"Talk"
'Thought'
Secret Claymore
A few days later, Somewhere in the Central Lands
"Well there's the next city," says Crystal and the others look down at the city from a nearby ledge.
"Wow. Its big," says Noel.
"Of course it's big. All the cities in the Central Lands around Rabona are big," says Irene.
"Central Lands? I thought there are only East, West, North, South?" says Noel.
"You are again a stupid monkey," says Sophia.
"What? I dare you to say it again you smelly gorilla," says Noel.
"Who is the gorilla miss number 4?"
Teresa begins to massage her forehead trying to stop the coming headache. "Irene, how can you stand them?"
"I got so used to them that I tune out all their bickering without noticing it," says Irene. "After a few weeks you'll get used to it."
She has the sudden urge to smash her claymore on Irene's head but stops herself and wonders where that thought came from.
"I think they are an amusing pair," says Crystal as she listens to the bickering becoming louder by the second.
"Teresa, what is this city of Rabona?" ask Clare, tugging on Teresa's cape.
"It's the holy city of Rabona. Claymores are not allowed inside. It's the capital of the Central Lands. Every major road runs through that city, and it's the richest region on the continent because of the trade," explains Teresa.
"It sounds to be a nice place," says Clare.
"Yes it is. But as I said, claymores are not allowed inside Rabona."
Meanwhile Noel and Sophia's bickering has reached the point where both are out of breath from their own screams.
Irene steps up to the two girls and says, "Now, since you both have calmed down let's go and rent a room for the day in this city."
"It's really amazing how much better we are treated just by dressing in a differently colored uniform," says Noel as she walks with the others on the street.
"I don't think it's the uniform. I have a feeling people don't like to see us when we take away all their saved money," says Teresa.
"Huh?" ask a confused Noel.
"The money the organization ask for a yoma is ridiculously high. You don't know it but some people work all their lives and they still wouldn't be able to save up so much money, even if they didn't eat or spend any of it on anything," explains Irene.
"I see. So what do you think they need all that money for?" ask Noel.
"I have no idea," says Irene as she looks in the other direction.
"Oh? Did I hear a lie there?" ask Noel with a smirk.
"Lay off Noel or you can be my test subject when I try my new claymore."
"Try? Why would you need to try it out?" ask a curious Sophia.
"Maybe you did not realize it, but this adamantinium sword is a lot heavier then your old ones, so you have to use more power and cordination to swing them and reach the same effectiveness then with the old mithril ones," says Crystal.
"After you get used to them there is not much difference," says Teresa.
"But there is. At full power you can still swing it around with all your might and you still don't have to worry that it'll breaks," says Crystal.
"Good to know. So Noel will you spar with me to test our new swords?" Ask Sophia.
"Yeah and I'll prove that I'm better then you. Once and for all."
"We'll see."
Both suddenly look at Teresa who draws her sword and throws it at a passerby. The sword impales the male embedding itself into the wall up to its hilt after revealing the disguised yoma.
The towns' people begin to run in panic, but when they realize that the body which hit the ground dead turned into a yoma they stop and thank Teresa.
After trying to pay Teresa anyway possible, the claymores accept the offer to stay in one of the inns for free so they'd be left alone.
"It feels nice when they thank you from gratefulness, doesn't it?" ask Crystal with a smirk as they sit around a table drinking some tasty nonalcoholic drinks.
"Yes, it does," says Teresa with a real smile. "Anyways, it seems I'll have to practice with my sword. I only wanted to impale the yoma, not embed my sword up to its hilt in the wall after ripping trough the monster. I misjudged the power I needed."
"Yes, that's what we where talking about before the yoma showed," says Irene.
"Anyways, I think I'll go out and practice a little. Clare do you want to come and watch?"
"Yeah, I'd love to!" Shouts Clare and runs after her.
"So Noel, when will you try and make peace with Teresa? Sometimes you can cut the tension with a sword when you two are together," ask Irene.
Noel looks to the side for a few moments then changes the topic. "So Sophia, do you want to have that spar now?"
"If you want to be beaten that badly," says Sophia.
Noel ignores her friend's jab in the favor of getting away from Irene as fast as possible. She grabs Sophia's hand dragging the other claymore away.
"So what will you do Irene?" ask Crystal.
"I guess I'll go practice. It never hurts to be ready for the enemy," she says and exits the room.
'I wonder how long will it take Clare to wear her armor. It's getting irritating having to carry it around on my back,' thinks Crystal.
Teresa stops on the edge of the city and puts Clare down so they can both look around for a few minutes.
