Wrote this chapter a little quicker than usual, so i hope people will enjoy it. i've read from a few reviewers that say they would like a bunch of other characters to be included in the story a little more, so i've tried to incorporate as many characters as i can, and will try to do so in future chapters.
This chapter is a little different to the ones before it, but i hope it will be a pleasant surprise!
Teresa collapsed against her bed, arms across her sides with her palms resting under her head comfortably. A moment ago, she placed Clare soundly against her own bed, with Irene doing the same for Priscilla, and now she just gazed up at the ceiling of these warriors's barracks, through a small crack that revealed only a single star from the sky above.
This place reminded her of the training facility back on the island, but it was far more militaristic than what she was used to. Instead of it being located on a barren wasteland, this was a small city that overlooked the vast ocean, housing many more warriors, and many of them very powerful indeed. But since Irene was number one, they were practically above the law, at least that's what Irene had said.
Teresa ran her hands through her hair, overwhelmed by her recents thoughts. She turned to look over at Clare who rested soundly in a bed right beside hers. Though she was no longer a little girl, Teresa still marveled at the peaceful way in which she slept, looking as if she dozed off the moment her head hit the pillow. The girl certainly hadn't changed much from the child she was before, only this time she simply weighed more and wielded a claymore like herself.
Teresa closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep but finding herself unable put her mind at rest. She sighed, raising herself out from the bed, glancing over at Clare again before taking notice of some movement off to the side. Much to her surprise it was Priscilla, the young warrior panting as she planted her feet across the floor, rubbing her eyes shadily as she regained her consciousness.
"What's going on? Priscilla?" Teresa said slowly, throwing a scrutinizing stare the smaller warriors' way.
"Teresa..." Priscilla said weakly, as though unable to believe her eyes.
"Yes that's my name. Now tell me what I want to hear."
"What do you mean? We were just fighting and -" Priscilla said, her voice sluggish and shaky.
"Clare went to you so she could get stronger. Is that right?"
"That's what she said yes, but she also told me that -"
Teresa cut her off abruptly: "What Clare said stays between you and her. It's nothing I should know. But tell me? How is she?"
"Weren't you...watching the entire time?" Priscilla sneered.
Teresa smiled: "Of course. Is that why you didn't try to kill her with a cheap shot when she had you defeated?"
Turning her head over in shame, Priscilla muttered with a sorrowful tone:
"Teresa...back then...when I begged for you to take my head...I truly had no intentions of deceiving you, But as I watched you about to decapitate me...I was so afraid of death, so ignorant in my hatred that I just lost it..."
Teresa merely stared oddly at this girl before her that now began to sob quietly before her. Her mystifying silver eyes shined a distinct cobalt from the smallest of glares, the eyes that Priscilla had grown to fear ever since they first fought, something that petrified her more than anything else.
"I know that." Teresa said calmly.
Raising her teary face, Priscilla couldn't understand why Teresa didn't have the faintest trace of anger across her gentle face. Hearing something like that was surely a distressing thing to hear, but it seemed Teresa was somebody entirely different to her, someone she was yet to understand.
Sobbing yet again, she added: "What kind of a person am I? What kind of a person does that to somebody else? It's unforgivable that I betrayed your trust like that..."
"The past is in the past...don't dwell on it for too long." Teresa said.
"...You forgive me just like that?"
Teresa remained silent for a moment, raising herself to her feet and grabbing her Claymore that leant across her bed. She took a fine swing across the air, before turning Priscilla's way:
"I don't forgive you. What you did was completely despicable And I should kill you for it." she said, looking over at the exit: "but we shouldn't talk here... Come out for a walk with me..."
Priscilla remained awestruck for a moment, but did as she was told, grabbing her own weapon and following Teresa cautiously out to the peaceful exterior of the training fields. It was large but quite empty, deathly silent under the shroud of the night, with only a few sections of training dummies and other equipment scattered about. During the day Regulators and guards would use these fields to train and run laps around the area, but during the nights there was nobody present.
