Disclaimer: Abandon all hope, ye who pass into this chapter.
Filiolus partum in suum imago. Quis est imago e malum deus?
Chapter 33: Unsanctified Vicissitude
The suns rose. Twice a turn ago, they rose upon a scene of merriment. Once a turn ago, they rose upon a scene of conflict. Now, they rose upon a scene of finality. As the mountain was lit, each and every bump, knoll, and even pebble was thrown into stark relief, their shadows extending onward as far as the eye could trace. In the brief moments of the rising lights, anything could take on an importance far beyond what it would achieve at any other time. However, there were only an elect few objects that truly stood out that morning. They stood, driven into the ground in rows, each one silently declaring a simple message.
"May thee who rest here, rest in peace."
It was hard work, and getting harder as the day wore on. Not the good kind of hard that made you sweaty and a bit smelly and all achy in the muscles, or the boring kind of hard that made you twitchy and prone to daydream, but a third kind. This kind of hard was making her tired, very tired, more tired that she could ever recall being. At least everyone had been so helpful- doing all the digging and placement before she got there, and filling in behind right away, not to mention all the drinks of water that let her keep speaking. It wasn't all that much, really, just a short verse, but she had to say it over and over again.
She also added in one thing extra. There was nothing that called for it, but with so little time and no idea who most of them were, she felt it was important. She would cry one tear and let it fall upon the body. That way, maybe they really would have a nice peaceful rest, knowing that there was at least one person who cared enough to miss them. That alone was really hard, but it was certainly worth the effort. Besides, she had no shortage of tears, and this was the last one. The drop fell, and she stood back while the nice men shoveled.
She just stood there for a moment, grappling with what to do next. The midday heat wasn't helping her think. She ought to go check on Lina, but she had already sent big big brother to look after her, and Roy was very good at talking to people, probably better than she was with this sort of thing. Mr. Vash would need someone to talk with, if only to let off a little steam. He had been so shaken up last night, for good reason- Mr. Knives had run off with Meryl and nobody had found out until it was much too late. And then there was that- Meryl was gone. Meryl had always made the decisions, sometimes with a little coaxing, but as long as Meryl was in charge a decision was always made. It was always so much easier to just follow along... Deciding on her own was so difficult. Especially when she was so tired.
As luck would have it, the past thirty odd hours finally caught up to her. A number of hands shot out to catch her, but proved unnecessary as the tip of the cross she bore thudded down first, then gently slipped her from the carry straps to the ground. The small group shifted uncertainly, not quite sure if they should touch her or not. One of the number, a lanky young man, whispered to another with a much similar face, though one well carved by the sand and time.
"Papa, what should we do? The bounty-"
The elder cuffed his son on the head. "Estupido niño! Do not dare mention that again! Did you see nothing for all the time we were here, or is your brain still bouncing around from when she rattled it? She is a blessing from the Almighty, and the only reason you can stand there and whine when you could of been stuck with the rest of the muertos! Now go fetch a tent from Jose, she should not be left in the sun."
The man hurried off to do as his papa bidded. The elder squatted down and looked her over, grinning with a few missing teeth and occasional shake of the head. She was a strange one. Yesterday, he had first seen her jumping down and striking faster than even the chupacabra of legend, taking out the entire Cortez clan in mere seconds. At first, he could not believe that not a one of the family had been lost in that exchange, but later events showed this as normal. He had seen and heard the terrible power of the Stampede from where he had been stuck to the ground, and had thought they would surely be struck down dead when they could not heed the command to go. That was when he had seen her again.
She had not been but ten yarz off, sometime during the battle circling back to where she had first left them. The nina that had taken down Valdez was still with her, protectively under an arm. She was looking up at the terrible power same as anyone else, but while the others ran, she stayed in place. At the time, it had been incomprehensible. Nobody could have been so calm, yet there she was while everyone else with working legs was putting them to use. Then there were gunshots from behind, and he had twisted around only to see death.
