Chapter 25.

Had some trouble with this one.

Anyways enjoy.

"Nice to see you again Teresa…I see you've made some friends" Audrey announced.

The rest of the ghosts turned their heads to the hooded figure that stood awkwardly in front of them. Audrey removed her hood to reveal her face accompanied by a gentle smile. She looked uneasily at Riful, and then returned her gaze to Teresa.

"So I see you left the organization" Teresa replied.

"I'm still coming to terms with it"

Raki was so overwhelmed by his reunion with Clare, that he completely forgot about Audrey. He felt rather guilty when he saw her standing awkwardly by herself, away from the rest of the ghosts. He gave Clare a smile, then he turned and walked towards the lone Audrey.

"Clare, I would like you to meet Audrey."

"I've already met her before" Clare replied.

"I recognize some of you" Audrey said as she scanned each face in front of her. She fixed her eyes on the shorthaired warrior as she added: "So you're Clare…Raki has told me a lot about you."

"What is your business with Raki?" Clare asked suspiciously.

"We escaped the organization together"

"Raki…did she lay a hand on you?" Clare asked while keeping her eyes firmly on Audrey.

"No" he replied.

"Well thank you for helping Raki, but it's time for us to go now" Clare added as she signaled for the rest to leave.

"Wait Clare, she has nowhere to go, why can't she come with us?" Raki plead.

At that moment, Teresa walked in front of Clare with her arms crossed. She looked into her eyes as she softly spoke:

"Clare…Audrey also helped me escape, I think she has our trust." She looked into the sky as she placed a hand on her own forehead and let out a big sigh as she added: "what happened to me…I owe so many people lately…."

"You are welcome into our group Audrey." Miria announced. "My name is Miria and I am the captain of this rebellion… this is Helen, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha, Uma and Riful."

"I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get Riful on your side" Audrey spoke as she looked nervously at the little girl.

"Oh hi there" Riful said cheerfully. "I remember you, you were that polite one with that defensive ability…do you want to awaken now? You would be much more powerful"

"What?" Audrey replied in an astonished tone.

Riful could see Teresa staring angrily at her with one of her eyebrows raised. It was at that moment that she remembered what Teresa had told her last night, when the two of them were searching for food. Teresa made it clear that she would accept her for who she was as long as she doesn't encourage others about awakening, in particular Clare.

"Just kidding" she giggled.

"Alright then, you can come" Clare said with a surprisingly welcoming tone.

"I will prove to be useful, I can tell you all that I know about the organization, in particular Alicia and Beth."

All eyes were on the captain as they awaited her orders. Miria wasn't sure if it was worth exploring the lands anymore. The ghosts already had Teresa and Riful, and now they had Audrey who was a great source of information for them. The captain could see the others waiting patiently for her answer as she finally made up her mind.

"We will first travel to an undisclosed location and listen to what Audrey has to say before we do anything"

Miria decided to lead the ghosts back into the cover of the forest. She knew that the fight with the awakened being was bound to draw some attention, and it was only a matter of time before the organization sends some warriors to investigate.

As they made their way to the forest, Clare, Teresa, Raki and Audrey lagged behind the rest of the ghosts as they talked amongst each other.

"So Clare, how come you never told me about Teresa? And why wasn't she with you when we were together?" Raki asked as the four of them walked around each other.

Clare and Teresa gave each other an uneasy look, as if neither of them knew where to begin. Teresa let out a sigh as she broke the silence:

"During my time, I was the number one of the organization. I was a heartless warrior. I loved nothing and cared for nothing, but it was Clare who brought meaning into my life."

She paused for a moment as she watched the intrigued face of Raki and Audrey.

"Clare was just a little girl when I first set eyes on her" she turned to a shy Clare with a warm smile as she continued: "I killed a yoma that was tormenting her, and despite my repeated warnings not to follow me, she continued to do so. I was rather annoyed by her at first, but eventually we formed a close bond. I wanted Clare to live on as a human, so I left her in a peaceful town in the mountains. But the peace was disrupted by the arrival of bandits who raided the town. One of the bastards hurt Clare and I just had enough, so I killed them all."

"And of course you were hunted down by the organization" Audrey noted wisely.

