Holy shit it's been a while.
You're telling me. I've been waiting ages for this.
Hey, stuff like this takes a while. I had to redo several of the scenes in this quite a few times. I still don't know if it will go over well.
Meh.
Look, I worked hard on this. This fic is my baby. When I saw that there wasn't a DMC Claymore crossover anywhere I dropped everything I was doing and put my full focus into it. This is a fanfic that needs to be written!!!
Well it is a good fic so far.
Yeah all the reviewers seemed to like it. I'm kinda sad though that we don't get that many reviews though. Look, to whoever's reading this I don't care if it's just one word please review. I know who you are, I have every email that tells me who subscribes to this fic and rest assured I will hunt you down and pester you until you review.
Creepy.
I need reviews man. They acknowledge that I've done something. If I don't get any reviews then it's like all my work was for nothing. The reason I'm writing this is for all of you readers who want to see this crossover written and written right.
You're psychotic!
Speak for yourself Mr. He Who Randomly Attacks His Foot!
Hey, that's a nervous twitch. I can't help it!
You also randomly channel anime characters. That is a sure sign of either
A: Too much anime.
B: You're crazy.
The answer is B because there is no such thing as to much anime.
Hey, being crazy is different from being psychotic!
Never mind. I don't care anymore. Us getting into this argument is like mixing Red Bull with espresso. Nothing good can come of it. I speak from experience.
You mixed Red Bull with espresso. You're a maniac too!
Look, I was snowboarding and my friends had the idea so we tried it.
So you're unable to resist peer pressure!
NO!
Whatever.
Anyway, this is the new chapter. There will be a cameo of another anime character in this chapter. You should be able to figure out who he is. Rest assured he will not have much impact on the plot other then in this chapter so don't be discouraged. This will remain in the Claymore verse and characters from other sources will be adapted to the Claymore verse and will be given new back stories. It's essentially just their attitudes that will carry over so they won't be OC's.
We'll make a mention of the first person who guesses who it is.
Now onto the story...
"So then what happened next?" Miria asked, finding the story quite interesting.
Dante, who had embedded Rebellion into the cliff face and was sitting on the flat of the blade, raised a hand. "It looks like our short haired friend is done pretending to be unconscious."
It was true that Deneve had finally opened her eyes. Helen immediately rushed over to her friend. "Are you alright?"
Deneve grimaced and said, "No, this wound is really bad."
Dante slid off Rebellion and began to root through his pockets. He pulled out a roll of duct tape. He regarded it for a second and tossed it to Miria who caught it deftly.
"What is this?" She asked.
"Duct tape. It'll fix almost anything." Dante said as he continued to go through his pockets. Next he pulled out a small black creature by the scruff of its neck. It had stubby arms and legs, glowing red eyes and a crest of armor around its head that swept down into a pair of short horns. It was holding a green orb and a small square of package.
Dante raised an eyebrow at the creature. He shrugged and opened his other hand, palm facing up. "You and I are gonna go far. I'll take the orb for now but hang on to those." Dante said approvingly. The creature dropped the orb into his hand and Dante put the creature back in his pocket.
"Any reason Shadow is so fond of sitting in your pocket?" Clare asked Dante from where she sat on her own blade that was embedded in the wall in a similar style to Dante's.
"Maybe he just wants to look cute." Dante suggested.
Miria, still holding the duct tape, regarded the pair curiously. "Was that the doppelganger you mentioned?"
Dante nodded. "The kid thought he needed a better name then Deathvoid." He confirmed, glancing off in the direction that the town Raki was staying in. He looked back at the green orb. "This is the last one I've got. Can you heal your wounds without awakening?" He asked Deneve.
Deneve shook her head. "I don't know." She said and then whimpered from the pain.
"What is that?" Miria asked.
"Crystallized demon blood." Dante explained. "It'll heal her."
"I've never seen anything like it." Miria observed.
"I'm not surprised." Dante confirmed. "For some reason the yoma's blood doesn't crystallize unlike the normal demons I'm used to fighting. Not only that but the demons here are wimps."
"Wimps!" Helen exclaimed. "Did you see what that thing did to us."
"Did you see what Clare did to it?" Dante returned, his trademark smile returning to his face.
The group thought back. They all looked at Dante. "She wasn't even using her full power and yet she destroyed it." He said. His smile disappeared and his voice turned cold. "You need to understand that there are demons out there that could kill you without even trying."
