Kelli said gruffly.
"I didn't mean that by it, Kelli, and you know it too." Vash said, amid her gaze. "And well, if you didn't, that's not what I meant, really."
"Why won't you accept the fact?" Kelli asked.
"What fact is there to accept?" Vash asked, not meeting her gaze, and stuffing what looked like a pancake into his mouth. I sat down, tucked in my napkin, and started to eat.
"The fact that she's your sister." Kelli said quietly, looking at Vash straight in the eye. Vash avoided it. There was a moment of silence.
"Please pass the eggs." Rene said. Kelli reached and handed the boiled egg basket to Rene, who took one out and passed it on. "Merci." She said. Kelli gave her a slight smile.
The room was quiet once again, only filled with the sound of Doughboy munching wildly on his food, oblivious of what had just happened and the tension in the room.
Clay the Elder came in not long after and led us out of the room, where he gave us our old clothes, only all repaired and the holes and worn out places could hardly be seen.
"Let's go." He said quietly.
We walked down the silent streets, listening to Doughboy and Vash bickering after one another, and the only one who cared and had enough energy to stop them was Nakita, which I wasn't entirely grateful of, since it just made the squabble louder and the whining more intense.
"This is a new adjustment we'll have to live with, all right." Rene grumbled gruffly.
Finally, we arrived back on the surface of Uri.
"When can we get home?" Kanari said, breathing in the fresh Uri air as she got out of the hole. "I mean, the mansion and the rest of the Underground, plus all the shops were splendid the first time we came, and still is, only I'm getting a little sick of it. How many days have we been here anyways?"
"There's nothing like home." Kelli said, looking around her. Kanari was suddenly silent.
"I guess no one's cared to keep count." Snowy answered. "Around a week, perhaps?"
"All these battles have muddled my brain up." I complained.
"As if they weren't muddled up already." Doughboy said. Vash gave him a don't-mess-with-me-or-my-friends look.
"I understand how you feel, children." Clay the Elder said. "Hang in there. Just tonight, working tomorrow on the ship, which shall be completed by night morrow, just in time to ship the supplies on board, and get ready for the great blast."
"What blast?" Kanari asked, suddenly alert.
"The blast of which Genesis and Uri shall join and prevail as one." Clay the Elder said. "But first (his eye met Vash's gaze and he smiled and winked) we have some business to do." He trudged towards the town the dwarfs had built.
When we got there, it was quite a surprise. The town was fully in order, everything running, and everything seemed so cleansed with not a sign of the afternoon's battle.
"I have a question." Nakita said. "Why do they bother with all this when Genesis is going to crash into Uri and knock everything over?"
"Magic spells my dear." Clay the Elder smiled. "It will not and it will stay as is. No natural feature will have ever altered the course of something that could and shall be done earlier."
"Oh...okay." Nakita said.
We marched up to the town square, and there was a huge ribbon tying from the post by the general store to a mailbox by the post office. The lanterns and street lights hung all over town.
"It's so pretty." Rene said. The ribbon, or ribbons, I should say, was white, light pink, and baby blue, with a huge flower in the middle made by the three. Clay the Elder, who had disappeared while we had been awing over this miracle, reappeared and thrust a pair of huge, orange scissors into Vash's hand, which groped around them tentatively.
"You may do the honors, Vash." Clay the Elder said quietly. A crowd was already gathered, around the place, and as Vash looked ahead and focused on the ribbon, I looked around. People from above opened their windows (you see, in the dwarf town, the shops were underneath and they had their houses on top, how convenient) and stuck their heads out. The crowd gathered and seemed to push Vash and us towards the ribbons, but stayed at least five feet away from us. And on the other side of the ribbon, was the grand water fountain.
