Dusk had settled like a dirty cover of night as the struggling day gave into the dark. The girls waited inside the house. Maria's instinct told her to run. Smelling fear was a lot like smelling blood in away. It was pleasing, but terrifying knowing that what comes with fear and blood, comes death.
"Milly, Meryl, you should leave…It's not safe. I don't want you two to get hurt because of me. I've already done enough to you guys already. I shouldn't harm you any more." Milly gave a huge smile as she hoisted up her stun gun.
"Nonsense, and beside, you might need to fire this thing, so some one has to do it, just in case." Maria turned to Meryl.
"Well, you can go then, right?" Milly nodded.
"Oh, yeah, and leave her here alone with them. They probably get her drunk and start playing strip poker again." Maria's eyes widen in shock.
"It that true?" Milly's face went bright red as Meryl laugh.
"Uh, girls, you should be quiet in there, there's some one coming." Together they peeked through the curtains. Some one was coming. He didn't wear the Shepard's robes that Abel did, but they looked quite similar.
"Kain…Vash, that isn't Abel. That's Kain, his brother. He can't fight too well, but he is the brain to Abel's bronzes." Maria shouted through the window plane. She then had to duck as the window shattered.
"I told Abel she would turn tail if left on her own." Wolf Wood pulled off the strap of his cross to revile his gun.
"Stop referring to her like she's an animal!" Kain smirked.
"But that's what humans are, just worthless animals, including myself and my brother. We are just animals to be slaughtered and sacrificed." Maria stomach knotted. Slaughtered was not one of her favorite words. Her eyes went to Milly for comfort. If I'm going to die, I want to see her happy…I want to be happy, just like her.
"Figures he wouldn't show in person, I thought it was the Shepard job to return the sheep." Wolf Wood looked very smug with his comment.
"I'm not a Shepard. I am the alter boy and after that, I'm the one who does the offerings. She had her chance to come back to the fold. We can't let a wolf live!" He fired a round of shots. All hit harmlessly next to the men.
"He can't see with out his glasses. Don't let him put them on. He hates his glasses though, so it's just a last resort." Maria gave a swift glance to Kain's pocket. "Other then that, he prefers luck to accuracy, but he's quick, and if he corners you. Consider yourself a dead man." Vash waved to Maria.
"Thanks Miss Ash Wood. You're a big help!" He smiled and ducked as another round was fired.
"Can't we just shoot him? He doesn't seem to be putting up a fight." Vash gave Wolf Wood a cold stare. Kain had a wicked grin on his face and dashed up to Vash's side.
"Sorry kid, I can see you now." He fired as Vash dived to the ground.
"That was close!" Vash cried as he covered his ears.
"Get up you baby! He's coming again!" Kain kicked Vash over.
"You shouldn't be worried about him, you're the one I want to kill. I've been wanting to kill you for a long time now, Nicholas D. Wolf Wood!" He fired at his feet. "Damn my poor eye sight. Where are my glasses? I should really wear them more often. I'm getting old really quick." He fumbled in his breast pocket. "Where are those damn things anyways?" He patted himself over.
"Looking for these?" Vash held up a pair of glasses.
"I'll be damned, you are a quick one. I should give you credit." He dropped his gun and held his hands high.
"You've out run me again, little wolf. I really wanted you dead but not at the cost of my own life. I'm too old to die like this." He looked faded inside and out.
"Dogs like you should be put down." Wolf Wood yelled as he aimed his gun.
"That's enough Wolf Wood. Well, now that we won, will you let Maria go?" Kain fell to his knees.
"I'm sorry, that really isn't up to me, ask Master Legato once he's through with her."
Maria's body froze. It no longer felt like her own body but a toy being pulled at the end of a string. Against her will, she leapt out of the broken window. Landing awkwardly on her knees, she started to walk toward them in a crawling pace. She couldn't find the strength to lift her head. As she walked, her head bobbed side to side. She looked for words. Yes, she could still speak. She was relieved at the one ability left and shouted.
"What happening to me?" Something was holding her back. She wished she could turn to look.
"Maria! Don't go out there! You're going to go get yourself killed!" Maria heart felt like breaking.
"Don't worry Milly, I'll be just fine. Mr. Vash wont let anything happen to me." Her words faltered as her body made another hard jerk toward Kain. Her left hand went for her dagger. She looked at it with large eyes.
"What are you going to make me do with this?" Her hand trembled. Kain watched her closely, a thin smile forming on his lips.
"That's right Maria. Kill him. Kill him!" Him could be anyone, she said to the force pulling her. Today, I want him to be Kain. If I have to kill some one, I want to kill Kain. She stood still. The drawing force had left her body.
"Now kill him, Maria." Kain shouted.
