Chapter 27
I do not own Claymore
On the fourth day, Dietrich joined them.
Her excuse was that she was 'observing' them for her report to the organization.
Helen rolled her eyes and declared,"Are you still going on about that old bullshit? It was the organization that set this thing off by having a warrior skilled in youki energy reading try probing it. For all we know, she disappeared in the explosion along with any other organization personnel nearby!"
Dietrich thought briefly and remarked, "That would have been Renee, our number 6. She is or was, very good at reading youki energy."
She looked over at the quiescent mass and muttered, "The poor girl had to know it was suicide but obeyed anyway, because refusing to obey was tantamount to suicide. She had to hope that somehow, she would survive the awakening."
Dietrich turned towards Teresa with tears in her silvery grey eyes, "Am I making a mistake by remaining loyal to an organization that saved my life, and gave me a purpose?"
Teresa replied softly, "I can't answer that for you. All I can say is, I followed my own conscience. You'll have to draw your own conclusions and make your own choices."
Gesturing to the rest of the group, she said, "They all left the organization for their own reasons, after they had drawn their own conclusions. Stay with us or go, that is your choice to make, we have already made ours."
Noticing that Deneve and Helen were tussling with the amorphous mass, Teresa asked, "What on earth are you two doing with that?"
Sheila stepped out from behind it and cheerfully replied, "We're trying to figure out how we're going to move this!"
Deneve commented, "We can't leave it here where the organization can lay hands on it, so we've decided to take it with us."
Helen grinned and said,"It isn't very heavy, it's just awkward that's all!"
Sheila piped up, "Let me cut a few saplings for poles and we can make a litter for it."
"A litter?"
"You have a better idea, miss muscles?" retorted Deneve.
"Well, no actually."
"Then we'll go with Bean pole's idea!" Declared Deneve.
"Bean pole? Am I ever going to outgrow that one?"
Groaned Sheila as she headed towards a nearby coppice to cut a few stout poles.
Several hours later, they gathered around to admire Sheila's handiwork.
The litter consisted of two long poles laid about six feet apart and two shorter poles laid across these, then everything was tied together with freshly split strips of wood.
A sort of floor for the litter was made out of additional split wood and tied into place.
While the others had seen her handiwork before, Dietrich hadn't and she commented, "You're pretty good with your hands, all I know how to do is kill yoma and awakened beings."
Sheila smiled at the compliment and replied, "I grew up in a small farming hamlet, we had to make practically everything ourselves. My daddy taught me how to do a lot of things that have come in really handy."
She sighed and said wistfully, "One night we were attacked and most of us were eaten, I survived by hiding underneath the bodies of my family until the yoma were gone. The next day, the men in black came and gathered up the surviving girls, I don't know what they did with the boys..."
Sheila paused and said somberly, "As far as I know, I am the last survivor of my home town. The other girls are all gone now, dead, every last one of them."
Dietrich said nothing but it was clear to the others, that Sheila's remarks had given her food for thought.
Four of them eased the amorphous mass onto the litter and Sheila carefully tied it down with braided tree vines.
Stepping back, she looked the mass over and said, "Welp, I think it's ready, when do we leave?"
Teresa glanced at the sky and said, "Now's as good a time as any!"
With a warrior at the ends of each pole, the assemblage proved to be much easier to carry and they started out for Rabona, the Holy City, at a brisk, steady pace.
The going was easier than expected and a few days later as they were approaching Rabona, all of them felt the presence of many yoma and a number of awakened beings.
All within the city's high walls.
Rabona was under attack!
Stashing the misshapen thing in the nearby woods for safekeeping, the eight of them rushed to the beleaguered city's aid
The ground outside the city's walls was littered with the corpses of many yoma and several awakened beings, their massive bodies torn apart by the exploding projectiles shot from the city's defenses.
Sheila smiled grimly, her idea had worked after all.
Entering the shattered main gates, they saw a mass of yoma struggling with the city's brave guardsmen and the warriors, Clarice and Miata.
Beyond them towered the gigantic awakened beings locked in battle with yet more warriors.
The horde of yomas were forcing the guards back in an unequal struggle that would have ended badly for the guardsmen and the townfolk hiding in fear.
That is until the unexpected reinforcements arrived.
Teresa, Helen and Deneve with Yuma and Cynthia close behind, simply leapt over the combatants and engaged the awakened beings beyond the front lines.
Sheila and Dietrich tore into the rear guard of the yoma horde, their massive swords, scourging the surging mass of yomas now caught between two enemy fronts.
The yomas screeched and wailed in impotent fury as they fell like ripe wheat before the gleaming blades and sharp spears wielded adroitly by their opponents.
Riful, meanwhile, pouted.
