Chapter 1: The Aftermath
The cheering warriors felt as if a huge cloud of relief settled over them and they were finally free of the hurt and bloodshed that was the way of the past. They all froze when they felt a massive yoki burst and then die. Miria turned and ran towards the source, having no idea what caused Cassandra's death. Deneve and Helen followed her, not understanding what was going on either.
"Is this another attempt by the Organization to regain control of us?"
Miria heard Helen cry.
"I don't know, Helen."
Miria admitted,
"There isn't a warrior that I could think of that would be that powerful..."
Miria stopped suddenly, freezing as she realised something very important. There was a warrior who would easily surpass the Creatures of the Abyss. And she'd never used her yoki powers either. If it was her that Miria was thinking of, the Phantom ran again...
Chloey paused as she'd felt the massive yoki and felt Meg and Claire blanched along side of her. The twins were trembling and the warrior that they managed to save from the west was also shaking with fear. The worst part was that the damned thing was heading their way and Chloey knew that there would be a fight soon. What really pissed her off was that she had at one point felt three creatures of the abyss in Sutafu and a comrade come dangerously close to awakening. Chloey was relieved when Miria was able to pull herself back together with a bit of assistance from a pair of comrades that The Silent had yet to meet.
Chloey forced herself to focus on the awakened being and the fight was shorter than The Silent expected but in her mind it was a good thing.
"We must hurry!"
Chloey cried,
"The others might be in serious danger!"
They continued on, running in to the men from the Organization. Chloey's blade showed them no mercy. She continued forward with Meg, Claire and Renée walked behind her.
After three hours of steady walking, they came across a large group of warriors. Miria was leading them. Chloey felt a surge of joy and Miria's surprise turned into such a beautiful smile. The younger warriors were shaking with fear until Miria came forward and said calmly,
"It's good to see you again, Chloey."
"As it is to see you, Miria, I'm glad to see that you're still alive and well."
The younger warriors relaxed when they saw their comrade, Renée. She was still recovering from the torture that Riful had imposed on her. Renée smiled and there was soon a lot of warrior's talking and catching up. Chloey sat quietly and simply listened to the others talking, glad that Rimuto had finally paid for his deeds, but sad that it had taken as long as it did.
The warriors decided to head to Rabona to regroup and sort out what to do. It was Miria who calmly sat next to Chloey.
"I think that the hardest part has to be what we do now."
Chloey nodded, this was a topic that she had spent many hours going over herself. She decided that she would simply try to keep a low profile like she always had. Chloey lowered her head and sighed,
"It would be hard to assess what will happen next; who knows we may have some trouble ahead of us...this I hope never happens."
Miria nodded, and looked to her younger comrades as they all they talked to one another,
"I suppose whatever happens now, we'll just have to finish what the Organization started, right Chloey?"
The former nodded. After a while the younger warriors all looked to Chloey, as if by some instinct knowing that Chloey was the eldest warrior present. They would obey Miria without question, but seeing the way that Miria had acted around Chloey...The Silent sighed. She didn't want to be the leader of the girls, she was much better as a second in command. She went to talk to Miria when a young child came up to her, one with two low pigtails. She seemed to want to ask something but she didn't know how to ask.
"Are you alright?"
Chloey asked the girl.
"What will happen to us now?"
Chloey's eyes tightened a bit and she looked to Miria. An unspoken message was passed between the two warriors,
"We'll simply be keeping quiet for now."
Chloey murmured gently. The rest of the trainees gaped at the softness the now heard,
"What's your name youngling?"
The Silent asked the young girl,
"I...I'm called Cassandra."
The small child blushed, knowing that instinctively that her name was one that sent shivers through some of the warriors. Chloey smiled and said gently,
"A pretty name,"
Cassandra blinked and said quietly,
"What's "Eyes"?"
Chloey raised an eyebrow,
""Eyes", are people who are sensitive to yoki over distance."
Cassandra looked worried.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, it could be said that it is a good thing."
Miria smiled,
"Well then, that makes four "Eyes". For us that is a good thing, it'll make finding the yoma that much easier!"
Cassandra blinked, and Chloey nodded,
"Even if it was just me, you'd find the yoma easily, across the entire island."
She mused quietly,
"It's almost enough to have four groups to hunt all the yoma left."
Chloey tilted her head,
"There are 15 in the west and 10 in the south."
"Yoma?"
Miria asked
"Or awakened ones?"
"Yoma."
Chloey said shortly.
"Damn!"
A warrior with short hair exclaimed, Chloey later found out that her name was Deneve, since Miria told her who the warrior was.
"Just when we thought we were over that already...but how is it possible for you to sense out like that?"
Another warrior with chin length hair asked. Chloey had seen plenty of half awakened warriors and she could tell, with just a light look that this one as well as Deneve had gone over their yoki limits before like Miria.
"I have lived a long time and was the first of the "Eyes" for the Organization; I faked my death some time ago."
"Oh!"
The young warrior's eyes widened in shock, as she came to a realisation, she then looked to Miria,
"How do you know her Big Sis?"
