(Long chapter this time... But I guess that works out well since it's chapter 10. Thanks for sticking with me this long, enjoy the chapter! ^_^)
Chapter 10
Ano Kiyoi refused to let himself relax. His plans were so close to fruition… All the years of waiting, and finally his dear ones would be avenged. And the prophecy… He mustn't forget the prophesy. He knew that with the success of his plan, the prophecy would be fulfilled as well. And it was he, Ano Kiyoi, who would bring to pass this wondrous event which would so help his fellow men! All the people who had suffered along the way, all those he had had to use and who had lain down their lives for the cause would be given the victory they had all hoped for. And it would come to pass soon… Very soon… Everything was going according to his plans. He glanced down at the piece of paper held loosely in his hand.
"When the twin suns engage the fire of vengeance..."
Kiyoi grinned.
* * *
"Are you sure this plan will work?" Meryl looked at the priest incredulously. "Yes! Just follow my lead and everything will be fine." Wolfwood took a drag on his cigarette then threw it into the sand by the door. Knives, Meryl and Millie stood in a semi-circle around him, looking out of sorts in their new "uniforms." Knives looked down at his new outfit and pulled the collar away from his neck uncomfortably.
"I still don't see why we shouldn't just shoot our way through the door. This IS a rescue operation, isn't it?"
"We don't know whether or not Vash is even being held here," Wolfwood growled. "So let's investigate a little before we start shooting up a private residence, hm?" Knives rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say, priest. Let's just find my brother."
"Right." Wolfwood strode up to the door and raised his fist. He pounded twice, then waited for a response. After a few moments, the door was opened by a young man. He wore a loose fitting pair of white pants and a white shirt. He looked the strangers up and down, taking in their baggy grey jumpsuits, buckets, mops, and brooms, then met Wolfwood's eyes.
"Can I help you?" The boy asked.
"Well, I certainly hope so!" Wolfwood responded cheerfully. "We're just a poor band of traveling cleaners... We'll clean your home for a modest fee with our superb cleansing supplies and our outstanding teamwork!" Knives slapped a hand to his forehead. "Satisfaction is, if course, guaranteed or your money back!" Wolfwood leaned forward to stick his head through the door. "Whoo-ee! It sure looks like you could use our help! This place doesn't look like it's been properly cleaned in years! We'll even give you a discount if you'll let us stay here, since the next town is so far away. Whaddya say?" Wolfwood tried his best charming smile on the boy, who looked a little confused.
"Well... Master Kiyoi has left for the weekend, but if you'd like to stay here until he gets back to discuss it with him I suppose he won't mind." He looked over the four companions one by one, stopping when his gaze passed over Knives. His eyes narrowed, then he smiled welcomingly. "By all means, come in and I'll show you to some of our guest rooms."
"Oh, you're far too kind," Wolfwood responded, and followed the boy in. He waved for the others to follow him, and gave them a hearty wink. Meryl and Knives rolled their eyes, picked up their mops, and followed Wolfwood. Millie happily hefted her push broom and marched through the door.
* * *
Vash was starting to get desperate. He glanced out the window. He had been watching the sky grow progressively lighter with growing concern. He had no idea how much longer he had before... before whatever Kiyoi had done to him would take effect, but he knew that he had to get outside and far away from this place before it did. Things weren't looking very promising at the moment. He had been down this same hallway at least seven times. For some reason he just couldn't seem to find the damned door! He came to a fork in the hallway, and opted to take a left. Last time he had gone right. He heard voices ahead of him, and hurriedly ducked inside an alcove carved out of the wall. He accidentally bumped the pedestal in the alcove with his elbow, and had to scramble to catch an ornate vase before it clattered to the floor.
That's all I need, Vash thought morosely as he clutched the vase and tried to will himself invisible. It'd be just my luck to drop something and make enough noise to alert the guards just before I get out of this maze.