Teresa had firmly ordered her to not involve herself in the fight in case any watchers were lurking nearby.
Her being still alive was a secret and her being on the side of the rebellion was an even bigger secret and keeping both facts a secret, was paramount.
Riful, while obeying the letter of the law so to speak, still managed to bend the rules a bit.
When Sheila was being hard pressed by several yoma at once, she noticed a chestnut hued, ribbonlike strand of hair snaking from out of nowhere and neatly separating a yoma's head from his body, giving Sheila the breather she needed to finish off her other opponents.
Sheila spared a moment to shoot a grin at her tiny friend who was sitting prettily with several other citizens, who had gathered near the small abyssal creature without knowing her true nature.
Riful winked back, evidently the huddled townsfolk did not see her surreptitious act that affected the outcome of the battle raging before them.
When the last of the attacking horde fell before the armed might of the warriors and the city guards.
The stillness was almost complete, save for the catching of breaths, the soft cries of the survivors, and the sounds of falling masonry tumbling to the street below.
"Is, is it over?" Gasped Helen as she looked around at the wreckage and the scattered bits of yoma and awakened beings lying about.
Helen approached Tabitha and asked, "What in the world happened? How could this happen to Rabona?"
When Tabitha hesitated, Helen asked, "Um...Tabitha?"
Deneve cried out, "I don't see Miria, where is she?"
Tabitha began crying and Deneve grabbed her and yelled, "Hey! Where's Miria? What happened to her?"
Tabitha choked back her tears and replied haltingly, "Miria...Captain Miria..."
"Miria went to face the organization" Interjected Galatea "Taking advantage of the confusion in the west, she cut down Tabitha and went east alone, to crush the organization."
Deneve looked confused as she muttered, "She struck down Tabitha...And went east alone?"
Then she cried out, "What does that mean? What happened while we were gone?"
Galatea replied quietly, "Suffice it to say that Miria likely planned this all along. It's not like it was a sudden change."
"S, so what was the outcome? " asked Helen.
Deneve, suddenly grasping the situation, cried out "No!"
"Yes" replied Galatea, her right hand making a grand sweeping gesture towards the wreckage all around them, "This is the result. Miria must've failed and the organization simply decided to crush Rabona in retribution."
Teresa had joined the group and after listening to the exchange, remarked,"Clearly the organization did not send any of its warriors, that would look bad. They must've sent the yoma and awakened being horde instead."
Galatea nodded and replied, "If your group had not arrived when it did, Rabona would have been destroyed, utterly."
"Th, then that means Miria?" whispered Helen.
"Is most likely dead." Replied Galatea, "I have to be straight with you so as to dispel any hopeful illusions, she cannot have survived the encounter...I'm sorry."
Teresa commented grimly, "Going against the organization alone, is suicide, even for a warrior of Miria's power and experience. Even I, would hesitate to draw blade against her and warriors of lesser experience would stand little chance against her.
"Still, the organization has an ace up its sleeve, it always does."
Glancing around at the group, Teresa asked,"Has any one of you ever seen or met the warrior known as number 10?"
At their blank expressions, she smiled slightly and remarked, "Neither have I, she is the organization's ace in the hole, or so I've heard."
Galatea seeing her chance, asked, "What about your group? Where is Clare?"
Tabitha groaned, "Not Clare too?"
Helen growled, "Of course not, don't be ridiculous. Clare...Didn't, die."
"Then, where is she?" Asked Galatea, a confused look on her beautiful face.
Helen looked at her and replied,"Come with me, and I'll show you."
With that, the two of them set out for the woods where the amorphous mass had been secreted, for later.
Teresa turned towards the remaining warriors and said, "See if you can help out with the recovery efforts. Your strength may be needed in clearing away the wreckage."
Sheila immediately rushed to the shattered main gates, they had been smashed into flinders by the massed awakened beings hammering on them and lay in ruins.
The gate and ballistae towers had given a good account of themselves, according to the scores of yoma corpses lying outside the gates, pierced by the arbalest bolts loosed in defense of the gates.
The shattered remnants of several awakened beings attested to the efficacy of the explosive projectiles invented by Rogar, the alchemist's assistant.
The brunt of the attack had been focused on bringing down the two towers and smashing through the heavy gates.
There, the fighting had been heaviest.
Fearing the worst, Sheila ignored the destruction and clambered over the twisted iron and splintered wood of the heavy gates, her silvery eyes seeking a sign of her loved one, Rogar the alchemist's assistant.
With all her strength, she heaved aside heavy blocks of crumbling masonry and lengths of twisted iron.
She tossed aside the splintered timbers and cleared away the wreckage of one of the big ballistaes that once sat atop a tower beside the gate.
