AN: Hello, everyone! I've been neglecting this story and I apologize. My time's been stolen by my two children. However, here's the final chapter for ARACHNOPHOBIA, the Epilogue. It's been almost ready for over a year, yet it took me a long time to finish it. Hope you like what I have decided to do with Vash and Knives' future. Thank you for following this story till the end. -M. Lances

PS. This is un-betaed, so I apologize for possible errrors in writing.

ARACHNOPHOBIA

pathological fear or loathing of spiders

Epilogue

It was a beautiful midday, peaceful and full of life. The two suns were gentle with their touch and, for the first time in Planet Gunsmokes known history, there were three extensive clouds drifting in the sky, sheer and white.

A blond-haired man was sitting on a rock, watching his surroundings on top of the planets highest mountain. A small smile was playing on his lips; he was quite happy with what he saw. Beneath him, a young but lush forest spread out, circling the mountain like a veil of green, waving mist. He could hear the birds singing in the foliage, the wind gently rustling the leaves. In the middle of the greenness, on his left-hand side, was a small but very deep lake, embraced by cracked bedrock. The water was fresh and clear; it was rising from deep within the earth, where endless amounts of it lay hidden. A beautiful meadow full of blossoming flowers and a multitude of butterflies spread around it, until the shadows of the lush forest took the scenery over again.

Vash moved his gaze farther away, to the very edge of the forest. There, he saw the only thing that marred the nature's natural beauty: a strong, round steel fence surrounding the paradise on each side. It circled the root of the mountain like a high, roofless bird cage, the pillars slim and black, tops as sharp as arrowheads. Beyond, Vash could see only sand and grayish sky - the seemingly endless stretch of that merciless, hot desert that was still dominating most of the planet. Beyond the fence was Hell. Inside right here where he sat was Eden.

'People at the January Shrine, Vash.'

Knives' lazy, mentally conveyed drawl broke his musings. He glanced over his shoulder, facing the wind that was blowing from what he supposed was South; the mountain was namely situated in the northern hemisphere of the planet, exactly on top of the axis of rotation, so he wasn't sure if all the directions were called South. That was why the five shrines around the Eden were called by the names of the towns they were closest to: Janurary, Makka, Fondrique, Inepril and August.

'Alright, I'll deal with it.'

For over a decade now, Eden was considered a holy place. It was the paradise, in which the two Gods lived, and in which no man could enter. Nobody seemed to know the names of these gods; but there was a tale, according to which the twin suns had given birth to twin brothers, who had been sent to reign Planet Gunsmoke soon after the planet had become inhabited. At first, these twins had waged war with each other, not being able to rule side by side - but over 120 years of disorder, they had finally come to an understanding. Planet Gunsmoke had begun to heal; all that inexplicable destruction of towns had ceased, the general atmosphere had turned from frightened to hopeful, and the land had turned more fertile. All in all, after the gods had made peace with each other, the entire planet had begun to flourish.

Vash smirked as he trekked down the mountainside, challenging all the laws of gravity. It had been a glorious idea to create Eden. Knives was happy to be separated from the rest of the world, yet still being able to consider himself above anybody else in this glorious, heavenly garden - and the people that were denied the pleasures of this place were still happy to have the shrines at which to pray similar happiness to themselves.

Actually, the shrines were very important: only through people's prayers and wishes did Vash hear of the occasionally rising problems in different parts of the planet. Sometimes it was lack of food or water, or some such miserable thing; the desert could be very cruel, despite wells had been dug in almost every place possible. Other times it was terrorists or tyrants who had decided to overtake the lordship of some town or business and needed to be dealt with. And Vash did deal with these problems; he answered to every plea that was well-grounded; he considered it as his 'godly duty'.

Knives, however, did not consider it as a godly duty. He considered it plain insanity. He had never cared enough of people to wish them well, and wasn't about to start any time soon. He only cared if the complaints were about polluters or animal torturers, in which cases he might consider getting involved - but not unless he was given the license to torture and kill.

'If you're going out to do some heroic deed again, please come back without having lost any important body parts, such as your head - or your cock.'

'That's really disgusting Knives. And couldn't you be a little more trusting?'

'Says the guy who's been practically sewn and nailed together.'

'You could heal me anytime if you wanted - but you think I'm sexy this way.'

'Don't delude yourself.'

Vash laughed. Knives was still as fiendish as always, and often very rude; but he was also very caring, even though he veiled his concern in scorn. Knives did not like it when Vash went out to sort out problems in the 'spider world'. He did not like it at all. Vash knew this, but it was something he just had to do, and Knives just had to accept that. If Vash didn't interfere, Planet Gunsmoke would eventually face the same fate as the Earth: total destruction.

