In the Shadows of History Pt. 4: Love and Hate
I'm back with chapter six! As the title and previous installment suggests, this one will be about Roxanne of Love and Hate. And it will be dark, oh so very dark. However, we're going to start off with Cassandra first. A shout out to FuZzvKiNgZz for giving me the idea.
We're going to see a little of Percy's bad side, as well as see him 'grow up.' We're also going to see Isley's plans shot down like a wounded duck.
Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore or Percy Jackson
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24 years after the death of Lutecia the Universal
Perseus biological age: 59
Southern Lands od Mucha
Cassandra, the current Number 1 of the 72nd Generation, had just finished her…something number Awakened Being Hunt. Alone. It wasn't difficult, the poor thing was probably once warrior in the 40s. She made quick work of it with her sword technique that did not yet have a name…
Now she was on her way back to Toulouse to meet up with her handler, or her handler would meet up with her. The Man in Black had a habit of just popping up. He was weird.
Cassandra really did enjoy Mucha. The trees, the grass, the smell, the sun, the kid in the white cloak, the calm weather…wait.
Cassandra whirled around to see the antithesis of the Organization standing not ten feet behind her, a wide grin on its face (the Claymore could not tell the child's gender). "Uh…hello there, little one."
The child continued to grin at her.
"Um…are your parents arou-"
"You're different."
Cassandra blinked. The child's voice was genderless. It was too feminine for a boy, yet too masculine for a girl. The possibility that this was a Yoma had also crossed her mind. This child didn't have an aura, per se, but they did feel different from a human.
"Different how?"
The child cocked their head to the side, "You don't feel like you have a tree branch shoved up your butt, like all of the others do nowadays. You actually feel kinda nice."
Cassandra blinked at that answer. So many questions ran through her mind at once. A tree branch in her butt? She tried that with her fingers, it didn't work out well. Like the others? The other what? And feel kinda nice? As opposed to what?
"Uhh…" Cassandra's brain felt like exploding, "Who are you?" Let's get the basics out of the way before moving onto more complex questions.
"I'm bored. That's who I am."
Cassandra was going to bash this brat's skull in. "Alright, Mr. Bored," she said through clenched teeth, "can you tell me what you're doing out here in the wild? Without your parents? Or siblings? Or did you wander off and get lost?"
Instead of answering, the child asked, "What is it with you and all of these questions?"
Cassandra gripped her hair and growled in frustration at this kid's antics. Why couldn't this nuisance just give her a straight answer? Why was she having trouble with someone who probably wet themselves at night? Why was she even wasting her time with Mr. Bored?
Oh right. Because did her best to remain human.
And part of being human was helping those in need, no matter how frustrating.
Once again, Cassandra asked, "Where are your parents?" The kid shrugged, "Don't know. Never knew them." Cassandra blinked, suddenly feeling really bad. But, there weren't any orphanages around here for miles. There was no way the matrons would let any children, especially one this young, get this far out.
And then there were the Yoma that wandered around out here. They would've chewed this child up and shit them out long ago.
Alright, even more questions, but let's stay on task here, "You said you were bored. Why are you bored? Surely there's lots of things to do where you're from."
The child shrugged, "Meh. I'm bored because I've been doing the same thing for like, years now, and I want to do something different."
Cassandra smiled softly to herself. Children were so adorable with their exaggerations. "And just what is it that you've been doing for like, years now?"
The child raised his thin arms up to the hood of his cloak and took it off. Cassandra had to physically restrain herself from gushing at the sheer adorableness that the little angel in front of her radiated. That soft face, the long hair that covered his left eye, and his wide, innocent, green eye. It was the picture of cute.
"I've been hunting down fighting Number 1 Claymores for the past fifty years to see if their strong enough to be a part of my army."
"Aww, well isn't that cute-wait, what?" Cassandra wasn't sure she heard that right. The child, still keeping his innocent appearance, repeated his statement.
You could practically see the world around the Number 1 crack and shatter.
For the past five decades, the Organization had been investigating the mysterious and unexplained deaths of many of the former most powerful warriors. The only things each death had in common was that the Number 1 looked to have been eaten and drained of Yoki. The only exception to that was Three-Armed Licht, who was found as a pile of smoking flesh from what was apparently Yoki-overload. The most prevalent theory was that the warriors were ambushed by several Yoma or Awakened Beings skilled at hiding their aura, and used the element of surprise to quickly take down the warrior.
