'Leave!' he shouted at you angrily, the shock of hearing him utter the word with such force leaving you breathless.
You wanted to argue, reply to his non-sensical request, but your body and mind were struggling to still process the decimating blow he had just dealt you.
He wanted you to...leave? Was he done with you?
You didn't get more time to understand what he meant because Gazelle deep voice cut through from behind you and the crate you used as cover.
'I wanted a real fight, but it seems it's too much to ask nowadays! Goodbye girly and good riddance Stampede!'
There was a faint sound of a small metallic object hitting the ground and horror flashing behind Vash's sunglasses before everything became but a storming hellish cataclysm around you.
The crate behind you exploded in a scorching and deafening blast, your upper body folding over the blond's man torso from the shear unforgiving power of the shock wave.
Flames and debris washed over your back, the agony from feeling your skin melting and punctured by dozens of sharp flying pieces of wreckage forcing a hoarse wail out of your mouth. Your mind briefly considered letting it all phase through you, wanting to escape this pain, but you rapidly chased the thought away; you were the only thing keeping Vash's condition from getting worse in this moment.
Even if it was just this much, even if this was all you could do to save this man from yet more pain and scars, you would gladly suffer through it.
The initial detonation soon receded, leaving only the large blazing fire to heat your torn back. You couldn't tell how bad your wounds were just yet. All you knew was that while your uninjured skin felt as if the flames were threatening to melt it off, your back simply sensed a comfortable warmth.
'Luck! Luck!'
Vash frenzied calls through the ringing in your ears brought you back to the present, and opening your eyelids that had been tightly shut until then, you felt relief at seeing him mostly unarmed. His coat and some strands of his hair were burned, he was covered in debris and his wound was still bleeding, but he otherwise looked fine.
'Luck, shit! Luck please!'
You went to straightened yourself, but swallowed a cry at the stabbing pain coming from your back when you tried flexing it. So, using your arms instead, you pushed yourself up, avoiding looking around since everything was spinning in the corner of your visions.
Vash reached his hand to cup your face, although you could barely feel any sparks, while his other arm attempted to lift his upper body up. He had such a painful appalled and panicked expression on his dirty face that it made you worry he might have actually gotten hurt more somewhere you hadn't spotted.
'You're still alive, Stampede? Why, doesn't Lady Luck just favor you!' Gazelle cold laugh beamed from behind you.
Vash let go of your cheek, the pure rage and hatred he bore in his eyes as he glared at the Gun'ho Gun that was slowly advancing frightened you. He looked demented, almost evil with that look. But what scared you most was how he raised his gun with murderous intent towards the nearing adversary.
This wasn't your Vash. This wasn't the gentle criminal you knew and loved; this was something else you feared would swallow him if he crossed the line he had set for himself. Without thinking, or perhaps because your brain had made the realization, you grabbed the blond man's armed hand with what little strength you had.
'Don't,' you breathily managed to say.
Oh, how ironic was this. Was his expression of vexation followed by one of horror at his actions the same you had on your face that time he had been the one to stop you? Was he feeling the same shame you had felt back then?
Which one of you would be the one in the right this time? Would you live to regret your decision?
'This is the end for you, Bonnie and Clyde-'
The end of Gazelle's sentence was inaudible, loud sounds of splatter and gurgling covering them. They lasted a moment, before you heard the split and splats of someone walking in liquid. You wanted to know what was happening, but something about Vash's horrified face made you hesitate.
And, soon enough, you realized the horror he expressed was fully justified when you recognized the voice that calmly spoke up.
'That's enough.'
The ground felt like it crumbled under you, dragging your body and mind deeper and deeper into pure primal fear with your every passing heart beat.
'Nai...' the blond man's voice was but a whisper next to you, himself seeming to hold his breath like you did.
'It's good to see you again dear brother. I see those esteemed humans of yours are still as merciful with you as you are with them.'
The voice was as cold and composed in its sarcasm as you remembered it being, and when you felt the chilling glaze of the metallic bladed tendrils wrapping around you, you wished you would wake up from this terrible nightmare already.
'Luck!' Vash shouted as he attempted in vain to hold on to you before you were slowly taken away. 'Nai, let her go!'
You saw Vash wince and grunt as he forced his body up despite his injury he tried to contain with his hand. The need to call out to him sprung in you, to tell him to not move so as not to worsen his wound, to beg him for help, to yell at him to run- to tell him anything really; but your throat remained constricted by fear, barely allowing you to draw short shallow breaths.