"You can stay in these rooms along here," a boy's voice drifted along the hallway to Vash's hiding place. He recognized it at Kita's voice. He suppressed a grimace at the memory of the boy's betrayal of him. He must have had good reason to do what he did. He heard a male voice and a female one respond, but couldn't make out the words. They must be facing away from him. Not that it really mattered, Vash thought, his anxiety rising again. They'd probably be Kiyoi's guests, and why should he care about that? He was getting out of this madhouse.
The voices had stopped. Vash strained his ears and just made out the sound of doors being closed. He carefully turned and replaced the vase on its pedestal. By his own estimates, he had another hour at the most before sunrise. He crept out of his hiding place and made his way down the hallway towards the area Kita and the guests had been. They had to have come in from the entrance... So it must be this way.
* * *
"Right. I'd say that it's safe to head out," Wolfwood said, his ear pressed to the door. "Sounds like the kid's gone. Wait!" He held up a hand to halt the others as they moved forwards. "Someone else is coming... We don't want to be spotted wandering around in the halls. We'd better wait until they leave."
Knives leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed. He wanted to get out of this room and find his brother. He had been getting a strange feeling lately, one he hadn't bothered to share with the others. He had felt more and more like they were walking into some kind of trap, that eyes were watching them wherever they went... But maybe that was just paranoia. Without Legato to constantly watch his back and the usual comfort of his gun, Knives had felt rather naked of late. He wanted to be around Vash again, for some incomprehensible reason. Well, we are brothers, his mind reminded him. It's only natural to want to be with family. Especially when you're the only two of your kind... Knives sighed.
This train of thought was getting him nowhere, but at least it was better than the other thoughts he had been entertaining lately. Guilt, horror, pain, shame, all of these feelings had been building up in him more and more lately. It was all because of November, and these people... He had to admit, he had actually come to respect them a little. The priest was annoying and petulant, but the two women weren't that bad--
"Ok, let's go," Wolfwood whispered, and Knives pushed away from the wall. Finally, some action! But, he wasn't going to be without protection, he decided. This was unknown territory, and he was still injured, although the others didn't realize it. As he walked past Meryl, Knives darted his hand into her cape and deftly removed one of her derringers. He pocketed the small weapon easily. Meryl didn't notice.
It only had one shot, but it was better than nothing. Knives felt better already. They walked out into the hallway in their stupid grey jumpsuits (although Knives had to admit that the priest's plan HAD gotten them into the building,) and stood in the middle, looking left and right.
"Alright. We came from the right, so I say we head left," Meryl said softly, and Millie clapped her hands.
"I'm so happy we're finally going to find Mr. Vash! Do you think he'll be alright?"
"Of course he will! That pea-brained moron is harder to kill than a cockroach. Besides, he wouldn't give me the pleasure of dying off... He needs to stay around to cause me more grief." Meryl began walking off to the left, hurling insults at Vash as she walked. Knives shook his head. Humans were so predictable... She was obviously in love with his brother. He wondered if she realized how fruitless such a relationship could be, since Vash was immortal and she was only a human female... But he supposed logic didn't matter much when it came to human emotion.
"Hey, look at this big room!" Millie called out, and Wolfwood, who was standing beside her, clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shh! You trying to bring the whole place down around our ears, hun?" He whispered, and Millie giggled.
"Sorry, honey," she responded, and Knives walked past them both into the room. Millie was right, it was huge. There was a wooden desk against the far wall with an enormous tapestry hung on the wall behind it, and the other walls were lined with bookcases. Papers were flung over the desk. Knives walked over and began shuffling through the papers, looking for something useful.
Most of them seemed to be maps of the cities and out-lying areas. Some areas were circled in red, while others had big Xs on them, with notes like "Not here... checks ran through clean" beside them. There were also what appeared to be diagrams of plants and other machinery, including one of a mechanical arm. Knives inspected that one closely. Sure enough, it looked just like Vash's latest model.
"I think we've hit jackpot," Knives said, looking up from the desk. Meryl was gazing up at the tapestry while Wolfwood and Millie looked at the books. They all turned to look at him. "This is a diagram of Vash's arm." Knives plucked a bundle of wires from among the papers and held them up. "And these look like they were taken from the mechanism controlling the gun part of his arm. I'd say it's a pretty sure thing Vash is being held here somewhere."
