It's been a while but I'm back. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Goddess of the Abyss II

"Clare?"

She had known this day would come. However she had not expected it to arrive so soon. Even when she had decided to give into Jean's whims and investigate the new Awakened Being companion of the Abyssal of the West she'd had no intention of facing the Awakened Being if it really turned out to be Clare. It was not because Riful would be with her, but because she felt they were not ready for Clare yet. Over the last seven years they had trained nonstop to face her. As a result of that training she knew for a fact that her team would not only be able to fight on level ground with the Organisation's single digits but would likely be victorious. Even so, she had this pricking sensation that they were still not strong enough to beat Clare. Looking at her now she realised just how accurate her assumption had been.

Just a few dozen metres from where she stood was Clare. She was the focus of everyone's attention as she approached Riful, who was still clinging onto Galatea. When she got close to them the child-like Awakened Being let go of the former Warrior and flung herself around Clare.

"Look Clare!" the Creature of the Abyss exclaimed, her eyes falling on the renegade Warriors. "It's your friends. They're alive! Isn't this great?"

Miria observed the two Awakened Beings. Warriors disliked having their personal space invaded and in return they, apart from Helen, avoided invading anyone else' personal space. The only reason a Warrior would allow someone to invade their personal space was if they trusted the invader. She had no doubt that once they Awakened this habit remained. So the fact that Clare, one of the most introverted people she knew, was allowing someone to touch her alerted the former Number 6 about how close they were. Clare was actually friends with the Abyssal One of the West.

"Is that... really Clare?" one of the soldiers behind her asked.

She turned to look at him. He was of average height with hair tied into a ponytail. Behind him stood a giant of a man with a scar on his temple who made everyone look short. Clare had told her that she had almost Awakened in Rabona so that was probably how they knew her. The look in their eyes told her that they cared for her. You really are amazing Clare. To have made friends with humans who shun us. In her experience the only time humans worried was when she was in the vicinity and they were not worried about her, but the fact that her Yoma side might take over and she would kill them all. So to have people worrying about you even while knowing you were a monster was an incredible feat.

However, these two had to be made aware that the person in front of them was not the same person from seven years ago. Miria had already predicted that not everyone, and by that she meant almost everyone if not all, would survive this encounter. Having to fight against Riful was already an uncertain situation. With the addition of Clare it was certain defeat. Yet she did not want unnecessary loss of life to occur due to ignorance.

"The person in front of you is not the Clare you know," Miria told the two men. "She has Awakened. Her human side is lost, leaving only the Yoma half."

"What?" the short man asked. "Are you telling me Clare is a Yoma now?"

"No. She is something else, something far more powerful. She is an Awakened Being. Like the one we just killed."

These words seemed to make the man mad. "Don't lie to me! I know Clare. She would never-"

"You knew Clare," Jean interrupted him. Her voice was soft and her eyes were cold. They never left the brunette hugging the child. This was Jean's look of focus. "That Clare does not exist anymore. If you don't heed our warning you will die."

"I applaud you for your effort in ensuring the city's safety so far but it's time you withdrew," Helen butted in before the man could say anything. "We will handle it from here. You focus on evacuating the city."

"Evacuating?" the short man said furiously. The veins on his temple were now visible. "You want us to abandon the city?"

"As soldiers is it not your job to ensure the safety of citizens?"Deneve asked. That silenced him. "Our job is to fight Yoma and Awakened Beings so why don't you run along and do your job while we do ours."

"Tsk, I don't like the way you talk," the short man decided.

The hulking figure besides him clearly had more sense. He grabbed the man and steered him away. He did not leave before asking his own question though.

"So you can't help Clare anymore? The only option left is to kill her?"

She did not answer. She could not answer. The question was rhetorical.

Those words were like an arrow to the Miria's heart. They brought back unpleasant memories from a time best forgotten. She had been chosen to go on an Awakened Being hunt, an expedition led by the then Number 4 Ophelia. She had fought as hard as she could. She had given it her all and even managed to slay the creature, only to find out that the Awakened Being was none other than her best friend Hilda. To this day the only time she had felt that much pain was when she had regain consciousness and discovered two thirds of her comrades had been slaughtered. Back then, when she had realised who the Awakened Being was the anger and pain made her lose control. She herself almost Awakened. Such was the pain of killing a loved one.

