The Claymores arrived a few minutes later, just in time to witness 1/10 of Teresa's awesome power. Noel realized just what was happening over the hill. Those were some big Yoki auras, and sweet Christ were they going at it. Going over the hill, it became clear just who was more powerful.
Pricilla was a mess, her muscles grotesquely bulging, her skin was definitely purple now, her hair had become spikey, both of her shoulders were cut and bleeding, and drool was liberally flowing from her fang-filled maw.
Everyone watched in shock as Pricilla went past her limit, her back bulging and warping. The poor girl fell to her knees in front of Teresa, her hideous form begging for mercy. Unfortunately, the only mercy was death. She was ready too, Pricilla the Number 2 was ready to die and join her family in Heaven, but Pricilla the Yoma was listening to her self-preservation instincts. So she cut off her executioner's hands.
In the microsecond it took for everyone's brains to register what the hell just happened, the Yoma that was Pricilla was sailing forward on a path to decapitate the Faint Smile. The best part? It would be an easy kill; the Number 1 was still trying to register what happened to her hands.
Pricilla's blade was millimeters away from Teresa's neck…but Pricilla was sent flying back by a hard kick to the abdomen.
Clare suddenly noticed the absence of a certain Primordial right next to her, and noticed said Primordial standing right in front of Teresa with his leg still up from kicking Pricilla to high Heaven.
"Whelp. That could have gotten bloodier than necessary." Percy said as he lowered his leg back to the ground and turned to Teresa.
Teresa, returning to the world of reality, frowned at the Primordial. "You couldn't have done that earlier?" she said as she raised the stubs were her hands used to be up to his face.
Percy leaned back and pushed away Teresa's regenerating arms. "I could have, but I have interfered with the balance of this universe enough. The temporary loss of your hands was the only way I could peacefully interfere with your fate. Your welcome."
Teresa and the others just stared at him in disbelief, completely baffled by his words.
Percy looked at the others, and blinked in confusion. "What? Did I do or say something wrong?"
Teresa snapped out of her momentary trance. "No, you didn't, but to go out of your way to save my life…thank you."
Percy smiled at her. "It's no biggie. I would be happy to do it again."
Teresa asked a question that had been bugging her ever since they entered the previous town. "Why? Why go out of your way to save my life? Wasn't balance one of your domains? Why go against your own nature?"
Percy chuckled at her. He gave her his famous lopsided grin. "Because you're interesting, and I don't think little Clare here would be too happy with me otherwise." He turned to look at a teary-eyed Clare. "She has such a beautiful smile, it would be such a shame if it ever disappeared."
Clare's willpower finally gave away once he said that. Her mouth became a relieved smile and she began to cry. She ran up to the two powerful people and gathered them into a near-bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you, thank you for saving Teresa, thank you for helping us." She cried as she spoke to Percy. Her voice was muffled from her face being pressed against the Primordial's stomach.
Percy, surprised by the hug, patted Clare's head affectionately. "There, there, Clare. No need to cry." He placed his fingers under her chin and raised her head. He smiled as he spoke. "Where's that smile of yours?" She cracked a smile. "There it is. Never, ever, lose that smile."
The remaining members of the execution squad stayed silent during the exchange. Their hearts felt heavy in their chests. They observed how Percy treated young Clare.
Like a loving father caring for his daughter.
Sophia smiled at Noel, who nodded back. Noel placed her hand on Ilena's shoulder, gaining the attention of the former Number 2. Noel and Sophia gave Ilena a look. Ilena quickly understood, and began to treat down the mountain.
"You know," a voice called out from behind. "If you wanted to leave so early, you might as well tell us beforehand. It's only decent."
The trio turned back around, their attention on a smiling Teresa.
Ilena smiled slightly at the Faint Smile. "That may be so, but we did not wish to interrupt. Now that you're still alive, and we aren't killing you, we have gone against the mission. The Organization will assume we have gone rogue and send out other warriors to gather our heads. We would only be a burden if we stayed."