The men that had just run past were all lying on the ground, puddles of blood slowly growing around them. Just below them stood the killer- a she-demon. Oh, the body looked human, but the eyes... Even long gone, those eyes had a dark hold upon his soul. The thin vertical slits were fearful enough, but the way they regarded him... as if he was food... And the beast was heading his way. He had tried to bring up his rifle, but the goo that covered it just wouldn't stretch enough. Those horrid eyes had locked on his, then a pistol barrel came up, the trigger was squeezed- and the bullet was warded off by the holy symbol. She had come to his side and guarded him from that wicked thing, which backed down before the cross. It then jumped away, to where he did not know, but away from him and his family, which had been good enough.
In the sudden silence that came over the mountain, she had knelt beside him and apologized while removing the yellowed glop that stuck him in place. He had meekly followed her around as she helped the rest of his immobilized clan members. In all of his sixty three years, he had never seen anyone like her before. They had tried to kill her but minutes earlier, and yet she would not show the slightest sign of hate. From there, she had continued to show such a kind spirit it had moved him to tears. Tears! In a land so dry, even such slight a loss could be ill afforded, and yet she gave them freely for two days.
The young might not see such things well, but his eyes were not clouded by youthful ignorance. There was a bounty, true, and a large one at that, but to collect it would surely damn them all. He had sent some of the older and wiser of the clan to investigate during the night, and they had returned with a story much different from the one that had circled among the bounty hunters before. They had been fools, and blundered right into a battle of angels and demons that threatened to wipe the land clean. Had they known the truth of things, they would have stayed well enough away. However, it was too late for that. They had done wrong to good people, and for that amends must be made. Once she was properly shaded, he would confer with the two other clan elders- there was much to discuss.
Troubled sleep and troubled dreams, all for a very troubled outlaw. He had endured some tough nights before, but this latest one had taken the cake. It hadn't helped that the entire day prior had been spent sitting on his butt waiting for Gray to move his, but that was just how things were. Nearly everyone had moved off the mountain yesterday, once all the graves were finished. Of the handful that remained, he had politely but firmly shooed everyone off except for Rai-Dei. Even partly disarmed, Gray was a force to be reckoned with and he didn't want anyone around if it came to a fight. The only reason Rai-Dei got to stay was because he could actually handle the likes of Ninelives, and even a plant would have to sleep at some point.
Now it was just a little over two full days since Knives had run off with Meryl, and he was just getting more worried by the hour. Just what was bro up to? It didn't help that a short wait for them could be in the months range. Gray, unfortunately, appeared to be built for such waits. It had therefor caught him by surprise when the Ninelives creaked into motion around noon, just as he tied his umpteenth game of tic-tac-toe with the samurai. In the time it took for Rai-Dei to look up, he was already in front of Gray.
"So, ready to talk?"
The giant merely bent down and etched his information into the rock. A simple arrow and a number. The arrow pointed out towards the edge of the crash zone, and if that number was in iles he would need transportation. Gray straightened up, and he placed his hand on his gun, waiting to see the next move. Gray simply turned and slowly walked to the cliff edge. Then the giant took one more step, and toppled over the edge. No fanfare, no dramatic spin or stagger, just another ordinary step followed by a wuff of air. He froze in shock until a considerable crash a few seconds later jolted him into action. He ran to the edge and peered over, only to see what was left of Gray strewn around the bottom. He fell back on his rear and clutched his head. He had lost another... Okay, one ninth of another, but still, that was far from necessary...
He slowly got up. Knives had just sent him an invitation, and who was he to refuse? He took off at a run, nearly tumbling down the mountain in his haste, then actually tumbling after one rock gave way. He managed to recover on the roll, and slowed to a stop at the base. The small tent town that had been there was mostly gone, the scattered ruins already flat on the ground, ready to be buried by the first sandstorm to pass through. He ran through it to where he had seen some parked vehicles, but once he got there it was quite clear he wouldn't be going anywhere in those burned out shells. He finally spotted one that looked halfway workable, so he jumped in and tried to gun the engine. It coughed a few times, turned over, then died on him. Dammit, could just one thing go right for him?
He banged his head on the steering wheel and tried to collect himself. This was nothing major, he could just go to town and get one... or, come to think of it, just go get the transport that had ferried them over to the mountain in the first place. He moved to turn off the engine when he abruptly remembered that it had died. Odd... Why was the cab still shaking? He glanced around, only to spot the cause in a side view mirror. A sand steamer's lower hull was clearly visible and approaching fast in the region of the mirror that helpfully reminded him that objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. He only had a split second, so he did the logical thing- dive out the window and run away screaming. However, his dash proved unneeded as the steamer slowed to a stop and just lightly tapped the truck on the rear bumper, setting off the theft alarm. It squawked loudly until the steamer's bow braking anchor dropped on top of the truck, silencing it rather effectively. He stared up the hull as a hatch jiggled loose and a familiar face popped out.