The two had moved about a hundred feet or so into the field, An emptiness surrounded them for what seemed so vast. Off to the distance, The giant colosseum dwarfed everything else around it, the loud cheers and roars none existent at such a time.
Teresa sighed gently, looking over at Priscilla: "Do you want to know the true reason why I didn't kill you?."
Priscilla threw her a questionable look at first, but then quickly found herself overwhelmed by guilt as she listened on:
"I didn't kill you because when I looked at you, I saw a rather bright, though naive young girl who had only just graduated from the organization and sent on her first formal mission. I knew I could easily end our fight, but I didn't want your blood on my hands, I didn't want to save the life of a young girl only to end the life of another."
Priscilla remained tight lipped, her youthful face cringing with an overwhelming sense of guilt:
"You honestly should have killed me...I was willing to do anything to have your head...you knew that."
Teresa remained perfectly still as she watched on eagerly with her mystifying silver eyes, this and the way the nightly winds played with her long wavy hair was a visage that had haunted Priscilla for so many sleepless nights for as long as she could remember.
"I probably should have," Teresa said: " but now please explain to me what you plan on doing about your awakening... If I'm not mistaken the effects could ware off at any moment..."
-"oh thats right. I'm not sure...I guess I'll just have to fly away or something. I haven't seen many other awakened ones with wings so perhaps these guards won't be able to catch me..." Priscilla said.
"I will not defend you when that time comes."
"I know that," Priscilla said " I don't need your help for the matter anyway. I can take care of myself. But tell me, if things had been different, would I have eventually surpassed you? I've feared your name for so long so please tell me the truth...it's something I've always wanted to know."
The wavy haired warrior looked at odds with such a bold question, an analyzing stare set upon this former young talent:
"And why do you want to surpass me?"
"It's useless to know now...but I would like to know the truth regardless. I was told that I was one day to surpass the number one, you. So please tell me if that's true."
-"impossible to tell. Such things just aren't measurable any more."
Priscilla cried: "Hey don't pretend that you don't know!"
Much to her surprise, Teresa suddenly looked off to her side as though taking notice of something interesting. Priscilla looked around to see what Teresa noticed but couldn't feel anything at all.
"Come out. I know you've been following us." Teresa said, her voice echoing through the field.
The moment she said that, a slim figure revealed herself out from the shadows, the one called Skye of the number one warriors. Her emerald blue eyes and shoulder-short coal black hair her most interesting features standing out before the darkness. She had her metal bow sheathed across her back, with about a dozen of those metallic bolts she considered arrows. Each one weighted over ten pounds, and were large enough to be used a weapon on their own.
Her short wavy hair bristled with the winds' touch, before moving on closer towards them in an almost arrogant manner:
"I sense that there is something wrong. You guys are planning a rebellion aren't you? " Skye said, her exotic accent hard to not take immediate notice of.
"Just how did you know that?" Priscilla said naively.
"So it is true," Skye said, her reaction indifferent: "I knew it! you guys are pretty obvious."
Teresa sighed, glancing annoyingly over at Priscilla before looking back at Skye:"So, will you be reporting us to the organization? Wonder how far that will go."
"I already know that won't work. There's no doubt The number one regulator, Irene is behind all this too. Such a corrupt system..."
"It's not like there's a membership or something, but you should ask Miria first of you want to joi-" Priscilla said.
Teresa interrupted her, throwing a cold gaze Skye's way: "That weapon...why do you use it? It seems a little bit unnecessary."
Skye smirked proudly: " I can kill an awakened from a mile away with this weapon. What can yours do?"
"A fair point I suppose, but let me ask you another question, and Depending on your answer I might kill you on the spot, so I want you to think long and hard before you say something I wouldn't like."
-"And what do you want to ask me?" Skye said curiously.
"What do you plan to do... now that you know this information?"
"Nothing."
Teresa merely listened on to this young girl, her youthful looks a sharp contrast to the warrior that she was. Skye seemed almost a little too young, similar to that of Priscilla when she was drafted as a warrior. Her timid looks oozed of a strange innocence, though it did nothing to hide her powerful nature that crowned her number one on her respective island.
