Chapter 29
I do not own Claymore
That night while everyone was contemplating a future without the organization in it.
Sheila rooted around in the training facility and soon had a pot of hot water boiling merrily, in this pot she added handfuls of various dried meats and vegetables and what spices she could find.
Before long, she had cooked up a palatable stew of epic proportions for everyone there.
Meanwhile Miria conferred with Raki and Teresa, after they had properly introduced themselves to each other.
She looked him up and down and finally said, "So you're the boy my Clare cared so much for. Did you really take a swing at Ophelia like she said you did?"
Raki shuffled his feet slightly and feeling like he was being scrutinized by a parent said, "Yes, but only because she was tormenting Clare so much. I couldn't just stand there and watch it happening, not after she had saved my life like she did."
He muttered, "Now I know just how crazy I was for hitting her like I did. I still can't believe we survived that day."
Teresa smiled and said softly, "She said you were stupidly brave..."
Raki smiled and replied sheepishly, "Yeah...I guess you could say that."
Teresa asked, "Who trained you? No farm boy ever got muscles like yours, wrestling with a plow."
"His name was Isley, we traveled together for a time, the three of us."
"Three of you?"
"Yes, there was this girl, her name was Priscilla. For some reason she took a real liking for me."
Teresa momentarily swayed on her feet and Raki asked, "You okay?"
Teresa took a few moments to respond and then she asked, "Did you have any idea of who or what, Isley or Priscilla were?"
"Not at first" he replied, "After a while I realized they were not human anymore, but what could I do? They treated me well and he taught me how to fight with a claymore, he said what he taught me would make a real difference, and someday, I would know what to do."
Miria cleared her throat and said, "Can we get to the subject at hand? You'll have several days on board ship to play catch up."
Teresa smiled at her and replied, "Sorry boss."
Looking down at the crude map Miria had scratched on the ground with her sword, Teresa pointed at a spot near the former headquarters of the organization.
"This is a little port town called Staph, the ocean currents off shore there run primarily to the south, we can make it there in about a long day's walk, if we really hump it."
She glanced at Raki and he said defensively, "Don't you worry, I can keep up, I've walked all over this land looking for Clare. This'll be easy."
Looking back down again, Teresa continued, "From Staph, we can catch a ship heading south that will take us to a huge bay near the southern lands. From there it's a two day walk to Rabona. With luck, we'll get there a few days before Cassandra arrives."
After their little confab, Raki was sitting by himself and looking up at the sky.
Riful's soft voice interrupted his musings, "Am I intruding?" She asked.
"No, not a bit." he replied while moving over to make room for the small abyssal.
Sitting close to him Riful looked over the assemblage of warriors gathered among the wreckage of the organization.
After a few moments, she said, "I haven't been back here since before I awakened almost a century ago."
With a sigh, she muttered, "So much has happened over the last few months, I can't even keep up with all that has happened. I lost my life mate, my home and nearly my own life in a very short time. At one point, I really thought I was a goner.
"Then Clare happened, she appeared when I least expected it and with her, came someone I thought was long dead and long forgotten."
Riful smiled, "For the first time since I awakened, I can truly say I have friends now. Something I never had while I was a number one, oh sure I had my power and my privileges as a number one, but I was also lonely because of my ranking. Dauf changed all that, he was big while I was small, he was an oaf while I was a lady and he needed to bathe more often."
She chuckled, "Even after all this time, I still can't believe we loved each other, yet we did. He was strong enough to level any building, yet he never laid anything but the gentlest of hands on me."
She grinned, "Of course I could've kicked his ass and did, when he deserved it. I never once doubted his love for me and begged him to flee and save his own hide when Priscilla attacked us. He wouldn't do it, he couldn't do it, not even for me. And it cost him his life."
Riful said quietly, "We were both in a weakened state when we encountered those God awful abyssal feeders and he died, trying to protect me by going after them."
Raki replied softly, "I'm sorry to say that I have no idea why Priscilla attacked you both that day, she ordinarily ignored other warriors or even awakened beings, we encountered in our travels."
He said, "If we came to a town with a yoma, she would point them out to me and I could kill them without warning as they would never suspect that I, an ordinary human had the means of finding them while they were still in hiding."