Lying beneath this final bit of broken machinery was a body, the body of a young man, bent, broken and bereft of life.
With her heart in her mouth, Sheila carefully turned over the broken young man and her silver eyes fell full upon the beautiful face of her young lover, Rogar.
Fate, in its cruelty had spared his handsome face and he appeared to be merely asleep in her arms.
Sheila's young heart broke like glass and she began weeping.
Her emotions swept over her like a torrent and they carried her into a pit of despair and rage.
Clasping her lover's broken body to her bosom, she wept freely, her sorrow quickly turning into a rage building inside her until she was swept over the edge and her silvery eyes turned golden.
She felt a surge of yoma energy inside her as her rage took over.
The organization was responsible for his death, it was responsible for her family's death and the deaths of her childhood playmates and her village, it was responsible for everything bad that had ever happened to her...She wanted revenge!
All the rage she had bottled up inside of her came boiling to the surface and she became blinded in her thirst for revenge and forgot her own humanity.
Her body became more and more distorted as her rage took over and she was in grave danger of awakening herself.
The other rescue workers, seeing her becoming more and more monstrous in aspect, sent a fast runner for help.
Teresa and Riful arrived moments later, having sensed Sheila's burst of yoma energy in her anguish.
They found Sheila heavily distorted and clawing at the wreckage in front of her, nearby lay Rogar's broken body, forgotten in her rage.
Teresa did not hesitate one moment longer, she swung her fist in a blow that would have crushed an ordinary human's skull like an eggshell.
It only stunned Sheila and she collapsed in a heap of distorted limbs and torn clothing.
Riful quickly extended her ribbonlike hair strands and used them to bind Sheila securely while she lay insensible.
The effects of the blow only lasted moments, but it was long enough for Teresa to take hold of Sheila's bound form and clasp her to her substantial bosom.
Teresa murmured, "Please stop this, please stop...Please...I can't lose you too."
Sheila began sobbing, her body shaking in her anguish as her humanity reasserted itself.
Teresa then nodded at Riful, who then relaxed her hair ribbons a bit, then withdrew them completely.
From Riful's perspective, Sheila looked much like a heart broken young girl being held by her older sister while she cried her heart out.
Riful also understood her grief only too well, she had spent most of a century living with Dauf, a former number three who had awakened and later joined her in her lair as her man.
Teresa held the towering young woman against her lush bosom and let her grieve for her young man.
Not even the clashing of swords interrupted the moment, though Teresa did glance at Riful who merely shrugged.
A dispute between two emotionally high strung warriors was none of their concern, for the moment.
With Sheila now stabilized, they let her carry Rogar's poor remains to the burial detail hastily assembled to dispose of all the dead yoma and awakened being corpses.
They were to be buried in a mass grave outside the city walls.
While those who had fallen in the city's defense, were to be given a heroes funeral with an appropriate monument to commemorate them.
Mercifully, the defenders losses were fairly light, despite the intensity of the attack.
Returning to the group, they saw signs of a recent altercation between two of the warriors.
Helen and Cynthia were standing between Deneve and Tabitha who were still glaring at each other.
Helen cried, "Hey Deneve! What are you doing?"
Deneve rehung her swords and said dismissively, "Despite her lack of skill, she was acting like she was going to take on the organization, alone.
"If she was just going to throw her life away, I thought I'd make it easier for her and take care of it right here."
Tabitha merely glared in her anger at her own impotency.
In her own blunt way, Deneve was right, attacking the organization alone, was suicidal.
Slumping to the ground, Tabitha wept quietly, murmuring Miria's name as her tears trickled from her silver eyes.
Deneve said bluntly, "Sticks with Miria like shit on a goldfish, even now she regrets not being able to go with Miria."
Turning to the group, Deneve said scathingly,"Miria was a fool! She said we would all go crush the organization together, then went alone when we were all occupied.
"I don't know how strong she thought she was, but in the end, she was no match for them..."
Helen murmured, "Hey Deneve..." while Tabitha wept.
Deneve said thoughtfully, "Even though she swore we would train together up north, go south together and crush the organization together...She betrayed us."
Cynthia spoke up, "But like Galatea said, she did it for..."
"Yeah, I know" Said Deneve brusquely "What I'm saying is...She was never fit to be captain, she's just a naïve idealist."
From out of nowhere, Tabitha landed a solid right to Deneve's jaw in her anger then stepped back, her fists clenched.
Deneve merely shrugged off the hit, then declared, "Miria's the one you should punch. One thing is certain, Miria betrayed us."
Turning her back on Tabitha, Deneve said to Galatea, "I'm sorry, but we're not good at giving up. We won't assume she's dead based on what you just said."
