Author's Note: Okay guys, school started, and I get homework EVERY single
day. Which means I won't be able to update everyday or so. So I'm going to
update every Saturday or Sunday, and maybe a weekday if I don't have any
homework. Thanks for understanding!
Chapter 20
Before Vash could say anything in reply to Meryl's discovery, there was a loud noise coming from nearby, and a big puff of ginger and crimson colored clouds filled the carnival, orange flames igniting throughout the carnival. In a matter of few seconds, the large crowds of people perished within the atmosphere, leaving only the flames to burn.
Suddenly, a grenade exploded by the ferris wheel, causing it to tilt to a forty-five degree angle. The last noise Meryl heard was a scream coming from Milly, as the whole wheel collapsed into debris. Although it only took a few seconds until the wheel dropped down onto the ground, Meryl felt as if every part of the wheel came down onto her in slow motion. One by one, every piece of the wheel dropped down, some hitting her and making cuts and bruises. In horror, she couldn't move, flashbacks of Jake's gentle face rushing through her head, as well as his insane face and the face of Vash where she saw the Diablo in him.
Meryl felt a red coat cover her shaken body as the parts continued to fall upon them. Two strong hands supported her body as they continued to let the pieces fall upon them. When the whole wheel collapsed, the red coat collapsed along with it, next to her. Looking at it fearfully, Meryl shook his body until he woke up, cuts and bruises all over his face. She looked around to find Milly and Wolfwood, who were sitting nearby, looking at the ferris wheel in disbelief.
Meryl was busy trying to forget the damage that she never noticed the sharp pain her in stomach, as well as her chest. On tope of that, the cuts and bruises she got also hurt her. A trickle of blood running down from her head, she looked at Vash, who had the same pained expression on his face that Meryl didn't like.
Vash immediately stood up, looking for any survivors. Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl did the same. Lifting a heavy rock, Meryl found a man lying peacefully under it. His body had many bruises, as well as blood smeared across his chest. Yet he looked very peacefully, as if he was sleeping. Shaking his shoulders gently, Meryl put her hand over her mouth when she realized that he had passed away. Staring at his body, she found that his arm was extended, as if to hold another person's hand. Lifting a rock that was next to his body, she found a woman lying under it. Her body had almost no bruises, yet when Meryl checked her heartbeat, no rhythmic beat was made. Meryl was moved when she realized that the man had protected the woman from the falling ferris wheel, just like Vash had protected her. Not knowing what to do next, Meryl cleared all the rocks that were near them and moved their bodies closer. Taking one last look at them, she moved towards the center of the ferris wheel to find Wolfwood shaking his head as Vash lifted a body from under the rocks.
"We haven't found any survivors yet...all dead. We're lucky we're still alive." Wolfwood said sadly as he put his arm around a crying Milly. Meryl took a scan around the whole carnival, finding many bodies of men, women, and even children.
"Oh Meryl...he had to kill the children too..." Milly sniffled as she bent down to wipe a face of a small boy. Meryl started walking towards the center of the carnival in hope of finding Jake, yet he was gone. Gripping her hands in anger, she found an envelope by the flames. Curious why it hadn't been burnt to ashes by the flames, Meryl opened the envelope to find that there were two letters inside, one labeled "Vash the Stampede" and the other "Meryl Stryfe". She ran over to where the others were, handing Vash his letter. While Wolfwood and Milly took a close look at Vash's letter, Meryl quickly opened her's, her gray eyes skimming through the letter. Her gray eyes quickly turned alarmed as she finished skimming the letter.
Before the three could read Meryl's letter, she tore it up into pieces, and put it in the flames, allowing the fire to consume the pieces of paper. When the three looked at her curiously, Meryl looked down at her feet.
"Let's go back to the inn..." Meryl said quietly as she started walking towards the inn. Wolfwood and Milly followed her, and Vash took a long look at the burning carnival before following them. What was supposed to be a merry carnival turned out to be a mountain of death after what Keja the Hunter had done.