And now this burden has been cast on me once again.

If she had to be honest with herself there was no way they would be able to beat Clare. Even if Riful was not with her nothing would change. Clare was too much for them to handle. During the seven years since she last saw her Clare had somehow managed to master full Yoki suppression, so she could not tell how much Yoki she had. However, Miria's instincts were hardly wrong when sensing danger. There was a distortion around the brunette, an air of danger. None of her friends would believe her if she told them this, but she felt that between Clare and the Abyssal Creature Riful, their former comrade was the greater threat.

She would have continued with this train of thought if a loud yawn had not intruded on it.

"If you're done now it's time to begin," Riful said in her sickeningly sweet voice. "Attack me with your full strength. If you're worried about the humans then please be at ease. I'm not here to massacre them. Cattle are too valuable to slaughter mindlessly. They could prove useful in the future."

"Little bitch!" Helen muttered beside Miria. "She's casually calling humans livestock. I don't like her."

"You'll like her even less by the time she's done," Jean said seriously. "Get ready, she's coming."

Indeed Riful was leisurely walking towards them without a care in the world. Must be nice, Miria thought to herself. To be so strong you don't perceive armed hostiles to be a threat. We must seem like insects to her. Jean, Helen and Deneve, who stood on her sides, were already sweating. She could see the determination in their eyes, but that did not hide the fear in them. Who wouldn't be scared in this situation? My body feels so stiff it feels like my muscles will tear if I move. This was primal fear, it was natural for every living being that thought it might die soon. Their only hope for survival was to scatter in different directions and run for it. However, Riful was an Awakened Being. The chances of her leaving the citizens of Rabona alone were nonexistent. A predator will not reject prey given to it on a silver platter, why would Riful?

Her heart was beating multiple times faster than usual as she steadied her claymore. This was not done in anticipation of the upcoming battle but from desperation. Although her outer appearance portrayed someone who was ready to fight, deep down she was screaming for Riful to stay where she was, to not come closer and to retreat instead. Surely her comrades had realised by now that there was no way they could win. If there were no humans in the city she would have told them to run. If she didn't know they would disobey her she would order them to retreat while she covered their escape.

"Our job is to keep them busy while the people evacuate," she muttered to them. She turned to the colour-head Warrior and the girl she was embracing. "Hey! The two of you over there! Help with the evacuation, When they're done signal us by raising your Yoki."

Colour-Head seemed to be confused for a few seconds. She was probably wondering if she should work together with them. It did not take her long to come a conclusion, the one that Miria expected. She got up and dragged the child along, trailing after the soldiers who were already retreating and shouting for the people to leave the city.

"What about you?" Miria asked Galatea. The Warrior-Turned-Nun had distanced herself from Riful as soon as she was let go. "Aren't you going to evacuate as well? You are in no condition to fight."

The blind nun lifted her claymore with her remaining arm and offered Miria a soft smile. "Evacuating the city won't make much of a difference. Those people won't be able to escape no matter how far they get. So I figured that if I was going to die anyway then it might as well be with comrades." After she said that a dark look came upon her face. "Don't worry about the people's safety, Riful always keeps her word. It's what's in store for us that you should be wary of. It's not death, it's much worse."

The chill in Galatea's voice sent shivers up her spine. Of course she had heard Jean's graphic account of the time she had been the Abyssal's prisoner, being tortured day and night, being forced to Awaken.

"If you girls are ready I think it's about time we began."

Everyone's weapon was raised in anticipation. Riful was still nonchalant about the whole situation, but her Yoki began to increase. And then-

"There's no need for you to trouble yourself Riful," Clare said. "I will take care of them."

"Aw," Riful whined in a bratty voice. "But I wanted to play with them."

