Chapter 21.

Note: for all those people who think that Teresa is OOC with the crying thing read this:

Teresa has always hid her true emotions behind her faint smile. The Teresa we saw in the manga before she met Clare, was just a sad miserable individual. Now that she has been revived, the true Teresa is revealed. She no longer has the 'uber' confidence she used to because of four things.

Beaten by Priscilla.

Beaten by those three claymores at the training ground.

Tortured by the organization.

Fear of losing Clare.

Now if you think about it, Teresa only has one meaning in life, and that is to live for Clare. She cried because she dreaded the thought of loosing Clare.

Don't forget the way she cried in the manga when Clare hugged her after she scared that bandit away…

Anways I hope that clears it up a little.

Enjoy.

(yes the plot is also speeding up)

After a long day of training yesterday, the ghosts woke early to listen to what their captain had planned for them. Miria only used the term 'training' as an excuse to satisfy hers, and others curiosity of Teresa, and she didn't disappoint. She was confident that the others were familiar enough with Teresa to begin working with her.

The ghosts made their way to their usual meeting place, the main room, and sat against various tables lightly chatting amongst each other. Miria leant against the side of a wall with her head bobbed down waiting for them to quiet down before she would inform them about the day ahead.

"Hey boss what do you have planned for today?" Teresa asked as she sat with a table with Clare.

"Hey why do you call her boss?" Helen asked from a nearby table.

"Just a habit" Teresa replied.

"She's been with us for two days and she respects Miria more than you Helen" Deneve claimed.

"Hey I respect Miria, right guys?" She turned her face from side to side desperately trying to see if anyone agreed with her, but saw no one. "Oh whatever" she said as she crossed her arms angrily, sinking deeper into her chair.

Miria walked in front of all the ghosts as they sat on their tables, grabbing their attention.

"We will once again commence our covert operation to scout the lands. This time however, we will all go as one group. "

Clare immediately thought of Raki when she heard this. She searched for Raki for weeks without rest, and was miserable when she returned to Rabona without him. Teresa's return had made her so excited, she completely lost track of reality. Teresa was an escape from her misery, bringing back the happiness she so desperately craved. However the fairytale was over and it was time for her to find Raki, and keep that promise they each made to each other.

"Miria I'm not coming" Clare suddenly announced as the rest of the ghosts turned to face her shocked.

"What do you mean Clare?" Miria asked.

Clare could see that even Teresa was confused, unsure of her motives, as she and the rest of them awaited her response.

"I still have some things to do…Teresa are you willing to come with me?"

"Of course Clare" Teresa responded without a hint of hesitation.

"Clare…we can find him together, don't go by yourself" The Captain added.

Him?

"Clare…who are you trying to find?" asked a confused Teresa.

Clare let out a sigh as she focused her attention on Teresa. She noticed the other ghost's watching uncomfortably, pretending not to listen. It was always an awkward situation when Raki's name was mentioned among them, and this was especially the case because of Teresa's presence.

"There is someone who is very important to me and I have to find him."

After a short moment of silence Miria spoke: "Clare…listen to me, you might as well come with us…"

"Save it Miria, the only person she will listen to is Teresa…" Helen noted as all eyes were suddenly on Teresa.

Teresa's eyes flickered between Miria and Clare for a short while, when a small smile developed on her lips.

"Clare...Miria is right, however I will help you no matter what decision you make."

After a short while of thinking to herself Clare let out a breath of relief, as if she finally came to her senses. She knew that Miria was right. It made more sense for them to stick together. Clare was the only one with the chance of recognizing Raki, and if she split with the ghosts, the others might walk right past him and not even recognize him.

"I reconsidered"

"Well lets not waste any time, we leave now" Miria commanded.

After pondering to herself for a while, Miria decided to lead her party towards the southern lands. She remembered Riful explaining that Luciela was defeated by Isley, and Galatea sensing that Isley was dead. She wanted to avoid the eastern lands at all costs, because of Alicia and Beth, and the west because of Riful, so the south was the safest place to explore. She planned to visit each and every town in search for organization's warriors, and of course, help find Raki for Clare. She would make sure that they would remain undetected, staying as far away from roads and other public places as possible.

