Claymore - New Age - Rise of the Queen of Blades
Disclaimer: I don't own Claymore.
Summary: Centuries after the events from Claymore, Lucy becomes a hybrid. However, her body is shared with another - Riful.
Claymore - New Age - Rise of the Queen of Blades
-x-x-x-
Prologue.
-x-x-x-
Centuries ago, the world was consumed by death and war. On the main continent, two warring factions arose. One side allied to powerful beings – the dragon kin. The other side, searched for a weapon powerful enough to fight them. And they found it. They used the dragon kin to create half-human hybrids. But the hybrids had a weakness. Sometimes, they lost themselves. They awakened. And they killed anything in their path.
Searching for a way to tame the hybrids, they found a smaller continent and formed an Organization. They experimented. They created yoma – monsters that ate humans. Using and manipulating legends, the organization convinced the population of the continent that yoma always existed. They created hybrid warriors to destroy the yoma, gaining income and data.
But the warriors still had the curse of the yoma. Most of them had a life expectancy of seven years. After that, their yoma side begun to overwhelm them. They would Awaken and loose their humanity.
For a long time this continued, until renegade warriors rebelled. With the help of the Holy city of Rabona, they defeated the organization and the Abyssal Ones – the most powerful Awakened Beings.
In the years to come, tired of war, the warring countries decided to make peace, stop making hybrids and destroy the yoma, who became rampant on every continent. But it was too late. There was no way to go back. They needed the hybrid warriors to keep killing the yoma.
A peace treaty was signed. Every country would have their own hybrid warriors. They would hunt the yoma and awakened beings, but they would never be used in war again.
The warriors reward for their work and sacrifice was that they could retire after 15 years of service. Every Country had a territory given to the claymores.
On the continent with the city of Rabona as its capital, the North was given to the warriors. It was a cold and inhospitable place. The human population from the North was already gone because of the war. The North would belong to the hybrids. However, in the next few decades, it was decided that once the hybrids retired from service and went to the dreary North, they would have to stay there. They were exiled from humanity.
Centuries later, history was forgotten.
-x-x-x-
Chapter 1.
-x-x-x-
Lucy was woken by a scream. It was her mother's.
Her older sister burst through the door. "Lucy! Hide under the bed. Yoma!"
Lucy obeyed her older sister and rushed under the bed after picking the dagger her sister gave her. It was her secret present. When no one was around, they would train in secret. Her parents didn't approve of her sister's "hobby".
When the yoma came through the door, her sister attacked him with her sword. But it was in vain. Lucy watched her sister's body drop to the floor. She wanted to kill the monster, but she knew it would be futile. The yoma killed her powerful sister, the strongest person she knew.
Suddenly, the girl's cover disappeared. The yoma picked up the bed as if it weighed nothing. She was frozen for a split second, but then she remembered her sister's advice. 'if you can't win, run.' Before she made three steps, she felt her strength leaving her. She saw two… arrows … Or fingers? … passing through her torso. They withdrew and she fell on her back.
The yoma kneeled on top of her. "So, she sacrificed herself to protect you," laughed the yoma. "Such tender flesh," it said.
Lucy was dieing. 'I wish I could take you with me,' she thought. She clenched her fists and realized she still had her dagger in her right hand. Lucy plunged the knife in the yoma's neck, hitting the spine, cutting it. She wrenched the dagger right, cutting half of the neck. 'The yoma looks so surprised,' she mused. Lucy sliced again, making sure of the kill. The yoma fell on top of her, bleeding all over her wounds.
-x-x-x-
Lucy opened her eyes. She was in an unfamiliar bed.
"You live," said the village elder. He looked displeased. "It's quite the miracle. Those wounds should have killed you. The man in black will come tomorrow. They'll take you to the East."
"But…"
"But nothing girl. Your family is dead and you survived. You're yoma touched. Be thankful that we healed you."
Lucy knew that even if she begged, she would not be listened. They would send her to the claymores. And if she survived the change, she would save ungrateful little shits like him from yoma.
-x-x-x-
Lucy was taken to the East, to Sutafu. They took her to a dark room and they did something to her. They put something in her. Then they threw her in a cell. "It hurts," she cried. "It hurts so much."
'It will pass, little one,' said a voice. 'Here, let me help you. Breathe deeply. Calm down. It is only pain. Don't fight it. It will pass.'
Lucy listened to the voice. Soon she felt the pain fade. "Thank you…"
'Riful.'
"Thank you, Riful," she whispered.
'Sleep, little one. You must sleep.'
Lucy smiled happily and went to sleep.
-x-x-x-
The next morning, a caretaker pushed a bowl of food in the cell.
Lucy's stomach turned at the smell of food.
'You must eat, little one.'
"Riful?"
