The Descent of the Second Sun
CHAPTER 3; Secrecy
Their footsteps echoed throughout the hallway as Legato led Vash towards the room that was to be his. Vash was well aware that since he had arrived, both his brother and his brother's minion had been carefully monitoring his thoughts, so he put a special amount of effort into making sure they read what they wanted to. Still, he couldn't hide that he became uncomfortable every time Legato chose to glare at him, and the suspicion with which the blue-haired man regarded him was proof enough of that. Knives, however, seemed both truly convinced and overjoyed at Vash's conversion, so Vash knew that for the time being, and as long as Knives remained convinced of his brother's loyalty, he was safe from whatever Legato was thinking of doing to him.
"Your room," Legato stopped before a door and turned to face Vash, trying extremely hard to keep his expression blank, and added, nearly spitting it out, "Master Vash."
Vash smiled, nodding, and slowly opened the door, stepping into the room. It wasn't so bad; no windows, for they were still underground, but pale blue lights installed above a ridge in the wall near the ceiling provided a pleasant, soft luminance. The walls were a light gray, and directly in front of the door, across the room, was a white couch. To the right was a bed, also dressed in white, and to the left, the door to the bathroom. Other than that, there was a simple gray dresser and a low gray table by the couch. It was simple, but functional.
"Master Knives apologizes for the conditions," Legato spoke from the doorway, "But it was short notice."
"I understand," replied Vash, turning to Legato and smiling, "This will do just fine for me."
Legato smiled unkindly and responded lowly, "Yes… this had been my room." With that, he shut the door and was on his way. Vash sighed, partially in relief to be rid of Legato's unsettling presence, and partially from stress, wondering just what he was going to do next. He dropped his bag next to the door and walked across the room, flopping down on the couch and putting his feet up on the table. He felt Knives finally leave his thoughts alone, but Legato was still monitoring them. It was still a relief; it was much harder work hiding things from Knives' scans than Legato's, for Knives had an advantage being his brother, and the minion specialized in telekinesis rather than mind-reading.
Abruptly, Legato withdrew from his search as well, and Vash knew something had arisen to distract him.
'Vash,' came a mental call.
'Yes, Knives?' Vash responded, quickly replacing any of his guard that he had let down.
'We've got a guest I think you'd like to see. Why don't you come join us in the main room?'
"Sure,' Vash replied, 'I'm on my way.'
Vash rose from his seat and made his way to the door, then headed back to the main room the way he had come with Legato. He didn't know who could possibly be here that he would want to see, but he wasn't about to argue with his brother already.
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"What do we do, Meryl?" Milly inquired of her partner. It had already been some time since Wolfwood had left them, and they hadn't moved from their current spot.
"We don't have a choice," said Meryl at last, "We need to follow him. It's our job, and that's all there is to it."
"But you heard what Mr. Priest said, Meryl," Milly objected timidly, "Don't you think we should listen to him?"
"He did seem pretty serious…" Meryl commented, "But regardless of the risk, it is still our responsibility to follow him."
"I know," Milly sighed, "And besides, the two of them might need our help!"
"Right!" Meryl responded, clenching her fist, "So let's get going!"
With that, the two gave their thomases a slight kick and were rapidly on their way across the dessert.
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"You know," Knives spoke coldly to his guest, "I'm disappointed in you. But you put in such admirable effort, I think I'll let you die outright rather than sending you there…"
There; the place between life and death. Knives' helpers were familiar with the threat; failure meant either dying or going there. Those who met death were grateful.
"After all," Knives continued, "You did do so very well… for a spider."
The door opened slowly, and there stood Vash. When he set his eyes on the guest Knives had told him about, his features twisted into a mix of confusion, horror and shock.
"…Wolfwood?" he finally articulated.
His friend was staring back at him, his eyes full of sadness, and just a little confused to see Vash there.
"Ah, brother," Knives greeted Vash, "So nice of you to join us. I believe our good friend the priest has something to tell you."
"Wolfwood…" Vash spoke softly, his expression unchanged, "What's going on?"
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The town was entirely empty when they arrived.
"What happened here?" Meryl wondered aloud, "Where is everyone?"
"Meryl…" Milly's voice was wavering as she spoke to her friend, "I don't like how this looks…"
"Neither do I," responded Meryl, her voice full of trepidation, "Let's get out of here."
The two turned their thomases to leave, but were greeted with the sight of a small but dangerous army… the Gung-Ho Guns, sans Legato and Midvalley, and Monev, who had been dealt with by now. They gasped as Dominique stepped forward, grinning darkly.
To be continued…
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Thus concludes Chapter 3! ^_^ Wheeeee! Hopefully by now I've got some of you interested. And while I'm writing my little Author's Notes, I want to give a big, BIG arigato to Jay, spookysickness (Jhonen fan? Rock out!), Roxy, leboisduloup and Rem-chan. Thanks so much for reading and thanks even more for your kind reviews! ^_^
I hope this chapter wasn't too bad; I like to have the previous chapters with me to make sure I get all the characters in the right places and continue the mood and situations right, but I wrote this chunk during the anime club screening and into English 110 a little… so I don't really know how well it'll blend in with the rest. Let me know, k?? That's all for now, so this is Naito Tenshi, signing out!