"I have come here to say, on the behalf of my colleagues ("He sounds like a professor at a University." Doughboy whispered to Nakita. Nakita slapped him on the arm. "No he doesn't, be quiet, he's doing a very good job!" Nakita said. Then, arm crossed, she continued listening. Doughboy, feeling very dissed, sulked.) that we are very proud of our land, Uri, and all that it has given us, devoid of all it has taken from us. My proud partners, and me, my friends (which he took time to use an arm to point out every member of the group except Doughboy) want to say that we are very proud of you today as we will always be. There is nothing I can really say to express my grief and sorrow for those many who have died on battle, in mortal combat, nor the joy I have received from being able to achieve my destiny, to bring prolonged peace to this world, and the many worlds that follow. It is my joy that the monsters and evils have gotten the comeuppance the rightfully deserve, and I cannot, in any way, express my feelings, but with two words and one emotion: Thank you. Because without you, none of this would be possible. We are not the true cause of this peace, because everyone played an important part for it, and everyone worked as a team, and everyone paid the consequences of the evilness. And hence, you still believe that without us, there would be no peace. That may be true. But what I really want to emphasize is, I turned my life around. I was a subject of Queen Jewel, and she was my aunt. But if you believe in what you really want to believe in, and if you strive to achieve it, you will get it, not matter how dire the consequences along the way. Everyone can do something to change the bad and evil. You have asked me, today, on behalf of my people (giving a swift bow to Clay the Elder, Mr. Clay, who had arrived, their maids, and the rest of the group) and on the behalf of all the rest of you (Vash removed a short, well-polished, black hat from his head and waved it at the crowd and the dwarfs in the windows) to be able to call this city mine, to dedicate this city to me, and with my permission, be able to run it. I will now, (steps forwards to the ribbon and opens the blades the scissors) name this city, with the grant of the law of the gods, Ogsville." He cut the ribbon, and it fell to the ground. Lowering the scissors to his side, his eyes lost that gleam, he sighed with disbelief and gave the crowd a grand smile. "I repeat on more time, thank you for all you have given to me, my friends, and this world." He bowed one more time and turned and walked to us.
Nakita, Rene, and I were all bawling on each other's shoulders. Kelli was sniffing wildly, sitting down with a piece of paper in her lap, scribbling down Vash's last words. Kanari was sneezing, and tears were trying not to overflow. Snowy was sniffling and wiping her eyes. Clay the Elder was clapping, as all the men in the crowd and children were doing (the ladies being too busy wiping their tears). Vash stopped several feet in front of us and looked at us, then around at the crying crowd and the rounds of applause.
"That was the best speech I've ever heard, my boy!" Clay the Elder said, laughing happily and slapping Vash on the back. He walked off, muttering praise. Vash stood there, letting this sink in, and caught Doughboy's gaze.
A Doughboy with his arms crossed gruffly, his eyes narrowed in a bad manner, and his bottom lip curled, with in evil look on his face. Doughboy's hair was usually flat, and with another look, Doughboy walked himself behind Nakita, Rene, and me. Ready to show he could do a better job of comforting girls than Vash was, he bent down and was starting to pat Nakita on the head when she suddenly moved.
"Oh Vash!" Nakita said, rushing up to Vash. "That was SO beautiful." She started sniffing and crying again. Vash, his eyes still focused on Doughboy, fished out a handkerchief from his pockets with his right hand and handed it to Nakita, who thanked him and started to cry on his shoulder.
Doughboy, after Nakita had moved, fell somewhat flat on his face.
"Oh!" Rene said, leaning away from Doughboy (she was sitting on the ground beside Yuki, with Yuki on her right and Nakita used to be on her left) with her fists clenched in tight balls by her neck as she fought for balance.
"Great job Vash." Doughboy said, lying on the floor, lifting his head up. "I may have managed to make Rene cry once in her life, but never have I made the whole city cry, and especially all these girls."
"Hey." Vash said, approaching with Nakita still on his shoulder (which, by the way, really pissed Doughboy off). "Take it easy, I guess my speech really was something."
Grr...was Doughboy's reply. "You just wait, Vash, you just wait."
I've decided to include a teaser with every episode/chapter for the next one.
The next chapter is called, "And Yet..." and here is an excerpt from it:
"I noticed you didn't mention the battles and all the horrors we went through in that address of yours." Doughboy said. Vash slowly turned around as the last of the dwarfs returned to their homes.
"I see no need to." Vash said. "They all have their pain stakes, some have lost family members or loved ones, and they have all played an important part. Why bring back those horrible memories? Why tell them ours, to make them feel worse?" Vash's words had a strong emotion behind them, as if concealing something. "No." He said softly. "We all worked together in this, and there is absolutely no need to be reminded. Memories, even the bad ones, need to be cherished one day, need to be remembered. It's not good to forget how someone you loved died. But not now, not in a few days, but someday, when perhaps the scars heal."