"Nothing at all?" Teresa said.
"No not really, it's not my business. As long as you guys don't hurt any of our kind then you even have my support. Sticking together for a common cause is something too natural for humans to do after all." Skye said.
She reached for her back and pulled out her metallic bow that glistened under the moons rays. Pulling out an arrow from her quiver, she armed her weapon, looking over at a certain training dummy a few hundred feet away:
"You see," Skye added, drawing her immense bow and pulling back on the steel mesh string: "it's the job of the strongest to be the support and inspiration of the weaker ones, So that everyone can live through their lives, no matter how challenging it may be knowing they had the support of each other."
The thundering sound of thousands of pounds of tension tensed and creaked the metal bow, sounding as if the material would simply give in and snap. This was a weapon only one of their kind could wield, something a human wouldn't even begin to grow the muscles for. It seemed to be made from the same material as their infamous Claymore swords, no doubt also making it quite heavy and indestructible in itself. Skye may have been small, but she was obviously quite physically strong, and wielded her exotic weapon very well.
Releasing the string, the arrow bolted out, slicing through he air until it impacted the distant target dummy, annihilating it and slamming into quite a few others as well. The impact was heavy, cracking the earth beneath it as if it weighed a tone.
Skye smiled back at them gently: "In this world, strength is all that counts. And there is no doubt you two are among the strongest here, so that is why I find you so interesting you see."
"Strength can also be a curse." Teresa said.
"Only if you let it be. Strength is always a blessing in my mind. Always seek more strength, because with strength you have power and control."
"Power and control...I know exactly how you feel..." Priscilla said.
Skye added: "We are what we are, so we might as well be the best that we can be. You know, shoot for the stars as they say. My goal was always to be the strongest Claymore, and I'm proud to be surrounded by so many who probably think the same about themselves. This place is a great opportunity for all of us to learn and grow from each other."
Under the darkness of the night, Riful sat peacefully against one of the many empty seats of the colosseums' outer ring, marveling at the fuming battle of Raki and Ophelia in the centre of giant battlefield. The two had been at it for many hours now, and the scars of battles were painfully evident across them. Blood marked a significant portion of their clothes, leaking down beneath their feet, creating long marks in the sand around them. If things continued how they were, there was no doubt one of them was sure to faint from sheer blood loss, or simply die from the continued wounds upon their flesh. The battle was a complete blood bath, and Riful enjoyed every second of it.
Impressive...
That Ophelia is an awakened one...
Not even Dauf would be able to defeat her no doubt...
But that man is able to keep up with her in both strength and agility...
- "Oy Riful, thought I'd find you in such a place," a voice said to her side.
Riful turned over to see Helen and Deneve arrive next to her. She grinned at the fearless, and almost naive look of Helen, but seemed more at home to see Deneve looking slightly more wary of her presence. Though she had to admit to herself that she grew to like these two, the fact that they were potentially future adversaries was very clear in the back of her mind.
"Come to watch the show with me? It's such a good show and it would be more fun to watch it together. Dauf says he's too tired and we got in a fight so he's...no here." Riful giggled.
"I wouldn't miss this fight for this world. That Raki sure knows how to swing a claymore that's for sure." Helen spurted excitedly, retiring upon a seat next to Riful, pulling out a shiny red apple in her hand.
"Just where did you get that apple from anyway Helen? Where do you find these things?" Deneve sighed.
Taking a bite of her apple, Helen replied: "I have a secret stash. But I'm running low now so I'll have to find some more soon... Hey Riful you want one?"
"Oh I already ate so no thanks, -"
Before she could Finnish, her words came to an abrupt end as she caught the apple Helen threw her way regardless.
"Who knows when you'll return to an awakened one again," Helen said: "might as well enjoy the little things in life while you still can..."
Riful looked on oddly at her for a moment, then down at the piece of fruit down below in her hands. To her, it didn't look particularly tasty, especially after being so used to consuming human flesh and guts for so many decades. Returning to being a claymore was something she found quite annoying at first, but now as she thought deeply on this, a flood of pleasant memories set back into her, and it became clear to her that deep down she missed her former self to a certain extent.