'Dammit Keja the Hunter...you killed all those people...they're all dead...' Vash thought bitterly as he walked into the inn. The other three were already back in their room, a cloud of gloom filling the entire room. Milly was already in bed, Wolfwood smoking a cigarette nearby. Meryl was looking out the window, an unfinished report in her typewriter.
"Hey needle-noggin..." Wolfwood's voice was gloomy, matching the sorrow in the room. Vash nodded as he sat down onto a bed, staring at the ceiling. The gloominess that filled the room continued throughout the night. Milly cried softly in her sleep, Wolfwood smoked two packs of cigarettes, watching the white smoke slowly perish in the air, Meryl continued to stare out the window, and Vash continued to stare at the ceiling.
*~*~*~*~
"Remember Meryl...tomorrow is special...why do you keep running away? Is it because I blew up the whole carnival, killing everyone but you and your friends?"
Keja the Hunter laughed maniacally as he walked down the cold roads of October City. It was a day after the bombing of the carnival, and many people gathered around the work of Keja the Hunter. His insane side taking over, the thoughts that filled his head were not pleasant. He smirked at the thought of Vash's blood covering his hands. The massacre of the people made him feel proud, like he was the supreme ruler of the planet. As he walked through the alleys, his cruel thoughts were erased as a smiling face of Elaine appeared within his head. As he tried to reach her face, it slowly faded and took place as a smiling face of Meryl. He also tried to reach her face, but it faded and a smiling face of Vash appeared. Only the thoughts of anger filled his mind after seeing Vash's face, and without knowing, Jake began to stab himself numerously in the shoulder, until he felt a gentle hand stop his own bloody one.
Looking up, he found Meryl's grieve-stricken face, her eyes filled with concern.
'How can she still be concerned for me after I tried to kill her, and killed many people yesterday?' Jake wondered as Meryl wrapped her handkerchief around his shoulder.
"You should go to a doctor before your wound gets infected..." Meryl said quietly, her voice low yet gentle, as she walked away from him. Meryl was short, compared to him, yet Jake always wondered why she casted such a large shadow compared to him.
"Thank you..." Jake mumbled as he walked to his own path, parting with her. His figure disappearing into the shadows, thoughts of regret and guilt filled his mind.
*~*~*~*~
Vash was surprised to find Meryl gone after he woke up. It was early in the morning, around six o'clock when he woke up, and a small figure supposedly lying next to him was gone, yet a faint fragrance of Meryl's perfume filled the room.
A few minutes after Vash woke up, Meryl entered the room quietly, gray eyes looking gloomy as she sat next to Vash.
"I...I saw Jake..." Meryl whispered, looking down at the ground. Vash stood up, ready to go after him, when Meryl reached up and pulled his red coat.
"Jake...needs some time...alone..." Vash looked surprised, but nodded, sitting back down next to her. Looking at her, Vash realized that she did look like Remlike the time Joey had Rowan ejected into space. He was surprised again when Meryl asked an odd question.
"Have you killed anyone, Vash?"
"Me...?" Vash took a glance at a quiet Meryl before staring out the window. It was a question no one before had asked him. The people always assumed that he had murdered many before, never hearing out his true story. Recovering many painful memories from the past weren't exactly pleasant. He remembered many situations which ended up in a loss of a life, and many situations which he was forced to kill people, going against Rem's belief.
"I...only killed people when I had too...But I only take a life of one in situations which have no ways of getting out of unless I kill someone...like with Legato. What about you?" Vash immediately knew that it was a stupid question to ask, knowing that Meryl had never killed anyone before.
"I've...never killed anyone physically...but I've hurt someone very badly in his heart before..." Meryl said quietly as she laid down onto the bed, looking at the ceiling. Vash looked at her, and for a second, he thought he saw the same pain he saw the other day.
"Meryl...I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I know it's all my fault that Keja the Hunter hurt you, and killed all the innocent people."
"It's not your fault, Vash...it's really not your fault...you're just assuming that, like all the other people do... Humans are funny species, aren't they? They assume things, and they never hear other's stories. Instead, they make their own, and twist the truth..."
Vash took a long look at Meryl, his aqua-green eyes matching her gray eyes.