Sighing, he continued, "Thing was, I did all the killing while Priscilla simply pointed them out to me. So her attacking you two that day was quite the surprise, and I only just managed to get her to stop her attacks on you two. I'm sorry I couldn't do more."
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault and you did try, at least."
Raki said quietly, "I will say this in her defense, during our travels she never ate even once, in fact she starved herself to where she actually became smaller. By the time that thing awakened and caused so much destruction, she was about the size of a small child and I would carry her on my shoulders."
Riful looked surprised and asked, "Not even once? In all that time?"
"Yep, not even once, she wouldn't even touch food that I offered her and believe me, I tried."
"So, where were you when that thing went off?"
"We had just gotten to the town of Ticelli when Priscilla got all spacey and said something vast was about to happen.
A few moments later, these things started hitting the town, smashing into buildings and hitting the people outside.
"Priscilla pulled me out of the way of one of them and we just kinda tried to avoid getting hit."
Raki paused a moment, then said, "Eventually, two of them hit me in my upper left arm and shoulder and started growing. Priscilla said she had found the scent she was looking for and was now done with me and to thank me, she stuck her left hand into my back, near those rods that had struck me."
"So how did you wind up at the organization's headquarters?"
"They found me among the ruins and brought me here by ship. Once here, they were able to remove the rods and Priscilla's hand from my back. Then they just locked me up and there I was until the attack began and I got loose."
Riful pursed her perfect lips and muttered, "That explains where they got her flesh from, they got it from her hand."
She looked at Raki and said, "They used Priscilla's flesh to revive those former warriors, so they could awaken and attack us."
She rose to her feet and said to him, "Thank you, you've been most informative. Now I must find Miria...Good night!"
And with that, Raki watched Riful's small form walk away in her search for Miria.
Just before dawn figures were stirring at the former organization headquarters, the ghost squad was rising early to leave for the coast and had planned on making the journey in one long walk.
One by one, they rose and stretched a bit to work out any kinks that had settled in during the night.
Miria looked around at her assembled squad.
Of the original seven only Clare was missing and they were planning on retrieving her from whatever hell she was going through at the moment.
She smiled at the sight of Raki standing there, blinking away the last of the sleep from his eyes while Riful looked him over.
Teresa grinned at Miria, winked and said quietly, "We're waiting on you guys!"
Miria smiled and said, "Challenge, accepted!"
Leaving the disposition of the trainees in Anastasia's hands, the ghost squad plus their additions set out for Staph to find a ship.
Striding along at a good mile eating pace, Miria was pleased to see Raki keeping up.
She had feared he, being a normal human, would slow them down in their haste to beat Cassandra to Rabona, so far he had proven her wrong in her assessment of his abilities.
By midday, they were approaching the halfway point and Raki was grimly keeping up with their pace.
He wasn't about to admit to the warriors that he was tired and wanted to stop for a breather.
But, when he thought about how near he was to seeing Clare again, and he kept up the pace.
What he didn't know was that the warriors were letting him set the pace, so he wouldn't wear himself out.
What they hadn't figured on was his determination to see Clare again and so, he set up a nearly torrid pace for her sake.
It was late afternoon when they arrived at the small port town of Staph.
To their pleasant surprise, a fast schooner that belonged to the organization was still tied off at the dock.
Miria asked around and soon found the ship's crew, lounging about in the tavern.
They were all organization staffers and had not heard of the organization's fall.
They looked at her and the rest of the ghost squad in surprise and the ship's captain said gruffly, "I need to see orders from Rimuto before I can set sail, show me a set of orders and I'll sail, but until then, this tub ain't moving!"
It was Raki that broke the stalemate when he stepped forward and grabbed the captain by his jowl.
Hauling the man to his feet Raki growled, "We, are in a hurry and we, don't have time for your nonsense. The organization has fallen and these ladies brought it down, so you'd better take them seriously!"
The captain, with tears streaming from his eyes gasped out a 'yessir! And Raki let him go.
Straightening himself up and summoning what little dignity he had remaining, the captain said, "What do you mean the organization has fallen, we haven't heard anything about it?"