Vash slowed down his pace as he neared the January Shrine. It stood like a tall, slim silvery beacon right at the edge of the forest, flanked by the high black fence. There were three people sitting on the stone bench surrounding the deep, square fountain in the centre of the shrine, clearly appreciating the shadow the high ceiling offered; two women and a young boy. The boy was reaching down towards the water, splashing it with his little hands. Vash broke into a smile as the boy looked up, fastening his large, steel blue eyes at him before it was even realistically possible to distinguish him from the surroundings.

"Uncle Vash!" he grinned and waved with both hands.

The two women turned around as well, narrowing their eyes to see him better. Meryl was looking slightly grumpy and Milly just as air-headed as always, a stupid smile plastered on her scarred face. Vash waved back at the trio, wondering how many months had already passed since their last visit. It had to be several, seeing how much Blades had grown. Yes - Milly had named her child after his stupid brother; a fact that had thrown Knives into a fit of rage, but of which Vash knew he was secretly quite taken.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Vash simpered as soon as he came to the gate that allowed him to enter the "spider-side" of the shrine. "It's good to see you girls again. How are you all doing?"

Meryl's features softened and she cracked a careful smile. "We're actually doing quite well. Got promoted at work, and Milly got a pay raise. And... I've been kind of dating this one guy, lately."

Vash sat down on the embankment and looked at her carefully. She seemed healthier, somehow, and her mind seemed to be at peace. To say that she was helplessly in love would be stretching it too far, but the signs of serious attachment could be seen in her eyes and heard in the tone of her voice.

"I'm really happy for you," Vash said, ashamed of the little flame of relief that sprung into life in his heart. "I hope he's treating you well, or I'm gonna have to send my brother to see to the matter."

Meryl and Milly both laughed; they knew Vash was only joking. Sending out Knives was unheard of. It would be too cruel, even if Meryl's new boyfriend did turn out to be a jackass. Besides, Vash would want to handle that matter personally, anyway.

"And how is Knives?" Milly asked, her eyes flickering towards the high mountain.

Vash bit his lip. He was unable to look at the tall, big girl without staring at the two long scars that ran across her face. They were silky and almost white, and an everlasting evidence of Knives' dangerousness. One had bypassed her eye only just so, and the other had slit the side of her mouth, stopping just before her left ear. They made her look a little scary, but she carried her flaws with surprising pride and dignity.

"Knives. Well he's... very busy, as always," Vash replied with a good-humored sigh. "Not giving up on the sharks, although it seems a hopeless business. I mean, not even he can generate an ocean. And even if he could, what does he think the beasts would eat? Floating dead cacti?"

The truth was, Knives was alarmingly obsessed with their little secluded Shangri-La. He spent his days by tending their ever-growing selection of flora and fauna whenever he wasn't examining and making experiments with the DNA-library they had found and saved from the ancient SEEDS ships. So far, Knives had been able to bring to life nearly two hundred new plant species and fifty-four new animal species. Of course, nothing was exactly new, at least not to the twins - but the current generation of people living on Planet Gunsmoke had never even heard of such things as 'lily of the valley' or 'kangaroo'. Knives worked very hard on creating each specimen their ideal habitat and only released them in the wilderness beyond the black fence when he was certain they could make it. He also wanted to be sure these new species would adapt well with the already-existing organisms, the ones that originally belonged to Planet Gunsmoke. They were scarce and therefore should be protected even more than these new immigrants from Tellus the Earth.

Vash was immensely proud of his twin, really.

"He'll figure it out," Milly said confidently, even admiringly. "He's very good at what he's doing. He's done so much for this planet already. I always love to come here with Blades, just to watch the Eden between the gaps in the fence. Blades is good at spotting animals."

The boy had climbed on Vash's shoulders. "I saw three weird-looking grey beasts bathing in a mud pond when we arrived," he explained enthusiastically. "Neither Mommy or Aunt Meryl knew what they were called."

"Ah, those must've been the rhinos," Vash laughed. "Knives finally got them to breed. The smallest one was the baby."

"I wish Uncle Knives would come see us."

"Well, yes," Vash felt a little awkward. How could he explain to a child so young the reasons that led to Knives separating himself from the rest of the world? Vash sighed, knowing he had to say something. "He's not really good with people," was what he finally came up with.

"Understatement of the century," Meryl snorted.

"Won't you tell him I miss him?" Milly pleaded. "It's been six years already since I last saw him."