"Clare, can you tell me about this person who is important to you" Teresa asked serenely as the ghosts walked through a field of tall dense grass.

"His name is Raki. He is a boy I saved from a yoma and followed me in my travels for a while"

"And what happened to him?"

After a short pause, Clare continued: "we got separated because of that warrior I told you about before…Ophelia."

Miria felt a slight tingle in her spine as she heard that name.

Teresa's gentle face suddenly turned to disgust: "is this warrior still alive?"

"No" Clare replied.

"You don't want to know what I would have done to her if she was" Teresa said crossly.

Changing the tone, she added: "well I hope you didn't treat this Raki the same way I treated you when we first met."

"No, I was resistant at first, but I didn't kick him"

"I'm sorry for kicking you back then Clare…" Teresa said sadly.

Clare gave a lighthearted smile at Teresa as she continued: "We made a promise that we will stay alive and meet each other…it's been seven years now."

"If he is that important to you, then he is important to me as well…wait…." Teresa smiled at Clare cheekily: "is he your boyfriend?" as she gave her a nudge to the shoulder.

"No…" Clare replied.

"Are you sure?" Teresa asked playfully.

"Stop it Teresa!" Clare objected, slightly blushing.

"Alright alright" she replied mischievously.

After a short while of talking amongst each other, Helen decided to get something off her shoulder. Something she was dying to know.

"Hey Teresa…I'm not trying to sound rude or anything…but how are you…you know…alive?

The rest of the ghosts immediately turned silent and waited for Teresa's response closely. They all desperately wanted to know that very answer, but until now, none of them had been brave enough to ask Teresa that question. They didn't want to ruin Clare's and Teresa's emotional reunion.

A faint smile developed on the former number one as she replied: "the organization somehow resurrected me. I don't know how, and I don't care. I was held prisoner for a while and I escaped."

"I never knew they did such experiments…" Miria announced.

"I didn't either, but I am glad they did…although I have a feeling they wont be conducting any more experiments for a while" she said with a sinister tone.

"Why not?" asked a naïve Uma.

"Well I took care of a certain someone… lets just leave it at that"

"Miria…there is a yoki signature just ahead" Tabitha suddenly announced.

"Is it a warrior of the organization?"

Tabitha closed her eyes and began concentrating deeper on the yoki aura off to the distance.

"It's an awaken being…no wait…there's two of them"

"How powerful are they?"

"One is…very powerful, but appears to be in a weakened state. The other one is weaker, but is still quite powerful."

Miria turned to face her party, who waited patiently for her orders.

"We are going to investigate it, and are not to engage it until I deem it is the correct course of action. Does everyone understand?"

Her party gave a nod of approval, as they cautiously headed towards the direction of the awakened beings.

They have finally gotten close enough to see the two figures in the distance. The ghosts stood on the edge of a small cliff, overlooking the grassy fields below them. One of the awakened beings was in the form of a man, and the other in a form of a young child. The one that took the form of the man was carrying the smaller one in his arms, as if she was injured, or dying. They seemed to be travelling towards the south.

"That's definitely them" Tabitha assured.

Something definitely doesn't feel right…

'Tabitha, does their yoki feel familiar to you?" Miria asked.

Tabitha turned to Miria and replied: "not really, the bigger one has a yoki I never sensed before, and the injured one's yoki is much to small to properly read. However small the yoki from girl is, it is far more dense that the other. It is very powerful."

"I say we go in there and finish it" Helen said.

"No, wait…something must have defeated that strong one, we will force it to tell us what it was"

"Are you crazy?" Teresa questioned as all eyes suddenly turned on the wavy haired warrior.

"We might as well ask it if we're going to kill it anyway." Miria replied.

"You're going to put us in unnecessary danger"

"Teresa…with all of us here, they don't stand a chance" Miria responded.