"And you can take these things on?" Helen shot back, angry from what she interpreted as an insult.
"Exactly." Dante replied, his voice still cold.
Helen rose to a fighting stance and charged Dante roaring. "I don't care how strong you are! I'm still gonna kick your ass for that pretty boy!"
Dante waited until the last second and sidestepped Helen. Then, while Helen was still turning Dante pulled out Ivory and shot a layer of skin of her ear. Helen cried out in shock at the feeling of the bullet grazing her and almost over balanced. She spat an oath and yelled. "Don't mock me!" She lined up for another swing but never got to finish the cut as Miria had appeared beside her and grabbed her arm.
"Helen, now is not the time to be so rash." Miria scolded her fellow Claymore. "Your wounded and he's fresh. Not to mention if what he and Clare say is true he's fully capable of fighting on par with an awakened being without even breaking a sweat."
Dante holstered Ivory and added. "Look, you're not weak." He put his hand on Helen's shoulder. "The demons I happen to be talking about are just really really strong." He turned away and raised his arms. "Plus, from what I hear you are all strong warriors. Once I do to you what I did to Clare you'll all be stronger."
He turned back around and took the green orb from Miria. "Screw it. I don't need this thing anyway." He side armed the orb at Deneve and she raised a hand and caught it. The orb flashed and Deneve's wound closed abruptly. In the few seconds that Deneve had her hand away from the tear in her suit Dante glimpsed something horrible. So that is what Clare was talking about. I guess her triggering healed it. Poor girl, it looks painful.
Deneve looked at Dante and saw the look in his eyes as he averted his gaze. "And you won't have to suffer from the stigma anymore." He whispered. No one but Miria heard him and she flinched at the mention of the affliction that infested the body of the Claymore.
"So, how did you escape the holy city? From what I can tell security would have been really tight that night." Miria asked.
Dante rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well we ran." He started to explain. "Can I have my Duck Tape back now?"
Rabona, About Five Minutes After Dante Went Up the Tower…
Clare slowly came two. She felt the sword that she was leaned up against and recognized it for what it was. She kept her eyes closed and tried to remember what had happened. She remembered the man in red and…
Clare's eyes snapped open and she saw Dante sitting across from her in a mirror position, asleep. Clare then noticed that he wasn't wearing his coat, exposing his upper body to the cold night air. Clare felt warm leather around her and saw that she was wearing his coat. She also noticed that she was naked under it. What the hell is going on here?
Dante stirred slightly and Clare tensed. She slowly moved her arm to the sword behind her. The fingers on her right hand grasped the hilt and she realized that it wasn't her sword. The grip felt welcoming so she closed her hand around it anyway. She pulled her knees to her chest and put her feet flat on the stone. In a sudden movement she shifted her weight forewords and pulled the sword from the stone behind her. Sitting on her feet with the sword resting upon her shoulder she observed that the sound had woken Dante. Leaping forewords she swung the sword in a backhand swing at Dante's neck, intending to decapitate him.
About halfway through the swing Dante opened his eyes, at a quarter swing he had started to react. The swing reached its mark, but Dante had moved just in time, the sword only cut his throat rather than decapitating him, still Clare assumed the blow she had dealt was a deathblow. Her surprise was evident when Rebellion impaled her and nailed her to the pillar behind her. Clare stared down at the blade in shock. Expecting herself to start losing consciousness Clare felt all the more surprise when Dante, hand covering his throat, got up and began to walk over to her. She raised the sword and swung again, the sword nailing her to the pillar a mere inconvenience.
"Stop it already." Dante pleaded as he leaned back to avoid the slash. "You already impaled me and cut my throat, what more do you want?"
Clare's eyes widened in shock at the lack of a wound on Dante's throat. So I did stab him. How is able to regenerate like that?!"
"Now before you start chopping you should know the kids alright. Not a scratch on him. He and Vincent are on their way here now." Dante explained. "I know I've got a lot of explaining to do but right now just calm down."
Clare looked at him strangely as he put his hand on Rebellion's hilt and said, "On three, ready one, two." Clare felt pain and Dante yanked the sword from her chest. Clare staggered and straitened. She looked at her chest and saw that no wound was present.
"I'll tell you this much. You can kiss your little demonic presence problem goodbye. You're like me now." Dante said as he leaned on Rebellion.