Galatea smiled at her and said calmly, "Do as you wish, we have always lived in different ways."
Turning away from Galatea, Deneve called out, "Let's go Tabitha!"
Tabitha looked up from her tears in surprise and Deneve said bluntly, "What's the matter? We're going to beat up Miria, right?"
Helen grinned and placed her sword in its holder, "Oh, I get it!"
Cynthia smiled and said cheerfully, "I guess it's the only thing to do."
Yuma said softly, "It's been our common destiny since leaving the north."
They all faced Galatea as a group, the five remaining survivors of the 24 warriors sent to the north to die.
Deneve said cooly, "We leave the holy city in your hands."
Galatea smiled and replied, "We'll manage, we've got Clarice and Miata."
Deneve glanced at Teresa, Riful and Sheila who had stood apart while the five survivors sorted things out.
She said cooly, "Well?"
Teresa smiled faintly and said, "Having another blade couldn't hurt."
Riful smiled and said coyly, "Try and keep me away from this final party!"
Sheila said grimly, "I want to piss on Dae's corpse to make sure he's dead this time."
Helen chuckled at Sheila's remark and said, "Knowing that sick old bastard, he'd probably like it."
They were joined by Dietrich and Deneve said to her, "You've done well, you've more than paid back your debt. Now do as you please."
Dietrich paused a moment, then asked, "Do you think the organization planned this attack?"
Deneve hesitated a moment, then asked, "Why do you ask that?"
Dietrich replied haltingly, "My home town...Suffered an attack like this one. Numerous yoma and monsters I'd never seen before attacked.
"Later I learned they were called awakened beings. I was so young and didn't understand what I saw that day as my friends and family died."
Dietrich said quietly, " In retrospect, I think it started with our village elder arguing with a man in black after a yoma was suppressed.
"Soon afterwards, the village was overrun and somehow, I survived that hellish scene. A man in black took me in and I thought he'd saved my life.
"That's why I decided to risk my life for the organization no matter what it cost me."
She hesitated and with tears streaming from her silvery eyes, asked,"That's why I want you to tell me...Did the organization plan that attack today?"
Deneve replied softly, "Come with us Dietrich."
Turning her back on Dietrich, Deneve said over her shoulder, "From now on, you will learn the answer as we did by seeing with your eyes, hearing with your ears and feeling with your blade."
She paused, "If as a result, you reach a different conclusion than we did, then we will cross swords."
As Dietrich joined the group, Clarice and Miata suddenly arrived and Clarice said, "We came because we sensed fighting, did something happen?"
Galatea said quietly, "It was nothing. It starts now, their final mission."
She watched the group leaving and said softly,"Until this, I never believed in God...But now, for the first time I feel like praying to the god of Rabona."
She murmured, "Come back alive you nine warriors, and if you can. Bring back the tenth with you."
Galatea looked at the two and said, "Come with me you two, we have much to do before they get back."
Clarice asked hesitantly, "W,Where are they going?"
Galatea smiled at the color headed warrior and replied, "They are going to crush the organization and find out what happened to Captain Miria."
Clarice's expression became one of astonishment and she exclaimed,"C,Crush the organization?"
She was so startled that Miata cried, "Mama? Mama, are you alright?" Her alarm evident on her face.
Clarice quickly recovered her composure and said to her young ward, "Yes Miata, I'm fine. I was just a bit surprised that's all."
Turning to Galatea, Clarice asked,"Do you think they have a chance?"
Galatea smiled and replied,"Considering the combined power in that squad, I'd say they have a pretty good chance. Though how many of them will survive, remains to be seen."
Clarice looked a bit confused and asked, "How powerful are they?"
Galatea chuckled softly and said charitably, "It's too bad your yoma energy reading ability is so weak. Otherwise, you'd know that Riful is one of the creatures of the abyss, the last one in fact. Her true form could easily destroy this city.
"Teresa is perhaps the most powerful warrior ever, even in the fiercest combat she never tapped into her yoma energy. She could equal or exceed any warrior no matter their specialty."
Clarice visibly shuddered and Miata asked,"Mama?"
Calming herself, Clarice said quietly, "I had no idea, Riful always seemed so nice, I never would've guessed who she really was. And Teresa always spent time with Miata, I guess I never really thought about how she could simply disarm Miata anytime she felt like it."
She looked at Galatea and asked, "What about the rest of them, are they powerful too?"
Galatea smiled,"Oh yes, they're all powerful. Whatever their original ranking was, they've all become equal to most of today's single digits.
"I'm not concerned about their individual fighting skills, they've become a cohesive unit to the envy of the organization, who has failed to create their equal."
"What worries me is what the organization may have hidden away, just in case of a rebellion."