"And you will remember." Kelli finished. "Remember those fun times you had, forget how they parted, because that doesn't matter anymore, and what does matter is your memories of that person, and what fun and joy you had; that's what really counts." Vash turned his head and met Kelli's gaze.
"I will remember."
CCS does not belong to me.
Adjust!
I collapsed on the marble floor of the town square and just sat there. Two dwarfs wandered by, carrying a water fountain that was supposed to lie in the middle of the town square. We watched them. Obviously, they were just normal dwarfs, not even attending the execution ceremony, and they thought it was over, as they ignored us, otherwise with a curt bow and was done with the installation within minutes and walked away.
"So." Kelli walked over and looked at Lair. "I think she's dead."
"She is?" Vash asked wearily.
I watched as the rest of my cards returned to their card form. Silently, I summoned the watery card and it filled the fountain.
"Yes, I'd assume." Kelli said. "My only sister."
"Hush Kelli, she's caused enough damage already." Vash said, rubbing his eyes and talking a seat on the corner of the floor by Nakita and Clay the Elder. "I'm exhausted."
"Vash." Kelli said, exasperated. "How can you not even care?"
"You try it when you're this tired." Vash grumbled.
"Are you saying that you did more work than I did?"
"No."
"Well then!" Kelli walked over to Lair, and then paced the marble floor. Everyone else, by that time, was already resting on the floor, all fatigued.
"Oh gosh." Nakita said. She walked over to the fountain and washed the sleeping Cherry while Snowy's wings evaporated.
"I don't know what to do about them." Clay the Elder said. "You will likely need them repaired, and the dwarfs know best. But right now, I can't do anything about it." Snowy sighed and dipped her head into the fountain, which seemed like a good idea. I ambled over and did like.
"So exhausted." Kanari moaned as she drenched her head and then sat on the edge of the stone fountain. "I might as well go swimming." She examined herself carefully.
"Soon enough." I said. "The boat shall be built and everything shall be finished and we shall be able to go home."
"Yuki?" Doughboy asked.
"What?" I grumbled.
"Do me a favor. Stop saying shall."
"And then, when we get home, maybe I shall stop saying shall." I said tiredly, lying down on the marble. "Ooh!" I groaned. More dwarfs were coming back now, and returning to their normal tasks.
"How about us returning to our rightful places?" Clay the Elder asked.
"Home?" Nakita asked eagerly.
"No, back to the mansion." He said. "A change of clothes seems good." By now, everyone's clothes, which had seemed casual and rightful when we left the Third Dimension, was now all tarnished and tattered and full of holes.
"What a battle." Snowy said, trying to make conversation as we walked back to the mansion for the, well, I've lost count by now. Everyone else just grumbled, and grumbled still when we entered the mansion all exhausted.
"A good rest and clothes and food will truly do!" Clay the Elder said, somewhat cheerfully. "Come on people, keep up your spirit."
"I don't think I have much left." I said, gulping down a glass of water.
"Yuki." Rene said, contradicting. "Come on, you have to have SOME spirit. It keeps you alive."
"Maybe I'll have more when I'm less tired." I said, groaning and dragging myself upstairs. Rene sighed.
"Hopefully, it's just a phase." She said. "A phase we're all going through."
"I wouldn't count on it." Doughboy said.
"And what would you know?" Vash asked.
"A lot more than you!" Doughboy said.
"Well, let the arguing cease and then we can all enjoy a nap, but remember to wake up before the night." Clay the Elder said.
"What for?" Vash asked.
"It is night." Doughboy grumbled.
"You'll see." Clay the Elder said mysteriously, winking. "It's a very special night."
"It will be, when Vash learns some responsibility." Doughboy added.
"Responsibility? What are you talking about? Look at you!" Vash cried.
"Guh." Kelli said, as the rest of the girls (minus a very lazy and tired Yuki) watched with sweatdrops on the back of their heads. "This could go on for a while."
"What is happening tonight?" Rene asked.
"It's somewhat of a surprise." Clay the Elder said.
"Somewhat?"
"Well, you'll see." Clay the Elder said. "Of course, Vash has the upper hand on it all."
"I do?" Vash asked.
"No fair, why does HE get it all?" Doughboy complained.