Deneve looked over at Riful: "we're not telling you what to do, but If I were you I would enjoy being human for as long as I can. you might not get another chance like this again."
Hearing this, Riful took a small, cautious bite of the apple. At first, the taste was something She quite enjoyed, but the sourness quickly overwhelmed her mouth and she ended up spitting out the remaining pieces, throwing the apple off to the side disgusfully:
"Yuk! No it's no good. You see, I am what I am and to me this stuff doesn't taste any good anymore...it's been far too long for me..."
Helens face horrified: "Hey you could have given it back to me! Why did you throw it away now it's all dirty!"
Riful frowned over at her: "But it's so sour and gross! If you like it so much why don't you just pick it up and wash it? You gave it to me so what I do with it is my business!"
Deneve sighed as the two fought amongst themselves for a while longer, but a sudden burst of yoki from the center of the colosseum grabbed their undivided attention.
"Do you feel that?" she said.
His blade blade was drenched in blood, and most of his body was covered in many fine cuts from Ophelia's ruthless strikes that dug into his flesh. His body has already slowed down regenerating a while ago, the damage upon him simply too much for it cope with at the moment. but he didn't mind, he could still stand and swing a sword, so that's all what counted in the end. In front of him, was a panting Ophelia, the former number four scarred with just as many cuts as him. Blood soaked most of her warriors battle suit, bringing the true meaning of her title to fruit. As an awakened being in claymore form, regeneration was also her strong suit, bit like him, exhaustion slowly crept up behind her.
"This...is...overwhelmingly fun! It's the same as last time only now you're actually close to my level! Ridiculous how tough you've become!" Ophelia spurted excitingly, spitting out blood from her mouth.
"I'd ask how the pain feels like, but I'm sure your the type to enjoy such things..." Raki said.
-"Hey pain is important you know! How else would you know your body is damaged? Pain can be pleasure if you let it to be..."
"Pleasure? Fine then let me give you more of it if that's what you want !" he roared.
Storming towards her, the two engaged in combat once again, their blades dancing between each other as the sound of metal clashing with metal ringed in their ears. Occasionally, one of them managed to hit a bit of flesh, spraying blood into the air as the newfound wound exploded outwards.
Raki groaned in pain as Ophelia's blade sliced open another of his ribs, causing him to stagger away backwards with an arm across his new wound.
"Hey! Is the fight already over? It's more fun if you fight back though..." Ophelia hissed, staring at him with a vampirous glare, flicking the fresh blood of her sword in a quick swipe.
"No it's not over yet...I didn't want to be pushed this far, but I guess I have no option now..."
Ophelia's grin widened from excitement: "Your not actually thinking about awakening are you? In such a place you wouldn't last a minute...but go ahead I'm not stopping you..."
"No I don't think so...you'll see..."
Raki tightened the grip of his blade, readying his body for something he's never tried before. Burying deeper than ever before, he could feel his very bones vibrate as he released a sudden torrent of foreign energy From within, infesting every muscle and fibre of his body. Around him, a strange fog of energy condensed outwards, as though hovering above his skin, constantly shifting like that of the surface of the ocean. It felt warm against his skin, staying near him as though it were an extension of his own the mass of energy was quite large, it wore almost no weight upon his shoulders and legs. It was not quite solid, yet not quite liquid either, a strange substance that simply stuck to him like a enveloping mist.
Ophelia simply couldn't believe her eyes. Never before had she seen something like this before, but she found it incredibly fascinating at the same time. It was as though a ghostly fog had surrounded him, a shield for him to use.
"That cloud around you...just how much yoki do you have for such a thing to be possible!" Ophelia said.
"I'm not sure, but I'd be ready for anything if I were you..."
"Woah...Do you...see that?" Riful said, her voice echoing in a strange awe
As she watched this event with crazed eyes, raising to her feet to get a better look.
"Just what? The hell is that stuff around him?" Helen said.
"Pure yoki energy..." Riful said.
-"How is that possible? For yoki to leave the body like that?"