"This is interesting too," Meryl said, turning back to the tapestry. "I can't seem to understand what it means though. Maybe you should take a look, Knives." Knives dropped the wires and diagram into his pocket and looked up at the tapestry.
It was about ten feet long and five feet tall, covered with images of fire, feathers, and trees. Superimposed over the images were words, scrawling their way through the imagery indiscriminately.
"When the twin suns engage the fire of vengeance, the darkness will be revealed to be non-permanent, and the lights shall cover all the world in green." Meryl looked at him, puzzled. "What does it mean? Is it supposed to be some kind of poetry?"
Knives blinked. He had heard this before. Had been obsessed with it for quite some time, actually. He had been told that it was a prophesy given shortly after the landing of the SEEDS ships by a gifted human woman, and the last line had grabbed his interest. "Cover all the world in green..." He had puzzled over these lines for years. He knew what they meant, but how to make it come to pass? It had always been his dream to create an Eden for himself and Vash, of course, and this prophesy could be the key. But how could suns exact vengeance? And what about the lights? After about twenty years he had given it up as human nonsense.
"It's a prophesy," he told Meryl. "But as far as I know it's just garbage. C'mon, let's find my broth--" A scream cut through the early morning air, causing Knives to pause mid-sentence and Wolfwood to drop the book he had been looking at.
"That was Vash," Meryl cried, and bolted for the door.
"Meryl! Wait! Don't just... Oh for crying out loud, we'd better go after her," Wolfwood called to them as he headed out after Meryl. Millie followed in his footsteps, and Knives was close on her heels.
* * *
Meryl was careening down the hallways, unseeing and uncaring of what she bumped into. Another scream split the air, and she put on an extra burst of speed. She knew that sound. It was the same. The same as when he had killed Legato. Vash had sat in his room and screamed as she stood outside and cried. She had to reach him! She had to be by his side, to help him through this. She just had to.
She rounded one last corner and came to a screeching halt. The front door of the giant building was open, and Vash was on his knees in the doorway, his hands clutching his bowed head. The sun was just rising above the horizon.
Chapter 10
Ano Kiyoi refused to let himself relax. His plans were so close to fruition… All the years of waiting, and finally his dear ones would be avenged. And the prophecy… He mustn't forget the prophesy. He knew that with the success of his plan, the prophecy would be fulfilled as well. And it was he, Ano Kiyoi, who would bring to pass this wondrous event which would so help his fellow men! All the people who had suffered along the way, all those he had had to use and who had lain down their lives for the cause would be given the victory they had all hoped for. And it would come to pass soon… Very soon… Everything was going according to his plans. He glanced down at the piece of paper held loosely in his hand.
"When the twin suns engage the fire of vengeance..."
Kiyoi grinned.
* * *
"Are you sure this plan will work?" Meryl looked at the priest incredulously. "Yes! Just follow my lead and everything will be fine." Wolfwood took a drag on his cigarette then threw it into the sand by the door. Knives, Meryl and Millie stood in a semi-circle around him, looking out of sorts in their new "uniforms." Knives looked down at his new outfit and pulled the collar away from his neck uncomfortably.
"I still don't see why we shouldn't just shoot our way through the door. This IS a rescue operation, isn't it?"
"We don't know whether or not Vash is even being held here," Wolfwood growled. "So let's investigate a little before we start shooting up a private residence, hm?" Knives rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say, priest. Let's just find my brother."
"Right." Wolfwood strode up to the door and raised his fist. He pounded twice, then waited for a response. After a few moments, the door was opened by a young man. He wore a loose fitting pair of white pants and a white shirt. He looked the strangers up and down, taking in their baggy grey jumpsuits, buckets, mops, and brooms, then met Wolfwood's eyes.
"Can I help you?" The boy asked.