Vash promised he would, just like every other time Milly and the others came to visit. And he knew Knives would appreciate the message, despite how vehemently he tried to deny it. Vash knew Knives had a soft spot for Milly, and especially Blades, in his otherwise Vash-occupied heart. A few times in the past, Vash had even caught Knives eavesdropping in the vicinity of the shrine, just to get a look at the boy. Knives had been so ashamed he'd lashed out in anger at Vash, who in turn had pinned the spitfire to the ground, removed his trousers and...

"Vash... There's something we'd like to bring to your attention," Meryl took a bunch of letters from her backpack, all of them official-looking and directed to the Bernardelli Insurance Company. "These are some letters Bernardelli's received from Lewiston Town. There's a new mayor in the city, and it seems criminality has increased quite handsomely during the six months he's been in charge. We haven't yet investigated the case, but what are the chances of him not being involved?"

Frowning, Vash scanned the letters quickly through. They all contained heart-breaking stories about how people were suffering in Lewiston Town. Violence, burglary, gambling, deceptions... Some had lost both their health and wealth, some had lost much more. And Bernardelli, now concentrating on regular customers since Vash the Stampede was sort-of ancient history, had to compensate for it all.

"You girls don't need to endanger yourselves," Vash bit his lip. "I'm going to sort this out."

Meryl looked satisfied, but Milly concerned. Milly always looked concerned these days when trouble was stirring up. Blades was too young to fully understand what was going on, but even he could sense something was wrong. He frowned, just like Vash had done earlier, and pointed at the letters.

"You always get a lot of those when we visit," he observed. "And then you look angry and sad."

Vash tried to fabricate a smile that would not look entirely false. "Well, yes, but it's nothing you should worry about, brat. This is Uncle Vash's problem."

"I don't want you to have any problems."

"It's my job to solve problems, so I don't mind having them. This is why these shrines were built in the first place; people can come here and tell me and Uncle Knives if anything's wrong."

"And you'll always help them?"

"Yes. If the need is real, we will help them."

Blades looked happy and a little impressed. For a second, the image of smiling Nicholas Wolfwood flashed before Vash's eyes; the kid looked much like his dad. It was a pity no-one had a picture of Nicholas, so Blades would know what they were always on about.

"I think we must be going," Meryl said quietly. "It's a long journey to back January, as you know."

Vash knew. It was, after all, the very reason why he had chosen the place: it was far away from everywhere. They said goodbye, and not for the first time Vash thought it would be better if he just concentrated on being an invisible god and never saw his friends again. He never showed himself to anyone else, anyway. And it was getting more and more depressing to see how the years affected on the girls. They were not old for human beings, but they were getting older. One day, their meetings would become very awkward, possibly even sad. If given a choice, Vash preferred to remember them as they were now, still young and full of life. Yes... It was a high time for a final goodbye.

Vash watched their retreating backs as they walked towards their car. Milly was once again off with the fairies and Blades ran circles around her. Meryl glanced over her shoulder and waved with a smile.

I'll see them just one more time, he promised himself. Just once more.

Vash spotted his brother taking a sunbath in the middle of a small clearing, near the root of the mountain. He was naked except for an old leather kilt covering his most private parts. He looked relaxed; hundreds of butterflies were fluttering above and around him, casting small, elusive shadows on his pearly skin. He looked divine. But his mind was not as relaxed as his body.

"You're leaving again tomorrow, aren't you?"

The tone of his brother's voice was accusative, but Vash didn't blame him for it. Who knew how long he would be gone this time? A week? A month? A year? Not that time should have mattered to them too much, but it did. Knives was reluctant to spend a single day without being close to Vash. Someone might call him clingy, but Vash only called him needy. Knives needed a ridiculous amount of body contact in order to maintain his vulnerable sanity. Last time he'd returned from a mission that had lasted five months, Knives had been sitting in a cave at the root of the mountain, rocking back and forth, shaking. He had been certain Vash had left him for good. It had taken Vash another five months to assure his brother that he wasn't going anywhere, that he truly did love him now and would be with him forever.

"Why don't you just leave the idiots to their misery?" Knives sounded bitter. "It's not like they're destroying the planet by their actions - only themselves."

Vash walked over and crossed his arms, standing above his twin. "I would if it were only a bunch of self-destroying scumbags. But as the case involves people with power abusing those who are without it, it's my duty as a god to go and sort it out."

"Hmph. If you put it that way." Knives glanced up at him, pouting. "Still, I don't see why those miserable downtrodden won't just stand up and deal with that mayor and his cronies on their own. They've got guns, surely? Everybody's got a gun these days."

"You wouldn't understand it, but bloodshed is the last thing people usually want." Vash sat down, scattering a few dozen butterflies as he spread his legs. Arguing with Knives about how to handle humans was not new to him. Every time someone prayed for help, they had this same conversation, even if the words chosen varied. "Violence feeds violence."