Miria said quietly, "The organization fell yesterday, and I personally beheaded Limt when I found him hiding in a cellar beneath the headquarters building."
She fixed him with her gaze and said, "We will continue hunting down the organization's leaders and will execute them, just like they executed those of us who failed them."
She said, "You haven't heard about it because we beat any message runners here, not that they even bothered to warn you of our coming...Now, we are leaving on your ship and our destination is the bay of Godahl and we're leaving at once!"
"At once?!" Spluttered the captain, "But, the tide?"
"What about the tide?"
Seeing his chance, the captain replied, "The tide is coming in for the evening, it's best if we leave in the morning when the tide goes out."
"Is that so?"
Nodding his head rapidly, the captain said, "Yes, it is so."
"You'd better not be lying to me..." growled Miria.
"Eeep! I'm not lying...Ma'am!"
"He's not lying, he's telling the truth." came a voice from a grizzled old fisherman seated at a table by himself.
The warriors looked at him and he continued, "Around here, the tides come in at sunset and they go out again in the morning."
The older man got up and came closer while saying, "I've got no love for the organization, they stood by while a bunch of yomas ate up half the village I used to live in. I was lucky, I left before it got worse and came here to become a fisherman."
He looked the schooner's captain over and said, "Why don't you spend the night on board his ship and you can leave with the tide in the morning."
He grinned, "Have him and his crew stay with you, that'll keep things honest."
Miria smiled at the older man and said, "Thank you, that sounds like a good idea."
With the issue of the ship settled, several of the ghost squad members got on board to look it over.
Sheila and Teresa were about the only two who had any experience on board a ship and they at least had some idea that they were looking over a ship built for speed.
With its long narrow hull and fairly shallow draft, it was built for skimming over the water, quite unlike the cargo ship they had sailed on almost two years before.
Sheila, being so tall, had some trouble finding a place where she could stand up straight below decks.
Leading her to mutter, "I'm sure Helen will find this amusing. Damnit!"
Teresa just smiled at her remarks and said, "Don't worry, she'll find something else to amuse herself with, perhaps Raki will do something to amuse her."
"Let us hope so!" replied Sheila.
Returning to the tavern to get a bite to eat and a sup of ale, the two warriors heard a familiar voice cry out, "Now there's somethin' you don't see everyday, a coupla claymores a'strollin' along the docks!"
Looking towards the sound of the voice, they saw the grizzled face of the Wastrel's first mate grinning at them.
He winked and saluted them and Sheila grinned at him in return.
"Hello yourself!" she replied, "How've you guys been?"
He smiled and said, "Can't complain, wouldn't do me any good, who'd listen!"
He squinted a bit and said, "It looks like you finally finished growin' there missy."
Sheila could only shrug and reply, "It took a while, but yeah, I finally stopped growing."
"Where're you two headed?" He asked.
Teresa replied this time, "We, are headed to the tavern for a bite to eat and a sup of ale. Then we're headed back to the ship and leaving with the morning tide."
He smiled and said glumly, "I've got night watch an' have ta stay on board the Wastrel...But I think the cabin boy'll be at the tavern!"
Teresa laughed and said, "I hope I didn't ruin him when I kissed him like I did!"
He laughed and said, "It took a coupla days for him ta settle down, but he's all right now."
The two waved goodbye to the first mate and continued on to the Rusty Pelican tavern to eat and drink.
Entering the Rusty Pelican they found Helen engaged in a drinking contest with a couple of sailors and Riful cheerfully tucking away an enormous plate of fresh fish.
She waved at Teresa and Sheila and they joined her at her table.
Sheila ordered fish and chips from the tavern maid and Teresa ordered fried scallops. They both ordered ale.
Between bites, Riful asked, "What's it like being at sea?"
Sheila was a little surprised at her question and said, "You've never been on a boat before?"
Riful took a sip of ale and replied, "Once when I was little, I went out on a boat at the lake near my home, but never out at sea."
She shrugged and said, "Once I awakened, I was too busy trying to survive to go sailing."
Riful looked around, "Where's everybody else? There's only us and Helen over there getting drunk I imagine."