"You know Meryl? Your eyes...they're sort of violet..." Vash knew that it wasn't exactly a compliment, but it was true; all this time, he thought that her eyes were gray, yet when he looked at them closely, her eyes were slightly tinted violet.
Rem had dark auburn eyes, and her eyes were beautiful the way they were; the eyes alone spoke of love, kindness, and peace. Vash loved looking in those eyes. They were the eyes that taught him to live in love and peace.
Knives' eyes were an icy blue shade, which showed anger, sorrow, pain, fierceness, and rarely kindness.
Wolfwood's eyes were a dark shade, which revealed many things, but most of all, his love for children and Milly.
Milly's eyes showed pure innocence, naivety, and kindness within her sky blue eyes. They were peaceful, like the sky, which reminded him a lot about Rem. Milly and Rem were similar, in the way they were both very kind, yet something about Rem didn't quite match Milly.
However, Meryl's eyes were all different from Rem, Knives, Wolfwood, and Milly's eyes. Her eyes expressed feelings that could not be explained in words, and her eyes also changed as her emotions changed. On minute, her eyes could be burning like fire when she was angry, yet in a second it could be full of concern. Not only herself, but also her eyes had many sides.
"Thanks...I'll take that as a compliment." Meryl smiled as she went up to her typewriter to finish typing up her unfinished report.
A few seconds later, Vash was bored, so he decided to jump onto Wolfwood and Milly's bed, waking both of them up.
"If you don't wake up, I'm going to eat all the pudding and smoke all the cigarettes!" Vash grinned as Milly swiftly ran up to the bag where the food was kept, and Wolfwood anxiously checked the drawers for his cigarette packages.
"My pudding!" Milly yelled out happily as she hugged the packages of pudding close to her. As she opened a package and ate a spoonful, and smiled a pure smile which caused Vash, Wolfwood, and Meryl to all laugh.
Laughter was missing in the gloomy room; and now, the room didn't feel like the gloomy zone it had been yesterday, as if the laughter had erased the gloominess from the room. Yet what happened yesterday deeply scarred Meryl's heart. What the letter said, we would never know...
Chapter 20
Before Vash could say anything in reply to Meryl's discovery, there was a loud noise coming from nearby, and a big puff of ginger and crimson colored clouds filled the carnival, orange flames igniting throughout the carnival. In a matter of few seconds, the large crowds of people perished within the atmosphere, leaving only the flames to burn.
Suddenly, a grenade exploded by the ferris wheel, causing it to tilt to a forty-five degree angle. The last noise Meryl heard was a scream coming from Milly, as the whole wheel collapsed into debris. Although it only took a few seconds until the wheel dropped down onto the ground, Meryl felt as if every part of the wheel came down onto her in slow motion. One by one, every piece of the wheel dropped down, some hitting her and making cuts and bruises. In horror, she couldn't move, flashbacks of Jake's gentle face rushing through her head, as well as his insane face and the face of Vash where she saw the Diablo in him.
Meryl felt a red coat cover her shaken body as the parts continued to fall upon them. Two strong hands supported her body as they continued to let the pieces fall upon them. When the whole wheel collapsed, the red coat collapsed along with it, next to her. Looking at it fearfully, Meryl shook his body until he woke up, cuts and bruises all over his face. She looked around to find Milly and Wolfwood, who were sitting nearby, looking at the ferris wheel in disbelief.
Meryl was busy trying to forget the damage that she never noticed the sharp pain her in stomach, as well as her chest. On tope of that, the cuts and bruises she got also hurt her. A trickle of blood running down from her head, she looked at Vash, who had the same pained expression on his face that Meryl didn't like.