"If you did that they might break into pieces," Clare responded. She approached Riful and tapped her shoulder. "These girls are my friends so they could become yours too. It would be unfortunate if you accidentally killed them."

Miria signalled the others to wait for Riful to come to a decision. Usually attacking when the enemy was distracted sounded like a good idea but this time around it would only worsen the situation.

"Fine!" Riful said with a pout. She jumped onto a roof and sat down with her cheeks puffed out. "You're being selfish with your friends. Do whatever you want."

"Thank you for understanding," Clare said. Miria's heart nearly gave out when her blazing emerald orbs met her silver ones. The Awakened Being had drawn her sword and was it now pointed at her. "Now is the time to catch up what we've been doing in the last seven years, is it not?"

So Jean was right.

Clare was the Awakened Being Isley had said roamed with Riful of the West. She certain had changed over the past years; brown hair, green eyes, and it looked like she mastered the Wind Cutter. She even made a great entrance when she sliced Agatha up like she was nothing. It seems life was going well for her.

But it can't be right? Helen thought to herself. Clare might look well but she was Awakened. Deep down her soul must be suffering from the fact that she had an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Deep down she probably wanted to be released from the pain. Helen had thought about it many times during the last seven years. It was her fault Clare Awakened. Her friend had asked her to release her and she had hesitated. This was a secret shame she camouflaged with her talkative persona, the fact that she let he friend become a monster. She had not hesitated for Clare's sake, but for her own. She had not wanted to lose a friend. It would have been too painful. Even the thought of killing her had been too painful to bear, if she had gone through with it would have undoubtedly been worse. The truth was that she had been selfish. She had been a coward, too scared to get hurt so she let her friend suffer.

But not anymore, she decided. Clare was right in front of her and she would not hesitate like she did last time. Just wait a moment Clare. I promise I will free you from this burden.

The first person to attack their former comrade was the headstrong Jean, the only person in the group who felt guiltier than her. As much as Helen liked to criticize her she did not hate her, it was the exact opposite. She liked Jean a lot. However, deep down there was a side of her that blamed Jean for Clare's Awakening. She had had the best chance to kill Clare back then and she had refused. But if I had done my part she would not have gotten that chance in the first place.

Clare parried Jean's attack and thrust at her chest. Jean sidestepped and swung again. She met with the same results. However, this time Clare retaliated and punched her in the abdomen, sending her flying past Helen and the rest of the Ghosts.

"That is some serious power," Deneve said, not taking her eyes off Clare. "And it looks like her skills have improved as well."

"I'm sorry comrades," Galatea suddenly said. "I'm withdrawing from this fight."

These words directed the Ghosts attention to the Nun. Is she freaking serious? She just said she would help us, now she's getting cold feet? What the fuck! It's not like we are fighting Riful anymore. It's just Clare, the lowest ranked Warrior of our generation (Who defeated Rigaldo, but she doesn't know that).

"I would just be a burden in this fight," the nun continued. "Against Riful I would be able to help but now that we are fighting Clare I'm completely blind. I can't sense her presence, I can't even sense yours. My assistance in such a situation would be more a nuisance than anything."

That was understandable, even Miria agreed. No one objected as the former Number 3 withdrew from the fight. No one who would participate in the battle said anything.

"Is this a staring contest?" Riful shouted from the where she was seated. "Let the fight begin already!"

Helen snarled. What a brat. I can't believe she's actually a Creature of the Abyss. When kids like that were given the Number 1 spot it made grownups like her look bad, but that was not the time to think about that. Pushing her thoughts of insecurity aside she asked, "What's the plan here Captain? Do we just storm in or is there an actual plan?"

Everyone's attention was back on Clare. She did not speak. She did not snarl. She just stood there with an expressionless face, waiting for them to attack. Looking at her, Helen felt like she was looking at a stranger, the Clare from seven years ago whom she had ridiculed before she displayed her ability to predict Awakened Being attacks.

"Okay team. We are going to split in three groups. The first is Cynthia and Deneve, the two of you are defenders so you will protect us. The second group is Jean and I, we will attack. Then that leaves Helen, Uma and Tabitha. The three of you find and exploit openings."

