@mortesmariae | 𝚁𝙴𝙼 𝚂𝙰𝚅𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙼

"...And a fair, saintly Lady called to me In such wise, I besought her to command me. Her eyes where shining brighter than the Star; And she began to spake, gentle and low," ― On Beatrice; Dante's Paradiso

✟ ― With the life that he led, he assumed he had a one way ticket straight to HELL.

Countless sins & deaths had been dealt with by his bloodied hands that he did not think he was even deserving of having a such a peaceful Death as it was. Or at least, as peaceful as it can be. Did not violent deeds have violent ends?

The bottle drops, then Darkness took him . . . and his consciousness wandered out of thought and time. An endless stretch of the void, of nothingness and non-existence and each atomic second that ticked by was as long as a life age of the earth. He witnessed countless dying stars explode, and from their embers, were reborn a nursery of worlds out of stardust.

There was none of that "pearly gates" bullshit, where St. Peter was said to greet you at the entrance. There was also none of the infernal fires where one must pass and suffer through the nine circles of hell. No demons with whips and forked tongues, no torment of Furies that follow in the wake of ones guilt.

Instead he was one among many in the Collective that made up the very thread of the universe.

His whole life flashed before his eyes in a millionth of a second. Then, from out of the pool of consciousness, he was thrust and came upon a grassy meadow, with a large tree at the center of it all, covered in a glass dome ceiling. Was this heaven? Was this earth?

Could this be Eden?

He spots a figure of a woman, sat upon the grass, long black hair with her back turned towards him. He does not know her, and she does not know him. But their tickets seem to have lead them both into this final destination. A sliver of a red string connecting their fates.

And so, Nicholas joins her. He takes a spot beside the woman, still not being able to see her face. A companionable silence befalls them. (In the back of his mind, he wishes he still had the luxury of cigarettes, then he'd have somethin' to busy his hands with. But he's not sure if that's even allowed.)

"You're a coward." He isn't looking at her, staring out into the sands and vegetable patches. Hasn't looked at her since he arrived home to find Rem in his kitchen with his–with Mona.

It's funny, Knives thinks. Because he's one too. Maybe he learned that from her. (It's not fair, that Vash got all of the best of her and he's left with the worst. Left with the dregs, clinging to them because it's all he has left of Rem even when he doesn't want it.)

He's made a point of keeping a minimum of five feet between them at all times. Every step Rem takes in his direction is responded to with a step away in kind. His fingers tingle and ache, and its a herculean effort not to start biting, to not start peeling skin off of his fingers. He stuffs his hands into his pockets to stem the urge, though it doesn't really help. But Knives isn't giving this to Rem, isn't letting her see his walls down.

"... He bit me first."

you called your brother what?! she's going to grab both her boys by their ears and harp on them. so rude! she raised you better!

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — » （ ✗ ) @mortesmariae & @millionsnife

The blonde expected her to be upset but not that upset. The sudden pull of his ear has the blonde grasping at it to try and to relieve the tension as he is being pulled away.

150 years is both an excruciatingly long time and a blink of an eye. In the afterlife, time did not matter so much, but the longer the stretch between her death and the present, the easier it became to watch, invade, haunt, and manipulate the psyche of a boy she used to love. Knives was grown now, and Rem followed him closely. Each life he took was another crack in her foundation; Rem could no longer cross over. It was a fate she deserved, she accepted it by now. The Knives before her was exactly what she feared he could be.

Rem wafts in a circle around him. She didn't know if Knives could see her, but she was certain he could hear. "Killing humans won't save you. It won't save Vash. Did you ever think he would rest easy in a world he doesn't recognize?" She stands in front of him to push an arm through his chest where his heart should be. She feels nothing but an icy chill. "Knives. My sweet boy. Look at what you've done. Are you worth choosing...?"

Something grips her, a bitter cruelty at the consequences she faces. Acceptance is easy, but reconciliation? It wasn't time for that. Rem feels anger, a bubbling laugh rising from her nonexistent lungs. She snaps, and in a cool whisper, she says to Knives, "He will never choose you."

If she were still human and not a haunting specter, Rem would have a better handle on her cruelty. Or, rather, is cruelty the most human thing about her now? She watches, waiting to see if her words reach him at all.

Piano playing fills the room, notes falling like a torrential downpour to the tune of Chopin's Etude Op. 25, No. 11. Like the glacial winds of the piece's namesake, his heart truly feels as though it's adrift in a hellish winter's blizzard.

If that is how I must live, then so be it. I'll live in a state of constant winter, with my memories etched in snow- My heart shielded by frost's cruel bite, untouched by the gentle rays of a Spring morning's first sun.

