7CHAPTER 2: THE LADY OF THE HOUSE
PREVIOUSLY:
Percy raised another quizzical brow at her, "You've barely recovered from your injuries and the first thing you intend to do now you're awake is to grab your over sized meat cleaver?" he asked with a hint of incredulity.
It was the Claymore's turn to stare at him blankly.
He returned her stare with a wolf glare, "Absolutely not, you just re opened your wounds and as your host I have to re stitch the injury and you carrying a gigantic sword will not help your situation so you will do as I say and stay in bed" he said with a note of finality.
Clare pursed her lips before sighing in resignation and laying back down, "Good girl" he chirped happily before getting some stitches to close up the re opened wound.
'If he calls me a girl one more time…'
NOW:
The sound of a blade swishing through the air at a rapid pace echoed through the relatively quiet courtyard.
Clare was up and about and had it been that she the doors in the mansion she was in were not closed, she would've left already. And if you're thinking 'Why didn't she just scale the fence?' then it would be important to note that she had already tried jumping out…
Only to slam head first into an invisible barrier and succeed in knocking herself unconscious.
When she finally woke up, the man who had treated her wounds wasn't back yet so she decided to explore the mansion for a bit to alleviate her boredom.
She was impressed by the impressive architecture of the building but did not let her amazement show until she wound up in a room that appeared to be an armoury, if the ridiculous amounts of weapons on display were anything to go about.
Among the numerous weapons, she found a section that was stock piled with Claymores of different sizes with different designs unique to each one etched on their flat sides.
It was in this area that she found her own Claymore rested on one of the racks, which was quite easy as it lacked the dazzling quality of the other giant swords.
Seeing that the man wasn't going to be back anytime soon, she decided to get some practice done on her Quicksword technique, something she decided to do in the house's spacious courtyard.
Her 'borrowed' arm moved in a circular stabbing motion at rapid speed too fast for the human eye to follow with her posture relaxed and her silver eyes focused, for the past few weeks –before her injury and subsequent hospitalization in the prison cell of a mansion-, she had been trying to improve on the speed which the blade moved without having to call upon her Yoki power.
So far she was making progress on it, but she would not stop until she was certain that she was strong enough to fight and killed that one horned bitch.
Her silver eyes changed to a menacing gold colour at that though causing her blurring sword arm to become invisible due to the speed it was slicing through the air at.
She closed her eyes and took in a calming breath without stopping her repeating stabs before opening her eyes again to reveal her usual pair of silver eyes.
Though the sword was still moving at the same speed as when her eyes had changed colur.
"Interesting, it seems that if I call upon my Yoki in minute quantities sparsely between training sessions I can give my Yoki free attacks a tiny yet permanent boost" the 47th ranked Claymore thought to herself.
Her musings were cut short by the sound of a female clearing her throat.
Clare stopped her quicksword technique and turned to the intruder with her Claymore poised to strike.
She was met with the sight of a beautiful woman with auburn hair that appeared to be reddish in colour, piercing silver eyes of greater intensity than hers and a flowing silver dress that seemed to be weaved from strands of solid silver moonlight. The woman looked to be between the ages of twenty three and twenty six years of age, Clare tried to sense if there was any sort of Yoki in the lady due to the colour of her eyes but couldn't sense an ounce of the tainted power in her which made her confused and slightly frightened because there was something powerful about the lady before her.
Powerful and dangerous.
"Who are you?" Clare questioned with her grip on her sword not wavering in the slightest despite the amount of unease she was feeling.
The lady raised a perfect brow at her but did not answer her right away, "Unnatural silver eyes, ability to carry a heavy sword with relative ease, swings said blade at speeds impossible to keep track of with human eyes…" the woman paused from her description before a smile that made Clare feel like a cornered animal appeared on her face.
"…and what's this? You practically radiate demonic energy, so I guess it's safe to say you're not mortal. Now, the real question should be…" the shimmering dress on her person shimmered away like a mirage leaving her with a huntress' outfit on and a bow with an arrow already notched trained on the Claymore, "…who are you?" the lady asked in an icy tone with the smile on her face gone and replaced with a cold look.