Miria sighed,
"A longer story than what we have time for Helen."
The warriors and the trainees all rested for a while and then set out again. A young human followed them, which Chloey found quite strange, and Miria certainly didn't have many answers, stating that when he was a child he followed one of Miria's comrades for a while.
The journey to Rabona took them almost three months. Chloey easily picked up three yoki within Rabona. One was weak, something that she expected, and the other two were reasonable in their strength. The older of the two had felt most of the warriors that had come towards Rabona, so then, this is the one that Miria calls Galatea. The Silent focused on the younger of the two, she was strong, not that she'd match Chloey. Another yoki source caught her attention, it was strong and she could see with it a warrior that looked like...Teresa! The Silent thought. She instinctively went towards the source.
What she saw was a strange black object that she'd never seen before. Some of the yoki read as Luciela some Rafaela, some of Teresa's yoki and another unfamiliar, though seen before yoki.
All of the warriors had arrived behind Chloey; the one called Helen spoke up
"Uh, I don't know if you could help..."
Chloey held up a hand to stop the younger warrior from saying more.
"As far as I can see, this can be worked to save two lives...I would have to kill the third, because it isn't something that I want to see living."
The human gasped,
"That said there are three distinct yokis that I can see. Two I know, one I have only seen on the edge of my perception. It is the last one that I must destroy."
The strong warrior, who had detected most of the warriors at a distance, spoke up,
"How though, based on what I could see, it's Clare that's holding the whole thing together."
Chloey sighed,
"You're perception is not as good as mine, child."
The warrior blanched,
"How can you say that?"
She demanded,
"I say it because I was the "Eyes" before you were even born. I was the first of such warriors. I'm willing to bet that you can't sense my yoki at all, despite the fact that you are blind."
Galatea was surprised, as she realised the truth of the warrior's words, no matter how hard she tried, the warrior's yoki remained elusive.
Chloey turned her attention towards the black object and began. It was easy for the former "Eyes" to see what was going on and to work with the yoki. Chloey was about half way through, when she felt a strange consciousness approach her.
"Why are you here?"
She demanded,
"To save what's left in here."
The Silent replied, as light poured everywhere.
The warriors present gasped as the black object moved and its shape started to change. Three bodies emerged, and Chloey acted quickly. Before anyone knew what happened, the one horned creature was killed, Rafaela was standing before them, her scar remaining in place, like it was the day Miria had last seen her, and Clare also stood before the warriors, looking around frantically for something. Chloey pulled out a couple of cloaks and covered the short haired girl and Rafaela. The later looking at The Silent as if she had something to ask.
The half yoma were interrupted by a group of humans that had arrived shortly after all of the tension had begun to leave the air. The two humans in front were a surprisingly bold, walking around the half yoma without fear. The one at the front wore his hair long and had a swagger about him that Chloey abhorred; she decided that she didn't like him that much, although the man who was on his left was quite attractive, firm yet gentle at the same time. Chloey found herself blushing about the thoughts that were racing through her mind about him.
"Well it looks like we've got a whole stack of Claymores."
The first man snorted,
"What do ya think Galk, should we take 'em to see Father Vincent?"
The taller man, Galk regarded them calmly,
"We should Cid."
He replied,
"I'm sure that he'll be eager to hear that all is well now."
His eyes meet Chloey's and the short warrior blushed, as she looked away. The one called Cid laughed,
"Hey Galk, looks like you got a Claymore to blush!"
Galk's eyes sort the short warrior, and he calmly said,
"Forgive him, sometimes Cid doesn't know when to stop. I'm Galk, and you are?'
Chloey smiled softly,
"I'm Chloey."
Cid tilted his head,
"I barely heard that."
He mumbled. It was lucky that Raki wasn't close by and was too busy being hugged by a tearful short haired warrior, who Chloey would liken to Teresa. On a yoki level at least, The Silent decided.
After three hours of discussion between the warriors and the humans of Rabona, it was decided that the warriors could travel on their own way, as long as things remained peaceful, and there was no real need to have them in the city. What didn't surprise Chloey was that Clarice, Miata and Galatea all decided to stay in Rabona; after all it was their choice. What did surprise her however was that young Cassandra, Renée, Miria and a young warrior called Tabitha decided to follow her along with Meg and Claire. Chloey had decided to head to the west, since the yoma presence was the worst.
Chloey made sure that all of the others could keep up, Cassandra having to get used to boots for the first time since she'd been training. Chloey made sure that before they left, that there were enough proper swords for all of the trainees, she then found leather straps to hold the swords, much like the warriors' holders for their amour.
After three weeks of travelling, the group soon found yoma, about seven of the creatures. Chloey showed Cassandra how to follow the yoma's yoki. The young girl was good, almost. She did get quite close to getting hurt. Chloey had cringed at the thought, though luckily for Cassandra, the yoma died quickly.
With that done Chloey moved on, searching out the yoma and making sure that they cleared the western lands of Lautrec. Once that was complete, Chloey turned to Alphonse.