Many believed that theory, it was plausible after all, and there were several instances in the past were lower ranked warriors had let their guards down and ended up as a meal. But there was another theory. One far less believed because of how much fear it instigated. The other theory…was that there was a being, a powerful one, perhaps one more powerful than Isley of the North, hunting and killing the Number 1s for either sport, or to satisfy their hunger.
It was terrifying thought indeed.
And now Cassandra was standing in the presence of what could or could not be the most dangerous creature alive. Then again, this child could very well be jesting her.
"Hello? Anybody in there?"
The Number 1 was broken out of her thoughts when the boy started knocking on her head like it was a door. So she did what was natural given the suddenness of the situation: she grabbed her sword and swung in a motion too fast to be scene.
CHING
The child had caught the blade in between his fore and middle fingers.
Cassandra grit her teeth and tried to pull her blade free. She tugged and tugged, but the brat wouldn't let go. Then she looked into his visible eye…and froze. His eye was dull, but not in the bored kind of way. It was dull in the way a swords master looked upon an impudent novice. It was dull in the way an Awakened Being looked upon a warrior in the thirties. It was dull in the way a god looked upon a mortal.
The gravity of the situation crashed down on Cassandra's shoulders like a pair of meteors. She had just attacked a being that could wipe her out like an ant. A being with enough strength to split her body in half.
Cassandra felt a terror grip her with the likes she had never felt before. She was at the mercy of this creature, and she had no idea what he was going to do to her. One of humanities greatest fears was the unknown. And right now, the dark possibilities of the future were racing through the warrior's head.
"Now that was rude. At least Riful showed some respect when she realized who I was."
The boy jerked his arm up, bringing up Cassandra's sword along with it, and punched the Claymore square in the face. Cassandra proved to be nimble and landed on her feet, but she immediately went to her knees, one arm supporting her weight while the other tried to stem the blood flowing from her burning nose.
A quick pulse of Yoki and the problem was fixed.
Now she just had to find a way out of this alive.
"Hey! There's something I've been meaning to ask you! A few years ago, I fought this one girl, named Sistina, and when I fought her, I tried to make her Awaken by sending my Yoki into her body so her body's Yoki would push mine out, but I kept sending more of my Yoki into her body, which made more of her Yoki come out, and I made her get to 100% of her Yoki, but instead of Awakening she just smelled funny and there was this really sweet stuff between her legs. I really liked it, so do you know how I can some more?" The boy managed to say all of that in one breath.
Cassandra paused for a moment as she went over what to be the longest coherent sentence she had ever heard. So he fought Sistina, pumped her full of his own Yoki, which, like human antibodies, made her own Yoki rise to force out the foreign one. But he sent so much Yoki into Sistina's body that she unintentionally Awakened, which made sweet…stuff…between her legs…Oh. My. God.
He had made Sistina orgasm right before she died, and now he apparently had a sweet tooth.
This was wrong on so many levels, but if it got her out of this in one piece, then it looked she was going to give this childlike Awakened Being the Talk. A shiver crawled up Cassandra's spine; this was so wrong.
"Well, ah," God, how did she explain this to a kid? "You see, when a woman gets excited-"
"Like when someone gets them something really nice, like a necklace or something?"
Cassandra's face couldn't get any redder, "No, not that kind of excited. Um, it's the kind of excitement that happens when she's in the bedroom-"
"She gets excited when she's about to go to sleep?"
Cassandra mentally calmed herself down, frustration at being interrupted was not good to show right now, "No, she doesn't get excited when she goes to sleep. Well, technically speaking. He gets excited when there's a man…and the man is also…excited."
The child still didn't get it, "They both get excited when they're about to go to sleep?"
Cassandra was screaming internally. Now she had to explain puberty to an eight-year-old. Rubbing her temples, she launched into a sub-conversation, "You know when you go to take a bath, or go to the bathroom, there's that little thing in between your le-"
"The penis, yes. Go on."
Blink. Okaaaaaay…he knew what his reproductive organ was, "Do you know what girls have between their legs?"
The boy's face scrunched up, "Something about china, right?"