"Hi Mr. Vash! Do you need a ride?"
"Milly? What are you doing up there?"
"Well, I was thinking that once you knew where Meryl was you'd be in a hurry, and Commander Julius says he's still under orders to hunt you down, so I mentioned that the whole hunting thing would be a lot easier if you were on board. Now hurry up and get on, we have to get Meryl!"
A chain ladder dropped down. This was crazy- the last thing he needed to bring was a bunch of humans, no matter how well meaning they might be. Knives wouldn't even be slowed down. Still, he did need a lift... And they would probably follow him anyway. He clambered up the ladder and through the hatch, only to find Milly next to Rai-Dei, who was already inside and waiting for him.
"You.. but I... How?"
"Don't be silly Mr. Vash, he just took the short way!"
He just sighed, then finally began to look around. There were two Cavalry soldiers peering out a gunnery slit to the left, and Roy was at another on the right. The ex-commander barked out an order that sounded suspiciously directed to him.
"Any of you see which way the Stampede went?"
"Nope!"
"Not a trace!"
"What about you, guy-in-the-really-dark-shadows?"
Milly giggled, and he swiveled his eyes back and forth between the three Cavalrymen's backs before hesitantly speaking. "Er, he's heading east by southeast?"
"Good work soldier!"
Roy reached up and popped the lid off a voicetube to shout the direction the Stampede had been "seen" taking off in. The steamer rumbled and began to move, slowly turning then picking up speed. The way ahead looked to be all dunes, which was good terrain for a steamer. Once they hit full speed, assuming there were no obstacles and this steamer was about as fast as a Humpback, they'd reach the position in roughly eight hours. Milly grabbed his arm and began to drag him off.
"Where are we going?"
She shushed him and whispered back. "We're stowaways, so we have to be really quiet."
"But weren't you just- nevermind."
Whatever was going on, he'd deal with. He just hoped they knew what they were getting themselves into. He needed to prepare to face Knives, so he let Milly take him to where they were stowing away- as things turned out, it was the arsenal. It was just what he needed- guns. Lots of guns. He began to sort through the stockpile while running various scenarios through his head. Knowing Knives, he needed to prepare for anything. A brief sound of steel against stone made him look up. Rai-Dei had his namesake out and was sharpening it, while Milly was crouched over her two sidearms. Neither looked happy. He turned back to his growing pile of sidearms- he could try, but telling them to stay would be wasted effort. Rai-Dei had taken it upon himself to protect whomever he wasn't around, and with the Blade's history, a failure was not taken lightly. He wouldn't stop until Meryl was back safely- honor left him little choice. As for Milly, well... Meryl was her friend, and that was that.
Nothing to do but prepare.
As the dust from the Archangel slowly settled, a tiny bit extra was kicked up by one pair of feet. This continued for a bit, but the dust all came down as the owner of said feet finally acknowledged that he had missed the steamer and wouldn't be catching up in this manner. He slowed to a stop and leaned on his knees to pant, then clutched at his side as a throbbing pain came up. He dropped his backpack and sat down to watch the steamer rumble off. "Damn, I'm out of shape."
Well, at least the apartment was paid up, and he could have the whole place to himself- or catch a bus heading towards Warrens City and get back to the shop. Then again, no matter what he did, he'd still be consumed with an itch to know just what the heck had gone on up there. From what he'd heard from the returning bounty hunters- of those that hadn't fled for the four corners of Gunsmoke -seven kinds of hell had broken loose up on the mountain. While that seemed rather doubtful, something major had gone down, and the graveyard that had appeared on the slope plainly told anyone that there had been a whole lot of death.
As he watched a large steamwagon in the distance move towards the path of the steamer, an engine came sputtering up behind him. Casting a glance back, he got quite an eyeful. A jeep was following along the sand steamer's tracks with another a ways behind it, and besides the occasional backfire it was perfectly normal. The people in it were not. He'd seen a fair share of oddballs in his day, but the three in the first jeep were pretty high in the rankings already. It was mostly due to the almost glowing bright white, pink, and yellow designs that covered them. Another good chunk was from the oversized crosses stashed beside each one. "Friends of Milly, maybe?"