"Gladly." She said as she plunged the dagger into his heart.
"Well, that's my third kill this week. I guess I'm all done." Her eyes shone with hatred and pure fire.
"Master Legato…Why did you make her…?" He clutched at his wound.
"She has free will. I gave her a choice." Maria licked the blood clean. It tasted just like it smelled; of life and death.
"Master Legato…" Kain reached out toward Vash.
"Young man, can I have my glasses? I want to see her before we die." Vash placed the glasses on his head.
"Now it's your turn, Maria. Turn it on yourself." She looked tired and worn out.
"Why would I do that, old man?" Her eyes were blank.
"Because I tell you too." Her hand wavered.
"What's going on?" She watched as the end pointed to her own heart. Kain thin smile widen it to a toothy grin.
"Didn't you know that to kill is a sin? Now you have to die…" Legato's voice spoke upon the wind, yet he wasn't in sight.
"I don't want to die!" She focused her energy at the control hand.
"You've said that before. I guess you were too careless to live." He pulled harder on her arm. She looked to her dead arm. It was no use; it wouldn't come to life just to defend her.
"Make it stop! Please! Please, Brother, make it stop, now!" She closed her eyes as the edge pierced her skin. Something touched her hand lightly while another presence held her shoulder.
"Don't worry, Sister. I wont let this happen again. Hold her down Milly." He tried to pull the dagger away. Her body jerked violently but Milly's hold was true.
"When you first called me brother, I was surprised. I didn't know anyone knew I had a sister. I just assumed her to be dead. I should have come back for you." He ruffled her hair with his other hand as he continued to pull.
"I knew it! They really are related!" Vash yelled proudly. Meryl push Vash toward Wolf Wood.
"Don't just stand there, help him!" Vash laid his hand upon Wolf Wood's while Meryl backed up Milly. Her hold on the dagger began to slip. She relaxed as she regained control of her own body.
"I'm ok…" She looked exhausted. I'm ok now. I found my brother. Her head rested on his shoulders. "Brother…is Milly going to be my sister someday?" He patted her head and looked at Milly.
"I'd have to be crazy first." Milly glared at him.
"That's not very nice Mr. Wolf Wood!" She laughed in her attempt to keep a straight face. Vash was crying in his usual happy way and Meryl only looked thoughtful. This is my family now, she thought as she laughed along with Milly.
"So you're leaving now." She looked down at her feet when he spoke.
"I know we just barely found each other, but I have job to do. I promised the church of December that I would hand out all these fliers, and you have your job too. We'll meet up at December when we're all done, ok? The children are waiting, I don't want to let them down." He handed her a smoke.
"You'll need this if you're going to put up with them." She snapped it in two.
"You should really quit smoking, it would make Milly so happy." He reached out for her right hand. He removed one of his crosses on his sleeves. He tied it to her palm and closed her fingers around it. Amazingly, they stayed closed around the cross.
"May God's angels be with you." She smiled sweetly, a copy much like the one Milly would always flash.
"Yeah, that's what they all say. Take care, Brother Wolf Wood." She waved and turned away. She could feel hot tears run down her face. They were mixed tears, some of joy, some of sorrow. "Tell Milly I'll come and visit her and Meryl and Vash too!" She kept waving, but never looked back.
You can never tell how time passes from day to day for happy people, and distraught people. Time slows and speeds at it's own pace. I cannot tell you how much time passed, but I can tell you time did in fact, pass, like always. (AN: But wouldn't it be cool if time suddenly stopped? Think of the panic! Think of the mayhem! Think of the fun!)
"Sister Maria, there is some one waiting for you." The priest said as he showed in a robed man. "I asked if he knew you and he said he knew you all too well, so I let him in, I hope you don't mind." Abel smiled as Maria went pale.
"Yes, Sir, I know this man. Thank you for showing him in. Tell the children I'll be right out, ok?" He bowed his head and closed the door behind him.
"Wow, you get lots of respect here, don't you?" She nodded.
"I'm the first person to officially come back from my mission alive. I had no idea the service was so dangerous, but I enjoyed ever minute of it. The priest said member numbers have nearly doubled. I'm happy that I can help so many people." He nodded almost reverently himself. He seemed rather subdued then usual. Age had worn many lines into his face and he stood bent and feeble. "Please sit down. You look like you need rest. We have guest rooms down the hall if you feel like it." He did not move. He just swayed from side to side in a dizzying waltz.
"So, this is what I was trying to beat out of you, the kindness and compassion that make humans so weak, but so unique, and so special. I'm here to…ask for forgiveness, Maria Wolf Wood. But it is all with a heavy heart, you killed my brother, and that I still look upon and ask why I made such a little girl do such horrible things. Knives isn't what I thought he was. He's going to kill us all, when he gets the chance…I didn't want to die with so many thoughts." He then took the chair she offered him. "Maria, you have to do some thing about Knives. He's hell bent on killing us all!" He was begging her, she thought. It didn't look right, the one she was always begging to was now begging to her.
