The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?
Glory
Chapter Thirteen: Moving
Once everything they needed were aboard the sand steamer, everyone settled. It was hard to keep Glory from singing and then staring uncomprehendingly at the railing - or anything else, for that matter. The first thing they did was board a bus taking them a larger city, and then bought tickets for the next sand steamer, which meant they would have to wait six days.
Glory was mostly okay now. Although all of her wounds were now simply scars, they were still sore, and her mind was in desperate need of repair. The time she spent alone in their previous home had snapped her. The worst part was when she slept, because then, and only then, did she cry. In that way, they all knew when she fell asleep. The instant those eyes would shut, she would begin to cry, and wouldn't stop until she woke a few hours later.
Which was another thing. She never slept for more than four hours. What was more, she always slept rigidly, unable to rest in whatever it was she was dreaming about. Several times Knives and Vash had tried to enter her dreams, to see what scared her so much and try to fight it off. The problem was how strong of a barrier was put up around her mind. To make things worse, the barrier did more than block them out. If they tried to go forward anyway, or break it down, they would get a series of shocks that would affect their bodies as well as minds. And often, they would get a multitude of mental images, passing much too fast to grasp.
But still, one stood out above all the others. An image of Rem as she told them she wouldn't be coming back again.
The twins got enough out of her to know that she was the most broken because she desperately needed Rem's words and advice, and they couldn't reach her anymore.
Once they'd boarded the sand steamer, Glory seemed to get agitated, but didn't resist being drawn to her and her brothers' room. She laid down once there, surprisingly numb for all her previous insanity and wild outbursts of songs and pointless phrases. She even gave a sigh and began staring up at the ceiling, emotions passing through her eyes as her mind drifted from subject to subject and tried to make sense of it all.
Vash and Knives both watched her carefully for a moment before they separated, Knives sitting by Glory and Vash leaving again to double-check on everyone. By the time he got back, Knives had coaxed Glory into a conversation, meanwhile trying to mend what he could of her mind.
"So the suns will eventually collide because of their gravity drawing them together?" Knives repeated as Vash entered. Giving a very certain look, Vash nodded and wisely stayed out of their conversation.
"Naturally," Glory was saying. "Of course, it's still eventually. Most likely one will evolve into a white dwarf first. Then they'll just be pulling at one another, and the closer they get, the stronger the pull will be."
"And when they collide?" Knives asked.
"Well, then, it'll boom," Glory said and tilted her head left to see her brother. "A huge explosion. The planets circling will all be pushed away at the resulting blast and thrown off into space. Everything on the planets will freeze and die, and the atmospheres will probably be incinerated by the heat released at such a explosion of heat and fire. Likely, the closest planets will become ash as well."
"And what of the moons?"
"They'll go the farthest, being the lightest and easiest to get moving. Eventually all the planets and moons will create a chain reaction that will likely demolish everything they will come across and create asteroids that will rain down upon other planets and stars and create total and complete anarchy for the beings that inhabit those particular planets."
"That's quite a sentence," Vash added.
Knives shot him a look and turned back to Glory. "All because the suns have such gravity and are drawing closer to each other every day?"
Glory nodded and sighed as she sat up. "Every action has an equal reaction," she went on. "Sex becomes children, gas becomes stars, fire becomes ash, water becomes clouds. It's inevitable."
"That's more of a reaction than action, however," Knives replied, hoping to keep her going on this. He knew this wasn't true, but it was the first thing that came to mind, and it had the desired effect.
"But it is," Glory argued. "The explosion sends the planets spinning away. That's the first action and reaction. Planets colliding and raining down asteroids is a second and completely independent action and reaction. The third is the asteroids smashing into the other planets and the resulting anarchy of the beings. There's a million more within those, if you wish to keep this up," she offered. There was a strength in her eyes that dared Knives to continue.
Knives was nearly smiling. This conversation was causing her to return to herself, as she was doing more and more since they came to the city that they were now leaving. Further distance from the town they were at before and she should likely get even better. But it was still necessary to keep up these conversations, to remind her of who she was and not who was left behind.
He lifted his hands defensively. "I believe you can trump anything I say. Perhaps, though, you'd like to educate Vash on this subject?" he asked, looking at said person.
Vash copied the raised-hands pose. "I'd prefer not to get myself into this mess."
"What mess?" Glory asked, and then promptly laid down and turned her back to her brothers, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. "Where are we going?"
"December for a while," Vash informed her. "Milly and Meryl work there; did you know that?"
"I know everything you don't," she said, but it was fairly obvious she wasn't talking to Vash or Knives. "I wanna ride on a merry-go-round. But they don't exist anymore. What do you care?" All this was muttered annoyedly, even angrily. One could swear she not only heard voices and communed with them, but repeated what they were saying.
