Silvered Assassin
Chapter 12: Recipe for disaster
Beneath the buzz and stunning beauty of the great city of Agartha, shielded by the majesty of the magnificent palace, was a network of tunnels and dungeons that once served the city. Long forgotten by the people and with large portions of the underground network in deplorable conditions, the shocking truth behind these tunnels had seemed to slip away after the long passage of time. One individual, however, was ready to dig up an unsavory part of Agartha's history. A fact that none of the city's present inhabitants were wary of; a fact few still alive on the continent were aware of.
Dark and uninviting, the dungeon was only recently re-occupied by a group of dodgy individuals. Leading them was none other than Erebus, with Nicolae as his trusted right hand man. While the interiors of the dungeon were mostly dark and dirty, Erebus had one particular room spruced up a little. It wasn't much; just a cleaner room with a few chairs and a table in the middle.
"Tell me, Magdalele. Have you ever heard of the legendary empires?" Erebus set himself down on a large chair with a tall back and large arms, almost like a throne.
"Not really," seated on a slightly smaller chair was Magdalene, the wounds she had earlier were mostly healed, "Though I've often heard of tales that the continent used to consist of two large empires back when I was still a pure breed."
Erebus smiled as he listened, "That rumor is quite true, Magdalene. For one who has been living for more than 800 years, I attest to the truthfulness of that little 'tale' you heard."
Magdalene shifted a little when she heard Erebus boasting about his age; the average sized man somehow managed to ruffle her whenever he spoke. There was just some something about Erebus that forced some fear to slowly creep into Magdalene's heart.
"So what about the two empires?" Magdalene tried to sound as confident as possible, "Do they have anything to do with the current yoma infestation?"
"Yes, they do," Erebus replied, "These two great empires divided the entire continent into two halves. The Eastern Empire and the Western Empire. Their capitals were the cities of Staff and Agartha, respectively."
"Staff?" Magdalene was surprised to hear that the very place where she was trained turned out to be the capital city of the long gone Eastern Empire.
"The two strongest empires on the continent with the largest and most powerful armies anyone could find," Erebus stood up and walked towards Magdalene, "Two kings who wanted nothing more than absolute power and control over the entire land. Do you know what that means?"
"It's a recipe for disaster," Magdalene muttered softly.
"As you said," Erebus was pleased that his 'guest' seemed to understand what he was trying to imply, "Those two mighty empires eyed the wealth and prosperity of the other, their insatiable appetite never filled with only half the continent under their control. They wanted everything; and to achieve that, the ravenous kings of the two empires were willing to use whatever means possible to have total control."
Magdalene remained silent as she was beginning to picture what exactly had happened. The reality that yomas were actually being created by humans themselves was looking more likely as she listened to Erebus' words.
"Why don't you guess what happened?" Nicolae was enjoying how Magdalene was struggling with the truth.
"They went to war," Magdalene answered, her eyes set on the floor as reality set in.
"And total destruction followed," Erebus added, "The war dragged on for decades; whatever achievements mankind had done in the centuries preceding the war was wiped clean. More than half of the human population was gone, the majority of them men. Neither side gained any significant advantage over the other. And to make the situation worst, neither side intended to back down."
Magdalene tested the strength of the iron chains again as she tried to move her arms, but the only result was a sharp pain on her bones, "And? What happened after that?" she gave up trying to break free from the constraints and decided to probe further.
Erebus went back to his seat and sat down; his right leg crossed over the left, "They decided to create superior warriors. Both empires embarked on a seemingly impossible mission to create the ultimate warrior; one who would change the course of battle and decide the fate of an entire empire."
"And you were created?" Magdalene asked.
Erebus smiled.
"From the West came creatures never before seen in the history of mankind. From the East came the biggest disaster the continent has ever endured. The creatures were the yomas; the disaster was the awakened beings. Yet, despite their differences in power and ability, these two groups shared a common trait -the lust for human flesh."
Markedly calm in spite of the shocking revelation, Magdalene stared at the ground as she lowered her head, "You're the first awakened being, aren't you?"
Erebus nodded his head in response, "You're half correct. To be more precise, I'm part of the first group of awakened beings that emerged from the city of Staff."
Silence filled the air for the next few minutes as Magdalene took her time to absorb all the information that had been dumped onto her. Closing her tired eyes occasionally, she decided to ask one last question, "One last thing, Erebus. I've been itching to ask you this one question."
"Go on," Erebus graciously accepted Magdalene's request.
"Why are you telling me so much? Who am I that you will tell me everything?"
Erebus' face lit up; as if he was waiting for this one question right from the beginning, "Before I answer that little question of yours, would you like to know the names of the group of men that became the continent's disaster. After all, you only know the two of us."
Magdalene nodded, though she did not have much of a choice, "I'm fine with it, though I have a bad feeling about this."