Teresa shrugged, "Those sailors'll never get her drunk enough to get her naked. Not when she can sober up almost instantly if she feels like it."
"Everyone else is on board ship, keeping an eye on the captain and crew."
"Don't they trust him?" asked Riful.
"Well, he was an organization staff member and what's to prevent him from messing with that ship we found?"
"I see."
The food proved to be pretty good and the trio enjoyed several more tankards of ale while watching Helen drinking her would be seducers under the table for their entertainment.
They never did see the Wastrel's elusive cabin boy.
At dawn the next morning, the captain and crew hoisted sail and the schooner sailed out to sea to head south, towards Godahl bay.
Teresa, Sheila, Riful and Helen all felt a bit fuzzy headed that morning, much to the amusement of the rest of the ghost squad.
When Deneve commented, "You know you can just expel the alcohol from your systems, so you won't get drunk or hung over like you are now."
Helen squinted at her old friend and muttered, "And where's the fun in that?"
Deneve could only shake her head and walk over to where Miria was sitting and watching the shoreline as they headed south.
"What do you think?" she asked her captain.
Miria shrugged and replied, "It's all to the good if we can get to Rabona well ahead of that new abyssal Dae's created."
"So you think Lord Dae is still alive?" asked Deneve.
"Rumor has it that he was revived after Sheila had cut his head off, and we didn't see any sign of him among either the bodies or in the wreckage of his facilities. Of course now with everything smashed and the deaths of the two captives they were taking flesh from, to make new yomas with, he is powerless to create anymore of his monsters." Replied Miria.
Deneve fell silent for a moment, then she said, "I had no idea they had captured two of the Asarakamu and were scraping away at their living flesh to make yomas with."
She shuddered and remarked, "Can you imagine such a fate? Being held captive and kept alive solely for the purpose of having your flesh scraped away to make a parasite? I'd rather be killed cleanly in battle than to suffer that kind of a fate!"
Miria smiled and replied, "They're in a far better place now, I killed them to end their suffering at the same time I killed Limt."
She grinned, "Poor Sheila, she never did get her wish to pee on Lord Dae's corpse!"
Deneve smiled and said, "I'm sure she'll get over it. The main thing is, we brought down the organization."
The captain came over to where Deneve and Miria were sitting and reported, "We're making good time and should be making port late this afternoon."
Miria exclaimed, "What?! We made it that quickly?"
The captain smiled and said, "No ma'am, we've still got a few more days of sailing yet. We're heading to a small bay where we can drop anchor for the night, then we'll set sail in the morning once more."
"Why is that?" asked Miria.
"We stop for the night because we don't wish to run into some rocks or go off course. It gets very dark on the water at night, so we only sail during the day when we can see the land and follow the coast."
"Ah"
Miria shrugged, "You're the captain, just get us there as quickly as you can, then you're free to go anywhere you like with this ship and crew."
"Yes ma'am!" He saluted smartly then strode away.
Miria glanced over at Deneve and said, "I guess we may as well relax and enjoy the ride."
For the next six days, the warriors relaxed while the captain and crew took care of running the ship.
Sheila being curious, watched the crewmen at work and made mental notes of what rope did what when it was pulled on. What a particular sail was for and how the ship was steered.
The others mostly snoozed or watched the sweaty crewmen at work.
Raki on the other hand, proved to be an adept fisherman and he caught several large fish which were welcomed by passengers and crew alike.
Halfway through the seventh day of their voyage, Miria became aware that they were approaching a small fishing village and were slowly bringing the ship about to dock the ship.
She saw the captain approaching with a smile on his face and she said, "Docking a little early aren't we?"
He grinned and replied cheerfully, "Actually ma'am, we are a little early to our destination by almost a day. The winds were in our favor this time."
He smiled, "We are here, this is the bay of Godahl, just like you requested."
Miria smiled and replied, "I didn't realize we were even in the bay of Godahl."
He chuckled and said, "It is a pretty big bay and we've been inside it for several hours already."
"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a ship to dock." and he trotted off to bark orders at the crew and supervise the docking procedure.
The dock was now alive with villagers all wielding long poles to ease the shock of the ship's docking.