As they often did recently, the twins shared a worried look. Eventually Vash left for a shower as he'd intended in the first place, and Knives laid next to Glory, hoping that close quarters would help a bit. It usually did, but sometimes it just made things worse. It seemed it was one of those days when it helped, for Glory rolled slightly towards him, smile in place.
"Do you feel them?" she asked, although it was anyone's guess if she expected an answer.
"Who?" Knives asked.
"The souls. They float around in here. I can't hear them or see them, but I can feel them." She looked at him. "A lot of them don't like you."
Knives gave a shrug. "I tried to kill them all; their dislike is justified." He stared absently at the ceiling. "And do they communicate with you?"
"They try," Glory responded and looked up at the ceiling herself, small smile still showing. "I think one's trying to give us a warning of some sort. But another one's trying to shut it up. And another just wants attention." She sighed, eyes shutting and smile leaving. "They all want attention."
Knives looked sharply over at Glory, recognizing this mood. In five seconds she would turn away from him. . .
Glory rolled away again, facing the wall.
And then she'd start muttering. . .
"Stupid souls," she murmured, annoyed. "Blasted -"
And not too long and she'd be asleep.
She sighed and shut her eyes, still murmuring random bits of information and listing off her pet peeves.
And then she'd begin crying again. It always tore at him, mainly for the fact that he couldn't help her in this state. She had to find her own mind and take care of its problems; face her own fears and all that. Vash had already tried several times, but he had Meryl help him when he began teetering the edge of insanity himself. Truthfully, what he went through - his pain and grief - it was nothing compared to what Glory was going through.
And Knives himself had caused Vash's pain and trip through insanity. Indirectly, but it was his order. Although in hindsight it was a horrible move and he regretted it, he never thought about how to fix such a situation. And now he couldn't help Glory much other than to talk to her and try to comfort her when she slept. She'd given up eating except when she was ordered to; she really didn't do much of anything except when ordered.
And she only listened to her brothers. There the list ended. Not Meryl, pregnant Milly, Nicholas who owes her his very life - none of them.
She was asleep. This time the tears began silently, face pinched in fear and lip trembling. Knives sat up slightly and then leaned against her, left hand slowly and softly rubbing her arm. "Glory," he whispered, quietly as he could and still be audible. Saying her name alone tended to help, if only slightly. "Glory. Glory."
She whimpered in her sleep, expression growing more intense. She gave a harsh sob, but then paused, tears halting. She whimpered again and then said, "No!" and then she buried her face in the pillow, crying hard and loud. Her left hand gripped the pillow tightly and muscles stood out along her arm as she held on for dear life. With a wince Knives leaned forward more, resting against her because he knew it helped.
He heard cloth tear and knew she ripped the pillow. She did that a lot, so often nobody paid too great attention to it. He listened more alertly to her, in case there was break in her sobs or if she spoke in her sleep. Both were rare; her pain almost never rested, and she hardly ever voiced what she was seeing.
But this time was special, it seemed. She did speak. She said his name.
At first it was so quiet and hushed that Knives couldn't be sure he heard anything. But that caught his attention and he lifted his head, watching the back of hers seeing as how her face was still in the pillow. This time he knew it when she whimpered his name, and found himself gripping her arm.
"Glory," he said, lowering his head nearer to hers. "What do you see?"
She shook her head. "Knives. . ."
"I'm here; what do you see?" he tried again, catching a spark in Vash's mind. Apparently she'd alerted him too, somehow or another.
But she shook her head a second time and yanked at the pillow, eventually throwing it at the foot of the bed without lifting her head. So it was going to be one of these times - when she tore at everything she could grab. Knives still had a bruise from the last time, when she'd grabbed him and yanked and even twisted.
"What are you waiting for?" Knives said this time, hoping a different, seemingly random question would get her.
"Knives," she said again. "Vash. . .Hurts. . ."
"Glory!" he hissed. "Are you waiting for something? For someone?"
She writhed, stretching against the bed and facing more downward, away from him. The water shut off in the shower. "No. . .yes. . .h-help. . ."
"I'm still here," Knives told her, sitting up and trying to coax her onto her back. "You're waiting for someone?"
"Need. . .help," she said, resisting his tugging.
"Who's help?" he asked.
She shook her head and jerked sharply away from him, tears coming harder and devoting herself entirely to crying for the time being.
No, Knives thought, asking more questions. If you shut up now I'll never get you out again. Talk to me, damn it!
It didn't take long for Vash to come out, dressed except for his boots and the fact that his shirt was unbuttoned mostly. He was drying his hair, and watched Knives carefully. "She's talking?" he asked.
"For now," Knives replied. "What do you need, Glory?"
"Help," she said, the word almost torn from her throat in between great sobs.
"Who's help? I'm here. Do you need me?"
"Help. . .from - No," she said, shaking her head again. She tried to roll away again, but Knives held his grip. If he couldn't get her on her back, then she'd stay on her side. She whimpered and struggled half-heartedly against Knives' grip. "But - no - run - have to - can't. . .stop!" she said, last, and wrenched herself away from Knives, left hand balled and slamming into the metal hull, making a loud clang ring out.