In any case, the group sputtered to a halt next to him, and a slightly wrinkled old man with white swirls spoke. "Hola, Señior! If you are following the Stampede, be warned- he goes to hunt demons."
"Demons, huh? Sounds a bit farfetched to me."
"Then you were not there, señior. We have seen one of them with our own eyes. You would do well to turn back, or at least bring holy symbols like these to ward them off."
"Thanks, but what I could really use is a lift."
"Oh no señior, we cannot. Without the sacred protections, you would not live long, and with demons, your very soul is in danger. We of the Cortez clan would not willingly take anyone into such danger unprepared. Even if we could, we only have supplies for three. May you go with the Almighty's blessing, señior."
The jeep roared up and sped off. He'd heard and seen some loony superstitions, but never actually seen one quite so bright and obvious... and demons? Whatever had happened sure left an impression. If there was a next time, he'd have to get right in the thick of it, no more sitting back. He might be little more than a mediocre gunman, but the precision tooling of his Specials made up for a lot.
The next jeep rumbled to a stop, and he nearly did a double take at the lone occupant. The driver nearly looked like a female version of Vash, complete with red coat, yet lacking the spiked hair.
"Heading after the steamer?"
"More like heading after Vash."
"Great. I'll give you a ride if you'll just tell me what the hell is going on around here! I finally make it to town only to catch sight of someone who looked like Vash clambering onto the Cavalry steamer, a new graveyard, and more spooked bounty hunters than I could count on the way in!"
"I can't promise to know all the answers, but I do know that was Vash on the steamer."
"Then hop in already!"
He slung the backpack over the rear door before stepping in, only to get nearly knocked over when the driver floored it when he was only half in.
"Watch it woman, I'm not a spry lad anymore!"
"Well, you're in, aren't you? And start talking, I want to know everything that the Stampede's done recently."
"Well, uh..." He searched his head for anything that he was absolutely certain of, but that just pointed out how little he actually knew of recent goings-on. Well, he did know one thing for sure...
"He got married a little over a week ago."
She looked at him out of one eye for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Ha! I bet Meryl twisted his arm into that one."
"Nah, it was more like she totally floored him, and- hey, how do you know he married Meryl?"
"I could ask you much the same."
He clamped a hand over his mouth. "Geeze, way to go bigmouth..." However, the obvious soon made itself apparent.
"You know them too, don't you?"
She nodded an affirmative.
"Well, since you aren't carrying around more than that Winster Bowgun, I guess you must know him fairly well."
"Hardly, and I'm still waiting to hear just what happened up there."
He smiled sheepishly. "Well, once you catch up with the steamer, we can find out together."
The jeep honked loudly as she brought her head down on the steering column. He raised his eyebrows at the action, and his next words were echoed by her muttering.
"You really do know Vash."
Now it was his turn to laugh. They probably had quite a set of stories to swap, so there'd be no lack of comedy while they chased down old spiky.
Much later, and much farther ahead of the others following their track, the planet's only finished battlesteamer pulled alongside the stretched out wreckage of an original SEEDS ship. Barely visible in the dim twilight, one figure standing upon the bow frowned in puzzlement. They were at the right location, near as he could tell, but there was still no sign of Knives. If he was around, he should be able to at least sense his presence, but all he was detecting was one normal plant in the ship, the only one to survive the crash among all the plants and sleepers. Still, there was another sign that they were in the right place- a single opening in the ship's hull was spilling out ruddy light, despite the emergency lights only having a power reserve good for ten days of operation, let alone one hundred thirty plus years. Someone had been here recently.
Not in a mood to waste time, he vaulted the railing and slid down the hull before rushing to the opening, all senses working in overdrive to detect the slightest danger. The persistent negatives did little to sooth his nervousness. He peeked in, seeing the lights go off in one direction. Well, at least the path was laid out for him. Sprinting down corridors was the best option- with a good head of steam, he could outdistance pretty much any sprung trap before whatever could get over the inertial motionlessness that was key to a hidden trap. The continued lack of absolutely anything at all just stuck his nerves on an even higher alert.