"Well, I certainly hope so!" Wolfwood responded cheerfully. "We're just a poor band of traveling cleaners... We'll clean your home for a modest fee with our superb cleansing supplies and our outstanding teamwork!" Knives slapped a hand to his forehead. "Satisfaction is, if course, guaranteed or your money back!" Wolfwood leaned forward to stick his head through the door. "Whoo-ee! It sure looks like you could use our help! This place doesn't look like it's been properly cleaned in years! We'll even give you a discount if you'll let us stay here, since the next town is so far away. Whaddya say?" Wolfwood tried his best charming smile on the boy, who looked a little confused.
"Well... Master Kiyoi has left for the weekend, but if you'd like to stay here until he gets back to discuss it with him I suppose he won't mind." He looked over the four companions one by one, stopping when his gaze passed over Knives. His eyes narrowed, then he smiled welcomingly. "By all means, come in and I'll show you to some of our guest rooms."
"Oh, you're far too kind," Wolfwood responded, and followed the boy in. He waved for the others to follow him, and gave them a hearty wink. Meryl and Knives rolled their eyes, picked up their mops, and followed Wolfwood. Millie happily hefted her push broom and marched through the door.
* * *
Vash was starting to get desperate. He glanced out the window. He had been watching the sky grow progressively lighter with growing concern. He had no idea how much longer he had before... before whatever Kiyoi had done to him would take effect, but he knew that he had to get outside and far away from this place before it did. Things weren't looking very promising at the moment. He had been down this same hallway at least seven times. For some reason he just couldn't seem to find the damned door! He came to a fork in the hallway, and opted to take a left. Last time he had gone right. He heard voices ahead of him, and hurriedly ducked inside an alcove carved out of the wall. He accidentally bumped the pedestal in the alcove with his elbow, and had to scramble to catch an ornate vase before it clattered to the floor.
That's all I need, Vash thought morosely as he clutched the vase and tried to will himself invisible. It'd be just my luck to drop something and make enough noise to alert the guards just before I get out of this maze.
"You can stay in these rooms along here," a boy's voice drifted along the hallway to Vash's hiding place. He recognized it at Kita's voice. He suppressed a grimace at the memory of the boy's betrayal of him. He must have had good reason to do what he did. He heard a male voice and a female one respond, but couldn't make out the words. They must be facing away from him. Not that it really mattered, Vash thought, his anxiety rising again. They'd probably be Kiyoi's guests, and why should he care about that? He was getting out of this madhouse.
The voices had stopped. Vash strained his ears and just made out the sound of doors being closed. He carefully turned and replaced the vase on its pedestal. By his own estimates, he had another hour at the most before sunrise. He crept out of his hiding place and made his way down the hallway towards the area Kita and the guests had been. They had to have come in from the entrance... So it must be this way.
* * *
"Right. I'd say that it's safe to head out," Wolfwood said, his ear pressed to the door. "Sounds like the kid's gone. Wait!" He held up a hand to halt the others as they moved forwards. "Someone else is coming... We don't want to be spotted wandering around in the halls. We'd better wait until they leave."
Knives leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed. He wanted to get out of this room and find his brother. He had been getting a strange feeling lately, one he hadn't bothered to share with the others. He had felt more and more like they were walking into some kind of trap, that eyes were watching them wherever they went... But maybe that was just paranoia. Without Legato to constantly watch his back and the usual comfort of his gun, Knives had felt rather naked of late. He wanted to be around Vash again, for some incomprehensible reason. Well, we are brothers, his mind reminded him. It's only natural to want to be with family. Especially when you're the only two of your kind... Knives sighed.
This train of thought was getting him nowhere, but at least it was better than the other thoughts he had been entertaining lately. Guilt, horror, pain, shame, all of these feelings had been building up in him more and more lately. It was all because of November, and these people... He had to admit, he had actually come to respect them a little. The priest was annoying and petulant, but the two women weren't that bad--
"Ok, let's go," Wolfwood whispered, and Knives pushed away from the wall. Finally, some action! But, he wasn't going to be without protection, he decided. This was unknown territory, and he was still injured, although the others didn't realize it. As he walked past Meryl, Knives darted his hand into her cape and deftly removed one of her derringers. He pocketed the small weapon easily. Meryl didn't notice.