"Like you…?" Clare asked him, not understanding. She put a hand to her chest and found no sign of the blade ever having pierced her.
"Put your sword away and I'll tell you more." Dante said.
Clare looked down at the sword in her hands and saw for the first time what it really looked like. She saw Dante leaning on Rebellion and noticed the resemblance this sword had to his. Dante put the sword behind his back and it stuck there.
"You try." Dante instructed.
Who the hell is this guy? Well I don't have much of a choice considering how easily he beat me.
Clare wordlessly complied, finding to her surprise that the sword attached itself to her back by what felt like a faint yoki aura.
"See, easy." Dante said.
"Long story short, you were turning into a demon and I took it upon myself to try to stop that from happening. So I made you like me." Dante explained.
"Like you?" Clare asked again.
"You are now naturally bonded to your own demonic side." Dante answered.
Clare remembered the sudden rush of power and the feeling of flight just before she fell unconscious.
"That sword," Dante said as he gestured to the sword that was slung across Clare's back, "is the physical manifestation of your power or something like that. At least that's how pops explained it to me."
Clare reached over her shoulder and pulled the sword, surprised again when it came free from her back at a thought. She brought it to eye level and examined the edge.
"You like?" Dante asked. "If your can't say I'm pretty sure we could find a demon or two to test it out on."
Clare returned her sword to her back. "Who are you?"
Dante jerked his thumb at his chest. "The name's Dante. I'm a devil hunter. Somewhat like you." He lowered his arm. "You're Clare, right?
Clare nodded. "I saw you wound Raki. How is it that he's alright?"
Dante smirked and snapped the fingers on his right hand. Out of a shadow directly to the right of Clare, Doppelganger rose. Clare's grip tightened on her sword when Doppelganger's form changed into Raki's.
"Hi." Doppelganger said in Raki's voice.
Clare's eyes widened in shock.
"He can imitate anyone he sees perfectly." Dante said as Doppelganger transformed back to his regular form. Doppelganger gave a small bow before fading into the shadows.
At that moment a loud banging came from the trap door near their position. Dante turned and called. "Vincent?"
"Yes, please open the trap door." Came Vincent's worried voice. Dante bent over and yanked hard on the handle of the trap door, opening it. Clare pulled Dante's coat tighter to cover herself.
As soon as the door opened Raki leapt out. "Clare!" He cried as he embraced a shocked Clare and began to sob into her shoulder. Clare regarded the crying boy and slowly embraced him back. "Please don't ever do something like that again." Raki whimpered as he continued to cry into her shoulder.
"For what it's worth I'm sorry I had to put you through that." Dante said from over by the trap door as he helped Vincent through it.
"I am as well." Vincent said. "Mr. Dante came to me with this idea and I couldn't just sit by and watch."
Raki released his grip on Clare and turned to face the two. "And what idea was that?" Raki yelled furiously. "Why did you have to attack her and put her through that?"
Dante closed his eyes and replied casually, "You saw what she turned into. If I hadn't done something she would have stayed like that. What I did saved her."
Raki stood unconvinced. "But the only reason she started to…" He couldn't finish the sentence.
Dante opened his eyes. "You have to understand kid, her turning into a demon would have happened anyway. Maybe she could have forced it back, maybe with a little help from you. But the facts stand that as long as she remained an artificial hybrid she would have turned eventually." He walked forewords and put a hand on Raki's shoulder. "The thing is kid you were the one responsible for her ability to control her demonic side, not me. You were the one who gave her something to fight for."
Clare glanced down at her body. The power she felt flowing through her made her feel as though she could just jump of the tower and take on the world. She looked over to Dante and Vincent. "You don't need to apologize to me. What you have done here…" She paused for a second. "You saved me from a fait that I once thought inescapable." Clare kneeled down. "I owe you a debt."
Dante raised his hands up. "Whoa whoa, easy there. I don't know about the priest but I'm not into the whole debt thing. I was just happy to help." The more perverted sections of Dante's mind had started formulating their own plans for the repayment but Dante squelched them. Now was not the time or the place.
Vincent smiled and said, "It was my duty as a faithful servant of God to assist in any way I could. I just hope that I was able to help you."
Clare didn't respond. She stayed on her knees.
"Oh for Pete's sake, on your feet!" Dante barked. Clare raised her head. "Look, I don't give a shit about anything you believe you owe me. You were the one who was able to Devil Trigger, you were the one who saved the kid and you are the one who is going to go on and save even more people from these yoma things!" He paused. "Look, if you want to repay me for anything just help me save as many of your fellows from turning into demons!"