'Yes, you do not need to speak aloud; just think, and I will hear. It would not be a good idea for the man in black to know about us.'
'Oh, do you hear me?' thought Lucy.
'Yes, I do. Now eat. I know you do not want to, but you must.'
'Okay.' Lucy took a mouthful of food. She expected that the food would make her nauseous, but instead, it made her aware of how famished she was. She finished the food and sighed in pleasure.
'Very good, little one. Now, go back to sleep. You need it.'
Lucy nodded and promptly fell asleep.
-x-x-x-
The process of eating and sleeping continued for weeks. Always, Riful was there for Lucy. She always had a loving word of encouragement. Sometimes the pain would start again, but Riful was always there for her.
-x-x-x-
One day, Lucy woke without feeling any pain.
'Good morning, little one. I see that you feel better.'
Lucy smiled and stretched on the bed. 'Yes, thank you Riful. Without you, I don't know what I would have done.'
'Now that you recovered from the change, you must have questions.'
'Yes, you seem to be so knowledgeable about everything. Since you told me not to speak aloud, I assume that me being able to hear you, is not common. What are you? What happened?'
'First, you were changed by using yoma flesh and blood. You are now a hybrid. Yoma have a kind of genetic memory. Skills, memories, even personalities can be passed down the generation. Usually it's only the basic skills and racial memories. Somehow, my entire memory and personality was passed down to you, more precisely, to your body. Somehow, we now share one body. One part is Lucy, and the other Riful.'
'So… you are a yoma?'
'No, I was a hybrid like you. But our kind is cursed. We are half human, half yoma. We can keep the yoma side at bay for a time, but one day it consumes us. We awaken. Yoma instincts take precedence and we become what we hunt.'
'So you were an…'
'Yes, I am… no, I was an Awakened Being. The new me does not have the yoma instincts. I do not hunger for human flesh.'
'I see… so now what? Don't you want your own body?'
'You are worried that I am actually an evil Awakened and I want to take over your body,' stated Riful.
'No…yes… maybe.'
'I can only promise that I do not. I am contended in sharing. We are symbiotic. You need me and I need you. Even if I wanted my own body, I do not think a battle between our wills would be beneficial. I am actually in favor of our situation. We are extremely lucky.'
'Why?'
'When we go in battle, we can use our yoki. It can make us faster, more powerful, it gives us many abilities. However, if we use more than 80 percent of it, we usually, no longer control ourselves and we awaken. You are still inexperienced, so you cannot feel it yet, but we have very similar, but different yoki.'
'So, what does that mean?'
'it means that the risk of awakening is much smaller. It may even be that we can become immune to it. If you are on the verge of Awakening, I may be able to bring you back. It may even be possible that together, we can awaken and still preserve our humanity. Together, we can escape the curse.'
'Oh, okay.'
'So, you believe me?'
'Yes, I believe you, Riful.'
'I am glad. Can we be friends? Once, when I was young, I had friends.'
Lucy smiled. 'Of course. And since we are… blood related, we are more than friends. We are family.'
-x-x-x-
'I will begin to teach you how to use your yoki. You were probably hurting too much to notice, but I used yoki to soothe your pain when you were changing. Close your eyes. Relax. Clear your mind. Now, I will use my yoki. Can you feel it?'
'Yes. I think I feel something, but it's very faint.'
'Do not worry, little one. It takes time to be able to fully use your yoki. We shall practice daily. Yoki manipulation is the most important skill you have.'
-x-x-x
'Soon, they will begin our training,' said Riful. 'We must be careful. I do not trust them. Even if the old organization from my time is truly gone, it seams that a similar parasite took its place. There are a few things that will put us un more danger than fighting a dozen Awakened. The first one is that they find out about me. The second is insubordination. And the third is being too smart. One of the most important things you must learn is control. Letting the men in black know our true feelings would be a very bad idea.'
'I know Riful. I won't disappoint you.'
'I know, Lucy. I'm sorry … I think I am a little nervous.'
-x-x-x-
Finally, the first day of training came. Lucy was part of a group of ten girls. Some of them seemed to still be in pain, while others looked fine.
An instructor came and gave them oversized swords.
Since Riful taught Lucy a bit of yoki manipulation, she was able to wield the sword without too much trouble. Coupled to the skills imparted to her by her sister, the girl was easily the best of the group. Riful also gave her many important pointers.
Lucy and Riful decided that, for their safety, Lucy would put the mask of an antisocial, uncaring, introverted girl. She could have put the mask of obedience, but they didn't think they could stomach it. The old organization always loved the obedient, the insane and uncaring antisocial warriors. The new organization probably had the same views.
-x-x-x-
Author's Note: Hoped you liked it
Reviews are welcomed (anonymous too).
Thank you for reading.
Published: September 27 2008.
Edited: February 07 2008.
-voider-
-x-x-x-