Moving too fast to see or not, he was taking in his surroundings even faster, and thus didn't miss the coppery and rancid scents of blood and decayed flesh that emerged from a side room. He ducked in, and took in the place from the doorway. It was a bathroom, again recently occupied. A small set of basic supplies covered the counter, and next to the tub he could see a stack of armor plates. In the tub, however... He practically dived into the dark red, murky water and the barely visible shape within. He hauled the form out in an instant, then screamed when there was no head where there should have been one.
He toppled over backwards, dropping the form. It fell over the tub edge and deflated as the water spilled out. "Ah, not her, just her clothes..." The relatively benign truth of the empty survival suit did little to calm his throbbing heart. His face was probably pure white- thinking you had just found your beloved's headless corpse would do that, wouldn't it? He laughed nervously and picked himself up. The suit looked intact, so she must have been okay up to whenever it came off... Come to think of it, wouldn't this mean she was in the buff right now? Well, she could have his coat once he finished the dashing and gallant rescue, though it would get in the way of their private post-victory celebration... He started smacking himself. "Don't be like that now, be that way after you win."
Having finished knocking the sense back into himself and flushing out the endorphin storm, he picked up the pace again and sped on through the twisting path, taking out a few key lights on the way. While there may be well meaning help behind him, he would need to face Knives on his own. Milly and Rai-Dei might be good, but they were no match for Knives. Brother against brother, that's the sad truth on how it had to be. Suddenly, he rounded the last corner and burst into the plant chamber, with the ship's plant moving around her bulb. He dived into a roll, coming up alongside the bulb with his silver gun at the ready. He hastily scanned the cavernous room, but there was no sign of Knives, the Gung-ho Guns, or even some "Sorry we missed you" explosives. He holstered his gun and looked the place over again.
It was just an ordinary engineering room, aside from the scattered medical equipment brought in and arranged around the bulb. One detail caught his eye, and he moved to the surgical table as his heart leapt into his throat. There were several small splatters of blood on it, and the surgical instruments next to it were practically covered with the dried reddish stains. Worst of all were the restraining straps, slightly frayed and bloody. Whoever had been here certainly hadn't been willing. However, this all didn't answer the basic question of where everyone was, and by now he really didn't care about any of them save one.
He looked around yet again, for anything he might have missed. The plant angel was very upset and kept bumping into the glass on this side, as if it was trying to reach him... or get away from something on the other side. Glancing up, he spotted one cable that led off that way, and dashed around the bulb. There, hidden from view, was a hibernation capsule, fully powered and working. That meant only one thing- someone was in it. He peered in, but the interior of the glass has fogged over too much for him to see anything. His more unique senses could see through, and confirmed that there was someone in there but they couldn't tell him who it was.
There was only one way to find out, so he moved to the other side, where the capsule's controls were located. There was a note left on the switch that started the waking cycle, his name inscribed in computer-perfect lettering. It was clearly from Knives. He palmed the control while unfolding the note, leaning back on the tube to read.
Dear Brother,
I regret that I cannot meet you at this time, but there are urgent matters to attend to. Besides, anything said face to face would simply lead to another squabble between us, I regrettably see no other outcome. Our difference of opinion is simply too great. However, this is not an insurmountable obstacle between us. The entire debate will become moot once the humans are gone, so I've gone to hasten that day as much as possible. Personally, after seeing that wanton display of destruction and vile notions on the mountain, that day can't possibly come soon enough. It's an unfortunate nastiness that must be dealt with before we can create our Eden.
I am aware of how attached you get to those creatures, so against my better judgement I'll let you keep a few of them, even give you a month to gather your favorites. Simply keep them close to you and they won't be killed, though I must ask that you keep the number under fifty. That way, when some invariably try and run off, they won't be able to breed back up to a dangerous level. Indeed, you would be advised to have them all sterilized- the procedure is not very complicated for either sex, I'm sure you could do it yourself.
On the subject of excessive attachments, I left your prized pet in the hibernation capsule. Your irresponsible behavior necessitated that I step in. For the record, I still believe that using a human to pleasure yourself is disgusting, but once it dies of old age we can put it behind us. You've let it get far to close to you, in where you can't readily defend yourself, so I've made a few modifications that should make it safer for you while you indulge yourself. I imagine you'll be upset, but it's for your own good. You may even prefer some of the changes, though I found it to be in better than estimated condition. The lungs work exceptionally well.