Clare nodded and replied. "Then that is what I will do."
Dante nodded in approval. He offered a hand to Clare. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Good." He turned to Raki, "What's your name?"
"Raki." He responded.
"Alright, Raki." Dante, turned to Vincent. "Can you bring Raki here to the gates of the city tomorrow."
Vincent nodded. "And what will you be doing?"
"I've got to get Clare here back to her inn. She isn't exactly decent right now." Dante explained. Clare nodded in affirmation. Running around a city clad in just a red coat was not something that anyone should do.
"You promise you'll be there?" Raki asked.
"Kid, I wouldn't even dream of leaving you behind." Dante said. "Come on Clare, follow my lead." With those words Dante back flipped over the lip of the tower. Clare followed suit.
Raki ran over to the tower lip to watch the duo land side by side on the ground and run off into the shadows. Vincent put his hand on the boys head and said, "They'll be alright, if the damage they caused downstairs is any indication anything they run into out there will be easy for them to face."
With Dante and Clare…
Clare felt wonderful, it as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She and Dante dashed through the streets and occasionally took to the rooftops. Any guards they encountered were either silently knocked unconscious or avoided all together. Clare even performed a few unnecessary acrobatics that she never would have used normally but she just had to find away to disperse the boundless energy that filled her. Dante noticed her condition and as soon as they reached the inn he yanked the window open and said, "Get dressed, we've got places to be."
Clare wordlessly complied and as soon as she landed inside she pulled off Dante's coat and threw it at him. When he caught it the coat covered his face. So much for sneaking a peak… Dante thought to himself.
Clare however was having different thoughts. While pulling up her undergarments she saw that her stomach was… unmarred. Clare's mind raced a mile a minute as she stared at the place where the horrifying affliction once twisted the flesh of her torso. She closed her eyes and opened them again, thinking what she saw was some illusion her mind had fabricated. Nothing but smooth skin greeted her, nothing but smooth flawless skin. She wasn't twisted anymore. Clare felt like bursting out into crazed laughter. For the first time in so many years she felt… happiness.
She pulled the one-piece garment on and slung her sword back into its position on her back. She turned to look at Dante who still stood waiting with the coat draped over his head.
"You can look now." Clare said.
Dante nodded his head causing the coat to slip off. Dante caught it and put it back on. He replaced Ebony & Ivory in their respective holsters and Rebellion on his back. Dante stepped onto the window sill and turned to Clare. He grinned fiercely and held out a hand. "Shall we go?"
Clare stared at him for a second before taking his hand. Dante summoned up his own demonic heritage and shifted into partial devil trigger. He stepped out into empty space and floated there. Clare stared dumbstruck at the half devil. Dante smiled at her, his face, though more fearsome, still held the same cocky yet endearing look that had been plastered across it since they left the cathedral. Clare, before she even realized she had done it, transformed to. She stepped out onto the air to and felt herself floating.
"Let's fly." Dante whispered. With those words he pulled Clare up into the air and flew into the night. Clare felt herself flying and for the first time in her life she felt… free. This man, Dante, had done so much for her, a complete stranger. Why had he done it? No, that question could wait, it was time to enjoy the moment.
Dante released Clare's hand and was happy to see her continue on her own power. The flew up into the night until they were far above Rabona and could see for miles. Dante held out a hand to indicate Clare to stop. Dante summoned up the red mandala that he normally used as a platform to jump off of during combat. He sat on the edge of it and motioned for Clare to do the same. Clare wordlessly complied. Dante let his transformation ebb and felt Clare mimic him. Dante continued to push his energy into the mandala causing it's bonji covered surface to persist instead of fading.
"So how does it feel to be on top of the world?" Dante asked.
Clare didn't know how to answer that. As a little girl she had always had dreams of flying and now that childish fantasy had come to life right in front of her. Clare looked down and saw the shapes of the buildings far below them. "It feels… good… I guess." She answered finally.
Dante looked at her oddly. "Good, you guess. Are you kidding me? Don't tell me you never dreamed of flying when you where young."
Clare stared out into space. "I guess I just have a lot to think about right now."
Dante smiled and asked, "What's on your mind?"
Clare looked at him and asked, "Why?"