Clare jumped back in shock at the action and swallowed nervously, she knew something was off about the woman and that belief was further reinforced by the disappearing/ replacing act her clothes just performed.
The Claymore was snapped out of her musings when a sliver arrow whizzed past her ear causing her to yelp in shock.
"I won't repeat my question whore" the lady spat with her eyes gaining a murderous expression.
Before the warrior could wonder what that statement was about, a pair of strong looking arms appeared around the silver eyed trigger crazy lady's waist causing her to stiffen slightly before moaning slightly as soft lips sucked on her neck.
Clare looked on awkwardly.
"Percy…" the woman whispered breathlessly causing the now identified Percy to chuckle against her skin before lifting his face up to look at Clare and then blinking.
"Oh, hey Clare I didn't know you were up yet, I could have gotten you something to eat" he stated in a friendly tone causing the huntress garbed lady to turn to face him, "You know her?" she asked in a small voice that had returned back to its icy tone.
Percy blinked once more before looking down at her –as he was a good foot taller than her—and speaking again, "Yeah, she's that lady I told you about who I saw wounded and passed out in the Rockefeller Centre…" he raised a questioning brow at her, "Didn't I tell you about this already?" he asked.
The lady still looked confused.
Percy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I told you this over an Iris Message while you were doing your duties" he said causing her to blink twice before her face turned an interesting shade of gold indicating she was blushing.
"Oh…my apologies then…" the bow disappeared from her hand causing Clare to jump back once more, "…I am Lady Artemis, goddess of the hunt, children, childbirth and the moon, consort to this oaf over here…" Percy let out an indignant 'hey', "…and the lady of the house" the now identified Artemis mumbled the last part out but it was clear that she was heard.
Percy frowned before nudging Artemis, "I don't think you should've told her that" he mumbled but Artemis waved her hand dismissively, "Nothing to worry about, I can sense demonic energy in her even though she's trying to suppress it…" Artemis paused once more, "…now that I think about it, why does she have demonic energy in her in the first place?" Artemis asked suspiciously.
Percy let go off her waist, "She said something about being a Claymore, half human and half Yoma, that would explain the aura" he said before looking at her curiously, "You really are attached to that meat cleaver of yours" he quipped causing the Claymore to snort despite her disbelief that the woman just addressed herself as a goddess –they were most likely mad, that had to be the only explanation— before re sheathing her sword as the people in front of her were not threats to her, at least not yet.
"It is imperative that I am, to lose your Claymore is to lose your head, as much as our little chat has been somewhat entertaining I need to head north to Alphonse" she said in her monotonous voice.
The couple looked at each other before Percy opened his mouth to speak only for Artemis to beat him to it, "Very well then, you may leave…" the lady snapped her fingers causing a gate to appear in the courtyard and swing open while the Claymore's eyes widened in surprise, "…I am sure you can find your way there" Artemis stated with a straight face.
The Claymore still in slight shock about what she just saw nodded numbly before briskly walking out the gate.
The gate disappeared and Percy rolled his eyes, "That was mean you know?" he asked the moon goddess only to get an innocent shrug in response, "If she's worth her salt than she'll find her way back" Artemis said dismissively.
Percy sighed exasperatedly, "What was the point of sending her out to a world I'm not sure she's familiar with" he questioned.
"Because…" the moon goddess gained a predatory smile on her face before pouncing on him causing him to grunt at her weight but regardless hold her while standing, she wrapped her long legs around his torso before pulling his head forward into a deep heated French kiss.
"…it's been a while…" she said breathily causing him to growl in a needy manner before tearing her shirt off and proceeding to kiss and suck on her neck.
"…and you know how loud I can be" she finished with a growl of her own.
AN: One review, four favs and eight follows, this story seems to have a bit of promise, sadly I don't have time to ramble but just to inform you guys. I have a poll up on my profile regarding this story so go there and vote.
REVIEW!
ALTAIR25 OUT!