Claymore Fan Fiction

Silver-Eyed Warlock

By Kraven Ergeist

Clare let out a sigh of relief to see both Raki and Miria making their way back into the cave in one piece. True, if there had been any fighting, chances are Clare would have felt the rise in Yoki from either of them, but still, seeing it made it a reality that Raki was still with them.

For now.

The look in Miria's eyes was impossible to determine. Clare had known the woman for more than seven years, and still found it difficult to read her expressions.

"Everyone…" Miria said, calling everyone to attention. While Clare needed no beckoning, she still made a point of locking eyes with Raki long enough to offer him a warm deliberate smile, which seemed to lift his spirits some. Of course, while the feelings behind the smile were genuine, Clare couldn't help but feel that it had relied too heavily on her expression training, which made her feel manipulative. But really, if it was for the purpose of keeping Raki's spirits up, it wasn't a bad thing, right?

"We've all stuck together up until now," Miria began, interrupting Clare's thoughts, "Because it was safer to keep strength in numbers. I was quick in my promise of our assistance, but in light of the current situation, I'm going to need you each to make a choice. We have a male half Yoma on our hands that may or may not awaken at around dawn tomorrow. Just because it didn't attack Clare does not mean it will do the same thing for any of us. Do not make this choice lightly, because in the worst-case scenario, each and every one of us will be dead or worse. Now I'm asking each of you if this is a risk you're willing to take. Everyone who doesn't has from now until dawn tomorrow to get as far from this cave as possible. If you don't want to stick around for this…I suggest you leave now."

There was silence throughout the other seven members of the team. Raki didn't like being addressed as an "it" but he knew that in a way, it made sense. It made it easier for each of them to kill him should they come down to it.

Clare didn't speak. Everyone knew her answer, so she knew she might as well not even voice her opinion. It made her nervous, how in the exchange of glances between the warriors in the cave, none of them, not even Miria, made eye contact with her. She didn't blame them of course – who would want the accusing stare of Raki's strongest advocate weighing on their conscience as they made up their minds about whether or not to trust their lives to this boy?

Helen wasn't sure why Miria was making such a big deal out of this. Even if the kid did awaken, it was seven half awakened half Yoma, including Phantom Miria herself against one Awakened Being who couldn't be older than seven at the most. They could have taken him easily. Did Miria honestly think he could be powerful enough to kill all of them?

Deneve too was suspicious of Miria's caution, though she didn't in any way mistrust it. Obviously she wasn't telling them the whole story. Before her talk with the kid, she had been all for testing him to see if he could retain his human form, and now she was talking about worst-case scenarios. Something the kid had revealed in their talk had Miria spooked. And if Deneve knew anything, it was that if Miria believed something was dangerous, it almost certainly was.

Cynthia had already made up her mind. The chance of adding another member to their party (and a boy at that – a cute one!) seemed too good to pass up. It could only improve their odds should they run into trouble, it would certainly make things more interesting when there was nothing to do, and besides, with Phantom Miria at their side, they were perfectly safe should he ever awaken.

Tabitha felt uneasy. The Yoki she felt from Raki had made her feel queasy since he first showed up, and since he'd been here, it hadn't gone away. He felt so much different from all of them. Maybe it was because he was a male, but she couldn't shake the feeling that keeping the kid around wasn't a good idea. Of course, neither was running around by herself. And Miria seemed set on helping Clare with this, and if the rest of the group signed on as well…Tabitha had her doubts, but it was probably better to take her chances with the kid. At least they outnumbered the kid should he awaken.

Uma honestly didn't know what to think. Clare had told them all about Raki, about how she had inadvertently rescued him, how he had followed her around after being exiled from his town, about how she had taken him on as her traveling companion/cook (she honestly thought Helen's theory about him being her sex slave was a load of hock), about how he had stuck with her to the point of being able to bring her back from nearly awakening, and making a promise with her to keep on living until they could see each other, sealing the promise with a kiss. Now, seven years later, Raki had sacrificed his humanity for her sake. For this kid…Raki…to show that kind of devotion to one of their kind made Uma feel a kind of warmth in her chest that she hadn't felt since her human years. That kind of devotion shouldn't have to end because of their insecurities, least of all hers.

Miria glanced back and forth as her companions for the last seven years remained where they were. She could see doubt. She could see insecurity. That was to be expected. But when it came down to brass tax, they had stuck with her. It made her a little proud inside.

"Alright then…" Miria turned to Raki. "Raki, if you'd like to speak on your own behalf, feel free. I know this must bother you to be spoken of as though you weren't here."

Raki shook his head. "It's alright, Miria…you seem to have a much greater understanding of the situation than I possibly could, so you should be the one to explain."

Helen and Deneve exchanged glances.

"What?" Helen asked. "Explain what?"

Miria drew in her breath. "The Yoma that donated its flesh to Raki's transfusion was the Silver Eyed Lion King, Rigardo."

Everyone bristled at that, not the least of whom Clare.

"An Awakened Being?" Deneve was the first to speak. "Has that ever been done?"

"Not in the organization's history," Miria shook her head.

"But Rigardo was dead and gone!" Helen protested. "Clare chopped him up into little pieces! How could anyone have salvaged enough of him to use as a donator?"

"Isley found a way," Miria said gravely. "It's possible that mixed in with Rigardo's flesh were bits and pieces of other Awakened Beings, but the end result is the same."