Any other time, Cassandra would've found this interaction completely adorable. Right now though, she was hoping not to die. "Close. It's actually called the vagina."
The boy made an 'Ahhh' face.
"And when a man sees…a vagina…he gets excited…and when a woman sees a penis…she gets…excited…too. And when the man…puts his penis…inside a vagina…" Cassandra thought she was going to die, "…repeatedly…the woman gets even more excited…and that's when that really good stuff you stuff you like comes out." She finished in a rush. Her face felt like it was on fire.
"So…if I see your vagina-" Cassandra managed to somehow blush and pale at the same time- "and you see my penis…but wait. Sistina didn't see my penis, and she got really excited. Are you sure that's how it works?" the boy asked scrutinizingly.
Cassandra glanced off to the side, and coughed, "Well, there are other ways to make a woman excited. A woman can use their fingers, or other…things," like someone else's tongue, "to get excited."
The boy thought for a moment, "Other things huh…" Then a bunch of tentacles burst from his back, all of them several feet long and pointed right at Number 1. "Do these count as other things?"
Cassandra fainted.
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Five years later
Perseus biological age: 64
Hatred. Pure, unadulterated, hatred.
In all of his (known) life, the Leviathan had never really felt emotion. Sure, he was known for his cheery and amicable disposition, but he wasn't really happy. It was more of an act, a mask, if you will. Even during his time as a Claymore he never really felt anything for anyone. It wasn't that he didn't care, it wasn't that he was heartless, it was just…he didn't have any feelings for anything.
He wasn't sad when someone died. He wasn't glad when someone came back alive. He wasn't mad when someone insulted him. If anything, he was positively neutral. He liked to see the bright side of things, even if it really didn't matter to him at all.
He was not empathetic.
But right now, the Abyssal Lord's heart and soul were filled with the most volatile emotion. He had spent the better part of the last five years with Cassandra. At first, it was just because he wanted to find out how to get more of the sweet stuff, but then it became more. He had grown attached to the Claymore, close to her. He never did get any of the sweet stuff from her, but he didn't want to.
Perseus didn't know how to describe his relationship with the Claymore, but it definitely wasn't lovers, siblings, parents, friends, or anything like that. He guessed it was just finding comfort in companionship with one another.
But all of that was ripped from him by an upstart by the name of Roxanne.
Perseus had first heard of the Claymore when she was ranked 35. He had observed her over the course of her tenure when he wasn't with Cassy (his nickname for her; she called him Percy, which made something inside of him resonate). He had never felt such contempt. He promised himself that he would personally kill this animal when he got the chance.
Roxanne had a rare ability among those with Yoki: Yoki Synchronization. She could read a person's Yoki aura and mimic it to a 'T,' perfectly copying sword styles, techniques, and even hide her aura completely from a chosen target.
It wasn't her ability that made Perseus mad, it was how she used it that filled him with contempt. She would 'befriend' certain Claymores just for their powers, and when she was done with them, Roxanne would lead her companions on a 'failed' Awakened Being Hunt, one in which all but Roxanne would survive-without injury of course.
Just a few days ago, the Wide Smile had observed as Roxanne had led a Hunt that resulted in the current-now passed-35th ranked warrior to die. The tragedy to this story is that Number 35 had been a close friend of Cassy's, and someone Perseus could easily get along with, having been introduced by the Number 1.
Instead of slaughtering Roxanne then and there like he should have, the Leviathan had instead decided to do something noble: he had told Cassandra. Perseus wasn't the best with people, but he knew that telling the Number 1 would make her sad and angry at the same time.
He just didn't expect her to feel them in such excess.
Cassandra, instead of making a plan to eliminate the Number 2 ranked warrior-who was actually a friend of hers, which really bit-she instead made a beeline straight for Staff…at two-hundred miles an hour. Perseus, expecting an excellent display of power that would undoubtedly result in a new Abyssal One, one that he would send to the South, had watched from the top of one of the desert cliffs.
What happened next was what filled the Lord of the Abyss with such fury: Roxanne had killed Cassandra.
He was going to have to rectify that.
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Roxanne of Love and Hate was besides herself with joy. She had finally done it! She had finally killed-and got away with-the Number 1 warrior! And now she was the Number 1!