You had wanted to believe you would struggle, fight, resist with all your might if you ever came to see this forsaken man once more in your life, and yet, in this moment, your limbs and spirit felt completely defeated already. Your body felt almost frozen in place by the glacial touch of the bladed wires holding you up in the air and the intimidating aura coming from the cloaked man they had brought you up to.
You wanted to tell yourself you were only so docile because of the weakness you felt from your injuries; that you weren't shouting and struggling because of how those blades tightly held your limbs together, restricting you from all movement. But, somewhere deeper inside you, there was an almost consuming feeling of relief coercing you into staying put. As if you had been constantly waiting for this moment to arrive ever since you'd met Vash- no, even before, decades before- and all the tension leaving your body at once left it empty of will or strength to fight anymore.
'Thess.'
The way he called to you with that name and that familiar tone both sent shivers overs your skin and made your heart race. You couldn't bare to look at him, even less look at Vash anymore. All you could do is stare at the reflection of your trembling hands in the large puddle of blood that had once been the Gun'ho Gun Gazelle, and in which Knives stood barefoot with you mid-air a few feet from him.
'Didn't I tell you he would disregard you and your safety once he had nothing left to gain from you? Just look in what state you are...'
The raging fires from the crates still burning strong were emanating clouds and clouds of smokes and their heat were scorching even all the way here. Still, at Knives words, you felt as if you had been submerged in freezing water; your chest constricting painfully and leaving you unable to breathe. Even the constant agonizing aching of your back seemed pushed so far in your mind.
'What do you want from her Nai? Just let her go; she's hurt!'
'And who's fault is that, Vash? Because of your sinful humans and your nonsensical principles, do you see what happened to her?!' The outrage and emotion in the older sibling's voice startled you, making you look up at him. He pushed back the hood of his cloak, revealing his pale features that were barely hiding his seething anger.
Your mind was flooded with images and flashes of memories where you had seen that man furious and enraged, and it reanimated the fright in your anew; the hairs standing on your skin as your body tensed. However, you couldn't help but stare in awe at his reaction mixed with his words; was he acting this way because of you?
'Look at the extend of her injuries; where you planning on letting her die?' continued Knives with indignation as he turned you slightly so your back faced Vash.
'I- never! No!' Vash's frantic voice echoed all the way to you, making you wince at the pain and desperation you heard in it.
Even if you didn't want to admit it, you never understood how or why Vash cared for you and your safety; it all seemed so illogical when he kept throwing himself in arms way continuously meanwhile. Still, you knew he did so in a certain measure, and that was why you knew the heart-tearing guilt he would feel at seeing your back in that moment. No matter how bad it hurt, how excruciating it felt to simply have your back held up by the tendrils; you didn't want Vash to ever consider your pain his fault.
'Do you even understand the value she holds, dear brother? Can you not tell- feel her importance or has all these decades with the humans completely blinded you?'
Knives spun you around so you were facing him, and simply making eye contact with his intense stare made you gulp in apprehension. He raised his hand towards you and your instinctively shut your eyes. Yet, nothing but soft trails of sparks spread from your cheeks, convincing you to open them again.
Knives expression would have almost held tenderness or concern if it wasn't from the aversion towards such an inferior existence as yourself you saw clear as day in the crystal-clear blue of his eyes.
No matter how gentle his touch was, it was never warm, never reassuring. It always made your heart race for all the wrong reasons, and still- still you fought the urge to nuzzle your face in the palm of his hand, you fought the yearning awakening in your soul.
'Let me show you, Vash,' he spoke coldly to the latter, but never bothering to look away from you.
Your confusion must have been apparent on your face, even more when your captor removed his hand from your cheek, raising his index and middle finger instead towards your forehead, right in between your furrowed brows.
Then, without a word or a flinch in his impassive expression, he pressed his fingers unto your skin. You expected the usual small sparks, the slight heat spreading over your face from the point of contact. To your absolute dismay, however, what radiated under Knives touch was instead a merciless, agonizing electric shock that flooded your entire body.
You screamed, every muscle in your body flexing as the current felt like it tore you apart from the inside when it reached the middle of your chest and harshly pulled at the hint of energy you held there. It felt as if it was trying to rip it you through your flesh and ribs, the shear pain blinding your consciousness for a moment.
'Luck!' Vash's own raspy yell joined yours. 'Nai, stop it!'