"Yes, you'll have to know the surprise before all of them, since you are the one who must make the decision." Clay the Elder said, and suddenly Vash was very alert.
"A choice?" Vash asked, softly, hardly above a whisper. He exchanged worried looks with Kelli.
"Don't you worry." Clay the Elder said. "And I do really want you all to know that Lair wasn't really as evil or ghastly as you all think. After all, 'behind every villain, there is a soul; behind every hero, there is a choice; and behind every battle, there's a destiny.'"
"That's...true." Vash said, slowly. "Lair was a villain, but she did have a soul, did have a heart, just we weren't able to reach out and touch it to affect it. And if we're classified as heroes ("Of course we are!"-Doughboy-"Oh, but I forgot, all of us except Vash. "::mockingly:: Doughboy was poked in the ribs, very hard, by Rene. "Shut up Doughboy! Hasn't he done enough already for us?" "Well, he caused all of this!"-Doughboy. Rene steps on Doughboy's foot and the discussion ends.) and we had to make a choice. I guess that's something all heroes are entitled too, and I guess they don't like it either, and every battle does have a destiny, a purpose, just as there is a purpose for everything." He looked off.
"Hear, hear." Nakita and Rene clinked glasses full of water. "That was a good speech Vash." Nakita said.
"Yeah." Rene said, with an added, unnecessary look at Doughboy, who grunted what seemed like his approval.
"Yes." Kelli said. "And it is, well, so true." She started up the stairs and paused when she reached the first step. "And pray they make the right choices."
"I like the part about the 'Behind every battle, there is a destiny.'" Vash said. "Because, I don't know, every time I hear it, I get a tingle go up my back and-hey!"
"What's wrong?" Kelli asked. The whole group had started up the stairs, and while the girls were halfway into the girl's room, Vash stopped and stared at the place where a set of stairs had once been.
"Um, Clay the Elder? My gosh." Vash said, looking ahead of him.
"By golly." Rene said. "How is Doughboy going to get up that?"
And in front of them, where the stairs to the boy's room had been, was a big hole, supported by a big ladder.
"I'm afraid," Clay the Elder said, approaching from behind, "that while the battle raged from above, the lights from the ceiling fell and the stairs caught on fire, and was badly damaged. I'm afraid that we will have to use this for now."
"Uh, sure." Vash said, grabbing the third rung and pulling himself up. "No problem sir!" Clay the Elder turned to leave, and Doughboy, watching Vash climb up the ladder, blinked and frowned.
"What a long ladder." Rene said. "Must be at least (she counted) wow, twenty rungs long." She slid to a spot beside Doughboy, and Snowy went to his other side.
"Do you think you can make it up?" Snowy taunted him from the other side.
"What if you fall?" Rene asked, giggling. Doughboy scratched his head, and then removed a greased hand behind his back to wipe of in the back of his shirt.
"I won't fall." He said confidently. I appeared in the hallway to watch this. Snowy and Rene watched as Doughboy walked towards the ladder. Clay the Elder had already disappeared down below, and Kelli and Kanari stuck their heads out in the doorway. Nakita was watching from one of the rungs. She had climbed up for practically no reason at all and was now watching Doughboy wipe his obese hands clean of oil and start to attempt the ladder.
"I think that you should get out of the way." Vash said, from the top, where he was confidently sitting on the second to last rung to the top. "Nakita, you might get hurt. Or at least get up here, he could knock you onto the ground."
"I have wings." Nakita protested. "This is a great view!"
"Your wings won't have room to expand." Vash said, lowering himself and dragging Nakita up to the top. "Here, stay and watch." Doughboy touched the first rung, and then grabbed the third one and put his foot on the first, slowly transferring the weight from foot to foot. Slowly, the ladder started to tilt and tip over.
"Ah!" Nakita said, as she started to fall. Vash, sitting at a more stable area, grabbed her and the top rung.
"Hey!" Vash said, pulling the rung towards him and the top landing.
"Yeah, hey!" Cherry said, trying to help, but being unsuccessful.
"Doughboy, you big lump of fat, get off the ladder before Nakita and I fall!" Vash said.
"I don't care about you and, okay, I'll get off." He briskly got off, and Vash straightened out the ladder.
