Hey i'm back. I took a break from all the writing, mostly because i didn't have much time to write. Things are beginning to settle down now, and the next chapter will be out sooner than you think.

please tell me what you think! i hope i delivered!

please review!

Chapter 38

Walking down a long, eerie corridor, Clare follows the sound of a mysterious sound that echoed out from the shadows towards the far end of the walkway. Each one of her slow, gradual steps translated into loud creaks and groans as the old wooden floor beneath her shifted under the weight of her body. As she edged closer to the source, the muffled sound from before had sharpened to reveal two familiar voices as they playfully giggled amongst themselves. Her curiosity levelled greatly the moment she identified the voices to be Raki's and what sounded like Audrey's, causing her legs to subconsciously increasing their pace two fold as she made her way down the gloomy corridor. Only a few meters in front of Clare, on the right side of the wall, was a half opened door that leaked streams of the dim lights that illuminated the room it incased. Sneaking her way to the door, Clare shakily poked her head into the room and was startled to see a large royal looking room with brightly lit candles littering the tops of the cupboards and floor, with a large bed and a dazzling array of various mythical creatures engraved all along the expensive wooden frame. On the bed was a large royal blue sheet that enclosed the two giggling figures as they tossed and turned from under the cover. Deep down Clare knew that she wouldn't like what she would find in the room before her, but with her curiosity approaching a breaking point, she found it impossible to resist the temptation of finding out more. She summoned the courage to take a step forward, placing her shaking hand on the golden doorknob, and slowly push the door inwards.

She was greatly startled when the two figures beneath the sheets suddenly brushed the fabric out of the way, exposing their nude bodies to her. Clare was horrified to see Raki and Audrey heavily panting and drenched in sweat as they lay next to each other, caressing the other in such an intimate and sexual manner. Clare's eyes ran through the contours of Raki's nude body for a split second, then disgustfully fixed her gaze upon the siren that defiled her boy. Audrey's long, loose hair ran wildly across the surface of both their bodies as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. She looked deeply into Clare's eyes with a look of satisfaction written all over her face, and a sly grin evident on those icy lips of hers. Clare's blood began to boil when Audrey returned her attention to the man she lay next to, leaning closer towards him and planting a soft, seductive kiss on the lips. Clare began to back away from sheer disgust as she stared at the two intimate individuals before her, but immediately halted when Audrey parted the kiss and looked her way yet again. As she stared into Audrey's devious eyes for a second time, Clare's anger involuntarily caused her to tense both her hands in a tight fist, but no matter how hard she tried to put them to use, she found herself frozen solid from sheer astonishment.

She took another glance at Raki, and was surprised, no, hurt to see him take no notice of her, almost as if she no longer existed. He just proceeded to stare lustfully at Audrey, looking as if he had been entranced by her spell.

"He's all mine," Audrey suddenly spoke in a slow, alluring tone, causing Clare to immediately return her gaze upon the her: "He doesn't want you anymore," She then brushed her hand gently across his mesmerised face: "He only wants me."

Clare suddenly woke to the familiar sight of the timber linings that composed the ceiling above her. She was drenched in sweat and found herself struggling to catch her breath as she lay flat against the bed breathing heavily. Sitting up from the bed, she let out a sigh of relief as she realised what she just saw a moment earlier was nothing but a dream, no, a nightmare.

After taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts, Clare began to inspect her surroundings. She was inside a rather ordinary looking cabin, with few pieces of furniture scattered along the walls. It was painfully simple, composed of nothing but shards of finely cut timber and some bits of iron for stability, but nothing more.

Yesterday, they left the ruins of Rabona and after many hours of marching towards the northeast though the seemingly endless green of the plain lands, they had come across this humble town. It was a busy town surrounded by large stonewalls that resided next to an even larger Cliffside. Teresa had told them that they would be welcome here. She knew that Miria and her small hunting party already knew the location of this town, and trusted her to lead the entire party there. As soon as they arrived here, they were surprised when the mayor immediately recognised Teresa and without hesitation, offered the entire party accommodation within the town. Miria, instead, asked for some sort of accommodation that was near the town, somewhere more discrete and away from hordes of people.

So now here they were, residing in small abandoned cabins hidden in a forest only a small distance north of the town. There were seven cabins in total, and there were two ghosts residing in each one.

Throwing her bed sheets off to the side, Clare got up and sat against the side of her bed. She gently smiled to herself as she gazed upon Teresa who slept soundly in a bed next to hers. She lay on her back, with a single arm resting on her chest and her beautiful wavy hair dangling helplessly off the side of the bed. Teresa slept so blissfully, Clare thought she looked like an angel.