"So should we flank them?" Cynthia suggested.

"That was exactly what I was thinking…half of us go towards the left and the other half towards the right. Suppress your yoki to the very limit, and slowly approach them from both sides, whilst making sure you can't be seen. I will release a yoki pulse as a sign to suddenly surround them."

Miria turned towards the rest of them and added: "Teresa, Clare, Uma, and Tabitha approach them from the left, while me and the rest will do so with their right side."

The ghosts gave a nod as they scattered, forming two groups, to ambush the two awaken beings. They crouched, using the tall grass as cover to get closer to the two awaken beings that seemed oblivious to the incoming ambush. Finally, the two groups got as close as they could without getting noticed as they awaited Miria's signal. Being so close, they could see the two figures with much greater detail. The larger one was a brutish man wearing no shirt and only short pants, he was rather ugly and ogre looking. The girl he was holding had long brown hair, and was wearing a dress that was so torn up, it looked more like a rag. She seemed quite wounded, and was missing her left arm.

The ghosts felt Miria's signal, and immediately lunged out of their hiding places to encircle the two awaken beings. The large brutish man immediately stopped walking and froze, frantically scanning the new faces that surrounded him. He had a worried look, as the others saw a drop of sweat leave his face. The ghosts stood in defensive positions around the two, as they eyed the enemy closely, preparing themselves for any sudden attack.

"Why couldn't I sense your presence!" The man yelled.

"We will not answer any of your questions…but you will answer all of ours" Miria spoke confidently.

"Hey…I recognize you" He spoke as he pointed to Clare. "You were one of those three from seven years ago"

"I believe you are mistaken, I do not know you" Clare replied.

"Oh we've met in the past… you just can't recognize me in this form"

"Tell us why the other one is wounded" Miria ordered, looking at the child he was holding.

"I'm not telling you anything, get away from us now or else I'll smash you!"

"This is your last warning" Miria warned.

The brutish man turned his face to the little girl as he held her in his arms. The ghosts immediately paced themselves backwards as they saw him starting to transform. His human looking skin, turned to a dark purple as his body increased in size, making bone crunching noises as his very bones began to twist and bend. When the transformation was complete, he was a rather large humanoid awakened being, with a tough outer layer of skin. He assumed a pose of a gorilla, while holding the girl safely in his right arm.

Clare immediately recognized him now. He was the awakened being she combated along with Galatea and Jean, the one Riful named Dauf if she remembers correctly. A wave of fear passed Clare's body as she realized the little he was holding girl must be Riful. She remembers her human form quite vaguely, but now that she recognizes Dauf, her vivid memory of her was suddenly pieced back together.

"I wont let you hurt her!" He roared with his monstrous voice, throwing a punch towards Miria.

Miria quickly phantomed out of the way as his fist rammed the soft ground, creating a small crater. He seemed rather confused when he lifted his arm and couldn't find any sign of her.

"Where did you go you little bitch?"

The ghosts immediately began distancing themselves away from the enormous awakened being, entrapping him in a larger circle as they stood around him. Dauf frantically turned his head from side to side, as if he was unsure of who to begin attacking, while still gently holding the girl in his right arm.

"Let me handle him…" Teresa announced but was left unheard as the rest of the ghosts charged towards him, leaving her behind. She managed to grab Clare's arm and pull her back, as she attempted to join the others in the fight.

"Hey Teresa what are you doing!"

"Clare, its too dangerous for you guys to fight him, let me do it"

Dauf lifted his left arm, and aimed it towards Helen and Deneve. He fired shot after shot of organic looking rods towards them, but the quick moving warriors easily dodged them. The ghosts began slashing at the beast, as he desperately fought back, while trying to protect Riful. A few of their blows wounded him, as they hit the exposed areas not protected by his tough outer armor.

Teresa and Clare watched in shock as Dauf's powerful arm made contact with Tabitha, sending her flying, and narrowly missing a few others.