"Here, tilt it, and he'll have an easier time climbing." Vash said, tilting the ladder. Doughboy started to climb again. He got to the fourth rung, then his hand and foot missed a rung and he rolled down the ladder. Snowy sighed in exasperation.
"This could take a while." I observed.
"I think this is the beginning of a rival ship between Vash and Doughboy." Kanari said.
"How do you see a rival ship?" Kelli said.
"Just listen to them rat each other off!" Kanari said. "Yikes."
"Of all things and people." I said, watching Doughboy do another attempt and tumble down again. Nakita giggled at the top.
"These rungs are slippery!" Doughboy grumbled. "And small!"
"Well, I had no problem." Vash said.
"Maybe you spread oil over them." Doughboy said.
"Well, neither did I." Nakita said. "It isn't nice to blame other people when you can't climb up a ladder, Doughboy."
"Due to his obesity." Vash said.
"Vash!" Nakita disparaged.
"Sorry." Vash apologized.
We watched Doughboy miss a rung and slip, then another attempt.
"Perhaps he should just use his Pink Bubble." I suggested. "And if it won't fit through the hole into the room, he can grab onto the rung there and pull himself up."
"Release!" Doughboy called, pointing his pendant up. He was suddenly enclosed by the pink bubble and moving up.
"It looks like bubble gum." Nakita said, climbing gently down the steps. Vash got out of the way, sticking his head slightly out of the hole to watch. Doughboy reached the top and grabbed the rung, got rid of his bubble, and clumsily got in the hole. He poked his head out.
"You can all stop watching!" He called.
"I wonder if this will happen every day." Rene said, giggling, walking back into the room.
"I think we have to get used to this new lifestyle, with Vash and Doughboy constantly arguing." Nakita said.
"Oh, cool!" I said.
"Cool?" Rene and Nakita asked. Kelli raised her eyebrows.
"This will make it a lot more interesting." I said.
"Oh yeah." Kero said.
* * *
Grumble grunt, pant huff. I blinked my eyes open and moaned. Sitting up on the bed, I looked around me. Doughboy was passing the door, all red and sweaty from his long trip down the ladder. Shaking my head, I went and approached the kitchen.
Practically everyone was there, in their nightclothes, as our normal clothes had mysteriously disappeared during the night. Kero and Suppi were already crowded around my plate, Kero greedily feeding on deserts. Nakita was feeding a famished Cherry first, and Anora was eating something big and round from what looked like a dog's bowl.
"What time is it?" I asked, looking at my frozen watch by instinct. Not even twenty minutes had passed since we left Earth and the Third Dimension. Not even five minutes had passed wince we first got to Uri. And yet, so much had happened. I assumed time traveled faster in the Fourth Dimension than normal. "It feels like morning, yet, it's so dark out, and it feels like night."
"That didn't make any sense." Doughboy said, stuffing food into his mouth, and forgetting his napkin.
"I mean, it should be morning, but it feels like night." I repeated. "And, well, I'm a little tired."
"Tell me about it." Kanari said, walking down from the stairs, the last one to, well, I had no clue to what meal this was.
"Eat now, question later, that's Doughboy's motto." Snowy said. "Vash, what time is it?"
"It's the evening." Vash said. "Not even five, and the sun's still out above."
"How can you tell?" Rene asked.
"I can't." Vash said. "Clay the Elder has a chart of sunsets, though."
"Yes, our last day in Uri, why don't we watch the sunset." I suggested.
"Is that sarcastic?" Doughboy asked, mouth full.
"Does that sound the LEAST sarcastic to you?" I retorted.
"I don't know, I really don't know." Doughboy said.
"He's too busy eating to think." Snowy explained. Doughboy grunted, as his mouth was full and he was afraid something would drop out if he opened it.
"So, where IS Clay the Elder?" Kelli asked. She had been rather quiet to Vash ever since the incident about Lair. "And what is going to happen tonight? Are they going to bury Lair?"
"They will tonight, I suppose, but that's not the important thing." Vash said. "Clay the Elder already told me. He's making the preparations right now."
"Oh, and Lair isn't important." Kelli said gruffly.
"I didn't mean that by it, Kelli, and you know it too." Vash said, amid her gaze. "And well, if you didn't, that's not what I meant, really."
"Why won't you accept the fact?" Kelli asked.