His music wards off all intrusions, the little nips of errant and foolish thoughts at his heels. This world was supposed to be their Eden, this vast wasteland of shifting sands. Lacking the beauty and bounty of Earth, though such diversity of life was carelessly squandered by the very species his brother wished to save.

If only it had just been he and Vash to begin with, no troublesome human attachments or values to delude the purity of his heart... Part of him knew that was impossible. Initially, he hadn't wanted to kill Rem. Despite everything, she had given them care, time, and even hope. Even she turned out to be hiding secrets of her own, however. In the end, she was just like the rest.

His fingers suddenly tighten into fists, the last few key strikes petering off into quiet echoes.

"There's no difference between humans hearts and ours- Right, Vash?" he begins to laugh, quietly at first. It grows in volume and intensity by stages, until his face is aching and his throat feels ragged and dry.

Knives takes a slow breath inwards to calm down, then another, a shuddering exhale making his perfectly aligned teeth chatter. The air around him had taken on a chill, his breath coming out in small clouds that quickly dissipated into nothing.

"Shut up..." he mutters to no one, staring off into the distance. Even through the gloves, his fingernails manage to scratch raw trails against the side of his temple, the sculpted angle of cheekbone and jaw. He begins chewing at his thumbnail until it's sore and bloody, streaks of crimson painting his lower lip and chin.

"My understanding of Independent Plants is extensive because of my background, so it clearly makes sense to see you now, but... knowing and experiencing are so, so different. You're much taller than I thought you would ever be. Did you get enough love to grow?" Rem whisper-yelled through a stream of tears. She tried her best to keep it at bay, but she was only human, after all. Human and very afraid of being ( rightfully ) pushed away after everything she put him through.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — » （ ✗ ）@mortesmariae

The wandering blonde had stopped in his tracks, was it his gate once again remembering a loved one that had passed ever since the crash of the space ships? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Either way there was no way he could resist the pull this one person had on his soul. Forever chasing and trying to fulfill her wishes for a peaceful world.

His hands grip into a fist for a moment and then relax, he knew that the moment he woke up he would end up crying.

Vash turns around and opens his eyes, which are wide with shock. He is not communicating with her through the gate, but where he stood, now frozen in time. His jaw drops in shock and he hesitantly takes a step forward. He thought Rem had died in the crash, how ... Did she survive?

❝ Mother ... ❞

He says very quietly, but you can distinctly see his lips move, as he still can't determine if he is dreaming of if this is reality. If this was a dream it was just too cruel and he would continue on the way he was but .. He needs to see for himself. A small painful signature smile appears on his lips at the mention of receiving love in order to grow, rather it was not love he had ever received, it was his love that he continuously gave to humans no matter how many times they hurt him.

Vash moves much closer until he was able to embrace the woman he called his mother and almost jumped away from her in shock. She was there. She was real. She was alive! Tears started to form from blue eyes, he removes his orange sunglasses and holds rem closely to him

❝ Rem ... I missed you. I missed you so much. ❞

It was the tune that drifted from the window that caught her attention. Rem would recognize it anywhere; the unmistakable duet the twins played, although broken and one-sided. She rushed to find the source, likely scaring the child at the door at her insistence, but they graciously allowed her to go through. Rem watched as a tall man facing away from her played with one hand, he hadn't noticed her yet. She approached him with deliberate footsteps, reaching for his shoulder. "Vash...? Is that you...?" // if you want a different prompt, just let me know! i'm happy to send more than one if you don't vibe with this : >

He stared aimlessly at the piano, his fingers slowly pressing keys of a lost melody he couldn't quite remember. Despite the slow pace, it was still the correct notes to that song. Some form of muscle memory was likely the cause, or perhaps it was the fact that he couldn't get the tune out of his head. Awake, asleep, it always seemed to be right there, taunting him.

"..." He heard a woman's voice, something that sounded distantly familiar. "Vash...? Is that you...?" She was behind him, the name seeming to slip from her with ease.

"I never should have treated you any differently than I did Vash. You were just a boy, you didn't understand how the world worked. I put so much responsibility on your shoulders; you didn't deserve that. I will never ask you for forgiveness, but I need you to know that it was wrong of me."

"It was wrong of you?" He felt that bitterness and anger welling up in his chest. The fact that Rem was even here was like some horrible nightmare. Whether she was a ghost taunting him from beyond the grave, or a physical being, either way it was unpleasant.

"You wanted me to be Vash. Pathetic, weak, cowardly...Without power!" he hissed, "You wanted me to fall into line so you could destroy us like the human's had done to Tesla..!" He would never forget that day. Finding the other Independent, mangled and in pieces, and she was still alive. It was something Rem had hidden away from them, blinded them to. Vash may have bought into her lies, but Knives did not. Human's were all the same.