"And interference feeds their need to ask for our help. If you didn't go half as often, they'd stop asking so much."

"I like to know what's going on."

"I'm only concerned as far as the planet's wellbeing is concerned."

"I know you don't hold people much in value, but I do. And you've promised to let me take care of them."

"Yes, yes. I know. We've had this conversation so many times even I can't count, which is saying a lot."

The twin suns were bright in the sky, forcing Vash to narrow his eyes as he looked around him. Everywhere was peaceful and calm; he could very well stay here and forget that anything disastrous was going on outside of Eden's gates. Except he couldn't. He couldn't forget. He'd spent over a hundred years of his life out there; he cared about it too much to just let it be. Feeling both decided and a little sorrowful, Vash brushed the silky and tall, deep green grass with his fingertips. He wished he could stay, he really did - but that was not an option.

"You know, I think this argument went faster than ever before."

Knives didn't respond. He was pretending to be asleep, which was a little stupid, considering Vash could easily read his mind, and his mind was clearly awake. Wanting to appease him, he moved his hand to caress Knives's thigh instead of the grass. His fingertips tingled pleasantly as he traced the pale skin. No matter how much time Knives spent under the suns, he never got tanned. Moreover, his skin was completely flawless - a high contrast to Vash's own mauled form. In the past, Vash had been very self-conscious and avoided sexual relationships, but he didn't need to hide himself anymore. He could read Knives' mind, and he knew Knives spoke the truth when he said Vash was perfect the way he was.

Trust a former serial-killer have a fetish for men patched with mesh and screws.

Then again... Maybe Vash was the crazy one, having a fetish for former serial-killers.

Maybe they were both crazy.

By human standards, that is.

By which they couldn't wholly abide anyway, so what did it matter?

Feeling bold, Vash moved his hand higher, reaching underneath Knives' tauntingly sexy kilt. He wondered where Knives had dug out this old piece of garment, if it could be even called a garment, considering it was made of leather ripped from the back of an ancient couch and put together with a few self-bent metal clips. Vash grinned as he remembered the night he had made the kilt: Knives had been just healed, lying unconscious on the sofa, looking troubled even in his comatose-like sleep. And then Vash had kissed him: a tiny kiss just below his brother's chin. Knives had liked it. Vash had kissed him some more, and Knives had liked that, as well. Quickly, things had led to another, until finally...

Vash could remember their first time like it happened yesterday. He could still feel the power of that one time running in his system. It had been the moment he'd claimed the alpha role in their relationship, despite Knives had been physically stronger. It had been the moment when he'd gained complete control over Knives.

Inspired, Vash added pressure to his touch and scraped his fingers across Knives' inner thigh, eliciting an intake of breath from his companion. In a flash, Knives grabbed Vash's fingers into a tight grip, halting his movements.

"Don't tease me. You're never in the mood after seeing that Stryfe bitch."

Knives was right. Seeing Meryl had always put a damper on his libido for a while. He suspected it had much to do with the fact Meryl still loved him. Vash just couldn't bear the betrayed, sad look in her eyes whenever she looked at him. It made him feel guilty. It made him feel ashamed of his attachment to Knives - but not today. Today, he only felt... elated.

"Meryl said she's seeing some other guy," Vash murmured, the feeling of relief expanding in his chest. "I guess she's finally moved on."

"Then she's an idiot."

"What? Why?"

"She'll never find anyone who could stand comparison to you. She'll never come even close."

Amused, Vash rolled on top of his twin and pinned him to the ground. "I'm flattered. But you should stop to consider Meryl's circumstances. She's getting older and older every year. Soon, she'll be so old she can't get children. If she continues clinging onto me, she'll never have a family. She has finally understood it's better to give up. You can't always have the person you want, you see."

"...actually, I don't. I always get the person I want." Knives huffed. "Granted, it took me over a hundred years, but now you're here. I didn't give up on you. That's one serious weakness in humans; they give up too easily."

"Too easily? You must realize; even if she had lived up to your abnormal moral standards and never given up on me, she still wouldn't have been able to have me. I was already yours. She saw no way through that obstacle. Or maybe you would've been willing to lend me to her for a few decades, if she had shown true persistence?"

Knives looked indignant, almost furious at the prospect. "What? I would never - - !"

Vash closed the gap between their lips and kissed him. "I know."

Both men stared into each other's eyes. It elicited a strange feeling, like they were drowning in their own souls. Shuddering, Vash inhaled Knives' scent and nuzzled his cheek, wondering if his brother was now ready to accept his advances. "I really am in the mood, you know," he spoke softly into his twin's ear while rocking back and forth, his trouser-clad erection pressing into Knives' bare thigh. "I'd love to be buried deep in your arse."