I do have a favor to ask- that large one you keep around, called "Milly Thompson", has piqued my interest. There is something about its brain that prevents ready access and masks its presence, so whenever it dies I would like you to preserve the corpse for study. Live examination would be more informative, and it won't be fatal, so if you could let me borrow it for a time I would be most thankful. The full examination would take several months and may cause some lasting damage, so in exchange I'll offer to put the extermination on hold while the tests are being run. Do think it over.
Your Brother,
Millions Knives
Oh, and try and placate our sister in this ship, she has been most agitated ever since I began the operations and my efforts to calm her have met with little success.
"Damn it Knives, I really thought we were getting somewhere..." He sagged down to the floor, letting the hand holding the note splay across his knees while he dropped his head in the other. It appeared his wishes for Knives to change were just that- wishes. Bro hadn't changed one bit, and this time it looked like Knives didn't care what his own feelings were. Knives was done trying to persuade him to see humanity as a blight, and had simply moved on to the extermination stage alone. This time, he was completely at a loss as to what to do.
Even when Knives wanted to be found, it had still taken him years and a ton of not-so-subtle hints. If Knives simply wanted to avoid him, there was blasted little he could do about it. He could keep some people safe, but humanity was spread out over such a large area that there was no way he could save them all. Knives would simply strike where he wasn't, and gradually whittle away all the people. He did have a little time- one month until the towns began to disappear again. He could come up with something in that time. He had to.
The tube hissed as the pressure seal broke and the cover swung away. He glanced up from his spot on the floor, wondering if he dared look and see just what sort of "modifications" Knives had done. He remained frozen in place, conflicting urges of wanting to see her, yet not wanting to see what had been done to her warring in his mind. She coughed, and he was forced to move. He grasped the edge and swung himself up.
The first thing he saw were her eyes. Mostly lidded, they squinted up, reacclimating to a non-hibernation state. She gently rolled back and forth, slowly coming out of the chemically induced artificial sleep, but despite all the doom and gloom in Knives' letter, she looked... fine. From the top of her head to the tips of her toes and everywhere in between, she looked just fine- of course, tissue regenerators wouldn't leave telltale scars. She was actually very fine indeed, as his gaze lingered on certain spots. Wait a second, that didn't look quite as he remembered... An experimental grab confirmed his suspicion as everything wouldn't neatly fit in his hand anymore. A warning growl from his still sluggish wife made him withdraw the hand just as quickly. She began to blink in earnest and felt for the sides of the capsule, so he helped her sit up as she coughed again. Yeah, she was definitely bigger...
Forcing his gaze back up, he stared her in the eye until she stopped squinting and finally focused on him. He held his breath- this was the moment of truth.
She smiled at him.
He smiled back. "You had me worried."
She managed an "...orry.", coughed, then repeated herself properly. He clasped her hand. "Are you okay? What did Knives do to you?"
Her gaze slacked for a moment, and her other hand unsteadily came up to rub her abdomen. "I'm fine, but... I can't have children anymore."
"No children." He had always known that Knives was against it, but he never thought it would go this far. Not to mention the two of them had already decided, as a couple, that children simply wouldn't be a good idea for them. A seething rage towards Knives began to stir. "But damn it all, it's our choice, not his! He has no right to do this, any of this!"
She moved to get out of the tube, so he helped her to the floor. She took a step, and fell over. He caught and steadied her body, then draped his coat over her shoulders when he saw a shiver. "Careful, I read that these tubes can scramble your balance."
"It's not that. Knives did something... to both legs, both arms... I saw him. They feel so heavy."
He watched, mutely, as she as she struggled to cross the distance to the bulb without falling over again. Hibernation sickness was supposed to pass quickly, and she couldn't have been in there for long... As she slowly hobbled around the bulb, a fragment of Knives' letter ran through his head- ...make it safer for you.... Well, moving like that, she certainly wouldn't be a threat to anyone. Something began to bubble inside him, something he couldn't quite place. Something besides the cracking of his heart as he watched his once dynamic wife shuffle along, broken. He came up behind her and held her gently. "I'm sorry Meryl, I'm so sorry... This is all my fault..."