Without waiting to see if everyone understood Miria launched herself at Clare. She thrust at her chest, but was deflected. Clare swiped at her in return. What she cut was a mirage. The real Miria appeared above Clare and swung at her again. Clare blocked it again and counterattacked. Just like before she hit another mirage.

"CLARE!"

That shout came from Jean, who charged in with her sword raised high. She brought it down with a diagonal slash at the Awakened Being, who managed to dodge, leaving Jean defenceless against her attacks. Clare would have cut her down if Deneve had not chosen that moment to join the fray. She parried Clare's attack with one sword and used the other to thrust at her chest. At the same time Miria appeared behind Clare slashed at her from behind. This would have been an impossible position for all but the top warriors to avoid and even then only the legendary ones whose names had been passed down for generations would be able to escape unscathed. And Clare managed to do exactly that. She had deflected them so fast it looked like she did it simultaneously.

Hily shit! Helen could only watch with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She's way better than she was seven years ago.

She kept watching as Miria's countless mirages surrounded their former comrade and attacked her simultaneously. Deneve and Jean attacked from above. Uma threw her sword when she found an opening while Tabitha and Cynthia were standing next to her, waiting for an opportunity to join.

Whatever Clare's training had been over the last seven years it must have been tough as Hell. Clare from seven years ago would not have been able to continuously fend off Miria's flurry while deflecting Deneve and Jean's attacks. The truly impressive feat though, was when she grabbed Uma's flying projectile out of the air while still fending off attacks from Warriors who could completely decimate the upper single digits of the Organisation, and used it to attack them. Both Jean, Deneve and Miria retreated. They were all wounded.

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Helen exclaimed. Her eyes were probably playing tricks on her because what she saw could not possibly be real. Either that was not Clare, or her eyes were deceiving her. There was no way in Hell this was happening. No fucking way would she believe what she had just seen. "This is a joke right? RIGHT?"

But there was no one there to answer her. Cynthia was already fulfilling her role as a defender and guarding against Clare's attack. Tabitha was likewise deflecting all attacks headed in Miria's direction (How obvious can you be? Helen snarled). Clare managed to overwhelm both of them, sending them flying with a well placed punch and kick. Without waiting she returned Uma's weapon to her. It was too fast for the former Number 40 to react to. She was impaled in the stomach.

This time Helen didn't stand and do nothing. Her arm stretched and thrust at Clare from a distance. Her sword was deflected as she expected. What she did not expect was Clare vanishing from her sight. She did not see what happened next. All that registered was someone grabbing her throat and slamming her into a wall. She smashed right threw and found herself pinned to the floor of an abandoned house. Somewhere she could hear Deneve's panicked voice shouting her name. She ignored it and concentrated on her situation.

"Damn." She had struggled to force out that word because she was being choked. Then for some reason the grip loosen. She didn't sleep on it. "You've become really strong Clare. Was that strength worth your humanity?"

Clare's emerald eyes stared back into hers. Her expression was completely blank. "If it means getting the power have get my revenge my humanity is a small price to pay."

"Is that so? Then what about that brat who was always following you around like a lost puppy, Raki?"

"Who?" She had a puzzled look and was clearly not faking it.

There was only one explanation for such a reaction.

ARE YOU FREAKING SHITTING ME! Helen mentally shrieked. SHE FORGOT BRAT! WHAT THE FUCK!

The hand around her throat tightened again and flung her. This time she found herself soaring through the air. The hand had left her. It was a few seconds later when she smashed through another wall. Her ribs shattered on impact and the pain travelled through the rest of her body. Broken rib bones stabbed into her lungs and she began to cough up blood. It would take a while to heal so all she could do was lie and wait. The others would have to do without her for a minute.

During that time her only companion was her train of thought. If the gods exist they are full of shit, she decided. We trained our asses off for seven years and we can't even match an Awakened 47. I feel so pathetic right now. The confidence she had built up in the last seven years was fading. All those years, all those times they hunted Awakened Beings, they did not feel real. How else was she suppose to feel when all the Awakened Beings they had killed since the assault on Pieta, which had been several dozen, had all gone down without a struggle but they could not even touch Clare? It made all the effort they put into improving themselves feel like a joke. When Riful had stepped aside for Clare she had been relieved that she would not be fighting a Creature of the Abyss. That relief had since burned to ashes.