It was perfect, she was at the top, and there was no one alive that could knock her down…
That's when an unbelievable amount of pressure crashed down on top of Roxanne's shoulders. Falling to her knees, her breathing extremely labored, she looked around and saw the other warriors were in worse states. The ones below Number 37 were all pressed into the dirt, their flat bodies slowly being pressed deeper into the earth.
This pressure was being created by something's Yoki aura, and whatever it was, it had shit ton amount of it. Roxanne had never felt an aura like this before, it surpassed hers like she surpassed everyone else. It was inconceivable! It was unbelievable! It was suddenly gone!
…come again?
Oxygen finally returned to the Claymores' lungs as the oppressive Yoki aura seemingly just vanished. Roxanne, and many others, spread out their senses, looking for whatever had caused them to almost suffocate. Surely whatever had such a large aura was still in the vicinity. Right?
That's when something crashed down right in the middle of the battle field, sending dust, debris, and warriors flying through the air. When the dust finally settled, everyone present, Roxanne included, were shocked to see a young child. The child looked to be about eight-ten years old, about 4'9 in height, and a slim, almost feminine build. The child was shirtless, exposing the scar running from neck to navel, was wearing grey trousers that bunched up at mid-calf. His hair was a strange mix of white with black tips, like the wings of an albatross. His left eye, sclera and all, glowed silver, while the entirety of his right eye glowed the color of the sea.
But it was his arms that drew the most attention. They seemed to be separated at the elbow, two strands of flesh connecting the limbs to the body. The disconnected arms were pitch-black in color, and extended backwards. The middle fingers on the arms had extended by two feet, and the fingers were curled inward, the nails having become thin claws.
It was silent for all of a minute, before the child spoke in a distorted, multi-layered voice, "All of you will die tonight. There will be no survivors."
That was enough the galvanize the warriors into action, but Roxanne noticed something the other 39 women didn't: the boy wasn't standing there anymore. What came next would forever be remembered as the White Massacre.
There were hundreds of sudden black streaks tearing through the air, or more specifically, tearing through the lower ranked Claymores. The ones above 15 managed to raise their swords fast enough to block, but the force behind the invisible blades was enough to send them skidding back across the dirt.
The boy rematerialized in the same spot he crashed down in. Then Claymores 15 through 40 were suddenly collapsing, their bodies cut and their limbs severed. The blades of the survivors glowed red-hot from where they were struck.
"You."
Roxanne locked eyes with the Awakened Being, for what else could this monster be?
"The crimes you have committed in this lifetime will now be paid for…in full!"
Primal fear gripped Roxanne's heart, and she found that she couldn't move from her spot on the dirt. The boy began to steadily walk towards her, and her terror increased. This demon's Killing Intent was insane!
His KI only seemed to be directed at Roxanne however, because the remaining 13 warriors all blurred around the boy, circling him. He continued his leisurely walk. The warriors all had their swords out, and then all blitzed forward in an attempt to spear him through several directions all at once. The boy kept walking. The warriors were mere inches away when all of them suddenly froze…then they all swung their swords clockwise.
The boy calmly stepped over the decapitated bodies in front of him, his eyes still glowing brightly.
'No!' Roxanne screamed in her mind. She had spent years working and killing to get to this level of power, and she was not going to let this ugly creature do her in!
With a scream, Roxanne surged to 60% of her aura instantly. Her eyes became gold, her pupils became slits, her teeth turned into fangs, veins bulged across her face, and her muscles swelled with power. A spiraling mass of Yoki violently swirled around the demonic looking woman.
The boy paused in his walk, taking time to evaluate his opponent.
"Eat shit and die!" Roxanne exploded forward with a grunt, the ground beneath her cratering even more than it already was. She raised her claymore high above her head, ready for a devastating two-handed overhead slash, but the boy parried with his arms, the sudden change in forces sending Roxanne back. She unfazed though, landing on her feet and then surging forward once again.
This time, instead of a forward assault she changed directions and began streaking at him from the sides. Anyone watching would've seen a white blur tearing across the earth, and a flash of sparks as it crossed the boy that was standing there. They also would've heard something like 'eat shit' over and over again.