Both brothers jumped a the sudden noise, and then both were trying to restrain Glory as she fought against someone in her dream. She shouted at them as well, but after a few minutes of struggles, she stopped entirely and simply cried. Another worried glance passed between the twins and they eased up slowly, making sure Glory wasn't going to thrash out again. When they were satisfied she was going to stay generally unmoving until she woke, Vash left to fill in what had happened to the rest of their little group.
As usual, Knives stayed and thought over the latest developments. One might think of her words as a consecutive thought, but he knew better. When she shouted, words broken and spoken fast, he knew she was jumping from subject o subject, catching a glance of one part of her mind and turning to find a different part and letting out a word or two for each. It was incredibly difficult to keep up with, and harder still to categorize and discern. But he was the Big Brother, the smartest and most civilized of them, and he would find out what she meant. Even if it meant his death.
When dealing with Glory, it might very well be.
Captain
"Have you discovered the cause of that clang?" he asked a young man who had gone to investigate.
He nodded. "I believe it was one of the passengers, sir. Sounded like a woman who was having a nightmare. I checked the numbers and it's listed that a female in that cabin is slightly insane."
"Slightly?" the captain repeated. "What type of insane? Is she dangerous to us?"
"Negative, sir," the young man replied. "She's not legally insane. It says here that she dealt with a powerful mental disturbance and is still recovering. She's not dangerous - not that they listed. She just cries in her sleep and speaks in riddles. Her emotions change easily and without warning."
"So my ship, my crew and my passengers are all safe?"
"Correct, sir," the man replied and saluted him.
"Dismissed," the captain told the young man, who quickly disappeared. Once gone the captain returned his gaze out over the sand before them. He was in the control room, with five other men, each with a separate job to do. Ever since they shoved off, he knew something bad was going to happen, but hopefully, not very soon. It was a relief that it would not be by an insane woman with an unstable mind and emotions. Very good, actually.
But he just knew something bad was going to happen. There was no such thing as a sand steamer trip without a problem, although usually it was a simple glitch or broken wire that needed a few minutes to fix. Only twice over his career was it anything more serious than that. He was glad of that.
Glory
Her eyes shot open and she sat up sharply, blinking a few previously unshed tears down her cheeks. Knives was - as always - alerted instantly when she awoke, and within seconds he was nearby, watching almost discretely in case she needed something. Breathing calmed for the time being, she looked blankly in front of her. After a short while her vision unfocused and her hearing began buzzing, and then she heard what she was listening for - the antsy spirit that tended to follow her.
It was often hard to understand what it meant, but this time, the message was clear.
"Fear. . .pain. . .beware. . .soon, very. . .dozens. . .want. . ."
Okay, so perhaps a regular person wouldn't understand at all. But Glory was used to such broken and odd messages, and spirits tended to stick with one subject at a time. Glory repeated what she'd heard slowly, and blinked to get her vision back and then looked over at Knives.
"What?" he said, looking more or less shocked.
"Fear, pain, beware, soon, very, dozens, want," she repeated.
"Why did you say this?" he asked, still shocked and unmoving.
"Spirit said it," she explained. "It follows me, warns me. I can hear it now."
"It's been there all along?"
"Yes," Glory said, and then stood up, stretching her muscles. "Vash?" she asked.
"Still with Meryl," Knives replied, slowly coming out of his stupor. "That message - what do you think it means?"
"Warning," Glory told him. "Fear and pain to come, beware it - very soon. Dozens want. . ."
Knives' eyes seemed to spark. "Bandits?" he asked.
"Dozens," Glory replied. "Soon. Very soon. Pain."
Knives was already speaking with Vash mentally, informing him of everything Glory said. And as Knives thought, Vash agreed that it would probably be bandits.
"Now! Hide!"
Obeying, Glory dashed into the bathroom and climbed up in the vent after shutting the door. She conveyed the message mentally to her brothers and heard Knives come in.
"Glory!" he said, reaching up to grab her ankle.
"Hide," she repeated. "They're here, hide!" she urged.
It was already too late. The door crashed open and Knives quickly replaced the vent's screen, telling Glory not to move yet. He exited the bathroom and shouted at the trespassers, and then Glory plugged her ears, curled up and counted in her head, until she reached five hundred. Well, with how she jumped between numbers, it was probably more than that, or still possibly less. Either way, she finally got down and glanced around the room.
No one was here.
"Knives? Vash?"
"Caught."
"Caught. . ."
And so ends chapter thirteen. As I have said in Trans. . .I hate this number!!! It's just one of those 'bad luck' things!! Everyone has one, but damn, why does mine have to be thirteen??!!!!
Damn it all.
Date: May sixteenth. Time: 6:04 am.
Thank you.
DL