By the time Teresa spoke, Clare had let them go and decided to use Percy as a bipedal taxi service.
"Nonsense!" Teresa said. "You would never be a burden to me, Ilena."
"But we tried to kill-!"
"Under the orders of the Organization, not on your own terms." Teresa cut in. "It would actually make me happier off you traveled with us. Traitors to the Organization must stick together, right? There's no point in leaving you to go off on your own, you will stay with us. We can build our own place to live, away from our duties."
Ilena hesitated at first, but one look from Teresa made her repent. "Alright, we'll stay with you. But what about Pricilla? What will we do about her?"
Teresa frowned at the question. "She is most likely going to Awaken. She may have already. Either way, we need to kill her. She is too much of a threat to our peace to let live."
Ilena nodded, "I understand, but where is she now?"
Teresa pointed her newly regenerating finger – at the moment her hands look like that of a new born baby – and waved it in an arc towards the direction Pricilla was sent flying by Percy's Primordial-powered kick. "Somewhere in that direction. Somewhere far, far, away from here." At this she gave a certain deity a look, with which said deity just gave her an innocent smile accompanied by shrugging shoulders and a giggling Clare. "I have a feeling that we won't need to worry about her for a while."
Out of nowhere, Percy began coughing. Hard. He dropped Clare and clutched his stomach, then began to puke silver ichor.
Clare gasped in surprise. "Percy!" she and the others ran towards him. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Percy stopped puking, but, once he stopped, it seemed like he was having some form of asthma attack. He couldn't breathe. He fell to his knees, clutching his throat as he tried to force air into his lungs, but he just couldn't. It seemed like his respiratory system just decided to stop working.
Ilena and the others kneeled next to him. Clare shifted Percy onto her lap as she tried to understand what was happening to her friend.
"Something's wrong," Sophia began as she examined Percy. She instructed Clare to make him sit upright, and tried to keep him from laying down or falling forward.
Percy slowly began to breath, but he was still wheezing. The others sighed in relief. He may not be completely okay, but at least he was breathing. Sophia laid him back down onto the ground.
Teresa leaned over him, and placed her ear over his mouth and nose. He was breathing normally now. She began to call his name, but he didn't seem to hear, that was when she noticed that the Primordial was unconscious.
Noel frowned, "What happened? He was just fine a few minutes ago."
The others nodded.
Ilena was the first to fully register the silver liquid on the floor. She dipped her middle and pointer fingers into the substance and brought it up to her nose and sniffed.
Blood.
The Quicksword frowned. Why did this smell like blood? She turned to Teresa.
"It's blood." Everyone, bar Perseus, gave her confused looks, but realized what she was talking about when they, too, fully registered the silver liquid that Percy threw up.
"What do you mean?" asked Sophia.
"I smells like blood, but," Ilena frowned, "I can also sense traces of power coming from it." She turned to Teresa and Clare, who were kneeling by each other. "Is there something we should know about your male friend, girls?"
The two females nodded. "We do, Perseus here," she waved her hand at Percy's prone figure. "is neither human, Yoma, or Claymore, but something I have come to realize is far greater than either. He is a Primordial. A purely elemental being that forms the universe. Supposedly, he is from another universe. He was banished from his home for being "too dangerous". We met when Orsay and the others were first tasked to take my head. He watched the whole ordeal, then decided to follow Clare and me. It had only been a few hours, but he said he wanted to join us on our many adventures. Clare and I have grown quite fond of him. I hope he'll be alright." Teresa glanced at Percy worriedly.
The three nodded in acceptance. They were not very surprised. After all their years as warriors of the Organization, they have been subject to the strangest things. The trio made a mental note to interrogate Perseus later.
"We should take him back to the town. It shouldn't be too far from here, and carrying him shouldn't be too much of a problem. There, we can get a proper rest, and make sure he's alright." Sophia suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, the events of today finally taking its toll on the battle hardened females.