"I was immediately considered a traitor and was punished with the penalty of death. However I escaped the execution, and continued to travel with Clare."

Teresa's facial expression changed to a gloomy one as she continued:

"The organization sent numbers two through five to kill me…I had no trouble fighting against them, however I let my guard down…I was dead for over ten years, and was only recently resurrected by the organization."

"In the records, it is written that the newly appointed number two defeated you…Priscilla, who later came to be known as the one horned beast." Audrey added.

At the sound of Priscilla's name, Raki immediately stopped in his tracks, looking as if he's just seen a ghost. The others looked oddly at him as he stood awkwardly behind them, totally lost in his own thoughts.

Priscilla…is this true?

Did you kill Teresa? The one who saved Clare?

For the past seven years, I have been staying with Clare's mortal enemy?

Why did you do it?

Why?

"Raki are you alright" Clare asked as she walked up to him giving him a concerned look.

Raki however didn't even respond to her words, as the terrible realization sunk into his mind. The more he thought about his time with Priscilla, the guiltier he felt about it. It was as if he betrayed Clare…and betrayed Teresa, and he didn't know if they could ever forgive him.

"Raki?"

Raki snapped out of his thoughts as he looked into Clare's concerned looking eyes.

"Nothing…it's nothing, I just thought I heard something" he replied trying to hide his nervousness as he scratched his head.

"There is nothing here Raki" she said as she scanned the area around them. "Tabitha would have sensed something"

"I guess it was my imagination then…"

After a short while of walking, the ghosts entered the thick cover of the forest, brushing branches and leaves away with their hands as they searched for a suitable place to rest and listen to what Audrey had to say. Eventually they found an area of the forest that wasn't choked with a dense array of trees and bushes, and it was decided by Miria that this was a fitting area for them to stop.

Miria slammed her claymore into the soft dirt as she sat against a large rock keeping her eyes firmly locked on Audrey. The rest of the ghosts found comfortable positions of their own as they waited for Miria to begin asking her questions. Clare and Teresa stood stubbornly next to Raki, with Audrey looking rather nervous standing in front of Miria.

"So…Audrey, tell us all that you know" The captain asked as she leant forward, folding her hands together.

Audrey took in a deep breath as she cleared her mind. She looked at all the intrigued faces around her as she began to speak:

"As you all know, I am Audrey and my former number was three in the organization. The organization is currently suffering from a lack of members and they are promoting trainees much earlier than usual."

"Go on" Miria insisted.

"I have been involved in many of their crazy experiments, and have been forced to test out a few of them myself." She turned to Teresa with a smile "it seems that the organization is trying to replace the half human half yoma design with something else…something more efficient."

"It's because all warriors eventually awaken" Miria wisely noted.

"That is correct. Knowing that awakened beings are superior to ordinary warriors, the organization has attempted to harness the power of one, and that is where the Alicia and Beth project comes in. Even though Alicia and Beth have the power of an Abyssal one, they have two major weaknesses. The first weakness is that Beth has to control her sisters awakening, which leaves her in a vulnerable state in combat. The second weakness is that it takes many years of mental training to achieve such a synchronization of minds, and this is only possible with twins."

"Hold it. I presume Alicia and Beth are the organizations current numbers one and two?" Teresa asked with a confused look.

"My apologies Teresa, I should have explained that to you before. You are correct, Alicia and Beth are the organizations number one and two. Alicia is able to fully awaken while her sister synchronizes her mind to control her awakened form."

"Where are you going with this?" Miria questioned.

"Basically what I am saying is that Alicia and Beth are experiments and nothing more, much like us. They are the organizations greatest weapons for now, and they continue to do research into creating controllable awakened beings."

Audrey let out a smirk as she looked at the captain: "I presume you plan on taking down the organization?"

After a slight pause, Miria replied: "yes"

After hearing what Audrey had to say, Miria had decided that it was best for them to spend the rest of the day in this small clearing in the forest. She knew that Clare was excited about Raki's arrival, and wanted to give the two some time to catch up. She thought deeply about their next course of action, knowing that there was no point scouting the lands anymore. Her group already had enough intelligence and the strength to take down the organization, so they were in no rush to do anything. The Abyssal feeders shouldn't return as they have defeated all eleven of them, so it seems that they can rest easy. She turned her attention to an excited Clare, Teresa, Audrey and Raki as they talked amongst each other a small distance away.