Evidently they had done this before as the docking went smoothly and soon, Miria was encouraging the ghost squad to disembark.
Minutes later, they were all laughing as they tried to master walking on solid ground once more, and after a few wobbly strides, their land legs woke back up again.
Waving goodbye to the ship and her crew, they set out for the holy city of Rabona, a two days walk away.
Once again Raki set the rhythm and they strode along at a good mile eating pace, the growing anticipation on his face was evident to all.
Eventually, even his great strength gave out and when they stopped late that night to take a breather, he fell fast asleep with a smile on his face.
When he finally woke up the next day, it was to discover that he was lying on a litter being carried by two of the ghost squad.
His eyes fluttered open to a gentle swaying as Sheila and Yuma took their turn at carrying his litter.
Sitting up he looked around and exclaimed, "Wha...What happened?"
Sheila grinned at him and replied, "You fell asleep, that's what happened!"
The two warriors stopped and Yuma said, "I think you can handle this now."
Raki quickly got to his feet and said abashedly, "I didn't mean to fall asleep like I did, really I didn't!"
Helen commented drily, "Now that the brat is awake, maybe we can pick up the pace a bit?"
Deneve muttered, "I think he's a little big to be called a brat now and he did kick some butt back there during the battle. I know the trainees sure thought the world of him."
Helen shrugged and grinned at Raki, "You'll always be a brat to me, and I mean that in a good way!"
He just shrugged and replied, "So long as I can be with Clare again, I'll endure anything, even snide remarks from someone who could be my mother's age."
Helen's face reddened and Deneve burst out laughing at his retort, a rare event for her.
"Whatever..." Grumbled Helen and they set out for Rabona once more.
A few hours later, they crested the last rise before them and stood gazing out over the plain.
In the distance, they could see the twin spires of the great cathedral of the holy city of Rabona, rising above the crenelated walls surrounding the city.
They were almost home again.
Helen gaped and exclaimed, "Wow, we made from the organization's headquarters to Rabona in ten days. It would've taken us twenty days on foot, ships really are much faster!"
Miria said quietly, "That's because they don't have to go up and down mountains or wind through forests, we also caught the ocean's current."
She glanced at Tabitha, "Tabitha?"
"Yes?"
Tabitha closed her eyes and after a few moments, said, "The abyssal one's yoma energy is still far away, it isn't moving particularly fast.
"We're still six or seven days ahead of it."
Miria said quietly,"Then we should have enough time."
Raki was grinning and he said cheerfully, "It's been so long, I hope Sid and Galk are doing well..."
It was then that he noticed the pretty blonde haired woman sitting on a nearby hillside and he paused.
She glanced over at him and said, "Oh...Hello"
He replied, "Hm, do you live in Rabona?"
She smiled rather prettily and replied, "No, I came from further west."
Raki smiled at her and said innocently, "If you're going to Rabona, wanna go together? We're going there ourselves."
She smiled again and replied, "No, I'll stay here. Besides, no residents are left in the holy city anyway."
"Huh?! None? Why not?" he exclaimed and went to move closer to her.
Deneve's hand restrained him and she said quietly, "They don't appear threatening, but don't go any closer."
Raki looked around and realized there were several individuals, all seated along the hillside and all of them were facing towards Rabona.
"What's going on?" He asked.
Deneve remarked, "If you look closely, they're all surrounding Rabona and they're all awakened beings."
"Awakened beings?"
"You must've seen it with Clare. They were in the organization too, they're the monsters that result when warriors lose control."
Miria said thoughtfully, "They're all fairly strong. They must have been single digits and they all possess higher class strength."
With that in mind she called out to the woman, "You said there are no residents in the holy city, what did you do?"
"We, didn't do anything. They left a few days ago leaving only a few soldiers behind."
With a baffled look on her cross scarred face, Miria muttered, "They...Left?"
The woman smiled and replied, "You should ask the soldiers about it. There are some of your kind there too."
Tabitha said quietly, "Yes, Galatea, Clarice and Miata, I can sense their yoma energy in the holy city."
Helen gritted her teeth and spat, "So, what're you guys doing here at a time like this?"