Riful remained silent for a moment, lost amidst this most fascinating phenomenon before her. She thought the destroyer back on the island was something to be admired, but this was something far more interesting. The destroyer had made something of his body, and no doubt whatever that was would prove to be something of great importance.
-"That man has the power of two abyssal levels within him...but all that power is contained within a body the size of a mere human..."
The two watched the little girl with intensely. Though they didn't trust her entirely, they knew she must have been quite wise after all, being an abyssal for many decades, and probably knew what she was talking about.
Riful smiled deviously as she added: "Normally, when one awakens, all their yoki energy suddenly bundles together and manifests them a new awakened body...but in this case it simply has no where to go and merely condenses around him like a hopeless soul..."
"So then what is he? Human or one of us?" Deneve said, throwing her a worried look.
-"This yoki energy is mindless and has simply latched itself on to his consciousness... Forming a bond that is mutually beneficial to them both...absolutely fascinating. Technically he is nothing that can be described."
"I wonder...what this all means..." Helen said.
He could feel the energy move around him like running water that was warm to the touch, drenching his skin and clothes with a comfortable dampness. He moved a single hand upwards, and immediately the flow of energy moved along the exterior of his arm like a vortex that was his own.
As he released more energy, Ophelia took cautious steps backwards as this dense mass of energy expanded outwards, slowly bundling together to resemble a humanoid figure of some kind around him. As the form quickly took shape, it quickly became clear that this was no single humanoid creature, instead, two individual ones fused together, both with a single mighty wing shooting into the sky. To Ophelia, it seemed quite a lot like some old statue she couldn't quite remember about, one that was no doubt important in some sense no doubt.
The wind blew across this these towering ghastly yoki figures, blowing fragments of off into the wind. The substance was not opaque, but it distorted slightly the sights behind it like that of running water. Ophelia contained her excitement and stood her ground, unsure whether to be waiting for him to make the first move or simply charge in recklessly.
"Just what...is this stuff exactly?" Raki said, trying to catch the cloudy substance only to find it escaping in between his fingers as he tried to touch it.
"I don't know, but let's find out..."
Raki prepared himself as Ophelia charged in against him, Raising his blade in response to her sudden movements. As he did so however, the yoki mass around him seemed to react to this, forming into what looked very much like an enormous blade of its own, held by a pair of giant hands of the figures above him.
Though Ophelia was out of range, he swung his blade in her direction, and as he suspected, the giant ghostly weapon above him raced for her direction rapidly.
He watched as Ophelia simply evaded the ghastly blade that simply sunk into the ground as if it were made of nothing at all. Though there was definitely an impact, the blade clearly was not completely solid, nor liquid for that matter and simply disintegrated as it hit the surface.
"What was that? Such a soft thing cannot hurt me...it looks like its all for show or something..." Ophelia hissed, dashing towards him, pulling her blade back and readying for a strike.
He threw a sideways punch a moment too early, and was delighted to see a giant hand follow suit and smash directly into a surprised Ophelia. The impact was like water, flowing through her like a great torrent washing everything out of its way.
Ophelia was slammed roughly against the edge of the colosseum, falling against the ground harshly, rolling down the rocky sides and down across the sandy ground below.
Shaking this off, she rose to her feet and looked up at this new powerful opponent before her with a look of sheer disbelief mixed with an intense fascination:
"Hey that was actually pretty interesting. It feels warm...but at the same time it's also cold to the touch. I'm not sure if your awakened or anything but I'll definitely have to treat you like one now..." she said.
"Impossible...I didn't think something like this can actually happen..." Riful said, her tone torn between excitement or fright.
At this point all three warriors were at their feet, standing at the front row watching the giant ghastly statue of Teresa and Clare doing combat with Ophelia down below. Though it seemed completely lifeless, there was a organic sense to the substance, a familiar vibration oozing from it. All three of them could feel it, and to them it felt as though each figure possessed an empty shell of what they could only describe as a hollow soul. The figures towered at least three stories tall, centring around Raki like a candle to a flame, acting as an extension of his own body.