A few moments later, Galatea said,"Come along now you two, we have much to do."
Clarice grinned at the tall warrior, now dressed in a nun's habit and the three of them reentered the battered Holy City of Rabona.
Several days after leaving Rabona, the Holy City.
The squad of eight warriors and one abyssal, paused at the foot of the hills before them while Tabitha quietly surveyed the land before them.
Finally, she opened her silvery grey eyes and said, "I count sixty three yoma, eleven awakened beings and seven warriors...That is all the yoma energy I can sense towards the east from here."
Helen said quietly, "Woah! That's quite a lot. Everyone but Tabitha has finished releasing their yoma power. Just in case, should we take the drug to suppress our yoma energy?"
"That isn't necessary, " commented Tabitha, "I can sense yoma energy faster than they can. So we'll just take routes that our opponents won't notice."
"Ah!"
Deneve unbuckled one of her many belts and handed it to Tabitha while saying, "Here, take this, it must be a pain always carrying your claymore."
Tabitha smiled as she took the proffered belt and hitched it over her shoulder before hanging her sword from it.
Dietrich spoke up at this point, "About our route...Before the organization assigned me to the south, in the area where I was in charge, there was a little known path through the mountains to the north of here that led to the organization.
"It would take us somewhat out of our way, but we should be able to avoid any more warriors and awakened beings than necessary."
Deneve looked thoughtful and muttered, "A mountain path to the north, eh? Is that better than heading east and adjusting our route to the enemy's movements?"
Tabitha closed her eyes once more and after a few moments, said quietly, "On the mountain path to the north, I sense the yoma energy of four warriors...They appear to be heading towards the organization.
"One of them is fairly big, probably a single digit number..."
Dietrich pressed the knuckles of her sword hand to her chin and muttered, "They assigned the north to number 7, but perhaps the organization called her back because of the present situation.
"Then we should avoid the northern route, encountering a single digit in these circumstances would be..."
"Wait!" cried Tabitha with her eyes still tightly shut, "Something with a strange yoma energy is approaching them...No, make that several somethings.."
Tabitha frowned, then her eyes flew open and she cried, "They're all awakening! They'll be killed if we don't help!"
Deneve cried, "Lead the way, we'll keep up!"
With that, the squad took off in a series of great leaps and bounds, in pursuit of the fleet footed Tabitha who was urging them on to even greater speed.
They could all sense the yoma energy now and it was quite unusual, not at all like the energy given off by fellow warriors, yoma or awakened beings...It was different somehow.
Sheila stole a glance at Teresa and cried hoarsely, "Isn't this that mountain path Lars showed us on his map?"
Teresa grinned back and replied, "Yes, it is...He's roamed this land for a long time."
Some distance ahead they spotted a young warrior with a pageboy haircut, half carrying another warrior who appeared to be unconscious in her arms.
She stopped running as they drew near, laid down her burden and grasped her sword bravely, the look of despair plain to see on her face as her tears of rage trickled down her face.
She blinked in astonishment as the bulk of the squad simply leapt over her and continued on to the battle ahead.
The one stranger with her hair in ribbons, knelt beside her wounded companion and held out her hands in a healing mode.
The other stranger with the long hair and a forelock between her eyes, paused a moment then hurled her heavy sword in a sweeping arc that ended with the sword embedding itself in the misshapen head of the monster looming over her wounded captain.
The black clad strangers attacked the awakened beings without mercy, slaughtering them in the most dazzling display of coordinated teamwork she'd ever seen.
They seemed to flit about amongst the gigantic awakened beings, their once gleaming blades now splashed with the purplish blood of the awakened beings, as pieces flew off the massive bodies of their adversaries.
She became aware of the stranger kneeling next to her companion, her eyes closed in concentration while the tall one who had thrown her sword stood watching the battle.
The young warrior cried, "Is Phina...Is Phina all right?"
Cynthia smiled at the young warrior and replied, "She's an offensive type who doesn't heal well...It'll take some time, but she'll be all right."
The young warrior pleaded, "And Nike and Anastasia. Please help them too...They held up the awakened beings for us."
Yuma who stood watching muttered, "There are nine incomplete awakened beings over there...There are seven of us engaging them. To be honest, they haven't a chance...There's no need to worry."
Yuma and the young warrior named Keira watched from afar as one by one, the awakened beings fell before the combat skills of the combined warriors.
Yuma suddenly gasped, "Oh, no! One of them escaped...It's coming this way...What should we do Cynthia?"
Cynthia, her eyes closed in concentration grunted, "I can't take my hands off of her...I leave it to you, Yuma."
Yuma hesitated, her self confidence issues surging to the fore.
She looked at her companion deep in concentration and for the moment, helpless, then to the young warrior seemingly paralyzed in fear.