Her head shook and she turned around. "Don't be. I'm happy, really! Just being with you is enough..."
He couldn't have held back the tears with a dam. He nearly crushed her into his chest as they fell freely on her head. The something inside him was now boiling, urgently seeking release. His right arm twitched and shook. This was too much all at once. Meryl said something that was muffled in his chest, so he broke the embrace and smiled through the tears for her. She said it again.
It was the straw that broke the Toma's back.
At that moment, every plant in a six hundred ile radius went berserk.
Mr. Vash really should learn to accept help graciously. Sure, he wanted to take care of everything himself, but nobody could take on all the troubles of the world alone. Why, being helped simply let you help others even more, because you could do those things you were best at while someone helped with the things you weren't so good at. It was a very simple thing, really. Why, there were all sorts of things the two of them could help with. What they were in this case she wasn't quite sure, but they could certainly help somewhere. Now, if they could just catch up to Mr. Vash before he needed them and not after...
He had taken off much too quickly. She had to run to even attempt to keep up, but he was long out of sight by the time she finally reached the opening in the ship. He was so far in that she couldn't even hear his boots on the floor. Mr. Rai-Dei made the jump up and in easily enough, and helped pull her up. At least he knew how to be gracious in giving help and was making a good effort at accepting help, and it was already making him happier. He bounced along beside her as they passed through the ship, darting ahead to look around every corner and side passage as they followed the lights. If there had been any problem, Mr. Vash would have taken care of it. However, the passageways just kept going and going and going, and it was making her quite tired. Luckily, she spotted a pool of water ahead- a good drink would have her going again. Rai-Dei stopped at the opening the water was coming from and scowled. When she caught up, a good look tugged the sides of her mouth downward. Meryl had obviously been in here, since her clothing was strewn on the floor in the middle of a big puddle. She picked up the suit and folded it neatly- Meryl would be upset if it was left on the floor like that. The tub water looked all nasty and unfit to drink, but the faucet did work, so she cupped her hands and took a few big gulps.
They left the room and continued on, though things got harder since a lot of the lights were out. Sometimes she had to shield her eyes and peer down each passage in turn until she could see which had the faint glimmer of the next red marker on the path. Despite this, they still managed to move at an okay clip, but these were precious minutes and any delay could be too much.
"Oh, Mr. Rai-Dei?"
"Hai?"
"I think you should stop darting ahead like that. I think we're getting close now, and I think Meryl might be, er, uh... Well, we have her clothes..."
Rai-Dei regarded her oddly. "Forgive me, but aren't there more important things to worry about?"
"Well, maybe, but we don't know what those are just yet. Once we know what those are, then we can worry about them, though I suppose we'll be a bit too busy dealing with whatever might be there to be worried, so there's no sense in worrying about it! Besides, a lady's privacy is very important, and some of my brothers learned that after they got black eyes instead of before."
They continued on for a few more steps when the scariest noise she had ever heard echoed through the ship. It sent a chilly tingle down her back and her tummy flip flopped. She took off in a dead heat. Somehow, she knew that had been Mr. Vash, and he needed help now. There was no time to look for the right path, so she asked Nicholas to help her find it as she whizzed around corners and tripped over rubble. That way, that way, that, no, the other way, that way, that way, say, that light looked different...
She swung around the last corner and charged in. It was suddenly so bright that she couldn't see a thing, so it was therefor a double relief when she heard Meryl sharply bark out "Stay back!" thereby giving her a better idea as to what needed doing- staying out of the way, for the moment. She turned around and ran back, rubbing at her eye on the way. Finally able to see more than a big bright something, she spotted Rai-Dei standing in the entrance to wherever they were, standing over a set of large sparking gashes that ran along the floor and up the wall and doorframe. He looked a bit surprised. His mouth was hanging open, and he dropped his sword. She turned around.
"Oh my."
It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Dozens and dozens of long, creamy feathers rose up from the left side of the brightly glowing plant bulb in the middle of the room, extending all the way to the roof high above. They glittered and waved, some dipping way down to just touch the ground before rising back up. All the while, little bands of light moved up and down their lengths, throwing a mass of colors around the room. She should have brought a camera. One dipped down her way, and she laughed and tried to catch it, only to have Mr. Rai-Dei yank her back just as she almost had it.