"So Teresa, can we do it now?" ask Clare.
"I still think it's too big a risk," says Teresa.
"Teresa, if you really love me then please do it for me."
Teresa looks at Clare for a long time and finally gives in. "Alright, I'll do it."
"So how do we do it?" ask Clare.
"First I thought I'd drain a lot of my blood and let you drink it, but that way you could only become 1/8 yoma, and it would have made me weak for a day or two. So when Crystal brought the medical supplies with her I looked inside to see if I could find a more effective way. I found and syringe in it. So I'll draw it full with my blood then I'll inject it directly into one of your veins. This way I'll lose a minimal amount of blood and you can become 1/4 yoma because you get direct contact with my blood."
"Why can't I become 1/2 like you?" ask Clare with confusion.
"I am only 1/2 yoma so you can only become 1/4 yoma with my blood. You would need yoma blood to become 1/2 yoma like I am."
"I want your blood inside me Teresa. If it means I'll be only 1/4 yoma then that's how it will be. If it is possible to become a claymore with just blood then why is the organization not using that method? Why are they cutting the girls up and putting a chunk of yoma in them?" ask Clare.
"To be honest, I don't know. It's possible that this method is more dangerous then that or they did not realize that this could also work. After all, I heard this method from an awakened being before I killed her," says Teresa as she stabs the needle into her arm and draws it full of her blood.
Teresa pulls the syringe out of her arm and steps towards Clare. "Now hold still. Clare this will hurt a little." She stabs the syringe as gently as she can into a vein in Clare's arm and injects the blood into her body.
Clare feels a little pain when the needle pierces her skin and the vein has a strange feeling. It begins to spread in her body with Teresa's injection. After a few minutes Clare falls to the ground in pain and Teresa sits beside her, taking her head into her lap and strokes her hair while trying to give Clare as much mental support as possible.
"So Noel, do you accept your defeat?" ask Sophia triumphantly as she stands above the hard breathing Noel.
"Damn. It's not fair. Your brute strength allows you to wield this sword lot more effectively," whines Noel.
"I beat you fair, so stop whining and accept it like a proud claymore," says Sophia.
"Alright, but help me to my feet," says Noel as she extends her hand toward Sophia. When Sophia tries to drag her to her feet, however; Noel pulls her to the ground and puts her in a body hold.
"Hey! That wasn't fair," cries Sophia.
"Accept your defeat," says Noel.
"No way." Sophia breaks the hold and the two begin to wrestle playfully on the ground.
"Just as I expected," says Irene after working with her quick sword for some time.
"I will have to train more and harder if I want to reach my old level in speed and accuracy," She says as she checks the cuts on the tree.
"I wonder how the others are doing?" she wonders aloud, continuing her training to adjust her technique to the new sword.
Clare opens her eyes and looks around with confusion. "What happened? ...and why do I feel so sick?"
"Thank god you're alright. Clare you passed out from the pain. I was so worried," Teresa says while looking down at Clare who is still using her lap as a pillow.
"Was the change a success? I feel like I am about to throw up yet I can't, what does that mean?" ask Clare.
"We have to wait to find out if it was a success or not, and you feel so sick because your body is trying to accept the yoma power. If it can't your body will expel it in a week or so. "
"So why where you worried?" ask Clare while she tries to regain her strength to stand up.
"Well, if someone dies from the change they die in the first six hours," says Teresa as she helps Clare up.
Clare notices that the sun has almost disappeared behind the horizon. "How long was I out?" she ask.
"Fourteen hours at least," says Teresa as they begin to walk back towards the inn.
"Clare, when we get back I think we both should go to sleep. This day was tiring, even though it wasn't physically but mentally. I need a rest, and so do you. And anyways, your body will adjust faster while sleeping."
She waits for Clare to answer but when she does not give any response she looks down at her and notices she's already fallen asleep. 'I guess her body knows what she needs,' Teresa thinks. She can't stop herself from smiling softly at the child.
Irene is just about to lay down when she notices a faint yoki aura. 'Another yoma? But how did it find our room?'
She grabs the hilt of her claymore when the door opens and Teresa enters with a sleeping Clare in her arms. 'Did I feel Teresa for a moment there? It was similar... or was I just imagine things? I guess I trained too much today. I need my rest,' she thinks as she lets the hilt of her claymore go.
After half an hour Noel and Sophia return retiring for the day.
The next morning with the sun barely reaching above the horizon the small group leaves the town continuing their journey.
"Hey Sophia aren't you feeling something weird?" ask Noel as she looks around trying to find the source of her discomfort.