Swallowing her fears, Yuma took up the two swords and declared, "I'm borrowing these swords!"
Cynthia said quietly, "Deneve cut an arm off the one coming this way, so it's wounded and will charge blindly."
Yuma thrust one of the swords into the ground and crouched slightly as she focused her yoma energy into her sword arm to the young warrior's amazement.
Suddenly, she hurled the heavy sword in a flat spin towards the wounded awakened being.
The whirling blade sheared off both its legs just above the knees and as it toppled forward from its own momentum.
Yuma seized the second blade and dashed towards the falling monster, her form seeming to shift in and out of phase.
The young warrior cried out "What the?!"as Yuma's borrowed sword clove the monster's grotesque head from his misshapen body.
As he collapsed in a bloody heap, Cynthia smiled at Yuma and said teasingly, "You were kinda rough there at the end."
Yuma smiled shyly, swept aside her forelock and replied,"S, sorry, I got a little hasty."
From a distance Helen cried excitedly, "Hey! You really did it."
Her big grin was readily apparent, "You're pretty good Yuma. I finished up back there and hurried over, but Deneve was right, you handled it!"
The young warrior wept freely as she called out the names of her two superiors, "Nike...Anastasia..."
Anastasia, the single digit with her hair in loose, hanging spirals like drills asked, "Keira, is Phina all right?"
At that moment, Cynthia straightened up and exhaled before saying, "I just finished too, she'll be all right after a little rest."
Anastasia smiled in her relief and said, "Good, you have helped us. As the leader of our unit, I truly thank you."
Helen smiled crookedly while Deneve said cooly, "We just destroyed the obstacles on the path we happened to be traveling...We didn't do it to help you."
Anastasia looked puzzled while Nike chuckled at Deneve's off hand remarks.
Deneve asked her, "What? What's so funny?"
Nike replied, "Oh, sorry, it's nothing really...Dietrich had said you might say something like this, and she was right."
Deneve merely shrugged at Nike's remarks.
With the battle over, they spent some time looking over the bloodied remnants of the awakened beings they'd just fought.
Helen asked quietly, "What are these things? Why are male awakened beings in a place like this?"
Nike, in turn muttered, "And they're fresh, half human half monster. It seemed like they had just awakened."
Deneve's eyes widened suddenly and she turned to Tabitha and said, "Tabitha, search for yoma energy...A very small amount of yoma energy.
"No, so small you can hardly even call it yoma energy...A hint...Like just before the birth of a half human, half monster."
Tabitha closed her eyes in concentration and furrowed her brow.
A few moments later, her face relaxed and she murmured, "There is a place with a gathering of small yoma energies...Just up ahead.
"It's so small and unusual that I never would have detected it unless I were looking for it."
Helen frowned and asked, "What, what is it Deneve? What's going on?"
Deneve said earnestly, "I just remembered what Miria once said about how male awakened beings were created strictly before us females were chosen instead.
"Remember that male awakened being we fought and how he said Miria was mistaken in her beliefs and intimated that she should've known better, but wouldn't say why?
Deneve looked over at them and said,
"What if she was wrong and the organization is still creating male awakened beings?"
Helen and the others all looked confused by Deneve's remarks, until Helen blurted out, "But, I've only seen a few male awakened warriors and they were mostly up at Pieta!"
Deneve said drily, "These are not warriors, just half monsters and by nature, males awaken early."
With that remark, Dietrich suddenly looked stricken by a horrible memory and she gasped, "No...It can't be!"
Deneve looked at her and replied cooly, "It's true."
"The awakened beings that attacked Dietrich's hometown and the holy city, are what become of the male half monsters the organization is currently making."
Her remarks were greeted by the appalled expressions on the faces of the assembled warriors.
Nike murmured, "Holy city..."
"My guess is that the organization places new half monsters near a target city, before they regain consciousness. They come to in a state of confusion, awaken soon after, and attack the town.
"Once they run rampant in a town, they're no longer needed. After they scatter in various directions, if a request comes in to subdue them, the organization collects the money."
Deneve paused and murmuring could be heard, "What?" "How could they?" "That's..."
Deneve continued, "The place where they are making those male half monsters may be around here...The ones we just fought may have been able to escape somehow."
Her comment sank in for a moment then Nike exclaimed, "N, Now hold on a second...I don't understand what you're saying."
She practically shouted in her dismay, "The organization did what?"
She hesitated before asking, "Why, are you going to the organization anyway?"
Anastasia stepped forward and spoke up, "You in black are the remnants of the disturbance in the north near Pieta all those years ago. Aren't you?"
She glanced at Teresa, Sheila and Riful, "And you three, who are you and what is your interest in all this?"