Ilena nodded, "I agree. We are low on supplies anyway. It will give us the opportunity to restock and plan our next move." The others also came to an agreement, finally feeling small traces of fatigue.
Noel and Sophia volunteered to carry Percy. Noel holding him by the arms, while Sophia carried his legs. Once they got a firm hold on the Primordial's appendages, the group of females set off towards the town.
Three days later
The last thing Percy remembered when he came to three days after his little episode was when he had Clare hanging from his back after she released him and Teresa from her hug, and Ilena and co. agreeing to join them on their journey for a safe place to stay and enjoy themselves. After that, everything was fuzzy. Percy could only remember that he felt immensely ill, and that he couldn't breathe. What happened during that time, he could not remember.
He also couldn't remember whether or not they had a bed with them. He was pretty sure they didn't, but why was he on a bed? Where were the others? For a matter of fact, were was he? He remembered being on a mountain, not a room. This revelation only served to confuse the already disoriented Primordial further.
He sat up on his bed, and observed the room he was in. It small and rectangular. Fifteen by twenty feet, maybe. There were two extra twin beds, both empty. A large dresser, and two lanterns hanging along the shorter walls. There was also a small bookshelf by the door, and two or three woven baskets. Percy also noticed several short indents on the floor – as if a sword were stabbed into the wood.
After familiarizing himself with his surroundings, Percy moved to get out of bed. Once he stood, the room spun a little. He leaned his left hand on the wall perpendicular to the bed he was just in and tried balancing himself, waiting for his nausea and dizziness to pass.
Once it passed, he began walking towards the door. He teetered as he walked. He opened the door, and walked into the small hallway that lead to the other rooms and the staircase. If his assumption was correct, and this was an inn, then the stairs should lead him to the lobby. As he descended down the stairs, he didn't notice that his cloak was off, and he didn't bother to put his shirt back on. He held onto the railing like a lifeline until he reached the bottom of the stairwell.
He looked around, and was happy to know he assumed correctly. It was the same inn he, Teresa, and Clare stayed in after Teresa slayed the Yoma that was terrorizing the town. The person at the front desk gave him a curt nod, and beckoned him over. He nodded back at the man and complied.
The man was old looking – bald with a greying beard and brown eyes. The inn keeper greeted Percy.
"Good to see you're feeling better, lad. You were brought in and taken care of those Claymores that attacked their own. She was with them too. Think they also had a young girl with them. If you're looking for them, they just left to the marketplace. They should be back in a few hours, so I wouldn't worry too much. I'd advise that you stay in bed, lad. You weren't looking so good when they brought you in. Silver stuff all over the front of your cloak, and as pale as milk." The man looked at him concerned. "Are you feeling alright lad?"
Percy smiled at the inn keeper. "Yes, I'm feeling better. I don't really remember what happened, though."
The man sucked his teeth. "Best you don't know. You didn't look too good, and whatever that silver stuff on your cloak was…Anyways, you should rest."
Percy nodded and was about to approach the stairwell, when the front door opened and in entered Teresa, Clare, Ilena, Noel, and Sophia. They were no longer wearing their armor anymore, just some clothes from the market.
Clare beamed in joy at seeing Percy awake. She ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Percy! You're awake! I thought you would never wake up!"
Teresa walked up to them and gently pulled Clare away from Percy. "Now, now, Clare. We know you're happy Percy's finally awake, but if you squeeze him any harder you might break his ribs."
Clare giggled "Sorry, Percy."
Percy chuckled at Clare, "It's alright. I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You've been out for three days. We began to worry. You just started coughing out of nowhere." Said Ilena, concern present on her usually stoic face.
They began to descend the stairs. "Yah, I'm fine. What happened anyways?"
"You mean you don't remember?" Noel asked, shocked.
Percy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Uh, yah, I guess. All I remember was giving Clare a piggy back ride, anything after that is fuzzy."