The boy quickly grew bored of this, and, when Roxanne came flying back at him, he swung his arms. The Number 1 reacted just in time to bring her sword up as a shield, but she was launched into the air like a baseball.
Flying up, Roxanne right herself and looked down, searching for her opponent. He was nowhere to be seen on the ground.
SCHLINK
Roxanne screamed when she stabbed through the ribs by two thin blades. A voice spoke in her ear, "You are a dust mite fighting a god." Then Roxanne felt the blades in her gut remove themselves, and she was rocketing back to the ground. She landed hard, kicking up dust and rocks.
Roxanne groaned as she felt her Yoki regenerate her wounds. She was up and moving when her body was done healing, and quickly located the Awakened Being. She was in front of the child in a microsecond, ready to decapitate the little devil. She swung her arm with all the power she could muster…then she couldn't feel her arm anymore.
She watched as her limb and her sword sailed away into the night. Roxanne whimpered; the seat of her uniform suddenly felt a lot warmer.
The boy's arm twitched, and Roxanne's legs were severed at the knee in a spray of blood. Before she could hit the ground, the boy kicked her in the chest, right between her breasts, sending sailing across the earth. Roxanne landed on her back, bouncing a few times, before her momentum dwindled and friction did its thing. She immediately rolled over and used her remaining arm to crawl away, her flight instinct demanding she get as far away as possible.
She did not get far.
The Awakened Being appeared next to her, and stomped on her hand, shattering bone and skin like wet paper. She didn't have time to scream before she was lifted off the ground by her curly hair, and brought to eye-level with the demon.
Tears brimmed in her golden eyes, and she could smell herself. The boy's face was neutral, his eyes like spotlights in the night. The he dropped her on her back. Roxanne looked up at her tormentor in defiance. If she was going to die, she was not going to do it like a toddler.
Before she could say anything, the boy roared in her face. It was a deep, loud, and terrifying sound that carried across the land. The Men in Black at Staff, just two miles away probably heard it. To her shame, Roxanne felt something wet spread out from her crotch.
The boy looked down on her like a god, "What was it you told me during our battle? Oh yes, I believe it was-" he reached down and ripped away the cloth at Roxanne's ass- "eat shit…" The boy stomped on Roxanne's stomach causing her mouth to fly open…and he shoved the contents of his hand into her oral cavity.
Roxanne's screams were muffled as the Awakened Being forced her to eat her own feces, lest she choke to death. It was the most torturous, humiliating, and disgusting thing the Number 1 had ever been forced to do.
When she was done, shit was smeared across the sides of her mouth, and her stomach churned from its new contents.
"You are the type of person I hate most in this world," the demon said. "The kind that uses others only to benefit themselves, only to kill them once you're done with them. I've watched you for many years now, I've seen the crimes you've committed. The lack of loyalty you've shown disgusts me.
"And, for some reason, I've always had a problem with those that aren't loyal. Speaking of loyalty, I'm going to have a talk with Isley and Riful about this little coupe their trying to plan behind my back." The Awakened Being sighed to himself, "I don't know why I'm telling you this, I'm about to murder you after all."
Upon hearing that, Roxanne's survival instincts kicked into overdrive and her body did the only logical thing it could think of: she Awakened.
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Perseus was inwardly impressed with the newest Abyssal One.
She was tall, sleek, powerful, covered in armor; her arms were thin and spindly, and she had three 'wings' sprouting from her shoulders, each as thin as her arms and adorned with blade-like feathers that were evenly spaced out.
Too bad the Leviathan wasn't recruiting right now.
"I'm going to kill you, then eat you, then I'm going to shit you out and eat you again! Hahahahahahahahaha!" Well, good to know that she's completely lost it. Makes Perseus feel better that he's going to remove such a danger to the world. Let it not be said that King Perseus didn't care about his lowly subjects.
The Awakened Roxanne had no idea what happened. One second she was more powerful and was about to murder the little demon, the next she was drowning in Yoki, looking at a creature that crawled out of-no, a creature that ruled the Abyss.
Then she was dead.
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The Organization High Cancel the massacre from a distance. This was…this was unprecedented. A single Awakened Being, capable of slaughtering an entire generation of Claymore all by himself!?
"Well," Dae chirped, "guess we know what happened to Perseus after all these years." The mad scientist spun on his heel and descended into the shadows of Staff. "I'll start drawing up a project to take him down."