"Don't worry, Magdalene. You'll like it."
--Section Divider—
Rachel closed her left eye as the morning ray shot through the window, casting a painful glare even on her silver eyes. Having only slept for a few hours, which by the way meant leaning against her huge blade, Rachel was understandably grumpy as the morning glare showed no mercy. She immediately regretted her non stop chattering the night before despite Charlene's repeated advice to rest early. Casting her view sideways, Rachel let out a sigh of amazement as the piercing rays of the sun had no effect on Charlene. The latter remained stationary; eyes closed and arms crossed.
"Now, what have we got here," picking herself up lazily, Rachel stumbled across the room to the tiny table standing in the middle. Grabbing a half eaten apple, the grouchy Claymore happily munched away what she failed to finish the previous day. Unusually peaceful was the morning, a feeling Rachel had long forgotten about.
The calm before the storm? Rachel thought. Nay, there's no storm later. No way.
--Section Divider--
"Oi! Watch where you are going, boy! Make sure you clean those plates well!" the head cook bellowed as Erwin struggled to balance the pile of plates he was carrying. As efficient as ever, Ilse had already managed to find them a job in one of the many restaurants located in Xylar. Erwin was assigned to help out in the kitchen while Ilse was to serve the many customers that streamed into the busy restaurant.
"Welcome!" Ilse brought forward her widest smile as she ushered two customers to a table, "Please take your time! We have the best pork knuckles in the whole of Xylar!" As she was serving the customers, the bell at the entrance rang, signaling the arrival of another patron.
"Ilse! There is another customer at the door! Quick!" the manager shouted as Ilse rushed to attend to the new arrival.
Man. Can't he see I'm busy? Ilse scowled. Even if it was first day at work, Ilse already knew how lazy the manager was. He would always push jobs to his subordinates. To make things worst, Ilse was new, making her the prime target to take advantage of. She hastily made her way to the new customer and as always, put on her best smile.
"Welcome! We have the best pork knuc…."
The manager spun around, "Ilse, didn't I tell you to welcome our customers with your loudest voice? Why can't I hear you? Are you trying to… oh my goodness…"
Ilse froze as a hooded figure stood before her. A head taller than Ilse, the new arrival had a long coat over her body. But two distinct features stood out. The first was that a huge blade no normal human being could carry was strung comfortable at her back. The second was the unmistakable silver hue in her eyes. Adena grinned as she watched Ilse trembled before her. She seldom revealed her silver eyes in front of humans, but whenever she did, their responses never failed to amaze her.
"May I enter?" Adena asked as Ilse continued to be rooted to the ground.
A man dressed entirely in black entered shortly after, "How many times must I remind you not to attract too much attention?"
"Come on, Gethen. You've got to learn how to have fun from time to time," Adena protested softly.
Gethen shook his head disapprovingly, "We'll help ourselves if you're not going to, miss."
Ilse jumped back to life when she heard Gethen's words, "Arh… apologies, please follow me!" The young lady proceeded to guide the pair to an available table, clearly still shaking.
"What would the both of you like?" Ilse asked in a soft voice, "We have the best pork knuckles in the whole of Xylar."
Gethen looked at her and smiled, "Just give me steak, rare. It always nice to have some blood in the steak, don't you think so?"
"I'll have steak as well, half the normal portion," Adena said, "Well done. I hate the color red."
Ilse practically sprinted off the moment she got their orders. A terrified look was on her face as she headed walked off. There's no mistake. That face, I still remember that face. It's her, definitely.
"Oi, sis! How are you doing? Getting scolded by the manager again?" Always a busybody, Erwin stuck his head out from the kitchen to "spy" on his sister. His sharp eyes did not miss the pale look on Ilse's face, "Ilse, what's with that look on your face? Are you ok?"
Ilse simply nodded and rushed off to serve the other customers as soon as she gave the cook the orders. Making sure to avoid Erwin, she ignored his earlier questions and walked off. Beads of perspiration formed on Ilse's forehead as she thought of that fateful night when their father died at the hands of a Claymore. That shocking event three years ago was still fresh in her mind. Revenge, however, was not in Ilse's mind. She was more worried about Erwin. Given his character, Erwin would certainly go ballistic should he know of that Claymore's presence. His impulsive character would not back down in any way. Right now, Ilse's main task was to prevent Erwin from catching sight of Adena. After all that they had gone through, the last thing Ilse needed was for Erwin to clash head on with a half monster like Adena.
I cannot let Erwin see her. If she dared to kill our father, she would certainly dare to kill Erwin. I will not let another tragedy happen.Ilse thought as she did her work, trying to look as normal as possible. Things, however, would not go as smoothly as planned. Ilse could never prevent the others from talking about the Claymore. Within minutes, the presence of Adena in the restaurant had reached the ears of Erwin.