Teresa nodded. "You began to have a coughing fit out of nowhere, then you began to throw up this silver liquid – we'll talk about that later – then, after you stopped puking, you couldn't breathe. Sophia had us sit you upright in order for you to breathe correctly. Once your breathing regulated, you blacked out. We brought you here for better treatment, and a place to rest. You've been asleep for three days after that."
As Teresa explained what happened, Percy's memories began to "un-fog" themselves. Once Teresa finished her explanation, they had already made it to their room.
Percy nodded as he sat back on his bed. "I see."
Sophia crossed her arms, and asked the one question on all of the female's minds. "Any idea why that happened?"
Percy thought for a bit, then nodded. "Kind of. I think it was when I interfered with Teresa's life. She was originally fated to die by Pricilla's hand. I guess this was the price I paid for practically going against myself. I guess you could think of it like me beating myself up."
Everyone nodded, but Teresa frowned. "Well, don't you even dare to do that again. Only when it is the direst of situations are you allowed to do that. Otherwise, you are now prohibited from interfering with our fates more than necessary. Am I making myself clear?"
Percy threw his head back and laughed, but nodded anyway. "Yes, I understand. It's not like I like being a masochist and sacrificing my health for the betterment of others."
Teresa nodded, satisfied. "Good, now onto another topic. What was that silver liquid you threw up?"
Percy made an ice dagger appear out of thin air by rearranging the water molecules in the air of the surrounding area (the Terrible Trio gasped in aw). He then pricked his finger, and, instead of the usual red blood, silver ichor flowed out of the small puncture wound. "The deities of my world called this blood "Ichor". The blood of the gods and titans are both golden, but the ichor of a Primordial is either a representation of their main domain, or silver. The silver ichor is usually only found in major Primordials like Chronos and Ananke who personified the domains of Time and Destiny respectively. My domain over Balance has given me silver ichor." He explained as he held up his thumb for everyone to see.
Sophia nodded. "That makes sense. You threw up your own ichor because of lung failure."
"I guess."
"Percy?"
"What is it, Clare?"
Clare shifted her weight on her feet. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
Percy smiled. "Yes, dear. I'm much better now, thank you."
Noel spoke up. "Hay, if what you're saying is true, then how old are you?"
Percy raised his left eyebrow, amusement twinkling in his color-changing eyes. "Isn't it a bit rude to ask an old man his age?" Noel blushed in embarrassment, but beckoned him to answer her question. Percy sighed, "I'd say, physically, I'm 17, but in reality, I'm over five thousand years of age. When my domains were bestowed upon me, I gained the memories of my predecessors. Really, now that I think about it, I feel much older than five thousand. More like a few trillion, maybe even more."
"Wow," Clare said, wide-eyed. "You are old."
Percy glared at her half-heartedly.
"Percy?" Clare asked. At his nod of acknowledgement, she continued. "Can you tell us more about your old home?"
Percy smiled at her, and ruffled her hair. "Maybe later, it's a pretty long story, and I'm pretty tired."
Clare nodded in understanding, she, too, was sleepy herself. The sun was almost setting, anyways.
"You should get some rest." Teresa said to him as she guided a sleep Clare to the bed next to Percy's. "Tomorrow, we'll have to get you some new clothes. I washed your cloak, though. It's on the dresser." She pointed towards the dresser to her right. "So, go back to sleep Ancient One."
"Hay!" Percy cried out. "Don't call me that! It makes me feel older than I want to be."
Teresa laughed as she unsheathed her claymore and stabbed it into the ground in front of the last bed. "Well, too bad for you. That's your new nickname, oh great Ancient One."
Percy grumbled in protest as he pulled the covers over his head, blushing silver as he laid down.
Clare and Teresa laughed at him.
"Good night Ancient One!" the five females called out as they all went to sleep. Ilena, Noel, and Sophia followed Teresa's example and planted their claymores into the wood before closing their eyes.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Percy yelled, voice muffled by the pillow.