"So it was only the seven of you that survived?" Raki asked Clare as the four of them sat against a large log.

"Yes, us seven were the only ones that survived in the north" Clare replied.

"I wish my story was half as interesting as yours…"

"Raki…can you tell me something?" Clare asked anxiously, sounding as if she was expecting something she didn't want to hear.

"Sure…"he answered nervously.

"When I returned back to Rabona a few weeks ago, Sid told me that he saw you travelling with a little girl" she looked sadly at him as she continued: "who is this little girl?"

What am I supposed to tell her?

Well I certainly can't tell her that it's Priscilla…

"She is just a child I saved from a yoma. Her parents were killed so I escorted her to her uncles' village" he lied.

A weak smile developed on Clare's lips as she stared at the ground, looking rather convinced by his words. Teresa however didn't look convinced in the slightest, as she stared suspiciously at him. Raki felt a little uneasy by the way she was looking at him, but felt slightly relieved as the wavy haired warrior gave him a friendly smile.

"Raki, you were very impressive when you jumped to Clare's defense." Teresa announced.

"I really didn't do much at all…"

"You showed a great feat of strength when you ripped the awakens tentacle clean off."

"Well I wanted to protect Clare…"

"It's strange…you don't have silver eyes, yet you move and fight like one of us" Teresa said as she scanned the yoki channels within his body. "Your yoki aura is very strange, and I cannot decipher exactly what it is that you are."

"I can help you find out what he is" a childish voice giggled.

"How long has she been up there?" Audrey questioned as she looked oddly at Riful who lay comfortably against a thick branch above them.

"Oh she's been there for a while…" Teresa answered.

"What is it you want Riful?" Clare asked.

"Oh I just want a little taste of him. Just a teeny tiny little bit of his blood will tell me what he is" she said excitingly.

"You're not going to touch him" Clare warned.

"I'm only asking for a little bit…just one taste" Riful begged childishly.

"Alright" Raki replied to the surprise of the others.

"Raki…what are you doing?" Clare asked anxiously.

"Well I really would like to know myself"

"Are you sure about this Raki?" Teresa asked.

"Yeah"

Teresa turned her face to the branch above as she stared at the little girl who now began to lick her lips from excitement.

"Just one little bite" Teresa warned. "Any more and you'll regret it."

Riful jumped off the branch above them and landed next to the large log the four of them sat against. She walked over to them and climbed onto the log, while keeping her eyes firmly locked on to Raki. She reached for his right arm, pulling it closer towards herself as she softly spoke:

"I wonder what you taste like…but don't worry" she giggled childishly: "I promise that no matter how good you taste, I wont go too far"

"Well that's good to know" he said nervously to the abyssal one.

Clare and Teresa watched concernedly as the little girl sunk her teeth into Raki's exposed arm, sucking out the red liquid that flowed through the open wound. She pulled herself away from the wound as it quickly regenerated to the surprise of the others.

"Well that explains the fast regeneration" Riful muttered as she licked the remaining blood on her lips with her tongue

"Tell us Riful" Clare asked curiously.

"Teresa is right, your yoki aura is very strange…and your blood is nothing I have ever tasted before"

"What do you mean?" Raki asked worriedly.

"Well… you don't taste like a human…or an awakened being…rather, you are a combination of both."

"So he's half awakened?" Clare asked.

"No he isn't. In normal warriors, the yoma side eventually takes over the human side and awakening occurs. However, it appears as if his human flesh has fused with the yoma flesh within him, creating an entirely new being."

"What does this mean?" Teresa asked curiously.

Riful let out a smile as she added:

"If my guess is correct, then this should mean that he has the best of both worlds. He has the power of an awakened being, while still keeping his human form, and keeping his sanity."

"Are you saying that you are insane?" Teresa teased.

"Well all warriors lose most of their sanity when they awaken, and I am no exception I must admit. However some warriors lose it more than others, I guess that I am one of the lucky ones as I still have most of my memories before my awakening"

"So I am a monster?" Raki said gloomily as he lowered his head in angst.