But she was far from it.

She still couldn't believe how someone as elegant and beautiful as Teresa could be so ugly only a moment earlier.

Brushing these thoughts aside, Clare sat up from her bed and walked towards the window that was adjacent to her bed. The area around the cabin was surrounded by fields of lush grass with a dense wall of trees in the distance. The other cabins were scattered randomly throughout the field, separated by small distances from one another. There was an old abandoned well in the middle of the camp, and a large rusting workshop on the far western side.

As Clare scanned the surroundings before her, She scoffed when she noticed Raki and Audrey together. They sat against a rather ancient looking log in front of their small cabin chatting amongst themselves. The two of them always seemed to be together, and Clare wasn't comfortable with that. She didn't want Raki to be with Audrey. Audrey couldn't be trusted.

Yesterday, she tried to find a cabin that could accommodate three people, enough space for herself, Teresa and Raki, but to her dismay, each one of the seven cabins were identical, and could only accommodate two people. She knew that if given the choice, the two of them would choose to be together, and just as she thought, this was indeed the case, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Well last night was interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never shared the night alone with a civilian before" Audrey replied as she nudged herself closer towards Raki from the log they sat against.

"I'm not exactly a civilian anymore..."

"The transformation process can take a while for one to get used to. It can be frightening at first..."

"Frightening? No way." Raki responded with a pleased smirk on his face, excitingly kicking the log with the back of his boots: "I've spent most of my life with those that possessed the blood of a yoma, but because I was human, I could never really be one of them. There was always this looming feelings that I just didn't belong. But now that I have this new body, all that has changed. I can now think as you think, feel as you feel and move as you move. I know this must be something difficult to understand, but I finally feel like i'm apart of something bigger than myself. I can now protect the ones I care about."

Audrey was left wide eyed by his response. She never expected him, or anybody else for that matter, to react so positively to such a depressive subject. She saw her hybrid body as nothing more but a disease, something to be loathed. But this man took what she thought to be a disease, and saw it as a blessing instead.

"I think I understand how you feel..." was her delayed response after taking some time to think.

"Besides," he said in a cheeky tone while leaning closer towards her: "If it wasn't for this body, we would have never met."

Audrey turned her face off to the side in an attempt to hide her horrendously flushed face. She felt foolish for reacting in such a manner, but at the same time she enjoyed it greatly.

"Charming as always." She said, still too shy to face him.

Their moment together was tarnished by the arrival of a figure both could see in the corner of their eye. It made its presence known by stepping in the way of their sunlight, casting a long, cooling shadow over them.

"I'm surprised to see you guys awake. I would have thought you'd have a late morning, if you know what I mean." Helen teased in her usual mischievous tone with a huge grin on her face.

"Late morning?" Audrey replied naively, clearly clueless as to what Helen meant.

With her attention turned to Audrey, Helen added: "So how was it? How did it feel? Was it as good as you imagined?"

"What do you mea..."

Before Audrey could finnish her sentence, Helen's reckless mouth was on the move yet again: "Oh I can only imagine all the things you guys did to each other last night! Hey I have an idea! Maybe next time I can join in on the fun, have a piece for myself."

At this point, the look on Audrey's face made it clear that she suddenly understood what Helen was trying to say. She was left speechless and unable to give a response. She looked to Raki as a gesture for help, but even he was left tight lipped by the awkwardness that arrived with Helen.

"Audrey and I aren't..." he managed to say, though quite unconvincingly.

"I'm sooo jealous of you," Helen interrupted yet again as she sat in between the two, gently pushing both of them off to the side to make space for herself: "Snuggling the night with a man, i've always wondered what that was like."

The two of them continued to sit awkwardly beside their comrade. Helen was always an open minded individual, but sometimes she just didn't know when to draw the line. They knew that her intentions were completely innocent and only intended for a bit of fun, and that made it difficult to be upset at her.

Raki felt the relief of his life when he noticed Clare walking towards them. She had just left her cabin and had her eyes firmly peeled on Helen. A closer look on her face made it apparent that she was exhausted, probably receiving little to no sleep for the past couple of days.

The playful grin on Helens face immediately vanished the moment she noticed clare making her way over. Clare was never the kind of person to find the funny side of things, and this was especially the case due to recent events. Nobody was too thick headed to realize this, not even someone like Helen.

"Well I guess we'll speak later then," Helen said with an uncharacteristically serious tone as she began to wisely return back to her cabin.

