Selenity owns Fire Blossom, Frank, and Annabellina. Nyneve owns Saxen Maverick and Moksha.

Chapter Thirteen:

Prayers. Vyasa. Eyes.

"This is so incredibly lame."

"SHHH!!!"

Duo ducked as Effie threw yet another couch cushion at him. The pair, along with Tabby and a mildly distracted Dru, was experiencing a rare moment of peace watching a movie in what served as their rec room. Much to the only male's dismay, the girls had agreed on a romantic comedy as opposed to a gory war movie. Thus, the past thirty-seven and a half minutes were spent partially watching the movie, and partially yelling at Duo to stop interrupting with his inane comments.

"Oh come on. Tabs, you can't seriously be liking this!" he appealed.

The blond shot him a dangerous look. "Don't press your luck, Death-boy."

"Dru?" Duo ventured.

But the vampire didn't answer, for she appeared to be far too busy humming to herself and dancing with Miss Edith. The braided boy sighed and leaned back on the couch, rubbing his temples.

Effie smiled and patted his head. "Good boy. Now be quiet and you can pick the next movie, okay?"

"Fine."

The silence lasted about five minutes before he raised an eyebrow at the screen. "Damn…that slut…"

Effie and Tabby looked at each other, then glared at him.

"OUT!!!!" they yelled in unison, pelting him with a hail of popcorn.

Laughing, Duo darted out of the room and into the hallway. The door slid shut behind him and locked. He sighed and wondered what had become of Maverick and Van Helsing. Putting his hands in his pockets, he wandered down the long hallway, stopping in the galley to make himself a sandwich, then continued on his way.

A while later, he found a large room with a padded floor and a strange painting on the wall. Large candles were scattered sporadically around the area, giving an eerie, flickering light to the area. Sitting in the middle of the room in a lotus position with her arms extended out to each side was Saxen. About six or seven feet to her right, Moksha sat erect near a cluster of candles, his eyes on Duo.

He ignored them and looked at the painting on the wall. It depicted a dark skinned female with a gray-streaked ebony braid. She had three eyes and three arms, all held up with the hands making strange symbols. The soldier opened his mouth to say something, but paused when he heard Saxen murmuring something softly to herself.

"…And please continue to give me strength as I search for Your lost son. I ask You to bless Your handmaiden Ariens and keep her well. I also ask you to hold my Aditya in your arms and guide him on his path to Nirvana," she paused and looked at the wolf, smiling slightly. "Protect our Friend and Guardian Moksha as he protects us, and—"

"So…do you always talk to yourself while you do yoga?" Duo asked, cutting in.

Saxen glanced backwards at him. "It's not yoga. It's prayer."

"Really. Prayer for…?"

"What are prayers for, Duo?" she closed her eyes and finished. "And this I pray in Your Eternal Name, Vyasa." She rose simultaneously as Moksha did, then turned to face Duo, eyeing him critically.

"What?"

"What was it that you wanted?" Saxen asked.

He shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Effie kicked me out."

"My heart bleeds," she rolled her eyes and Moksha let out a jovial bark. Duo glared at the wolf and followed her out of the room down the hall.

"What was that place?"

"A prayer hall. Washu must have built it knowing I would like to pray to my Goddess while on this damned mission."

"Your Goddess?" he asked.

"Yes. Vyasa."

"Vyasa. Uh-huh. What was with the three eyes?"

Saxen rounded a corner and started down the corridor to her cabin. "She watches all. One eye sees the Past, one the Present, and one the Future."

"And the three arms?" Duo pressed on.

"One to Hold, one to Heal, and one to Hurt," she paused and glanced back at him. "As a Christian, you may find my practices strange, but yours are strange to me as well. But I was raised in the Hand of Vyasa, my Goddess and Keeper," Saxen explained. "And Moksha's as well."

"But.." Duo frowned. "What about Washu?"

"Washu is the being I am unfortunate enough to be employed by. But she is not my Goddess. I do not worship her," Maverick replied.

"Employed? What's she paying you?"

Her fist clenched. "Something very precious to me that I've been looking for."

"Her son?"

Saxen's head shot back. "Whose son?"

"When you were praying, you asked your goddess for strength to find Her son," he answered.

"Oh…yes. Yes, I've been searching for a very long time, and little by little, Vyasa and Moksha show me the way," she answered.

"You talk about the wolf like he's a god too," Duo paused and looked at Moksha. "He's not, is he?"

"No. But Gaganite wolves are different from wolves elsewhere. They are not gods, but they are akin to them. That is why they must be treated with respect," she paused and put a hand on Moksha's head. "I am truly blessed that Moksha consented to be my partner and Guardian."

"Hm…you know, I wonder," Duo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "If we're supposed to be gods now, you think I'll ever meet this Vyasa of yours?"

She paused, then sighed and straightened. "Don't forget, Duo. You are a god. Effie and I are still only mortals. Our lifetimes are miniscule fractions of the eternity of yours. Whose to say what you will do between now and eternity?"

He froze. Mortals. Saxen was mortal, and even more importantly, Effie was. And he was going to live forever. He wasn't so sure if he liked that idea. But he sure as hell wasn't going to let a depressing one-eyed woman bounty hunter on a holy mission know that.

"Good point," he answered. "But…if I ever do, I'll be sure to put in a good word for you."

"It's appreciated."