Knives let out a small moan, before looking extremely put out. "As if I'm that easy!"

"Believe me when I say, you're anything except easy. In fact, you're positively the most difficult person I've ever had to handle."

"Well," Knives said, looking oddly pleased and proud of himself, "someone needs to give you some challenge in life."

Grinning from ear to ear, Vash opened the fly of his trousers, releasing his heavy cock. Then he pushed Knives kilt up and positioned himself in between his twins legs. Before Knives could protest, two of his fingers had entered Knives' tight hole and curled against the sweet spot inside. Knives arched his back and gasped.

"You give me your best challenge, then," Vash murmured in his brothers ear. "And I'll give you some real love."

The evening had turned into small hours when Vash woke up. He was laying half on top of his still sleeping brother. The first thing he became aware of was the feel of total bliss; both his body and mind were completely relaxed and satisfied - just like every other time he intertwined his energy with Knives'. He inhaled deep and smiled against the warm neck just under his lips. He loved his twin's unique scent; that scent would probably be disgusting to a human being, but to Vash it was like aphrodisiac: a mixture of hot iron, desert sand and blood.

Howling wind caught on his hair, tousling it with its hard, powerful touch. He lifted his head and looked around; a storm had just passed them, and was now calming down. It hadn't rained; instead, there was the smell of hot desert in the air. Not for the first time, Vash was grateful of the Eden's lush trees that had caught most of the flying sand.

Vash sharpened his gaze as it landed on some bushes of wild, red geraniums, waving in the wind, cloaked by the night's darkness.

Images began to float through his mind and he closed his eyes. Beautiful, bright, spectral images from his early childhood, from the days he had shared with his brother and... what had been her name again? She had been so sweet, with long black hair and kind eyes, with ever-smiling lips. She had loved him very much; she had devoted her very life to protect him. She had been very special. And Vash had loved her too, so, so much; he had looked up to her, idolized her, even worshipped her. And Knives... Knives had hated her. Knives had hated her so very, very much. And she was dead now - had been for over a century. But what had been her name? Hadn't he just remembered her name? Vash felt coldness sweep over him.

...how could he have forgotten her name?

'Rem.' Knives' voice echoed gently in his head, like a whisper of his own heart. 'She was Rem. Rem Saverem.'

Scrunching up his nose, Vash squeezed his brother's forearm, his nails digging into the warm skin, probably leaving crescent-shaped marks. 'R-Rem...'

'She was the first and last human being I didn't want to kill, you know. I didn't want her to die, not her. But she still chose to do so. On her own.'

Vash felt suddenly extremely agitated - and in the very next second he felt completely calm again. Knives' amazingly strong and unadulterated energy soared through him in a steady stream and he tasted it, inhaled it, swallowed it, and bathed in it. He was like a new person now. He was someone who was finally able to look forward. He was someone who was finally able to forgive. Even her death.

'She was... pure in her heart,' Knives silently continued, slowly running his fingers through Vash's long, sensitive hair. 'She was a beautiful flower amongst the ugly spiders. And now... because she is dead... she will forever stay that way. A flower.'

Vash felt his heart constrict with pain - but then everything seemed to become clear to him, and he began to smile. He saw it clearly now: Rem walked towards him with open arms, her image flickering fragmentarily like that of a ghost before his eyes. Her midnight hair was sparkling with hues of gold in the celestial sunshine that was surrounding her in the eternal paradise her soul was now living in; hundreds of white butterflies danced around her, landing on her bosom and the long, swirling hems of her geranium red dress. There was no hate, no sorrow, no regret in the depths of her hazel-brown eyes as he bent to kiss Vash's forehead. Vash sank into her loving embrace and pressed his face against her warm chest, twining his fingers into her soft, silky tresses.

Then, like mountain mist would fade away in the face of the planet's two mercilessly scorching suns, her image disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only a short, gentle sigh.

Vash opened his eyes and looked down at his brother. His beautiful Millions Knives, who was like one of those two scorching suns in his insurmountable power and his likewise unbeatable selfishness.

"You know," he sighed. "Sometimes I'd really like to be able to kill you."

The wind howled, and the geraniums around them rustled.

"Yes," was the quiet, yet calm and satisfied reply. "I know."

Vash smiled and slowly lay back in his brother's strong arms. Finally... finally... everything was perfectly alright.

So... On the eighth morning, a song from somewhere reaches my ears.

A song that has recorded everything

echoes to the new sky.

Sound life.

The End