"What fact is there to accept?" Vash asked, not meeting her gaze, and stuffing what looked like a pancake into his mouth. I sat down, tucked in my napkin, and started to eat.
"The fact that she's your sister." Kelli said quietly, looking at Vash straight in the eye. Vash avoided it. There was a moment of silence.
"Please pass the eggs." Rene said. Kelli reached and handed the boiled egg basket to Rene, who took one out and passed it on. "Merci." She said. Kelli gave her a slight smile.
The room was quiet once again, only filled with the sound of Doughboy munching wildly on his food, oblivious of what had just happened and the tension in the room.
Clay the Elder came in not long after and led us out of the room, where he gave us our old clothes, only all repaired and the holes and worn out places could hardly be seen.
"Let's go." He said quietly.
We walked down the silent streets, listening to Doughboy and Vash bickering after one another, and the only one who cared and had enough energy to stop them was Nakita, which I wasn't entirely grateful of, since it just made the squabble louder and the whining more intense.
"This is a new adjustment we'll have to live with, all right." Rene grumbled gruffly.
Finally, we arrived back on the surface of Uri.
"When can we get home?" Kanari said, breathing in the fresh Uri air as she got out of the hole. "I mean, the mansion and the rest of the Underground, plus all the shops were splendid the first time we came, and still is, only I'm getting a little sick of it. How many days have we been here anyways?"
"There's nothing like home." Kelli said, looking around her. Kanari was suddenly silent.
"I guess no one's cared to keep count." Snowy answered. "Around a week, perhaps?"
"All these battles have muddled my brain up." I complained.
"As if they weren't muddled up already." Doughboy said. Vash gave him a don't-mess-with-me-or-my-friends look.
"I understand how you feel, children." Clay the Elder said. "Hang in there. Just tonight, working tomorrow on the ship, which shall be completed by night morrow, just in time to ship the supplies on board, and get ready for the great blast."
"What blast?" Kanari asked, suddenly alert.
"The blast of which Genesis and Uri shall join and prevail as one." Clay the Elder said. "But first (his eye met Vash's gaze and he smiled and winked) we have some business to do." He trudged towards the town the dwarfs had built.
When we got there, it was quite a surprise. The town was fully in order, everything running, and everything seemed so cleansed with not a sign of the afternoon's battle.
"I have a question." Nakita said. "Why do they bother with all this when Genesis is going to crash into Uri and knock everything over?"
"Magic spells my dear." Clay the Elder smiled. "It will not and it will stay as is. No natural feature will have ever altered the course of something that could and shall be done earlier."
"Oh...okay." Nakita said.
We marched up to the town square, and there was a huge ribbon tying from the post by the general store to a mailbox by the post office. The lanterns and street lights hung all over town.
"It's so pretty." Rene said. The ribbon, or ribbons, I should say, was white, light pink, and baby blue, with a huge flower in the middle made by the three. Clay the Elder, who had disappeared while we had been awing over this miracle, reappeared and thrust a pair of huge, orange scissors into Vash's hand, which groped around them tentatively.
"You may do the honors, Vash." Clay the Elder said quietly. A crowd was already gathered, around the place, and as Vash looked ahead and focused on the ribbon, I looked around. People from above opened their windows (you see, in the dwarf town, the shops were underneath and they had their houses on top, how convenient) and stuck their heads out. The crowd gathered and seemed to push Vash and us towards the ribbons, but stayed at least five feet away from us. And on the other side of the ribbon, was the grand water fountain.