Dante looked up at the stars and smiled. "I don't know, maybe it's my never ending kindness or my drive for justice." He replied jokingly. "Or maybe," he added quietly, "It just felt good to save someone." He looked back at Clare. "What about you? Whatever possessed you to put the flesh of a demon inside yourself?"
Dante saw Clare flinch when he said "flesh of a demon" and filed that away in the back of his mind for later discussions.
Clare looked down at her hands. "When a person's family is killed by a yoma or something else the Organization takes them and makes them warriors."
Upon hearing that Dante lost his temper, if only for a brief moment. The mandala below him glowed brighter for a brief second before returning to normal. Clare noticed this. She tried pushing her own energy into the mandala and found that it responded to her.
Dante laughed at this and said, "Keep up the flow." He cut of his own energy and watched the mandala turn white. Clare continued to push her own energy into mandala and found that maintaining it was much more difficult then she thought. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she continued to funnel energy into the mandala. She felt her control falter for a moment but Dante was there to assist her. The mandala shown both white and red for some time as both its occupants funneled there energy into it.
After another few minutes of this Dante asked Clare, "So, this Organization forced you to become a Claymore?"
Clare shook her head. "We are not Claymores. That is just a name given to us by the people."
Dante took note that Clare seemed to be steering the subject away from her origins. He wasn't that surprised, after all they had just met. Well, that was O.K. with him. He'd wait a while and then ask again.
"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Dante asked.
Clare shook her head. In truth she wanted to know everything she could about the devil hunter but she couldn't bring herself to ask him. It was strange, emotions that had once laid buried under thick layers of coldness, mistrust and cynicism where starting to come to the surface. It had all started when she had met Raki and now the feelings that she was experiencing threatened to all come spilling out. It was horrifying but at the same time it felt good. Maybe she was still human, at least inside.
"Hello, anybody in there?" Dante said as he waved a hand in front of her face. Clare turned to look at him quizzically. "Don't look at me like that, you've been spaced out for about five minutes."
"Sorry," Clare apologized.
"Oh don't sweat it." Dante said. He slapped Clare on the back. "So, you up for a little demon hunting?"
Clare looked at her hands for the umpteenth time and nodded. Even if the organization frowned upon it she didn't really care. Killing yoma was in her job description after all.
"Cool." Dante said. "Let's see if we can find any from up here." Dante stretched out his senses. Clare did the same thing and realized that with her new power her senses had increased as well. After about two minutes of this Dante found something. His eyes shot open. "Holy shit, it's a whole flock of them." He exclaimed. "And it looks like they found one of your friends. We'd better book it and then some."
With that Dante disengaged the mandala and he and Clare started to fall towards the earth. Dante transformed again and Clare along with him. They pulled out of their dive and flew off in the direction of the yoma energy signatures.
Present Time…
"Awe, you guys had a moment." Helen crooned mockingly. Clare felt her face heat up. She mentally slapped herself and reminded herself that it was bad to kill her allies.
Dante rubbed his forehead. "Look, I don't think I can keep this up without some booze. Let's head back to town."
Upon hearing this Helens face brightened considerably. "I'm all for that!" She said excitedly.
Miria shook her head. "I don't know. People don't take to kindly to us."
Dante laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm friends with the guy who owns the place. He's cool with it. In fact he said that even if I hadn't asked he would've been O.K. with it. He likes you warriors apparently."
Miria cocked her head oddly. "A human who likes our kind?"
"Yep, he's a really great guy. Helped him out with a few troublesome customers and a stray yoma that just happened to show up after you guys left town yesterday." Dante explained.
"Define helped." Miria returned.
"Well, these people didn't want to take no for an answer so we threw them out. Right when he was thanking me a yoma walked in." Dane said. "After we dumped the body I asked if I could bring some friends by. He said sure."
"He didn't ask questions about how you killed the yoma." Miria said.
"Didn't seem to care. He just talked about how anyone who took down yoma was a friend of his. 'Claymores are hero's' he said. 'They deserve respect because they save people, not respect out of fear'" Dante told her.
"I'd really like to meet this man." Clare said.
"I would too." Deneve added.
"Me three." Helen said.
Miria looked at the three and said, "You do realize that we are still wounded and are uniforms have been torn up." A loud tearing noise was heard in Dante's direction. Miria looked over at him to see that he had pulled out the duck tape and had torn off a strip.