"Stay here Clare, ill finish this" Teresa announced.

"Teresa wait!"

Teresa charged towards Dauf and the rest of the ghosts, grabbing Helen and Deneve by their arms and throwing them back towards Clare.

"Everyone get back let me handle him!" she yelled.

The others immediately began backing off from Dauf as they heard her commanding voice. They stared at the former number one who gave them a look of warning, indicating to retreat.

Teresa stood there confidently, crossing her arms while beaming a little smile. She wasn't intimidated by this awakened being, she fought much more powerful ones in the past.

As the rest of the ghosts returned to Clare, they watched Teresa and Dauf staring at each other, as if sizing up one another.

"Did she have to throw me and make me land on my head?" Helen whimpered as she got to her feet, holding the side of her aching head.

"What is Teresa thinking? it wouldn't hurt to have our help" Miria angrily spurred.

"Trust Teresa" Clare assured, as she watched the back of the wavy haired warrior a small distance in front f her.

"I only hope she knows what she's doing…"Miria added.

"I care not for your pathetic life" Teresa announced to Dauf "If you don't tell me what happened to your little friend, then I'll have to break you and ask her myself"

"Just you? You think a puny thing like you can defeat me?" He laughed.

Dauf aimed his left arm towards Teresa and fired a volley of organic poles towards her. Teresa dodged the poles before he even fired them, as she had no problems reading his flow of yoki. The enormous masses smashed into the soil, creating small tremors in the earth upon impact.

"What? Why can't I hit you?!"

Teresa pulled her claymore from her back holster while still beaming her famous smile: "those arms of yours are annoying. I think you'll look better without them"

"Wha?" before he could finish, Dauf roared in pain as his arms were separated from his body, spraying a pool of purple blood from both sides. Both his massive arms, and Riful, fell to the ground with a thud, as he stood there stunned. In a flash, Teresa returned to her position in front of Dauf with a blood soaked claymore.

"That's much better" Teresa smiled.

"My arms! My arms! How the hell did you do that?" he whimpered.

Teresa began to approach the smaller awakened being that lay against the ground. She could see her trying to get to her feet, but failing miserably. She knew that this awakened being was very powerful, but in it's current weakened state, it was much weaker than the bigger one.

Dauf collapsed to his side, unable to stand on his feet anymore due to blood loss and the sheer pain.

"Don't you dare touch her!" He yelled desperately as he lay against the ground, in a pool of his own blood.

Teresa however ignored him as she made her way towards the little girl. She could see that she has given up trying to stand, and instead, stood up on her knees, using her remaining right arm to balance herself. She stopped right in front of the trembling awakened being as she looked down at her, eying her furiously with her silver eyes.

"Please don't hurt her!" Dauf begged as he lay a small distance away.

Teresa looked over at him: "awakened beings can care for each other? Please don't make me laugh"

The rest of the ghosts arrived and surrounded Riful, as she tried desperately to remain upright. They could see a small smile develop on her face as she eyed Clare.

"Hello again short hair."

All eyes abruptly turned to Clare, as the shorthaired warrior and monster gazed upon each other.

"What are you doing in the south?…Riful of the West." Clare asked.

Clare felt a wave of shock and uneasiness fill her comrades. Their gaze flickered frantically between her and Riful, unable to believe the name they just heard.

"You can kill me now if you want. But that would be a bit rude don't you think?" Riful uttered.

"Who did this to you?" ordered Clare.

"There you go again, always demanding things…you're quite good at that aren't you? I believe that you owe me for those times I helped you."

"Clare we cannot trust it" Teresa muttered, as she angrily watched Riful.

"I agree, Teresa is right, she is far to dangerous" Miria added.

Clare didn't even turn to face the two as she continued staring at Riful. "What do you want?"

Riful let out a little smile as she spoke: "seven years ago I let you escape unharmed, and only recently I told you about Isley…and that thing he carries around… I only ask that this time you help me…and in return, I will answer all of your questions."

tell me what you guys think in the reviews.