You tried to recoil back from Knives touch, not caring or feeling anything when you harshly pressed your back against the blades holding you, the relentless electrical input overtaking any other pain.
'Behave, Thess,' the brother's unwavering voice came through as he followed the small shift of your head with his hand to never allow himself to break contact with you.
'Enough, Nai!'
There was a gunshot and the sound of metal being hit, followed by what you recognized as a scoff coming from Knives. There was shuffling, shells hitting the ground and thankfully, though all that, the sensation of the current finally seeming to recede.
When contact was broken with the skin of your forehead, you finally found yourself able to fully inhale again and slowly began regaining your senses that had been muted by the agony, even if you felt completely depleted of the little strength you had held on to beforehand.
Knives had lowered his hand, even if his taciturn eyes were still fixated on you, never hinting at a sliver of worry or guilt at what he had just put you through. You couldn't help but glare at him, your animosity palpable.
'Do not look at me like that, Thess; It had to be done. If you want to blame someone, blame dear Vash for even allowing you to get this injured in the first place,' stated Knives without much more of an explication before he abruptly retracted his bladed tendrils around you.
A simple gasp escaped you as you fell the few feet you were up in the air, dropping unto your hands and knees with a splat in the still warm blood of the deceased Gun'ho Gun.
'Do you see her potential now?'
You didn't pay attention to Knives words, instead scrambling to lift yourself off unto your feet, the warm goopy sensation of the blood coagulating around your fingers making you feel sick to your core. Flipping around to look at Vash since you had fallen facing the opposite direction, you froze when you saw him crouching on one knee, gun in one hand and the other pressuring his bleeding wound as he wore a unsettled look on his face, slightly taking over the previous boiling anger he had exhibited.
Your brain quickly caught on to why the blond criminal had this reaction when a cold breeze from outside hit you from behind and sent chills down your skin: your back, it didn't hurt anymore. In fact, nothing in your body ached anymore, not the bruises on your knees, nor the cuts on your hands or the graze of Gazelle's bullet on your arm. Lifting your hands and arms to examine them, you saw no wounds or scars on them, only soot and blood staining them. Glancing at your back, it was the same; your torn and burned shirt the only indication you didn't imagine what you had lived. However, two things remained engraved into your skin; the older eery spherics scars down your spine and those given by Zazie, even if those had completely healed somehow.
This didn't make sense, nothing about this made sense and everything started feeling like too much.
Snapping your head to Knives, you found no explication in his eyes he kept on his brother. You turned to look at the latter instead, searching desperately for his comforting and reassuring gaze. However, you were taken aback by the untrust you found in his eyes for a split second before he noticed your stare and hid it behind a grave expression, quickly returning his focus to his sibling.
And yet, that spilt-second was all that it took for the flood gates to all the anxiety-stemming thoughts you had been fighting to keep locked up away in you mind to come undone.
Didn't he... trust you? Did that mean he had never really trusted you? Your hands began to tremble unconsciously as your brain spun threads of frantic thoughts out of your deepest fears. Had he been faking it all along? Had he been playing you like Knives had done for all those years? Were the brothers really so similar in the end?
Fighting the lump forming in your throat, you took a small step back, letting yourself fall trap to the horrifying web depicting the situation that your mind had woven.
'Didn't I warn you Thess? He's been roaming this land alone for a century now, what could you possibly have to offer him that other humans couldn't?' Knives faint voice whispered next to your ear, as you realized he had come to stand behind you, his hands on your shoulders holding you firmly in place in the middle of your web.
Had Knives been right all along afterall? Had Vash simply been playing with you because your existence as a ghost was simply a new thing to him? Had he known about your abilities to heal yourself and simply disregarded it for his own entertainment? Had he lost interest in you when you struggled to display any more ghost abilities? Or had it been ...after that night? Had he only wanted to satisfy his morbid curiosity? Feel accomplished at convincing you to give him not only your body but your heart?
You tightly grasped the sides of your head, a splitting headache pulsating with your racing heart.
Had it all just been a lie?
Struggling to not let the scream inside you burst and trying to calm your frantic breathing, you barely heard the blond criminal call to you and a shot being fired.
Snapping your eyes forward, your vision struggled to focus on Vash, everything seeming extremely far away and blurry. When it finally stabilized, you saw the blond man wincing as he stood up on his feet, blood from his wound dripping to the floor. A bladed wire floated in front of you, a bullet encased in one of the blades, its path in direction of Knives right hand still on you.
'That's enough Nai!'