"I'm no tailor but like I said, this stuff'll fix anything." Dante said triumphantly.
Five hours later, around 10 o'clock that night…
The group of three Claymores, two half demons and one shadow demon had reached the town that they had come from, Clare, Helen, Deneve and Miria sporting Duck tape patches on their clothes. Soon enough they came to the bar that Dante had mentioned. A small building on a hill near the outskirts of town the bar had a pair of windows that shined with warm light of a fire within. A tile roof and a small wooden door completed the building. A sign above the door read, "Wind and Waves".
Dante walked up to the door and knocked on it. Soon enough the door opened revealing a young man with spiky blond hair held back by a headband of white cloth, blue eyes and a warm smile. Upon seeing the group gathered outside he did a double take. "Dante, you brought four of them." He gasped. He stepped back and motioned them inside. "Damn you work fast."
One word described the interior of the bar, cozy. One side of the room had a long bar and facing the bar was a long couch. A fire crackled in a stove behind the bar. The man hopped over the bar with the ease of a person who performed the motion constantly. Turning to face the group he said, "Sit down."
The group wordlessly complied. The three Claymores and Clare shocked at the fact that Dante hadn't exaggerated on the man's apparent liking of Claymores. "The names Tomina." The man said. "What'll you have? It's on the house."
Dante spoke up, "Just hit us with whatever you think is best. That and some pizza."
"What's pizza?" Everyone asked.
The room suddenly turned so quite one could have dropped a hair and everyone would have been able to hear it, even without the enhanced senses that they had. Dante's mouth hung open in horror. "Never heard of pizza." He whispered. He turned to Tomina, "Bread dough, tomato's, cheese and any meat you have, right now." He said urgently. Tomina looked at him weirdly but complied and went off and retrieved the requested items. "Get some beer to." Dante then began to do what anyone does in the face of those who had not had the wonder that is pizza. He tossed the dough into the air like a pro Italian chef and chopped the tomatoes. Tomina stared at him weirdly and so did everyone else. Doppelganger, our Shadow as he was now called, crawled out of Dante's pocket. He hopped out and face planted onto the floor. Tomina stared at the strange creature. He reached down to poke it. Doppelganger looked up at him and hissed.
Tomina jumped on top of the bar with his arms in defensive posture. "What the hell is that thing?!" He yelled. Dante turned from his frenzied pizza making to throw an apple at doppelganger who took the fruit and jumped onto the bar. He turned to look at Tomina and opened his mouth impossibly wide for a creature of his size and shoved the apple in. Doppelganger swallowed the fruit and promptly fell asleep on the bar.
Clare looked at the shadow demon and then to Tomina. "He's a kind of yoma. Don't worry, he won't eat guts. As you can see though he likes apples." She explained monotonously. The rest of the group besides her and Dante stared at the little creature as it snored contentedly on the bar top.
"That's a yoma?" Tomina muttered as he slid of the bar. "And it eats apples?" Soon enough he started giggling like and insane person. "Now I've seen everything." He let out a loud peal of laughter before slamming his head into the bar. The three Claymores stared at the man strangely. Clare just sighed, closed her eyes and wondered how Raki was doing.
Clare was snapped out of her reverie when Dante called out in an Italian accent, "There, she is finished." Dante swept around in a dramatic flourish revealing a simple, but absolutely perfect pepperoni pizza. It got a quintuple set of raised eyebrows.
"What is it?" Deneve finally asked.
"This is pizza." Dante said as he waved his arms above the pies surface, causing the aroma to waft towards Clare and the three Claymores. The wonderful smell filled there nostrils and all four of them found themselves salivating.
"It smells goooooooooooooood…" Helen said, moaning out the last part which caused Deneve and Miria to scoot away from her a little.
"And good it is. Tomina, bring me the beer." Dante ordered. Tomina nodded and retrieved the booze. Six mugs of the brew where placed onto the bar.
Dante pulled a knife from under the bar and cut the pizza up into six slices. "Go on, take it, eat it." Dante offered
Helen, being the hungriest of the bunch, readily complied. The pizza left the bar and the front of it entered Helen's mouth. She bit of a section and chewed experimentally. No sooner had she swallowed the piece she had chewed did she cram the rest of the piece into her mouth. She swallowed that to before downing the beer in front of her in a single gulp. "…" She moaned out. Miria and Deneve scooted even further away.
"I told you so." Dante said happily.