"This is the result of that experiment you had in the west? The destroyer you say?" Deneve said.
-"There's more to it than that...that's for sure, but that's probably the main reason...though I wonder just how he is able to suppress it like he does?"
"It definitely feels like a single being, though at the same time I can feel two individual auras from it as well. How weird." Helen said, scrutinize this strangeness before her.
They watched on in horror as the giant figure threw attack after attack against Ophelia, but due to its slower movements was unable to catch the warrior with any of these further attacks. Within a matter of moments, Ophelia managed to slip by its defenses and get dangerously close to raki, but the closer she got the thicker the cloud of energy condensed, and it slowed her movements down quite considerably.
Regardless, she managed to slice him across the side, his blade running through the substance as if it were water, causing both him, and the giant figure to cringe under the damage. A similar wound manifested across the figure itself, a shower of glimmering blood shooting out into the air, disintegrating by the gentle nightly winds.
Ophelia grinned shamelessly: "So the both of you feel pain when you are hurt? Or does this energy simply mimic you in every manner? Like a pet or something like that?"
He stared at her coldly, unsure about the answer to that question himself. This was all quite new to him after all. This energy that flooded around him felt strangely welcoming, but also at the same time it felt as if it was haunting his own soul. He could feel an aura from this energy, but it felt cold and barren, completely void of life that desperately latched on to his own, almost as if it wasn't even supposed to be alive.
"This is the first time I've ever done this, so I'm not very good at it yet..." he said, closing his eyes and he did his best to suppress this energy around him back into the core where it belonged.
Before long, the energy returned back around him, flooding into his skin and disappearing entirely. At last the air was no longer heavy and dense, and the welcoming breeze of the outdoors returned upon his skin.
Tightening the grip of his blade, he threw her a lingering stare: "I don't need such a thing to defeat you...I'll beat you fair like I said I would...with this own body."
"And you think that you can?" Ophelia teased.
"Yep. Either that or we're evenly matched."
He lowered his face suddenly, returning it upwards a second later. Though the energy cloud was now gone, The gentle look in his eyes was no longer humanly and his face seemed drained to the touch. His skin turned a shade darker, fringing together as though it was made of sand, forming small coherent cracks that seemed completely and utterly inhuman. His brown eyes were hijacked, forming a hellish yellow that peered hungrily at the opponent that stood before him.
Raising his sword arm again, he flooded a little more of this energy outward, doing his best to visualize a sword-like object in his hand. Remarkably, the energy snaked around his arm, condensing into a ghastly blade that seemed similar to before but actually having some weight to it. Letting go of his real Claymore, he held on to this manifested one instead. It seemed to be Composed of a denser level of yoki than before, similar in structure and strength to a metal, and would no doubt be quite effective as a sword.
Though he was exhausted, he forced himself to remain calm, and did his best to maintain this state of energy release that taxed him greatly.
"Let's see what this does..." he said, surprised by his deeper, almost demonic sounding voice that echoed more times than it should have.
"You really are so full of surprises...simply too much." Ophelia said.
"Whatever. I cannot maintain this form for much longer, so there's not much time to talk."
As soon as he commanded his body to move, it moved as fast and as silently as a shadow, dazzling towards Ophelia before she knew what was coming. She parried his attack at the last second, though finding herself unable to do the same for the second time, falling victim to a rather Nasty slice across her shoulder.
-"Amazing... Your movements are utterly ridiculous...just what exactly are you?"
Without responding to her, he went for it again, faking a strike across her front before vanishing and appearing behind her instead. Anticipating this, Ophelia threw her blade behind herself, managing a convincing defense and countering with a slice across his neck.
But he saw it coming. As though seeing the blade moving slower than it usually did, Raki ducked at an inhumane speeds, dodging the attack and causing a rush of air to hit the ground from the acceleration of his body.
"Oh I see now. Somehow you use the power of an awakened in such a small, condensed form for your own benefit...giving you such speeds normally not possible..." Ophelia said.