A dark haired man stepped forward and replied with a grin, "We're just curious."
At Helen's dumbfounded look he said, "It surpasses us and even an abyssal one, it could be the greatest power in the history of warriors.
"We're surrounding it, but we're also curious."
He smiled, "And we wanted to see the faces of those who defeated the organization which had ruled this land for so many years."
"Why?" Exclaimed Miria.
He grinned, "We aren't fools, since the tense relationship between abyssal ones broke down and the organization made its move.
"We tend to desire detailed information on what influences whether we live, or die.
We never dreamed the organization would disappear."
He paused, "So there you have it, we all just chose to visit this extreme place. Everyone believes that if worst comes to worst, we can escape on our own."
He grinned, "We're a gallery of rogues hoping to lay eyes on an interesting sight."
"Are you sure about that?" Asked Teresa as she stepped forward.
"Are you sure you can escape, if things go south?"
The man paused and replied, "We believe so, the object we're interested in lies in those woods near the holy city and it is leagues away. That should be far enough."
Teresa smiled at him and said, "I hope for your sake, that you're right Chronos, you and Octavia have worked hard to live a quiet life and so has Lars and Amahl."
At the mention of their names, the pretty blonde haired woman and the spiky haired man waved at Teresa.
Teresa grinned at him and called out, "Your map came in real handy when we went to the organization and you were right, they were creating awakened beings at that hidden facility you mentioned. We fixed that little problem before we left it."
Lars grinned and took a little bow, "Glad I could help!" he called back.
Riful this time spoke up, "And Lars? Say hi to Amahl for me, could you?"
Lars grinned, "I will do that, my lady."
Miria stood quietly during this little exchange of greetings and finally she said, "I didn't know you all knew each other?"
Teresa shrugged and replied, "I've known about them for many years, I just never had reason to go after them and I only met all of them fairly recently."
She grinned at Miria, "I had planned on describing our meetings in my report when I got back but things happened, and here we are."
Turning away from the awakened beings on the hill side, Miria said brusquely, "Let's go!"
Helen gaped and blurted out, "H, hey! Is it alright to let them go?"
Miria without breaking stride, said, "His name is Chronos as you've already heard, the man behind him is Lars, they were numbers four and six in the time of male warriors."
"The girl who spoke first is Octavia, a former number two and called the 'wild horse'. From what Teresa just said, she is living with Chronos and Lars is living with someone named Amahl, I have no idea who she is."
Riful muttered, "She is a widow and a very lovely lady, I'll have you know!"
Miria smiled slightly and continued, "There is also a former number three and five, together, they could be stronger than the approaching abyssal one."
She sighed, "They're not lying about being curious, as warriors with experience in battle. It's no surprise they want to see the strongest warrior in history as an awakened being."
Then half to herself she muttered, "But, if the worst comes to pass, whether they can really escape unharmed, is another story that has yet to be told."
Soon they were striding along the highway that led to the Holy City's massive gates.
All around them the land seemed to be holding its breath.
The farm fields lay under the warm sunlight with no one to tend them and the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle were nowhere to be seen.
There wasn't even clothes drying on the lines out side the farm houses they passed.
Even the Broken Plow tavern was shuttered tightly, its brick chimney smoke free for once.
Helen muttered, "Even the Broken Plow is closed? Maybe it really is, the end of the world!"
Deneve in her exasperation, smacked Helen on the back of her head and muttered, "That's enough of the 'end of the world' talk. Focus on what matters, our mission!"
They stopped outside the shattered gates of the holy city and gazed at the wreckage.
Gazing at the spectacle before him Raki said quietly, "Did the city suffer as badly as it looks from here?"
"I'm afraid so." Said Teresa and she pointed at the plot of land set aside for the graves of those who fell defending the holy city.
"That is where the defenders who fell are buried. Sheila's lover is buried there, I'm sorry to say."
Raki glanced over at the towering young warrior, she smiled sadly and said quietly, "Clare is not the only warrior to fall in love. Rogar died bravely in battle defending this city, he may not have been much in the eyes of many but no one was braver than he."