Vash immediately stood up, looking for any survivors. Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl did the same. Lifting a heavy rock, Meryl found a man lying peacefully under it. His body had many bruises, as well as blood smeared across his chest. Yet he looked very peacefully, as if he was sleeping. Shaking his shoulders gently, Meryl put her hand over her mouth when she realized that he had passed away. Staring at his body, she found that his arm was extended, as if to hold another person's hand. Lifting a rock that was next to his body, she found a woman lying under it. Her body had almost no bruises, yet when Meryl checked her heartbeat, no rhythmic beat was made. Meryl was moved when she realized that the man had protected the woman from the falling ferris wheel, just like Vash had protected her. Not knowing what to do next, Meryl cleared all the rocks that were near them and moved their bodies closer. Taking one last look at them, she moved towards the center of the ferris wheel to find Wolfwood shaking his head as Vash lifted a body from under the rocks.
"We haven't found any survivors yet...all dead. We're lucky we're still alive." Wolfwood said sadly as he put his arm around a crying Milly. Meryl took a scan around the whole carnival, finding many bodies of men, women, and even children.
"Oh Meryl...he had to kill the children too..." Milly sniffled as she bent down to wipe a face of a small boy. Meryl started walking towards the center of the carnival in hope of finding Jake, yet he was gone. Gripping her hands in anger, she found an envelope by the flames. Curious why it hadn't been burnt to ashes by the flames, Meryl opened the envelope to find that there were two letters inside, one labeled "Vash the Stampede" and the other "Meryl Stryfe". She ran over to where the others were, handing Vash his letter. While Wolfwood and Milly took a close look at Vash's letter, Meryl quickly opened her's, her gray eyes skimming through the letter. Her gray eyes quickly turned alarmed as she finished skimming the letter.
Before the three could read Meryl's letter, she tore it up into pieces, and put it in the flames, allowing the fire to consume the pieces of paper. When the three looked at her curiously, Meryl looked down at her feet.
"Let's go back to the inn..." Meryl said quietly as she started walking towards the inn. Wolfwood and Milly followed her, and Vash took a long look at the burning carnival before following them. What was supposed to be a merry carnival turned out to be a mountain of death after what Keja the Hunter had done.
'Dammit Keja the Hunter...you killed all those people...they're all dead...' Vash thought bitterly as he walked into the inn. The other three were already back in their room, a cloud of gloom filling the entire room. Milly was already in bed, Wolfwood smoking a cigarette nearby. Meryl was looking out the window, an unfinished report in her typewriter.
"Hey needle-noggin..." Wolfwood's voice was gloomy, matching the sorrow in the room. Vash nodded as he sat down onto a bed, staring at the ceiling. The gloominess that filled the room continued throughout the night. Milly cried softly in her sleep, Wolfwood smoked two packs of cigarettes, watching the white smoke slowly perish in the air, Meryl continued to stare out the window, and Vash continued to stare at the ceiling.
*~*~*~*~
"Remember Meryl...tomorrow is special...why do you keep running away? Is it because I blew up the whole carnival, killing everyone but you and your friends?"
Keja the Hunter laughed maniacally as he walked down the cold roads of October City. It was a day after the bombing of the carnival, and many people gathered around the work of Keja the Hunter. His insane side taking over, the thoughts that filled his head were not pleasant. He smirked at the thought of Vash's blood covering his hands. The massacre of the people made him feel proud, like he was the supreme ruler of the planet. As he walked through the alleys, his cruel thoughts were erased as a smiling face of Elaine appeared within his head. As he tried to reach her face, it slowly faded and took place as a smiling face of Meryl. He also tried to reach her face, but it faded and a smiling face of Vash appeared. Only the thoughts of anger filled his mind after seeing Vash's face, and without knowing, Jake began to stab himself numerously in the shoulder, until he felt a gentle hand stop his own bloody one.
Looking up, he found Meryl's grieve-stricken face, her eyes filled with concern.
'How can she still be concerned for me after I tried to kill her, and killed many people yesterday?' Jake wondered as Meryl wrapped her handkerchief around his shoulder.
"You should go to a doctor before your wound gets infected..." Meryl said quietly, her voice low yet gentle, as she walked away from him. Meryl was short, compared to him, yet Jake always wondered why she casted such a large shadow compared to him.
"Thank you..." Jake mumbled as he walked to his own path, parting with her. His figure disappearing into the shadows, thoughts of regret and guilt filled his mind.