The Next Morning…
Dante woke up under a pile of empty glasses and stray pizza crusts. His head pounded with a fierce hangover. He focused his energy on the headache and soon enough it went away. He sat up and brushed the debris from his front. Glancing around he found himself on the couch of the bar. He looked over to see Tomina cleaning a glass.
"He man, what's up?" Dante asked the bartender. Tomina turned and glared at him. "Alright, what happened?"
Tomina put the glass down and said, "Well, first off, you and that Claymore got sloshed and the Claymore tried to make out with her short haired friend while the other two looked on. Then the sloshed one tried to make out with me…" Tomina trailed off. "Oh what the hell, it was the best night of my life."
"Wait, Helen tried to make out with Deneve. How the hell do I not remember that?" Dante asked. He looked down at the multitude of empty cups that lay on and around him. "Oh."
Tomina picked up another glass and started to clean it to. "Anyway, the long haired one, Miria was her name I think, wanted to talk to you once you woke up."
Dante got off the couch and brushed the rest of the debris of his chest. "I wonder what it's about." He got up to leave.
Halfway out the door Tomina called to him, "Swing by again if you get the chance. Also, if you see any Claymores tell them that Wind and Waves is always open if they ever need anything."
"No problem dude. Thanks for everything." Dante said as he closed the door.
Outside…
Dante walked out into the sunshine. He looked out to see the three Claymores and the half demon Clare waiting for him. Helen had taken to the branch of a tree and was lounging on top of it with her back against the trunk and her eyes closed. Deneve had situated herself against the trunk at the bottom of the tree. Miria and Clare were talking quietly in the shadows of the trees leaves. The people passing by gave the group fearful glances which annoyed Dante greatly.
Dante calmly walked up the Miria and said, "You needed something?"
"Yes, but I don't think it's a good idea to talk about it here." Mira confirmed.
Dante nodded. Before he could ask where they were going he noticed something. "Hold up. Looks like there's another one."
"Another one?" Miria asked.
As soon as Dante said this Clare stretched out her senses and sure enough there was another yoma in the crowd of people. She also noticed it was making its way out of the town right past their position.
"Hey Clare, you want this one?" Dante asked.
"Sure." Clare answered. Dante laughed and pulled Ebony & Ivory from there holsters. He quickly reversed his grip, holding the guns out for Clare to take. "You want me to use these?" Clare asked him.
Dante nodded again. "It's about time you learned how to shoot." He said. "I don't know how but one of these days we're going to get you a pair of guns."
Clare nodded and took the pistols. Turning in a dramatic flourish that Clare knew would please Dante, Clare brought the Ebony & Ivory to bare on the yoma. People began to notice exactly what was going on just as Clare fired. The disguised Yoma's head exploded in a cloud of gore as a hail of bullets tore into it. Purple blood flew into the air, someone screamed.
"Sheesh, overkill much?" Helen asked from her perch up in the tree.
Clare didn't respond as she tossed Ebony & Ivory back to Dante who caught both pistols and sent them spinning into their respective holsters.
Miria sighed and said, "Let's just go, we've caused enough trouble as it is." Without further ado the three Claymore's and the duo of half demons leapt of, moving at top speed away from the town. It's time we addressed the issue at hand. Hopefully Dante will be able to shed some light on partially awakening.
"Hey wait a minute. We forgot Raki!" Dante yelled.
The Previous Night, At a Nameless Town…
A woman ran frantically through the alleyways of the town, calling for help all the while. Soon enough a dark shape tackled the woman to the ground and pinned her wrists to the ground. The leering visage of a yoma greeted her.
"Looks like its dinner time." The yoma growled happily as it raised its clawed hand to kill the woman. The woman closed her eyes and screamed again. She felt something warm spray on her face. She opened her eyes again to see a large blade had pierced the chest of the yoma. She watched as small figure with the proportions of a teenage girl lift the yoma up via the scythe blade attached to her right arm. The yoma gurgled as its own blood filled its throat. The girl lifted up her left arm and with a clean stroke of her left hand cut the yoma's head off. The girl threw her right arm to the side and the yoma's body flew into the side of an adjacent building with a splatting noise. The girl twisted both her wrists and the scythe blades retracted.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked. The woman stared at the girl with a look of horror all over her face.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked again.
The woman nodded, shaking all over.
"I'm looking for a man in red with a large sword and white hair. Have you seen anyone fitting that description?" The girl asked.