Clare arrived shortly later, stopping to a halt just in front of them. She scanned the face of Audrey for a second or two, then set her gaze upon Raki.

"Did Helen cause some trouble?" She said.

"No, she was just making conversation." Raki replied, trying his best to sound as genuine as possible. He didn't want Clare to be under any more stress than she currently was.

"You're just like Teresa. Not a very good liar."

"Ok, so she may have made things a bit uncomfortable..."

"How did you rest last night Clare?" Audrey asked, changing the direction of their conversation.

"Fine."

"And Teresa?"

"A little worn out, but nothing to worry about." Clare replied after looking off to the side.

"Well i'm glad to hear that. Yesterday was tough on everyone."

A few seconds of silence ensued until clare finally spoke: "I'll be back shortly."

"Where are you going Clare?" Raki asked.

"I just need some time alone."

The two of them could only watch as Clare turned around and headed towards the northern end of the camp and disappeared behind a thick wall of trees.

"Is she going to be alright?" Audrey asked Raki out of concern.

"This is just Clare. Don't worry about it. She'll be fine." He replied with a smile.

Lowering her head in sadness, Audrey added: "She dislikes me, doesn't she Raki? I can see it in her eyes that she doesn't trust me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know...perhaps i'm just seeing things, but it could be possible that Clare sees me as a threat..."

Raki removed his gaze on Audrey and directed it to the trees where Clare had disappeared behind. As he stared at the thick wall of green, he wondered If Audrey was right.

After walking for a short moment, Clare stopped to take a large breath of the untarnished, rejuvenating air around her. She was surrounded by an army of trees and shrubs so thick, visibility was reduced to only a few meters. The silence of the forest was tranquil, and it was exactly what she needed at this moment in time. Sometimes, she missed being alone and wondering the lands by herself. It was always a large part of her life.

Reaching for her claymore that was holstered on her back, Clare set her sight upon the closest tree in front of her. In a mere second, the tall object was reduced to thousands of pieces as her blade gracefully melded with the air in rapid succession. The sound of wooden shrapnel littered the once deathly silence, shortly followed by the much louder sound of the rest of the tree collapsing to the ground.

The quiet of the forest returned once more. Clare closed her eyes and tried to collect her faulting thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried to keep them away, those dreaded thoughts never seemed to leave her. Thoughts about that siren.

But what bothered her the most wasn't Audrey in particular. It was because she disliked Audrey for some other reason besides the fact that she didn't trust her. There were personal reasons involved, and she couldn't quite understand why.

Am I jealous of Audrey?

Or am I overprotective of Raki?

...or...do I feel something for Raki?

...Something humans would call love?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movement up ahead. There must have been someone, or something hidden behind the bushes for such a sound to be made. She slowly pulled out her weapon and cautiously made her way towards the source while trying her best to detect any yoki signitures up ahead.

She felt a faint signal for a split second, but it disappeared almost as quick as she discovered it.

This is odd. It cannot be a yoma because of the way it suddenly hid its aura...

It could be one of the organization's warriors...

Or perhaps a clever awakened being...

Then, without any sort of warning, Clare felt a sudden acceleration of wind behind her and suddenly found herself pinned down against the ground by something with crushing strength. Her attacker held her down by the neck, face first into the cold dirt, and with a grip that felt strangely familiar. Judging by its strength, and the way it moved, Clare knew this definitely wasn't a yoma. It probably wasn't a warrior of the organization either, as it was doubtful they would still be in possession of such powerful warriors. The limb that had the death grip on her neck was covered in a skin that felt very human, or an awakened being in the form of a human.

"It's been a long time." An all to familiar voice spoke while maintaining her deathly grip on Clare's neck.

"Who...are you?...w...what do you want?" Clare struggled to say as her mouth was being forced into the dirt.

"Once again you forget who I am. Now you really hurt my feelings for real."

Clare didn't know who this was, but every cell in her body begged her to get away. There was only one other time she remembered her body reacting in such a manner, and that was against a particular warrior over seven years ago.

The figure continued: "I still remember you. You were the one who just wouldn't give up. It was hopeless, but you stubbornly fought on. Thats right...your name was Clare."

As the figure continued to speak, the voice became more and more familiar to Clare. Her mind desperately scanned through her memories, trying to match a face to that voice, and it was only a short moment before she found one. A deathly fear enveloped her body when a certain individual popped into her mind.

"It cannot be..."Clare groaned.

"What are you mumbling? I cannot hear you from down there."