"Aww, why'd you go and do that?"
"You would have lost your hand, you fool! Look at what they've done!"
She turned and looked again. One dipped down close to where they were, down to the floor... no, into the floor, then rose back up, leaving a tiny gash behind. They were very sharp, since these looked like very tough metal floors. Come to think of it, the whole room looked very marked up... Something bad had happened here. The middle was swept clean, but all around the edges of the room large pieces of expensive-looking equipment were strewn about. One fell over with a crash as she watched. Turning back to the feathery bulb, she started to make her way towards a spot of red that stuck out near where all the feathers came from. It wasn't hard to avoid the feathers that dipped down- they moved slowly, and seemed to twitch away on their own. In no time at all, she was by the bulb and began to circle around to where she thought she has seen Meryl and Mr. Vash. She could hear him moaning- maybe he had cut himself on one of the feathers?
She spied one of his gloves, all torn to pieces and well soaked with blood. It looked funny, almost like it had burst from the inside... She gasped slightly as she saw what else was tangled in with the shreds of the glove. Mr. Vash's wedding ring was stuck in the tattered leather, broken into pieces. She picked them up, he wouldn't want to lose them entirely. From this new point, she finally spied Mr. Vash's leg and Meryl's foot sticking out from just around the bulb, along with a bit of his coat. She slid around, careful of the much denser feathers, and finally had them in sight.
Mr. Vash was leaning up against the bulb while Meryl had her back turned to her, slowly stroking his hair. The feathers all seemed to erupt right beside Mr. Vash, and his head was lolling around, the most miserable expression she'd ever seen on what she could see of his face.
"Are you okay?"
They both turned her way. Mr. Vash was... Her eyes just about popped out of her head. All the feathers were popping out of his side, right where his arm should have been, and other, much smaller ones were sprouting and retracting all over his right side. They even ran up to his head, where one eye peered out without seeing, completely silvered over. "Mr. Vash, what happened to you?"
He didn't answer, but Meryl did, and she sounded quite cross. "I told you to stay back."
"I'm sorry I couldn't, but I thought you needed help."
"He's miserable and angry right now. I don't think there's a thing we can do."
She wasn't completely sure about that, but it sure looked like Mr. Vash was well beyond any help they could provide, though this was a bit much to get worked up to. It must be quite a lot to make someone sprout feathers, and as far as she knew nothing had ever gotten anyone that worked up before. "So what about you, Meryl?"
She sounded much more upbeat, almost feverish. "I'm great, wonderful even! Who wouldn't be?"
"Good to hear, but maybe you should lie down? You look a little weak."
"No, I'm not weak, I'm... better. Yes, much better. Better than ever. I've never been this good, don't you see?"
A very bad feeling came over her. She had heard that sort of talk, that sort of tone somewhere before... "Meryl?"
"Now, I can serve him more effectively than ever before! What better gift could there be than to become better suited for our Master and all his needs?"
Everything shifted into place. She slid down the bulb to the floor, suddenly unable to see anything but the two of them, one well lost in his misery, and the other equally lost in an engineered delirium of joy. Every part of her screamed that this was wrong, wrong, wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong... Meryl continued to babble to Mr. Vash.
"Master, just tell me what you desire and it will be done! I've been remade just for you, so please, tell me!"
His only response was another unearthly howl, a feeble attempt to express the turmoil inside.
¤deep in the bowls of the earth, one yellow-eyed demon in the form of man leans back and laughs¤
Note: The line of badly translated Latin at the top reads as such: "Gods create in their own image. What is the image of the evil god?"
everyone: Well, you had mostly the same review, probably because there was one major point of the last chapter that completely stomped on all the others, and not little stomps, but Godzilla sized footprints. Sad to say, but I think I've just done a repeat performance this chapter, and it appears the surgery was the most minor thing to happen to poor, poor Meryl.
kitsune: Silence of the Lambs. I never pass up a free cookie. Even if it might be poisoned by any number of especially angry sources. Since I'm clearly crazy to do this, make it Macadamian Nut.
Next chapter: Vash tries to come to grips with the changes in Meryl, while Knives' declaration of war spreads through the ranks of the 3rd, culminating in a most unusual meeting...