It only had one shot, but it was better than nothing. Knives felt better already. They walked out into the hallway in their stupid grey jumpsuits (although Knives had to admit that the priest's plan HAD gotten them into the building,) and stood in the middle, looking left and right.
"Alright. We came from the right, so I say we head left," Meryl said softly, and Millie clapped her hands.
"I'm so happy we're finally going to find Mr. Vash! Do you think he'll be alright?"
"Of course he will! That pea-brained moron is harder to kill than a cockroach. Besides, he wouldn't give me the pleasure of dying off... He needs to stay around to cause me more grief." Meryl began walking off to the left, hurling insults at Vash as she walked. Knives shook his head. Humans were so predictable... She was obviously in love with his brother. He wondered if she realized how fruitless such a relationship could be, since Vash was immortal and she was only a human female... But he supposed logic didn't matter much when it came to human emotion.
"Hey, look at this big room!" Millie called out, and Wolfwood, who was standing beside her, clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shh! You trying to bring the whole place down around our ears, hun?" He whispered, and Millie giggled.
"Sorry, honey," she responded, and Knives walked past them both into the room. Millie was right, it was huge. There was a wooden desk against the far wall with an enormous tapestry hung on the wall behind it, and the other walls were lined with bookcases. Papers were flung over the desk. Knives walked over and began shuffling through the papers, looking for something useful.
Most of them seemed to be maps of the cities and out-lying areas. Some areas were circled in red, while others had big Xs on them, with notes like "Not here... checks ran through clean" beside them. There were also what appeared to be diagrams of plants and other machinery, including one of a mechanical arm. Knives inspected that one closely. Sure enough, it looked just like Vash's latest model.
"I think we've hit jackpot," Knives said, looking up from the desk. Meryl was gazing up at the tapestry while Wolfwood and Millie looked at the books. They all turned to look at him. "This is a diagram of Vash's arm." Knives plucked a bundle of wires from among the papers and held them up. "And these look like they were taken from the mechanism controlling the gun part of his arm. I'd say it's a pretty sure thing Vash is being held here somewhere."
"This is interesting too," Meryl said, turning back to the tapestry. "I can't seem to understand what it means though. Maybe you should take a look, Knives." Knives dropped the wires and diagram into his pocket and looked up at the tapestry.
It was about ten feet long and five feet tall, covered with images of fire, feathers, and trees. Superimposed over the images were words, scrawling their way through the imagery indiscriminately.
"When the twin suns engage the fire of vengeance, the darkness will be revealed to be non-permanent, and the lights shall cover all the world in green." Meryl looked at him, puzzled. "What does it mean? Is it supposed to be some kind of poetry?"
Knives blinked. He had heard this before. Had been obsessed with it for quite some time, actually. He had been told that it was a prophesy given shortly after the landing of the SEEDS ships by a gifted human woman, and the last line had grabbed his interest. "Cover all the world in green..." He had puzzled over these lines for years. He knew what they meant, but how to make it come to pass? It had always been his dream to create an Eden for himself and Vash, of course, and this prophesy could be the key. But how could suns exact vengeance? And what about the lights? After about twenty years he had given it up as human nonsense.
"It's a prophesy," he told Meryl. "But as far as I know it's just garbage. C'mon, let's find my broth--" A scream cut through the early morning air, causing Knives to pause mid-sentence and Wolfwood to drop the book he had been looking at.
"That was Vash," Meryl cried, and bolted for the door.
"Meryl! Wait! Don't just... Oh for crying out loud, we'd better go after her," Wolfwood called to them as he headed out after Meryl. Millie followed in his footsteps, and Knives was close on her heels.
* * *
Meryl was careening down the hallways, unseeing and uncaring of what she bumped into. Another scream split the air, and she put on an extra burst of speed. She knew that sound. It was the same. The same as when he had killed Legato. Vash had sat in his room and screamed as she stood outside and cried. She had to reach him! She had to be by his side, to help him through this. She just had to.
She rounded one last corner and came to a screeching halt. The front door of the giant building was open, and Vash was on his knees in the doorway, his hands clutching his bowed head. The sun was just rising above the horizon.