Kicking his feet into the sand, he charged again for her, feigning her opening swipe and ramming the back of his elbow across the side of her face. Staggering her, he appeared on her opposite end, running a knee into her centre, then finishing off by shoving her as hard as he could towards the centre of the colosseum.
Ophelia flew threw the air, Skidding across the blood red sand with intense force. Though still being flung, she managed to plant her blade into the ground to slow her acceleration, regaining her stance and planting both feet firmly on the floor, throwing him an intense stare afterwards down her weapon made in the sand.
She simply couldn't believe the incredible movements he portrayed. Such things weren't possible even for their kind. It was almost as if the his body weight a tonne, but to him it weighed nothing all, slicing through the air in a chaotic manner.
The two fell backwards against the reddened sand however, panting heavily from sheer exhaustion from the many wounds they received from each other during their incredibly long fight.
"Who would have thought you'd actually go this far? I'm still struggling to come to terms with it I must admit. But you are very interesting... How would you like to be the number three?" Ophelia said.
"I'll take that number two position. You can have number three." he said, his body reverting back to normal, eyes back to their original hazel brown nature.
Ophelia grinned hawkishly: "Hey! take it or leave it! It's clear we're both evenly matched and you've never even had a rank so I don't think you can negotiate with me!"
"well then, I suppose I'll just have to win then..." he said, shakily getting to his feet.
"So you can still go on? I like that...I really like that..."
Cassandra leant comfortably against her sword that she stabbed in the floor earlier, sitting against the harsh wooden floor as she stared at the timber lining beneath her boots. Her mind was full with conflicting imagery that ran through her like a perfect storm she just couldn't contain, or properly make sense of.
A moment ago, both Roxanne and Rubel told her the so called story of her past, and though she had many questions for them, not many were answered to her satisfaction. There was a looming feeling in the back of her mind that there was something major the two of them weren't telling her, but she simply had no basis to accuse them of any form of deception as of yet.
Her room door popped open and Roxanne suddenly poked her head in, wearing that smile that gave her the creeps for reasons she couldn't quite explain.
"Hey! There you are Cassandra! Thought you may have jumped off the ship or something! That would have been quite hysterical...I wonder if you can swim?"
-"Roxanne...what do you want?"
"what kind of a question is that? Don't you remember I was your girlfriend?." Roxanne said, helping herself into the room and throwing her an unwelcome grin.
Cassandra's turned shyly to her side, looking as though shamed to face this person: " I knew we became close, but I don't remember such a thing."
Roxanne crossed her arms delightfully: "Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter to me, but I just came here to tell you that I never loved you back...you were simply a tool for me to get stronger...but after i found out that horrendous technique of yours... I broke up with you...And that was that."
Hearing this, Cassandra stormed to her feet, stopping an inch before Roxanne, shoving her face against hers and throwing her a mean stare:
"That's just fine I don't need someone like you anyway. I always suspected it was you who was responsible for what happened with Elizabeth...you really are a whore Roxanne. You just use others for your own benefit!"
Roxanne grinned shamelessly: "Funny you say that after all those times we spent together in your favorite place by that cliffside ... do you remember that Cassandra? you simply couldn't get enough of me! You even said you loved me and everything...it was quite pathetic really..."
Cassandra's face flushed slightly, but continued on with determination: "I don't remember any of that, but I do know that I died at the hands of my own comrades. But why? What did I do to make them want to attack me?...I suspect you had something to do with it..."
"Well I think your being a little paranoid. It's as I told you before...Everyone saw your technique and because you freaked them out so much they all attacked you! Because your technique is so disgusting and pathetic, that is the cause of your death." Roxanne said with a malevolent innocence.
Cassandra cast herself to the side as she set her mind back, hitting upon a strangely pleasant memory :
"After you left me...I made a new friend didn't I?"
Roxanne stared at her oddly: " So you really are remembering more and more...interesting how your memory is by far the worst of us three. Probably because you were chopped up into little bits, but I'm no doctor..."
Ignoring her, Cassandra placed a finger upon her lips as she pondered out loud: "I can't remember her name, but I did make a friend now I remember. She was a lower rank, someone who had a kind soul who respected me for who I was. Nothing like you."
