Servitude

The man sat in his room as he had always since his comrades had awakened. He never considered the idea of escaping, simply because he knew that the world had changed since he had last been outside, fighting Isley when he had awakened. After barely surviving the battle with him he was locked away and what seemed to be forgotten. The organization considered him an unusual warrior. He was never tempted to awaken and had only used his yoma powers once, when fighting Isley. Now he had one job, training himself to be stronger and on the rare occasion fight alongside the current number one. The last one he had served with was Riful, a young girl who had called him big brother. He never did find out what happened or why he wasn't allowed to work with her anymore. It was on this day that the doors to his large room were opened. In stepped the elders with grim looks in their faces.

"We have work for you to do." One said.

"The current number one has gone AWOL. We need you to go out and kill her."

"Riful has rebelled?" he asked.

"No. Riful awoke some time ago. The new number one is Terresa of the faint smile. Find her and if you deem yourself strong enough, kill her, if not then report back here and we will send others to kill her." The man said.

"Very well." He said, standing and grabbing his claymore he took his private passage to the outside world and began tracking down the traitor. He travelled for several days until he reached a town where he could feel a warriors presence. Walking into the town he found his target. She was fighting a yoma that was in the town and with little effort killed it. The villagers were well pleased that she had defeated the beast and put her up in the best lodgings they had. Surprising him was that a young girl, no more than ten was travelling with her and seemed attached to her hip. As they entered he walked up next to her and whispered "Don't cause a scene. Once the child is asleep meet me fifty meters south of the town. If you do not show yourself before sunrise then I shall kill you and all present in this town."

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"That is none of your concern." Was the reply as he walked off.

It was late when she finally arrived, trying to look at his features that the black cloak concealed. With a single motion he let the cloak fall and revealed himself to her. He was a man with smooth features. His hair was the silver color of all Claymores along with his eyes. He wore light silver armor, just enough to cover the vital areas over his jumpsuit.

"A male warrior. How is it that you still exist?" Teressa asked.

"I exist because the organization still has need of my skills. You are only the second woman in the organization to have seen me. Now Teressa of the faint smile I would like to know why you have betrayed the organization."

"I betrayed them because I killed bandits that slaughtered an entire town, and chose to live instead of being executed."

"So that is why they sent me," he sighed "Very well. Let's see if you can match my blade. I am Christopher the unconquerable and I will destroy you." Drawing his sword he crossed the difference that separated them in the blink of an eye and swung his sword with immense strength. She dodged quickly and began to fight back but he could tell that she was not releasing yoma energy either. As their blades clashed in the moonlight he began to get the feel of her fighting style until he could predict her movements before she even made them.

"You are strong." He said as they fought.

"As are you, no wonder you are still around after all of these years." She said as she blocked his sword "Tell me how come I have never heard of you before?"

"Simple." He began as he blocked her thrust "My presence is only revealed to the current number one when there is a mission that they feel will cause them much of a problem. Only one other has seen me since Isley awakened and that was Riful."

"I see. So they sent you here because they thought that you could defeat me. That is foolish indeed." She laughed as her smile appeared. With releasing ten percent of her yoma energy she struck with greater strength and force but could not break his guard. After several more minutes of him letting her hammer away at his defenses he moved out of her range and focused his yoma energy into his arm and swung. The force of the swing created a shockwave that created a shallow wound on her left shoulder.

"That was one of my signature moves. The Wind Fang, and at its weakest. That was only one percent of my total power. You stand no chance against me. Surrender yourself and I shall be merciful and give you a swift death." He offered.

"Not a chance." She grinned. Before either of them could move the young girl from earlier ran out and moved in front of Teressa.

"Move away child. I have no business with you." Christopher said.

"No. I won't let you hurt Teressa." She said firmly.

"That's enough Clare. I can take care of myself." Teressa smiled at the child. Unwanted memories began surfacing in his mind as he remembered the few times he had worked with Riful. She had seen him as a big brother and always tried to protect him from the powerful yoma, even though he never needed the protection. With a smile he sheathed his claymore and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"Teressa asked.

"Back to the organization to say that I could not kill you. They will send a team of warriors next time and they won't be as merciful as I was. May luck and happiness follow you, Teressa and Clare." He said as he walked east.

Once he returned and gave his report he returned to his room, pondering what had occurred. The next day he heard that Teressa had been killed by the awakened power of the new number two and had killed the numbers four and five and tore off the arm of the number three.

'It appears that they were not meant to be together in the end. My apologies to your spirit Teressa of the faint smile.' He thought to himself after the man left who gave him the report. With that he resumed training and repressing his yoma energy for several more years until he was again called to serve.