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A few days later
Northern Lands of Alfons
"We will take this continent! All of the humans and Yoma will grovel at our feet and serve us…as they should! No one will stand in our way! Not the Organization, and not the Leviathan!"
Isley's declaration was met with roars of approval from the seventy-eight Awakened Beings assembled before him. One would think this was a Sabbath if they stumbled across it.
This little assembly was organized by Riful and Isley to cement their position among the Awakened Army. With Perseus seemingly always out of the picture, and the humiliation they both had suffered at his hands, this was the perfect way to get back at him: turn his army against him and then hunt him down like an animal.
There was no way even he could beat this many Awakened Beings at once, especially with the Silver King and the Red-Eyed Witch backing them up.
"Is that so?"
Every Awakened Being there was suddenly forced to their knees. Even Riful and Isley could barely keep themselves upright. Looking up, the shock that rippled through the Abyssal Ones' bodies was enough to send them face first into the snow.
It was Perseus, of that there was no doubt, but he looked…older. Instead of his usual eight or ten-year-old look, he now looked to be maybe thirteen or fourteen. He was definitely taller too, about 5'4. His eyes were more narrow, his jaw more angular, giving him slightly more intense look. His hair had been pulled back and tied into a small ponytail with a black ribbon, and parted in the middle. His clothes though, were the most notable change.
His trousers were black and were tucked into durable boots of clearly expensive make. He wore a black vest that came down to past his waste. Silver designs of intricate style were sewn into the fabric, excluding the area of his shoulder blades, along with four red stripes, two in the front on either side of his abdomen, and two on his back on either side of his spine. The front of his vest was split open at the sternum, and went up into a wide, popped collar.
His very presence radiated authority and supremacy.
"Gentlemen. I be placed into bewilderment," the Lord of the Abyss slowly, calmly, made his way forward from the back. The Yoki of those present betrayed them, as they were forced to bow when he walked passed. "There I was, enjoying my life, when I sensed an ungodly row…here in the North. Soldiers swearing allegiance to those wrongly in command. My own generals resting control of my army from me." He was almost at the front, his smothering aura only increasing with each word he spoke. "What be that, Lieutenant?"
Rigaldo's voice worked against him.
The Lord of the Abyss raised his hand to his ear, "Again?"
"Mutiny, my Lord," Rigaldo spoke clearly, though it was with obvious distaste.
"Aye, mutiny…and what fate befall mutineers?" he asked with dark rhetoric. "Now, we all know the answer to that, we not?" The Lord's eyes began to glow faintly, the assembled army in front of him shifting from a mix of fear, and a desperate attempt to move.
The Abyssal Lord sighed to himself as he stood in between his generals, and turned to face his army. "There is no need for violence or bloodshed here. All that we need is a little reminder of just who is in command here…"
The Leviathan's aura washed over the army like a tidal wave sent from an angry god. The world was bathed in sea green light, lightning dancing in the night sky above. Gravity was suddenly increased by the density of the Yoki, everyone present flared their own auras in an attempt to protect themselves, and to fight off the Leviathan's overwhelming power. They almost came close.
The Abyssal Lord's aura increased to unregistered levels, and everyone was sure that they were going to die-a few of the weaker ones fainted outright. Then the aura was gone, and everyone could function again.
Isley managed to ask in between pants, "How did…you become so…powerful…?"
The Lord of the Abyss looked at his northern General, "You were there that night all those years ago when I absorbed the Yoki of those former warriors. What have I been doing for the past fifty years, Isley?"
The Silver King's eyes widened when realization hit him like the Leviathan's fist, "The Number 1's…you've been absorbing their Yoki after you killed them." The Abyssal Lord looked over the ravine behind him.
"I believe this event heralds the beginning of a new age."
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And so ends the tale of Cassandra and Roxanne.
Percy will be more mature in following chapters, but will still be juvenile and have a sense of dark humor. For those who are justifiably confused over his new appearance, I based it on Ezio's appearance before he became one who served the light.
Next chapter we will be introducing Luciella of the South, and Teresa of the Faint Smile. I think y'all will like the special connection I make between our little anti-hero and the two most powerful women in the Claymore-verse.
Happy Memorial Day!