"You can't be lying, are you?" Erwin asked as one of the helpers in the kitchen did not hesitate to spread the sensational news, "The two of them are here?" he had initially thought that Charlene and Rachel were the ones.
"Two? Nay, there is only one of them," the helper corrected him quickly.
One? Strange, it's probably Rachel. That bitch must be here to make fun of me or something. Erwin continued to wash the plates, much to Ilse's relief. Hmph… I'll go and chase her off after I'm done with these. She will probably try to mess up my first day of work.
--Section Divider--
"Like I said, Charlene. I'm feeling nothing. Why are you so tensed up?" Rachel asked as her partner hurriedly put on her armor and strapped her twin swords across her back, "They isn't any yoma around, I'm positive!"
Charlene ignored her endless ramblings and continued to gear up. She grabbed her steel boots and slipped her feet into them, "I can feel it. Someone's here, and I have a feeling it's that Adena."
The mention of Adena was enough to startle Rachel as she started to put on her armor, albeit at a slower pace. After losing an arm to Adena in their previous encounter, Rachel had to admit that she was afraid to met her a second time. The possibility of meeting Adena again was more than enough reason for Rachel to get serious.
"But I really sensed nothing," Rachel said in denial. In her mind, she was hoping that Charlene was wrong; that she would not have a second encounter with Adena. Once was more than enough.
Charlene stood up as she finished with putting on her boots. She promptly reached for the door, "I can feel it. It's her."
"Sheesh, since when can you sense better than me? My range is twice that of yours, you know," Rachel protested softly, "Besides, didn't Ruben instruct us to stay quiet? Come on, don't do anything rash, Charlene. Listen to me!"
Charlene stopped and turned her head, "I'm going. You can stay back if you want."
--Section Divider--
"Stop fighting it, Erwin. I know you want to see how a Claymore looks like. Come on, I've heard that those silver eyed witches are quite attractive!"
Erwin spun around in frustration, "Just wait for a minute, Karl! I'll go once I'm done with this mountain of plates! Why don't you go first?"
A new employee like Erwin, Karl just stood beside him, "Nope, I'll wait for you."
"You're scared, aren't you?"
Karl sheepishly nodded his head, "Come on, it will be more fun to have someone accompany me, eh?"
Erwin let out a sigh as he dried his hands, "Fine! Just one look, ok?"
"Great! You're the man, Erwin! Quick, the Claymore is about to finish her meal!" Karl jumped in excitement as he dragged Erwin out of the kitchen, "I wonder how a Claymore looks like!"
Erwin rubbed his forehead in amazement as he was pulled along by his over enthusiastic co-worker. What's so great about that silver eyed witch. That Rachel will probably doing something unexpected. She is probably the weirdest Claymore you can ever find.
"Look! There she is!" Karl hissed excitedly as he looked at Adena, constantly tugging at Erwin's sleeve.
"Stop pulling my shirt, you dumbass! What's so great about…" Erwin's eyes widened as he saw the Claymore for the first time. It wasn't Rachel, as he had earlier expected; nor was it Charlene. His face turned red with rage as the Claymore turned and looked at him.
"Hey, Erwin! She's looking at you! What's with that expression of yours?" Karl asked as Adena seemed to have taken an interest in Erwin.
"It's her. I remember her face very clearly," Erwin mumbled. Karl had no idea what he was talking about.
Adena smiled as she continued to stare at Erwin, "What an interesting boy."
"You know him?" Gethen asked.
"I don't think so. But his face looks pretty familiar. Now, what's with that fierce look on his face?" Adena cupped her face with her arms and studied Erwin.
"Stop wasting your time on that boy. She is here, get ready," Gethen said as he stood up.
"Erwin, don't do anything silly!" Ilse cried out as Erwin approached Adena.
"Oh? He's coming our way," Adena was getting more interested in Erwin, "I think I know who this brat is."
"Murderer!" Erwin growled as he charged at her, ignoring the fact that he was unarmed and up against a superior being.
"Erwin, stop it!" Ilse screamed in desperation.
Erwin took no heed to Ilse's cries, "There is no way I will forgive this monster!"
"Could he be that boy?" Adena reached out for Erwin as he drew nearer, but stopped halfway as another figure came from behind, "You're finally here."
"Gargh!" Erwin groaned as he was kicked off his feet, away from Adena.
"Hello, brother!" Rachel winked as she placed herself between Adena and Erwin.
"Who's your brother, you bitch!"
Adena placed her palm on the handle of her sword as she faced Rachel, "Nice to see you, young lady. I see that your arm is healed."
A voice came from behind, "I see that you're still alive."
Adena let out a chuckle as Charlene came in from behind, "I've been waiting for you, Charlene. This time, Magdalene is not here to save you."
Charlene narrowed her eyes, "Bring it on."
End of Chapter 12
Sorry for the late update. I will try to be faster for the next chapter.
Thanks for reading!