Having no alternative, Clare instantly flooded her body with a torrent of yoki, giving her muscles the much needed boost in strength and agility needed to escape the deathly grip of the figure.

"You were always full of surprises," the figure said with a smirk on her face, eyeing the short haired warrior intensely: "I don't know how you keep doing that without awakening."

Standing only a few meters in front of her, stood the ghost Clare swore she killed seven years ago. From that silvery hair tied into a single ponytail, to that sadistic look to her eyes, there was no mistaking it, this warrior was the former number four, Ophelia.

"But how...How is this possible? I killed you!" Clare stammered, unable to believe her eyes.

"I know, it's a bother isn't it?" Ophelia replied while beginning to casually walk towards Clare: "Even you had me convinced I was dead."

"So how did you survive?"

"If you really wanted to kill me, then you should have cut off my head." Ophelia said as she stopped in front of a shocked Clare, crossing her arms in anger as she continued: "The organization managed to revive my corpse and I was given a special honor."

"Special honor?"

"Enough games!" Ophelia stormed, looking deeply into Clare's eyes with an unfamiliar seriousness: "I trusted you with my will. Did you do it?"

Clare remained silent, unable to find words to come up with a response. Her mind still struggled to comprehend what had just happened, let alone think about what ophelia was saying.

"Hey cut it out! Did you do it or not?" She cried out, sounding more and more desperate as time went on.

Clare remained silent once more for a brief moment. She collected her thoughts and made sure to speak carefully.

"Priscilla has been taken care of."

The seriousness on Ophelia's face immediately left her, and was replaced with a huge grin instead. She looked genuinely excited about the news and began to madly mutter something to herself:

"Did you hear that brother? You are avenged! I told you didn't I? I told you she can do it. The one horned beast is dead! No more!"

There were more to her words, but most were either too soft, or too mumbled for Clare to fully understand. After a few more seconds of mumbling to herself, Ophelia set her attention back on to Clare once more and spoke:

"I wish I was there! To see the head being torn from the neck! To see it being drowned in its own blood! What a wonderful sight it must have been!"

"Enough Ophelia!" Another voice shouted from behind the bushes to their right. This was a voice that was also familiar to Clare, but unlike Ophelia's, this voice was definitely a pleasant one to hear.

A figure wearing a dark brown robe with a large hood covering its face emerged out from the trees. It set its beaming silvery eyes upon Ophelia, then froze when it sighted Clare.

"You always ruin everything." Ophelia said to the figure in a tone that made her irritation apparent.

"You should end your childish grudge against me. What I did to you was over seven years ago. Get over it." The figure replied.

"You caught me off guard that time. Why don't you try that technique on me again?"

"Watch your tone around me Ophelia. Do not forget that between the two of us, I am the superior."

Ophelia didn't say a word. She just angrily crossed her arms and flicked her head off to the side. Her irritation was once again obvious, and Clare couldn't help but feel satisfied seeing her like that.

The figure in the robe took its eyes off Ophelia and set it upon Clare instead.

"Well now, don't we have a way of meeting in an unexpected way." It said, as it began to remove the hood that covered its head.

There before clare, stood none other than quick sword Irene. She, like Ophelia, looked exactly the same as in her memories. The same elongated ears, smooth, edged face and that distinct sharp look to her eyes. She seemed to have gotten a hold of another right arm, but her left was still missing entirely.

"Irene!" Clare spoke in bafflement.

"I'm glad to see you're alive Clare," She said before setting her sight upon her former arm, upon Clare's right arm: "I see that you have taken good care of it."

Clare spared a glance at the arm, but quickly returned her attention upon Irene: "It has served me well, but i'm afraid I can never fully repay you for what you've done for me."

Irene released a slight smile, but it vanished almost as quickly as it started. "Did you pursue your goal to take down Priscilla?"

"Clare told me the one horned beast is dead." Ophelia snorted, playfully tapping Clare on the shoulder with an unnecessary amount of force.

Clare could see the skeptical look on Irene's face. The former number two stared at her with great interest for a moment, but soon broke the silence as she spoke: "We were told to deliver a message to a group of rebels supposedly stationed here. I assume you are one of them?"

"I thought you abandoned the organization. Why do you take orders from them once more?" Clare asked.

"Myself, along with Ophelia, were given a special position within the organisation. I will explain later when we meet up with the rest of your group." Irene said.

"Brought back from the dead, so to say." Ophelia added.

I know its been a while guys, am im sry again. please tell me what you think of this chapter.

please review!