Finally after what she perceived to be a long and torturous wait the pain disappeared. Without wasting any more time she got to her feet and headed back to the battle site. A horrible image greeted her when she got there. Her comrades were on the ground which was dyed deep crimson. Clare stood over them looking down on her vanquished foes with an icy gaze. This sight completely froze Helen in her tracks and would have probably been in that state for a while, but the sound of clapping dragged her out.

"Wow Clare, that was so fun!" The one who uttered that statement was none other than Riful. She had a sincere smile that travelled from one ear to the other. "You were really amazing, and you weren't even serious!"

Clare sheathed her sword and looked up from her defeated opponents. "To be fair they were fighting with their Yoki fully suppressed. Although, that was probably because they knew that I would be able to feel their attacks before they made them."

The casual manner in which Clare had said this pissed her off. I can't believe I once called her a friend. All the time she was being flung around like a rag doll she had maintained her hold on her claymore, now her grip on it tightened and she ran as fast as she could to the monster she had once thought a comrade.

"CLARE YOU BIIIIIITCH!"

She released her Yoki and it shot through the roof. In a split second she had exceeded her limit. All that was driving her now was anger. The pleasurable sensation she felt as immense quantities of Yoki filled her entire body was ignored, the change in her physique was neglected and the distortion of her thoughts was pushed aside. All that mattered was the foe in front of her. She would kill her!

However, she never even got the chance to swing her sword. Clare disappeared from her sight and the next instant she felt someone grab the back of her head from behind and plant her face into the ground. At the same moment that person forcefully synchronised their Yoki auras and suppressed hers. The pleasure vanished, her body regained its original form, but her mind did not clear. It would not clear as long as the anger remained. Somewhere she could hear a child yelling at the person pinning her down, telling her to let her Awaken. The person chose to ignore the child.

"What are you thinking?" came Clare's voice from above her. It was lined with anger. "Do you know what you were about to do just now? Could you live with yourself if you Awakened?"

"Clare," she mumbled. She turned her head until the brunette entered the vision of her eye. By then there were tears pouring out. "You monster! How could you? You killed our friends. You killed your friends!"

She thought about describing Clare with the most colourful words she knew, however, four syllables stopped her.

"They are not dead."

The hand holding her down left her. She hastily rolled on her back and sat up. Not willing to trust the word of an Awakened Being, even a former friend. She looked around to confirm what Clare had said for herself. When she noticed her comrades' chests moving up and down she released the breath she had been unaware she had been holding. With a sigh of relief a fresh batch of tears arrived. Her eyes returned to the now blurry image of her former friend.

"Oh Clare," she cried. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault you Awakened. If I had not hesitated back then you would not have become this monster. Forgive me"

"My current state is not your fault so don't beat yourself up about it," Clare said after a long and uncomfortable moment of silence. "I chose this for myself. I realised this is the only way I will be able to beat Priscilla. Even now, with all the power at my disposal it's doubtful I can beat her."

Helen did not understand what she Clare meant by her choosing to Awaken, but she rushed to criticize the rest of her statement.

"Becoming an Awakened Being to beat this Priscilla person was too reckless. If you had told us we would have helped you get your revenge. Friends are supposed to help each other."

Clare laughed at this. Since there were still tears in Helen's eyes she could not see her face clearly, but from the tone of her laugh she could tell it was not a happy laugh.

"Priscilla is stronger than you can imagine," Clare voice was laced with venom this time around. "Before you protest let me show you just how strong that is."

Clare released her Yoki.

And Helen's outlook on the world changed forever.

-to be continued-

Thank you all who read this far and I to those who've patiently waiting for this chapter. I was delayed by personal matters. But that's all done. I hoped you all enjoyed it. I post the next chapter as soon as I can. Until next time.