Raki said quietly, "I'm sorry to hear that, you have my condolences."
Sheila flushed slightly and murmured her thanks.
Entering the holy city, the group soon encountered a teary eyed Clarice. "Captain Miriaaa!" She cried as tears flowed freely from her silver eyes.
Helen muttered to no one in particular, "Even you, call her captain now?"
Clarice sobbed, "Why are you here, what's happening out there?"
Miria looked down at the sobbing young warrior with the light brown hair and said calmly, "Calm down Clarice, we're the ones with the questions."
"I'm surprised!" Cried a familiar voice.
They all looked to see Galatea flanked by two sturdy soldiers clad in armor, on her beautiful face, a smile.
"I never thought you would come back alive!"
Miria looked very subdued and said quietly, "I'm sorry that my actions resulted in awakened beings attacking the city."
Galatea smiled slightly and replied, "That's in the past, the situation is worse now."
Miria replied, "We heard from those outside, the residents have left the city. What happened?"
Galatea replied, "Instead of explaining, it would be faster to show you."
A man's voice called out suddenly, "Hey! Are you still alive, you snot nosed brat?"
Raki turned to see Sid and Galk standing there grinning at him.
Raki was now nearly as tall as Galk and he grinned back, "Long time no see!
"It's good to see you again!"
Sid grinned and said, "You've grown some more, soon you'll be as tall as Galk!"
Miria glanced over her shoulder at the manly trio and as she looked back at Galatea she heard her say, "This way...Follow me."
Leaving the men to their reunion, the warriors followed Galatea out to a nearby woods, the very same woods they had stashed that weird, misshapen thing they had brought back with them from the destroyer incident.
As they walked, Miria asked, "What about the remaining soldiers?
Galatea replied simply, "They're volunteers. I said we would be fine, but they want to defend their own city.
"They are prepared to die. We can say nothing about it."
A few moments later Galatea said, "Here we are, this is it."
There, before their astonished gaze sat the object in question.
It was no longer the misshapen, amorphous mass they had carried from the site of the Destroyer's outburst.
Instead a winged, one horned form was now emerging from the mass, which appeared to be stubbornly clinging to the emerging form rising from its top.
Faint sounds of creaking and groaning could be heard as the winged form strove to escape the writhing mass desperately, stubbornly clinging to it's would be escapee.
Miria looked at it in confusion, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
Helen gaped and declared, "N, no way! You gotta be kidding...She's halfway out!"
Miria looked over at Deneve, "Deneve, is this her? Is this the one who..."
"Yeah," Deneve replied, "I never wanted to see her face again. She's definitely the one who's stronger than an abyssal one."
Galatea cleared her throat and said, "As you can see, the mass began changing some ten days ago, and by five days ago had clearly taken on a humanoid form."
Pausing to let that sink in, she continued,"We thought about stabbing or moving her before she gets out, but we had no idea what effect such stimulation might have, so we let her be."
Miria nodded at her comments and said, "So that's why you had the residents evacuate."
Sighing, she continued, "It was the right choice. The wrong stimulation could have hastened the approaching abyssal one."
Galatea frowned slightly, marring her perfect brow as she said, "Approaching abyssal one? What abyssal one, I thought Riful was the last one and she was on our side?"
Riful spoke up, "The organization created three new ones during the rebellion and somehow, we managed to get them to fighting amongst themselves. Cassandra the dust eater as she was called, is the sole survivor."
"H, how were these created? I thought Lord Dae was dead, Sheila beheaded him right in front of Teresa." exclaimed Galatea.
Teresa muttered, "Apparently, rumors of his death, were a bit premature and no, we didn't find him among the staff that hadn't simply vanished."
"So he's still alive then?"
"It would seem so, I'm afraid, although we did smash all of his equipment so that it could not be used by anyone else."
Miria cleared her throat for attention and she said, "Galatea, I have something to tell you and all of the remaining soldiers. I wanted to tell the priests as well, but perhaps it's just as well they evacuated with the residents."
Galatea sighed and muttered, "It doesn't sound like I'm going to like what I hear."
"Sorry, but you're right. The Holy City of Rabona, could be gone in just a few days."
Replied Miria.