"No…you are the next step in the evolutionary tree. You have the potential to match the agility, strength, stamina and regeneration of powerful awakened beings, you should be really happy about that"

"Well, I must admit I do feel great…in fact, I have never felt so good in my life."

It was late at night as Raki woke to the sound of heavy boots trotting through the soft earth around him as he lay against the trunk of a large tree. He opened his eyes to see a figure standing in front of him. He recognized the figure to be Teresa, as the campfires weak light barely illuminated half her face. He noticed a warm smile on her lips as she leant closer to him and whispering:

"Raki, come with me"

Raki didn't know what it was that Teresa wanted, but he was curious to find out. He slowly got to his feet, making sure that he wouldn't wake Clare who slept against another tree trunk near him. He followed Teresa through the darkness of the forest until they arrived at a small lake. The area around the lake was illuminated slightly by the moon's silver rays as it reflected against the surface of the water, making everything slightly more visible. Teresa walked to the edge of the lake as she spoke:

"Raki…I know there is something you are not telling me and Clare."

Raki felt a wave of uneasiness flow through his body as he shakily replied: "what do you mean?"

"I couldn't help but notice your reaction when Audrey said the name 'Priscilla'. You immediately stopped in your tracks and lied to Clare"

"I didn't lie to Clare" Raki concurred.

"You just lied again Raki."

"How do you know?"

"People who lie tend to avoid eye contact, their facial expressions are unnatural and stiff, and they twitch their limbs, usually touching their own bodies, whether it being their nose, ears or hair" she paused for a moment as she added: "When you answered Clare… I could see you force out a smile, while you unnecessarily scratched your head and avoided eye contact"

"I don't have anything to hide…" Raki replied, making sure not to show any of the symptoms of lying that Teresa just mentioned.

Teresa let out a sigh as she added: "Raki…you are such a terrible liar…Now that I told you the symptoms of lying, it seems you are forcing your body not to show them, which only makes it more obvious that you are lying."

Raki couldn't even find the words to Reply to Teresa as he stared guiltily at her. She began to walk up to him, eyeing him closely as she added:

"Raki…you have no reason to fear me. I love Clare with all my heart, and because you are special to her…then you are also special to me."

Raki suddenly felt very comfortable being alone with Teresa. The longer he looked into her eyes, the more it felt as if Clare was looking right back at him. It was strange that he had only met Teresa a few hours ago, and he felt as if he knew her for a lifetime. Teresa had a commanding aura about her, an aura that radiated great power and respect, while still making him feel overly welcome and safe. It was the same feeling he felt when he first met Clare. As he continued to stare into her mystifying silver eyes, he couldn't find the strength in himself to lie to her any further. He turned to face the ground as he uttered in a miserable voice:

"I'm so sorry…"

"Just tell me the truth Raki…no matter how bad you think it is"

He raised his face to meet hers as he added: "This must be difficult for you to hear…"

She grabbed his hands and squeezed them gently, staring deeply into his eyes as she quietly spoke:

"You can trust me"

Raki let out a long sigh as he began to mutter the words:

"I…know Priscilla"

Teresa's face immediately turned a shade whiter as she let go of his hands from sheer shock. She looked deeply disturbed by what she had just heard, but remained silent as she waited for him to continue.

"I met Priscilla and Isley when I was in the north seven years ago… and ever since Isley separated from us, Priscilla and I have been travelling together for the past seven years as I searched for Clare"

Teresa was so overwhelmed by shock, that she looked like she needed a place to sit down. She never thought that his secret could have possibly been this big. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, in an attempt to clear her mind. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and returned her gaze upon a guilty looking Raki.

"Are you absolutely positive that this is the awakened being…Priscilla?"

"Yes" he replied.

Teresa returned to the edge of the water as she stood silently with the wind playing gently with her hair.

"Thank you for telling me this Raki" she said calmly as she watched the water splash gently against the edge in front of her. She turned to face him as she added:

"Raki…promise me that you will never tell Clare about this. She is overwhelmed by hatred for Priscilla, and trust me when I tell you that she won't take this as well as I have"

as I said I had some trouble dealing with all the drama in this chapter.

Any ways, please review and voice your opinion. I will read them all.

Stay tuned!