"I think you're only imagining things. I can't feel a thing. No yoma in one mile radius," says Sophia.
Irene looks at Noel for a moment then she turns back. 'So Noel can also feel it. I'm not imagining things,' thinks Irene as she slowly gets closer to Teresa who is carrying sleeping Clare. 'Strange. Why does the feeling become stronger when I get closer to Teresa, and becomes weaker when distancing myself?'
Crystal has already figured out what is happening and smiles inwardly thinking about how Teresa didn't tell the others.
'So the last set of armor I made will still be useful.'
Organization headquarters
Miria opens her eyes and looks around. 'What happened? ...oh right, I was taken by the organization.' She does not move from the spot her body has been laid. 'I still feel sick from whatever they did to us.'
"I see you're awake," says the female lying in the bed beside hers.
"Yes I just woke up," says Miria, turning her head to the side.
"Good then I can tell you what they told us. There will be a debriefing," says the girl.
"I am Miria. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"I am Galatea the girl with the long pony tail is Ophelia, and the girl with long hair is Yuma," says the girl.
"And where are the others?" ask Miria.
"In different rooms. The four of us where given this room."
"Nice to meet you Miria," says Yuma meekly.
"Hmph... another weakling. Just don't get in my way or you'll end up like the yomas," snorts Ophelia then she turns the other way trying to sleep.
"What's with her?" ask Miria.
"We don't know. She's like that since we've been here," says Yuma quietly.
"Well anyways, let's go to this meeting. I'm curious what they will make us do," says Galatea. As she gets up the others turn to follow her lead and exit the room together.
In a random village, one week later
"So Clare how are you feeling?" ask Teresa as she works out with her sword.
"I'm fine. The sick feeling is slowly disappearing. I guess my body accepted the change. So when will I begin to develop abilities?"
"Well, it seems your body accepted my blood. The hair and the eyes of a normal Claymore begin to fade after a month of the change, but since you are only one fourth I think it will be more like a six month period. When your eyes and hair begin to drain of color your abilities will surface."
"Teresa what do you think? Do the others know what's going on?" ask Clare.
"Irene and Noel feel your change but so far they where not able to put two and two together. Sophia is oblivious to all of it, however; Crystal is a different case altogether. Last night she tried to give me the last set of equipment saying that I'll have a better use for it then her."
"She did? Anyways Teresa, when can I begin to train?"
"You first have to learn to suppress your yoki. That can only be achieved with lots of meditation. Until you master that I won't train you."
"I won't disappoint you Teresa." Clare walks up to Teresa and hugs her.
"So why are we doing the food shopping for that brat again? This is stupid and useless! She'll get hungry again anyway," says an irritated Noel as she walks trough the market with Sophia.
"If I remember right, you looked quite jealous of Teresa the other day when she was playing with her *pet human*. May it be that you are only so harsh because you'd love to have her as a friend?" Ask Sophia while looking through some merchant's wares.
"Oh come on, me jealous of that stuck up bitch? No way. Humans are too fragile anyway. Just take that little girl as an example. She needs to eat three times a day, needs to sleep every day and I could go on. Teresa carries her more times on her back when she is sleeping then I want to count. No to mention Teresa became soft since she got her. No thank you, I don't want to do anything with her."
"True, still I think you should try to be nicer with Clare. I have a feeling Teresa noticed your hostility toward her *pet*," says Sophia as she pays for the meat.
"Maybe. The only reason I didn't blow up in her face is cause I have a weird uneasy feeling every time I get close to her," Says Noel while putting the food into the bag.
"Number four Noel is afraid of a little girl? What would Irene say if she would found out?" says Sophia with a laugh.
"Who are you calling a chicken? I'll prove to you that I'm not a chicken."
"How?" ask Sophia with raised eyebrows.
"I'll race you back to the inn. If I win you accept that I'm not a chicken."
"Alright, but if I win you sleep on the ground tonight."
"Alright. No yoma powers. Ready? Go!" Then Noel runs off before Sophia can begin.
"Hey not fair!" Shouts Sophia as she races after Noel.
The merchants all look after the pair.
"Where those really Claymore's?" ask one.
"Well they all were once human, so what stops them from acting like one?" ask another.
"True. But I'm still not too happy that they stay in our town," says a third.
"Well they'll probably move on in a day, they always do," says the second.
"Besides, I heard they killed a yoma for free," says the first helpfully.
"Well if you say so... but I still won't trust them. They are after all, half yoma themselves," states the third.
-to be continued