"Oh yeah that one, Roxanne giggled: "That one actually died quite a pleasant death so I wouldn't worry too much."
-"Just what...are you talking about? She died? How and what do you mean?"
Roxanne rolled her eyes as she gazed over at the exit. Though she tried quite hard to think of some excuse to keep this little mischief of hers going further, it seemed that Cassandra might actually regain all her memories and catch her out after all. She prepared herself for whatever retaliation would be thrown at her, with a hand hovering above the hilt of her blade mounted across her back.
Much to their surprise, however, a powerful thud could be heard to the side as Rafaela suddenly stood before the entrance with a deathly calm composure. Somehow, she had managed to regenerate her off hand, and entire body including all its wounds as well. Her single, deathly stare honestly sent chills down their spines, knowing deep down this was no ordinary warrior after all, quite easily at their level at or beyond theirs.
"Is there a problem here? I don't like problems..." Rafaela said, her voice chilling and concise.
"Hey there is no problem here just go away it's none of your business anyway." Roxanne said.
Rafaela looked oddly at her for a moment: "You there...I'm not sure if I should just kill you or not. Usually I don't have an opinion on these things, but for you I'll make an exception."
Cassandra blocked her off, throwing the older warrior a challenging stare: "Excuse me but she is my business so I would appreciate it if you leave us alone. I was a former number one, so there is no reason for me to submit to someone like you."
Rafaela raised a brow, though keeping her deathly stare upon Roxanne: "You actually want to protect her? How strange. But if that's how it is then that's how it is.".
-"No it's not like that..."
Roxanne suddenly wrapped herself around Cassandra's arm tightly, nibbling on the tip of her long ear playfully: "Hey Cassandra I'm your girlfriend so aren't you going to protect me or something?"
"What? Hey get off me! Roxanne! You broke up with me!" Cassandra blushed, trying to shake the other girl off her.
Rafaela sighed at this, before glancing over at Cassandra for a moment before heading for the exit.: "...control your woman and keep her away from me then. If you cannot then she is dead."
-"It's not like that Rafaela!...Roxanne she's...you see...she's..." Cassandra cried, watching hopelessly as Rafaela left the room before she could even Finnish.
With Rafaela now gone, Roxanne tightened her grip across her arm, sending a devilishly slick wink her way: "That was sooo hot the way you stood up for me Cassandra...hey wanna get back together again? Wanna do all those dirty things we did to each other like before?"
"no. I don't think I can trust you..."
"Don't be so boring Cassandra...Admit it, you can't resist me." Roxanne said with a seductive smile.
"Just what are you-"
Much to her surprise, Roxanne suddenly leant uncomfortably across her, her movements carefully calculated and sensual. A guilty pleasure flooded Cassandra as she secretly enjoyed this closeness, finding herself involuntarily wrapping a hand around Roxanne slim waist, a part of her body she couldn't help but be lost in. It was the first thing she noticed when they first met, Timid, yet incredibly curvy, slender and muscular in all the right places.
Before Cassandra could say anything, however, she was surprised when Roxanne playfully shoved her against the wall, peering downwards at her, purring almost like a kitten:
"I rocked your world Cassandra and you know it, and when we broke up you started a massacre in a jealous rampage. You just simply wanted me back so badly...it's just that simple..."
"Umm, I honestly...don't...remember...such things..."
Giggling playfully, the alluring warrior crept for the bed nearby: "Well then I suppose I'll just have to make you remember won't I?"
A drop of sweat ran down the side of Cassandra's face as she watched Roxanne lean comfortably against her bed, running her hands across the sheets in a very sensual manner. Though Cassandra tried her very best not to, she couldn't help but give in and admit to herself that she found Roxanne incredibly sexy, and though a voice in the back of her mind told her to stay away, it wasn't quite loud enough for her to hear.
so there we have it, a chapter where i tried to focus on characters i thought people would like, and also flesh out my OC skye a little as well.
what do you guys think? did you like it? please leave a review and let me know!
thanks for reading :)