"I'm sorry, but I promised my brother that when I returned to December that I would never go out for revenge." His hands knotted around his crook that now he used as a cane.
"That's why I'm here. I have news. Nicholas D. Wolf Wood is dead. Chapel the EverGreen killed him. He works for Master…former Master Legato…who works for Knives. I'm sorry…I really am sorry." His knuckles were turning white from the hard grip on his crook.
"Be at peace, give me the location of Chapel. Then rest, ok?" He looked up, his eyes feverish. He handed her a piece of paper.
"He's here…right here…I drew this for you. I thought it would help…" He laid his head on his hands. "I'm too old, or I would go with you." She looked at the paper. She knew this place too well to need a map.
"This is where the guild is." His voice sounded raspy.
"Yes, he took over right after Kain's death." She understood.
"Ave Maria is going to sing for one more performance." She picked up the frail man and placed him on her bed. Leaving the room, she went straight to the priest.
"Sir, I'm leaving. Please watch the kids. I'll try to be back. Watch after my guest. It's almost his time." She left with out a reply.
Maria walked to his desk without a word. Not bothering to face his opponent, he addressed her with callus.
"Coming to beg for forgiveness, Miss Ash Wood? Don't take it lightly, you did kill my best hunter…" He fell silent as the sound of a knife sunk deep into his desk.
"What was that, Sir? I couldn't hear you…and that's Wolf Wood now, didn't you know?" He gripped the arm of his chair but refused to turn around to look at her.
"Maria, you have so much to offer for our cause." She shook her head.
"Not our cause, your cause, even the other hunters are just your pawns, and you…Are just a puppet!" A second dagger imbedded it self into the desk.
"Yes little Maria, in the end, you were all just puppets…" The room fell quiet. Maria looked out the window that faced the west. It was always a beautiful sight. It was almost enough to make the beatings less painful. The setting sun, it was always the last thing she saw before she fell unconscious. Now, it would be the last thing she saw before she died.
"Tell me, what do you plan on doing after you finish this little vendetta of yours?" Her back stiffed. She did not expect that of this cold man.
" I'm going back to December. I will take care of the children like Wolf Wood did." She caught her breath, she could feel the approaching tears and the painful wail within her body, but she did not dare to cry, not like last time. "During my traveling, I met a lot of wonderful people. One of them was a woman who was so blissfully ignorant, that is could be considered repulsive. Not to me…not to me, this woman was just like me in every way. If I hadn't been raised to kill, I would have ended, just as happy and sweet as her. Yes, she had her hard times too, just recently, some one she loved died in the worst way. He died while making his first, and last, confession. Wolf Wood died and you killed him!"
Her third dagger shattered the glass of her beloved window. His grip loosen on his chair. With no weapon left, she was no longer a threat to his life, even if she was in the first place. Her hand was shaking; it was true that her first two daggers were deliberately aimed away from him, but this one had been a sure kill to the head. Her eyes widen in fear as the click of a gun being loaded. She was useless in a fight against a gun. The being in the chair stood up and faced Maria. A spasm of shock took hold of Maria. In a wave of nauseas, she fell to the floor, her back pressed hard to the wall. Although she never met this man, she could clearly hear Vash saying it as hateful as he did the day they met.
"Knives."
She fumbled with the name. Even with all her training to eliminate fear, she could not stop her trembling. The very presence of this man made her ill. Knives looked at her, mocking a sadness that wasn't possible for this vile creature to have.
" You had so much potential, little Maria." He held the gun level to her nose. Slowly she began to work through the mental layers of fear, praying that impulse and instinct would revile themselves to her. Her heart begged to die quickly, her mind yelled for revenge, and whatever remained of her soul, sung the only song she knew.
"Ave Maria…Listen to the maiden's prayer…" Knives looked puzzled as Maria sang the hymn her mother loved so. She opened her eyes in sudden realization that she had time to run. In a moment, she was up. She made a swift kick to his gun and sprinted to the window, not bothering to see in her blow disarmed him.
"I am not going to die like a cage beast! I will fly into the sunset!" She pulled on the cord in her hair that had always kept it in such a tight braid. She stood on the edge, her arm out stretch, embracing the fading day. Her dark eyes shone with true happiness, just like the day she met her brother, when she met Wolf Wood. She leapt to her brother's arms as the bullet followed her to death.
"What a waste of time, humans are." He kicked the body over the edge of the cliff. In Maria's right hand, the cross shone in the sun as she tumbled down the cliff side.
End