She looked at all nine of them and said firmly, "Your goal is to crush the organization...Am I wrong?"
Nike gasped, "What?" while Anastasia continued, "I saw the devastation at Pieta with my own eyes. To be honest, when I saw that...I became angry at what the organization had done to warriors."
She paused, "There is much I want to ask, but I'll leave it at one question...What do you plan to do with the warriors who will come forth to protect the organization?"
The tension in the air was palpable, one poorly chosen word or careless remark could start a bloody fight between the warriors still with the organization, and the rebels.
Deneve replied honestly and frankly, "We will cut them down of course, we're strong enough...But we will not take warrior's lives."
She declared.
"That is the way of Miria, our captain."
Deneve's honesty caused Anastasia to smile in relief and she said softly, "I see...Now I think I know why that tight assed Dietrich sticks with you."
She smiled and said, "We will repay our debt. It's so big that we may not be able to repay it. But for now, we will do what we can on the way to the organization."
Deneve remarked quietly, "If you cooperate with us, the organization may purge you."
Anastasia smiled and said wistfully, "I already died once, so that's no particular problem."
"I see..." replied Deneve.
Deneve looked at Tabitha and said simply, "Tabitha, determine our route...You'll choose our roads from now on."
Tabitha looked at her in surprise and Deneve said, "You stood up for helping Miria and we followed. From now on, we will follow the path you determine."
Tabitha glanced at the faces of her fellow rebels, thought for a moment then said, "The path we should take is..."
As they followed Tabitha's lead, the rebels conversed among themselves in low tones as the mountain's grandeur discouraged idle boasting.
While trudging along, Nike said to Sheila, "I don't think I got your name, mine's Nike, I'm number 15 and yours is?"
"Sheila, I was a number 47 before I left some years ago."
Nike paused a moment then said, "I don't recall anyone named Sheila from my training days and I know I would recall someone as tall as you. Did you leave before I joined?"
Sheila looked over at the spiky haired warrior who ranked 15th and asked bluntly, "Were you deflowered by Lord Dae before your implantation surgery?"
At Nike's puzzled expression, Sheila remarked, "I'll take it that you came in after I had left."
"What do you mean?" asked Nike.
"Did Lord Dae have sex with you before your implantation surgery?"
"No one had sex with me, in fact I am still pure. Many of us are." replied Nike.
She looked thoughtful and remarked, "Although, I did over hear talk among some of the older warriors and lower ranking staffers, that a trainee had gone rogue right after she'd gotten her ranking and assaulted him quite viciously before leaving with another, older warrior."
Sheila smiled at her comment and Nike asked, "Are you that trainee?"
Sheila grinned and Nike's eyes widened, "You're the one? The rogue trainee?"
Sheila laughed and said, "Yep! I'm the one who unmanned Lord Dae...Unfortunately he seems to have survived my cutting off his head...A mistake I won't be repeating."
Nike's eyes widened and she gasped, "You cut off his head?"
"Yes, and I shoulda chopped him into pieces, but I thought just taking his head off would suffice."
Nike asked, "What made you do it?"
Sheila said quietly, "Lord Dae used to deflower the young girls before their implantation surgery. I was only ten when he did it to me and it was agonizing.
"For some reason I was assigned to assist Teresa after her revival and she taught me a lot of things, the trainers left out of the training we got.
"Shortly after I got my ranking, Lord Dae ordered me to assist him with some young girls...They looked so scared and vulnerable. I recalled what he did to me and I just lost my temper, I crushed his genitals beyond repair then I cut off his head.
"Teresa came to get me and we left during all the confusion."
Nike looked thoughtful and commented, "That would explain why he wants you alive or dead...He wants revenge."
She was about to comment further when Tabitha suddenly hissed, "I see buildings up ahead..."
Stealthily approaching the hidden complex, they noted that several of the inmates had already awakened and were prowling about in their confusion.
One of the awakened had apparently caught hold of one of the few remaining staffers and was now devouring his guts, while two more hovered nearby, hoping for a gobbet or two of the unfortunate man's flesh.
They watched as even more of the newly awakened former inmates were emerging from the complex, some were still awakening to their horror.
Clearly these lost souls had not volunteered for this, as many of them still had tears streaming from their now unrecognizable faces.
Tabitha murmured, "Those poor men...What has the organization done here?"
Deneve replied coldly, "Signed their death warrants...They cannot be allowed to live or escape from here, we have to eliminate all of them and destroy this facility."
Deneve looked the rebels over and said clearly, "Earlier, we had decided to leave the older awakened beings alone, so long as they behaved themselves. We had decided on that because like us, they were former warriors for the organization.