There was no cynicism or sarcasm to Maverick's remark. It was the first sincere thing she had ever said to him.

"And Duo?" she hesitated. "I'll put a good word in for you too. Next time I pray."

He smiled slightly. "Thanks…I guess. It doesn't involve any sacrifices, does it?"

"Vyasa only takes the blood of Her enemies."

"Okay, good."

Saxen was about to walk down the corridor to her cabin when Duo suddenly remembered something. "Hey, Maverick? Could you do me a favor?"

"Depends. What is it?" she asked.

"Make up with Van Helsing."

An eyebrow rose. "That's not any of your business, Duo."

"Oh, come on, Sax. Have a heart."

"Don't call me Sax."

Duo sighed. This was going to be difficult. "Look, I talked with the big guy! I know he didn't mean to get all pissy at you, and—"

"I don't care! As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to discuss, and even less than that to forgive," she snapped.

"Good! Go tell him that!" Duo replied cheerfully, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her with remarkable force to the vampire slayer's cabin.

"What? Maxwell!" Saxen growled, but the grip on her tightened. She frowned. How could the boy be so strong? The answer came in three words.

God. Of. Death.

With one hand still gripping her bicep, Duo knocked on the door to Van Helsing's cabin, which slid open smoothly.

"Yo Van!" the boy grinned, poking his head inside. But the man was nowhere to be seen.

Maverick glared at the death god. "There, are you happy? He's not here. Now let go of me!"

"Hm…that's weird. Where could he…"

"Duo, what are you doing?"

The two spun around to see a perplexed Van Helsing staring at them. Saxen sighed, closed her eyes, and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her free hand. Duo laughed slightly.

"Hey, I brought you something," he answered, releasing her and giving her a little shove towards him.

"Duo…" Van Helsing continued to stare at him.

"Yeah, well, see ya. I'll leave you two to settle this yourselves. Later!" With that, he turned and darted down the corridor.

The two looked at each other, noticing the awkward silence. Finally, the tall man broke it.

"So…do you want to come in?"

Saxen hesitated, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

When they stepped inside, the first thing she noticed was that the walls were made of stone and completely blank. The light came from a medium sized fire that crackled and sprang to life on its own in the fireplace across from the antiquated bed. An oddly hi-tech looking crossbow hung on the wall and a few pistols sat on the small table in the corner.

"Van Helsing?" she turned to look at him.

"Hm?"

"Was your…was your room like this when you found it?" Maverick asked.

The God of the Hunt nodded. "Washu must have done it."

She nodded in agreement. "Yes…my cabin was an example of something from my home as well. And Effie's was customized to her too. There was even a prayer hall built."

"I think that Washu knows more than she lets on," Van Helsing commented.

"Really? What gave you that idea?" Saxen asked cynically.

The slayer glared at her, and something clenched around her heart. Duo was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She needed to make peace with Van Helsing before she went and started another fight with him. Swallowing her pride, she leaned against the wall.

"I'm sorry. That remark was uncalled for," she said quietly.

He blinked in surprise. "You're apologizing?"

"Yeah. For this and for the other day. You're right. I can be a bitch sometimes. Most of the time, actually. And I was really overstepping the limits when I pried into your past like that. I had no right to do that," Maverick answered.

Van Helsing looked at her. "It's…it's nothing. Don't worry about it. I just…I don't want to talk about that anymore. But…I'm sorry too."

Now it was her turn to be surprised. "For what?"

"I have no idea. But…" he smiled slightly. "I just feel like I should apologize too."

Saxen let out a little chuckle. "Hey…if you want, you can ask me a question about my past. Not sure I'll answer it, but I'll try. Just to make it up to you."

"You want me to ask you a question?"

"If you'd like."

He rubbed his chin and eyed her thoughtfully. As he scanned her face for any sign of her trademark cynicism, his eyes rested on the patch that covered the upper right hand corner of her handsome face.

"Okay…how'd you lose your eye?" he asked.

"What, this?" she pointed to the patch, and shrugged. "My first fight with a bounty. I took her gun, but she had a knife. Right across the face. But…I never said I lost the eye."

"Then why do you wear the patch?" Van Helsing pressed on.

"Because it's damaged and I can't see well out of it. It throws off my depth and color perception," Saxen paused. "Would you like to see it?"

Thinking a moment, he nodded.

Shrugging again, the woman reached within the smooth flow of maroon hair and undid the strap holding the patch over her eye. As it fell, Van Helsing's heart skipped a beat.

There was no eyelid to the eye. That was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was that it was blood red, the entire eyeball. Except for a brownish diagonal slit that followed the maroon scar cutting through her sturdily arched eyebrow and running across her nose. There was no pupil, so he could not tell where the eye was looking. An ugly violet border rimmed the socket, making the round ruby stand out against her bronze face even more.

They were silent for a while before Saxen replaced the patch over it.

"It's a reminder to me," she explained. "That I can't let my guard down when I'm doing my job. Ever. And…" Maverick paused and smiled slightly. "It also clears up the problems of dating. Eyes like that aren't exactly a feature men look for in a woman, are they?"

He didn't answer.

Letting out another little chuckle, she raised her hand in farewell and turned to leave. But as she walked out she heard Van Helsing call out her name and felt his hand grip her shoulder. She stopped and didn't look back at him.

The slayer remained silent, but squeezed her shoulder gently, then let her go. Unsure of what to do, Saxen continued out the door.