"Doesn't that make Raki one quarter Yoma?" Tabitha inquired. The abnormal Yoki radiating off the boy was suddenly starting to make sense. "Like Clare?"

Clare's eyes flashed.

"Yes…" Miria nodded.

"Then what were we worried about?" Helen crowed in an attempt to lift everyone's spirits. "If he's only a quarter Yoma, he's got to be weaker than any of us, including number 47 here!"

Helen diluted the barb with a companionable slap to Clare's back. Raki, for his part, didn't seem the least bit insulted by the remark.

Miria smiled wisely. "But not if he were to awaken. And you forget, he's already awakened at least once before. He's like us – half awakened."

Cynthia drew in her breath at that comment. "Like us…?"

Miria nodded. "Notice how much more control Clare has over herself when she awakens? How much more powerful she becomes? How much easier it is for her to come back? I believe that Raki will be the same. I believe that this is why he was even able to stabilize with just a single Yoki suppressant pill."

Deneve frowned. "If the organization ever found out about this…"

Miria shook her head. "There's no way they haven't tried this before. They must have. Which is what worries me so much. If they have, and successfully managed to revert male quarter Yoma, then why haven't they? Why haven't they tried to turn every Awakened Being into a quarter Yoma? There must be a reason why they felt that it shouldn't be done. I don't know what will happen tomorrow at dawn, but I am not optimistic."

Clare finally spoke. "What if the differences weren't just a cause of being made from an Awakened Being? Have you forgotten that this was performed by Isley of the North? How do we even know if he uses the same methods as the organization?"

"Needles being driven into your flesh at six inch intervals everywhere, pumping fluid into your body…strapped to a table as the vision in your eyes becomes blurry and then dark…your ears begin to ring…your sense of smell disappears, and then your sense of taste…and all that your left with is the feeling of your body slowly changing, bone, flesh and sinew twisting inside out…"

All eyes turned to Raki.

"You want to scream, but you have no tongue…no throat…no lungs…your body's not there, because it's in hell, burning and steaming…you want to scratch an itch that's everywhere, but you can't move…your stomach collapses in on itself, because you're starving and you've thrown up everything you've ever eaten…you feel unclean…putrid…because the thought of carnage and blood makes you giddy…"

By this point, even Miria was looking a little ill.

"You feel your skin crawling, only it's already completely melted off your flesh…your bones begin to crack and reform into something else, something that cuts into your own body…and then you feel things begin to grow inside you, tendrils of something rotten and evil…something that makes you hunger for the smell of blood…and then…then you once again begin to regain your senses…first the burning, putrid scent in your nose…then the horrid, vile taste in your mouth…the wretched vile howls of pain in your ears…and finally, you are confronted with the site of the most horrible demon you've ever laid your eyes on…its skin is sick yellow and its eyes glare back at you with an unholy orange…"

Clare was seething. Raki was rambling on like a madman now!

"And then you are hit with the realization that the demon you're looking at is yourself…that this is what you've become…and you are never going back to the way you used to be…"

Raki's eyes were deadpan as he finally looked up.

"If this is what it was like for you…then I've truly misunderstood the Claymores…"

"Raki…"

Clare was holding him by the shoulders before he could even finish, and at her touch, he flinched, his eyes refocusing as tears began to pour from his eyes. He collapsed against Clare's body, completely drained as he began sobbing horrifically, clutching her like a lot child.

"What have I done to myself!?" he wailed through sobs of realization and remorse, face buried in Clare's robes. "What have I become!?"

Pained. That's the impression everyone got when they saw Raki standing their, wrapped in the arms of the only family he had left. No matter what any of the others felt for him before, none of them, despite their uneasiness, could deny the sympathy they felt for this pained creature. He was one of them, no matter the age or gender, and they felt kinship for him. His cries of pain and sadness reflected their own, and for that, they cast their eyes to the floor, ashamed to have ever thought of leaving the boy behind.

"Get some rest," Miria was the first to interrupt the ordeal, walking faster than necessary out of the cave. "Dawn will be coming soon."

The others – save for Clare – watched their commander leave, and wondered for a moment why she had wanted to be alone so abruptly. Surely not so that she could shed a tear. True, a commander showing weakness in front of her subordinates was bad for morale, and their morale had already suffered enough. Still…this was Phantom Miria - a half Yoma who killed without remorse! Surely she, the strongest of them all, was leaving them all to catch a moment of silence to clear her head and plan the next day, and not something so disgraceful as to weep?

It would seem they'd never know, as she disappeared from even Tabitha's range, all the while the boy – sniveling brat or valiant martyr, none were sure – cried in Clare's arms, the weight of his decision finally coming down on his head as his memories of his transformation had finally cleared. And Clare, all too familiar with the pain and frustration he felt, all too saddened by the reality of his decision, and all too overcome by the realization that now he was truly like them – and even more like her – felt tears of her own follow suit.

"Raki…"

There would be no sleep for either of them that night, as brutal night terrors tore Raki from slumber, which Clare – sleeping right next to him ever so devoted as she was – would always rouse to calm him, just as Elena had done for her once upon a time. The day would not find them bright eyed or bushy tailed, but at the same time, it would not find them tired or lethargic. It would simply find them as they were, clutching each other, not for warmth, but for the feeling of comfort in knowing that despite all the things that had happened to them, they still had each other. And that would have to be enough.

xxxxx

To be continued…