"These however, are not former warriors, they are a travesty created by the organization to be used as a weapon against innocent people in order for the organization to collect money, and gain new recruits. We owe them no mercy."
With that said, the rebels attacked without mercy.
Teresa led the attack, her glittering sword a blur, as it took the lives of any awakened beings she encountered.
Deneve asked Tabitha between slashes, "Is this all right? We won't be able to surprise the organization now."
Tabitha, without a pause in her attack, replied, "It's fine, anyway, if we intend to destroy the organization... This facility would be a hindrance later on. Besides, Captain Miria wouldn't turn a blind eye to it."
A huge awakened being focused his rage on Deneve and charged her, Anastasia seemed to float in mid air as she slashed at his head, knocking him down, then finishing him off as he lay wounded on the ground.
Deneve commented, "This means that you too, have taken up arms against the organization."
Anastasia replied cooly, "Is that so? All we're doing is killing the awakened beings that appeared before us."
She remarked, "If this facility giving birth to awakened beings, truly belongs to the organization, then I am willing to take up arms against it."
Deneve paused briefly and remarked, "It's unfortunate, but only after we crush this place and head to the organization, will the answer become clear."
She continued, "The warriors gathering at the organization, will not hesitate to turn their blades on you as well."
Anastasia paused, then replied, "Then, I will make my path the same as yours."
After the last of the incomplete male awakened beings had fallen.
The rebels carefully searched the entire facility for any survivors or awakened beings in hiding.
Finding none, they systematically destroyed all the equipment, supplies and any notes they found.
Then they used their heavy swords to partially demolish most of the buildings before leaving the site in near total ruin.
Once again, Tabitha chose their next path and they set out at a rapid pace.
Striding along at a fair clip, Keira looked over at Riful in puzzlement.
The small woman was barely five feet tall, had waist length chestnut brown hair and lovely brown eyes.
In fact, she was rather adorable with her slight figure giving her an almost childlike aspect.
Keira finally asked her, "Excuse me? May I ask who you are and what you are doing here? You don't appear to be a warrior and I am curious about your presence."
Riful looked over at her and replied cooly, "And you are? Is it not customary to give your name when addressing someone you don't know?"
Keira flushed slightly and stammered, "I, I'm sorry...My name is Keira and I'm number 30 in the organization...Or was..."
She looked slightly confused, "Yes, I'm still a number 30, only I'm not in the organization anymore."
Riful smiled at her and replied amiably, "Well Keira, number 30 or was, or still is...I'm Riful and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
At the mention of Riful's name, Anastasia glanced over and said to herself, "Why does that name seem so familiar?"
Anastasia looked thoughtful as she strode along in silence, pondering what she'd just over heard.
Meanwhile, Keira having broken the ice with Riful said, "I didn't mean to come off as dispolite back there, I was just curious as to who you are, since you are unarmed and all."
Riful merely smiled, "I told you, I'm Riful."
It was Anastasia who suddenly gasped and exclaimed, "Riful...The only Riful I ever heard about was Riful of the west, AKA, The Empress of the west!"
Next, she looked over at Teresa and said, "And you're Teresa of the faint smile...That explains why you didn't even break a sweat back there, you barely exerted yourself!"
Anastasia grinned hugely and said cheerfully, "I can't believe it, I just fought alongside a legend!"
She looked back at Riful and commented, "Clearly the organization was mistaken when they announced your passing."
By this point both Keira and Phina were looking rather confused, until Keira said, "I'm sorry, who is Riful of the west and why is Teresa called Teresa of the faint smile?"
Riful's face flushed and Teresa chuckled before saying, "Don't feel too badly, little one. Riful and I are both a couple of relics from the past who aren't quite ready for the old folk's home."
Keira was still looking confused when Riful said to her, "Clearly the organization doesn't teach you youngsters anything of our history. I was the first female number one and the youngest to ever attain that rank so quickly.
"Eventually, I awakened and became the third 'creature of the abyss' as the organization referred to us. For nearly a century there was a balance of power between ourselves and the organization and we left each other alone.
"It would still be that way if Isley, the Silver king of the north had not started a war between us and the organization...I was reduced to just myself and nearly died in that conflict when I was attacked by the organizations newest weapon, the abyssal feeders."
She smiled and said brightly, "To my great surprise, Teresa, who I'd thought was dead and a couple of the other squad members, killed all of the abyssal feeders sent after me and made me an offer I could not refuse...They asked me to join their rebellion and here we are!"
Keira's brow furrowed briefly and she asked, "So, you're an awakened being and you're over 100 years old...How?!"
Riful shrugged and replied, "Yes, I am and I don't know why, I just am. In fact not one of us has ever died of old age, we either die in battle or we awaken and warriors are sent to dispatch us."