The woman shook her head, still shaking.
"Thank you." The girl said. She then turned around and simply walked away.
Five Minutes Later…
Priscilla walked down the dark street calmly. Killing the yoma had been a simple task that had not taken much effort on her part. Her exterior was just a façade however. Her mind churned with thoughts of guilt and sorrow. Once Vergil had fought her memories had started to return. Priscilla had begun to get back what she once was. She couldn't remember their names but she remembered the faces of the Claymores that she had killed when she had awakened. She remembered the face of the little girl who screamed when she severed the head of the woman that she had hunted. She remembered the tears that had flowed so freely from the girls eyes. Priscilla noticed that her hands were bleeding, she had been clenching her hands so tightly that she had cut her palms. She watched as the wounds healed.
"I don't deserve this." Priscilla spoke aloud. "I don't deserve to be alive."
Priscilla banished her thoughts when she heard a noise behind her. She heard footsteps and the sound of something large and metal being dragged across the ground. "Who's there." She called. No one answered. She heard nothing but the sound of footsteps and grinding metal. She backed away from the direction of the noise in fear. She saw a shadow. It looked humanoid. Humanoid all except for the head, which tapered to a sharp point. It was holding something.
"Priscilla." Vergil said from behind her.
Priscilla turned quickly, eyes wide and scythes extended. "Oh, I'm sorry Vergil." She said respectfully.
Vergil's appearance had changed since he had first arrived in this place. His coat had not been replaced so he was left with only his armored vest to cover his torso. Yamato remained strapped to his back instead of in his hand. Vergil had wrapped his forearms in bandages with the ends of the strips reaching to his knees and waving in the wind.
"Your reaction was expectable." Vergil said uncaringly. "You did not recognize me at first and you prepared to defend yourself. Your reaction was natural."
Priscilla looked back in the direction of the shadow to see that it had vanished.
"Speak, I am the Crimson One." Vergil said. "The Lies and the Mist are not They, but I. I shall bring down bitter vengeance upon thee and thou shalt suffer my eternal wrath. Thou shalt ever call on me and all that is me in the place that is silent."
Priscilla turned to look at him. "What does that mean?" She asked.
"Something my father told me." Vergil said. "It appears you have called to it."
"It?" Priscilla asked again. "You heard it to?"
"Yes I did. Do not worry, it will not harm you as long as I am near." Vergil confirmed. "It is a product of the guilt you feel."
"A demon?" Priscilla asked worriedly.
"An executioner." Vergil corrected.
"Why is it coming after me?" Priscilla asked frantically.
"The guilt you feel for your past crimes as well as the hatred felt towards you by one who you have wronged. Those emotions give it form and substance." Vergil explained.
"So I am to die?" Priscilla asked quietly.
"If you do not face your sins than yes." Vergil said. "But do not worry, it will be a long time before it will be able to physically harm you. Even at that point you would still be able to defeat it. Be warned though, it will just keep coming back."
Priscilla looked down at her feet.
Vergil sighed and muttered, "I sense at some point you will encounter the one you have wronged. You will have to make your peace then and there."
Priscilla's eyes remained downcast. "I wish things were so simple."
"Come Priscilla. It is time we left." Vergil ordered. He turned around and began to walk away. Priscilla followed him, unsure of the future.
The plot thickens.
Do you think I did good?
Yes.
Thank you. So, who can guess the random cameo? Rest assured he will not appear in any other chapters until much later so don't worry about him too much.
Why did you make Helen try to make out with Deneve?
You haven't gotten into that part of the manga yet. Helen is scary when she's smashed. It just seems like something she would do.
I thought it was because you were a pervert.
NO! Look, there are only a few Claymores who I can legitimately call lesbians. Any reason for them being lesbians is probably do to mental trauma and the fact that no one other than their fellow Claymores will except them. That and there is no way that Undine can be that manly and not be one… or maybe she can. I really don't know.
So does that mean that…
There will be no Yuri in this fic. There will be jokes about it but I won't be going to deep into any of those kinds of relationships. Any pairings will be strait and any inter-Claymore relationships will be handled with a more sister-like style.
Dante won't be happy then. You know how he is.
Trust me, that's going to be a major running gag. So, can anyone guess what the thing chaseing Priscilla is? Please tell me in reviews.
Please review so that way he'll shut up about it.
Please?