*~*~*~*~
Vash was surprised to find Meryl gone after he woke up. It was early in the morning, around six o'clock when he woke up, and a small figure supposedly lying next to him was gone, yet a faint fragrance of Meryl's perfume filled the room.
A few minutes after Vash woke up, Meryl entered the room quietly, gray eyes looking gloomy as she sat next to Vash.
"I...I saw Jake..." Meryl whispered, looking down at the ground. Vash stood up, ready to go after him, when Meryl reached up and pulled his red coat.
"Jake...needs some time...alone..." Vash looked surprised, but nodded, sitting back down next to her. Looking at her, Vash realized that she did look like Remlike the time Joey had Rowan ejected into space. He was surprised again when Meryl asked an odd question.
"Have you killed anyone, Vash?"
"Me...?" Vash took a glance at a quiet Meryl before staring out the window. It was a question no one before had asked him. The people always assumed that he had murdered many before, never hearing out his true story. Recovering many painful memories from the past weren't exactly pleasant. He remembered many situations which ended up in a loss of a life, and many situations which he was forced to kill people, going against Rem's belief.
"I...only killed people when I had too...But I only take a life of one in situations which have no ways of getting out of unless I kill someone...like with Legato. What about you?" Vash immediately knew that it was a stupid question to ask, knowing that Meryl had never killed anyone before.
"I've...never killed anyone physically...but I've hurt someone very badly in his heart before..." Meryl said quietly as she laid down onto the bed, looking at the ceiling. Vash looked at her, and for a second, he thought he saw the same pain he saw the other day.
"Meryl...I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I know it's all my fault that Keja the Hunter hurt you, and killed all the innocent people."
"It's not your fault, Vash...it's really not your fault...you're just assuming that, like all the other people do... Humans are funny species, aren't they? They assume things, and they never hear other's stories. Instead, they make their own, and twist the truth..."
Vash took a long look at Meryl, his aqua-green eyes matching her gray eyes.
"You know Meryl? Your eyes...they're sort of violet..." Vash knew that it wasn't exactly a compliment, but it was true; all this time, he thought that her eyes were gray, yet when he looked at them closely, her eyes were slightly tinted violet.
Rem had dark auburn eyes, and her eyes were beautiful the way they were; the eyes alone spoke of love, kindness, and peace. Vash loved looking in those eyes. They were the eyes that taught him to live in love and peace.
Knives' eyes were an icy blue shade, which showed anger, sorrow, pain, fierceness, and rarely kindness.
Wolfwood's eyes were a dark shade, which revealed many things, but most of all, his love for children and Milly.
Milly's eyes showed pure innocence, naivety, and kindness within her sky blue eyes. They were peaceful, like the sky, which reminded him a lot about Rem. Milly and Rem were similar, in the way they were both very kind, yet something about Rem didn't quite match Milly.
However, Meryl's eyes were all different from Rem, Knives, Wolfwood, and Milly's eyes. Her eyes expressed feelings that could not be explained in words, and her eyes also changed as her emotions changed. On minute, her eyes could be burning like fire when she was angry, yet in a second it could be full of concern. Not only herself, but also her eyes had many sides.
"Thanks...I'll take that as a compliment." Meryl smiled as she went up to her typewriter to finish typing up her unfinished report.
A few seconds later, Vash was bored, so he decided to jump onto Wolfwood and Milly's bed, waking both of them up.
"If you don't wake up, I'm going to eat all the pudding and smoke all the cigarettes!" Vash grinned as Milly swiftly ran up to the bag where the food was kept, and Wolfwood anxiously checked the drawers for his cigarette packages.
"My pudding!" Milly yelled out happily as she hugged the packages of pudding close to her. As she opened a package and ate a spoonful, and smiled a pure smile which caused Vash, Wolfwood, and Meryl to all laugh.
Laughter was missing in the gloomy room; and now, the room didn't feel like the gloomy zone it had been yesterday, as if the laughter had erased the gloominess from the room. Yet what happened yesterday deeply scarred Meryl's heart. What the letter said, we would never know...