"I have come here to say, on the behalf of my colleagues ("He sounds like a professor at a University." Doughboy whispered to Nakita. Nakita slapped him on the arm. "No he doesn't, be quiet, he's doing a very good job!" Nakita said. Then, arm crossed, she continued listening. Doughboy, feeling very dissed, sulked.) that we are very proud of our land, Uri, and all that it has given us, devoid of all it has taken from us. My proud partners, and me, my friends (which he took time to use an arm to point out every member of the group except Doughboy) want to say that we are very proud of you today as we will always be. There is nothing I can really say to express my grief and sorrow for those many who have died on battle, in mortal combat, nor the joy I have received from being able to achieve my destiny, to bring prolonged peace to this world, and the many worlds that follow. It is my joy that the monsters and evils have gotten the comeuppance the rightfully deserve, and I cannot, in any way, express my feelings, but with two words and one emotion: Thank you. Because without you, none of this would be possible. We are not the true cause of this peace, because everyone played an important part for it, and everyone worked as a team, and everyone paid the consequences of the evilness. And hence, you still believe that without us, there would be no peace. That may be true. But what I really want to emphasize is, I turned my life around. I was a subject of Queen Jewel, and she was my aunt. But if you believe in what you really want to believe in, and if you strive to achieve it, you will get it, not matter how dire the consequences along the way. Everyone can do something to change the bad and evil. You have asked me, today, on behalf of my people (giving a swift bow to Clay the Elder, Mr. Clay, who had arrived, their maids, and the rest of the group) and on the behalf of all the rest of you (Vash removed a short, well-polished, black hat from his head and waved it at the crowd and the dwarfs in the windows) to be able to call this city mine, to dedicate this city to me, and with my permission, be able to run it. I will now, (steps forwards to the ribbon and opens the blades the scissors) name this city, with the grant of the law of the gods, Ogsville." He cut the ribbon, and it fell to the ground. Lowering the scissors to his side, his eyes lost that gleam, he sighed with disbelief and gave the crowd a grand smile. "I repeat on more time, thank you for all you have given to me, my friends, and this world." He bowed one more time and turned and walked to us.
Nakita, Rene, and I were all bawling on each other's shoulders. Kelli was sniffing wildly, sitting down with a piece of paper in her lap, scribbling down Vash's last words. Kanari was sneezing, and tears were trying not to overflow. Snowy was sniffling and wiping her eyes. Clay the Elder was clapping, as all the men in the crowd and children were doing (the ladies being too busy wiping their tears). Vash stopped several feet in front of us and looked at us, then around at the crying crowd and the rounds of applause.
"That was the best speech I've ever heard, my boy!" Clay the Elder said, laughing happily and slapping Vash on the back. He walked off, muttering praise. Vash stood there, letting this sink in, and caught Doughboy's gaze.
A Doughboy with his arms crossed gruffly, his eyes narrowed in a bad manner, and his bottom lip curled, with in evil look on his face. Doughboy's hair was usually flat, and with another look, Doughboy walked himself behind Nakita, Rene, and me. Ready to show he could do a better job of comforting girls than Vash was, he bent down and was starting to pat Nakita on the head when she suddenly moved.
"Oh Vash!" Nakita said, rushing up to Vash. "That was SO beautiful." She started sniffing and crying again. Vash, his eyes still focused on Doughboy, fished out a handkerchief from his pockets with his right hand and handed it to Nakita, who thanked him and started to cry on his shoulder.
Doughboy, after Nakita had moved, fell somewhat flat on his face.
"Oh!" Rene said, leaning away from Doughboy (she was sitting on the ground beside Yuki, with Yuki on her right and Nakita used to be on her left) with her fists clenched in tight balls by her neck as she fought for balance.
"Great job Vash." Doughboy said, lying on the floor, lifting his head up. "I may have managed to make Rene cry once in her life, but never have I made the whole city cry, and especially all these girls."
"Hey." Vash said, approaching with Nakita still on his shoulder (which, by the way, really pissed Doughboy off). "Take it easy, I guess my speech really was something."
Grr...was Doughboy's reply. "You just wait, Vash, you just wait."
I've decided to include a teaser with every episode/chapter for the next one.
The next chapter is called, "And Yet..." and here is an excerpt from it:
"I noticed you didn't mention the battles and all the horrors we went through in that address of yours." Doughboy said. Vash slowly turned around as the last of the dwarfs returned to their homes.
"I see no need to." Vash said. "They all have their pain stakes, some have lost family members or loved ones, and they have all played an important part. Why bring back those horrible memories? Why tell them ours, to make them feel worse?" Vash's words had a strong emotion behind them, as if concealing something. "No." He said softly. "We all worked together in this, and there is absolutely no need to be reminded. Memories, even the bad ones, need to be cherished one day, need to be remembered. It's not good to forget how someone you loved died. But not now, not in a few days, but someday, when perhaps the scars heal."
"And you will remember." Kelli finished. "Remember those fun times you had, forget how they parted, because that doesn't matter anymore, and what does matter is your memories of that person, and what fun and joy you had; that's what really counts." Vash turned his head and met Kelli's gaze.
"I will remember."
