Clare stretched for her claymore beside and Seth eyes widened as he witnessed her slicing open her palm.
PSSSHHH
Blood sprayed wildly. Some managed to splash on him since he was so close to her. It's quite clear she had nicked an artery or two.
"Woah, woah! Slow down missus! I only need one drop!"
Seth's arms flailed around in panic.
"Hm, really?" Clare looked up at him blankly.
She had assumed when he said "gimme some blood," he had wanted a lot, but she guessed it might've been poor communication's fault.
Poor communication: "…"
"Yes. All I need is a drop." He pointed down at his pants that's stained red. "This is enough."
Clare watched as the metal platings on his shins warped over the blood as it disappeared into his biomass.
Immediately after, various information began piling up in his 'brain.' The core structures of her genome became apparent in a moment's notice.
Her base composition of which Seth gathered to be a little over seventy percent human and a scratch over twenty-five percent yoma which were more stable than he initially thought.
From what he gathered, her physiology has been altered quite a bit in several ways.
Cell behavior, muscle system, nervous system, blood properties and structural weak points…
Everything special about Clare was laid out before him.
And while Seth was busy analyzing her DNA, the girl was staring at his focused visage.
Clare glanced down at her bloodied palm, already healed thanks to her enhanced regen given by her altered physique.
She then glanced up at Seth who stood, eyes closed, extremely focused.
Seeing him so engrossed in his endeavor, Clare felt an indescribable sensation welling up in her chest.
Unknowingly, a small up curve came to the corner of her lips as a faint red hue could be spotted on her cheeks.
Her heart raced.
He's doing so much for me…
She thought. This little travel buddy had seemingly become one of the few people who had managed to work their way into her circle.
But before she could delve into her feelings, Seth called out to her—
"Hey…uh, Clare."
"What's wrong?" Her voice unusually small and warm.
As her eyes focused on Seth, she saw confusion on his face.
"Well… I noticed that in your blood, other than the yoma, there was another influence…" He explained.
Clare's eyes widened as she seemed to know what he might be referring to.
Without giving time for her to respond, he continued.
"A woman from the looks of it. Must've been pretty strong too from the looks of it. Their influence has been dampening the yoma's aggression bit by bit…"
He looked down and saw her face and became concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Teresa…" she muttered softly.
"Teresa? So you know the person?"
"Mhm…"
Clare rested her arms in her lap as she composed herself as her voice went back to its usual state.
"She's the woman who took care of me before I became a claymore. She herself was a claymore—a powerful one, and her flesh was implanted into me."
Her gaze lowered for a moment, fingers intertwining with each other as she steadied her emotional turmoil.
"…Teresa was…different," she said softly. "She took care of me when I had nothing. Protected me… stayed with me."
Seth took a seat at her side as he listened.
"She was the strongest claymore of her time," Clare continued, hints of pride laced in her tone. "No one could stand against her."
"And yet she died—I mean, I would assume she's dead… with her flesh in you and all…"
Seth raised a brow slightly as he blurted but he quickly followed up.
Clare side-eyed him but didn't press the issue.
"She was killed… by another claymore."
Seth frowned.
"…Must be strong then."
"…A warrior who lost control," Clare said. "She had became a monster."
Seth didn't need her to spell it out.
"An awakened being."
Clare gave a small nod.
Silence lingered for a second.
"…Shucks."
Clare looked down at her hand again.
"But she's still with me," she added, allowing Seth to see her uncharacteristic smile. Simply beautiful.
"When I became a claymore, instead of taking the flesh straight from a yoma, I've been given her flesh instead."
Seth glanced at her, then smirked lightly.
"Well, I can't argue with that. She's definitely still in there, alright."
Clare looked up.
"The way her cells interact with yours…it's safe to say that she's in there preventing your yoma side from rapidly taking you over."
He shrugged.
"If anything, she's been carrying you this whole time without you even realizing how much."
Clare's eyes widened just slightly.
"…I see."
Although she knew he might be entertaining her wild thoughts, hearing him say it lifted her spirits.
Her fists clenched tighter.
And just like that, her trust in him deepened.
Not because he comforted her, but because he understood and hadn't ridiculed her.
"…Alright." Seth stood up and struck an All-might pose.
Clare looked at him.
"What are you—"
"I guess it's time I do what I promised—Fix you."
***
"Now lie down on your back or front—whichever way you like."
Clare looked at the blanket laid out on the floor before her, the same one she witnessed Seth creating from flesh.
She glanced between him and the cloth before she laid on her back, her eyes following him as he knelt beside her.
"Don't worry too much. It's probably gonna feel uncomfortable—like being violated from the inside by ants."
She said nothing.
Seth brought up a map of her entire physical structure he had recreated as his right index finger shifted into a sharp claw.
Clare's face showed no change but her emotions were on a roll and showed no reaction to her skin being pricked.
[Host, be reminded to proceed with caution. There might be subtle gaps with biodata inference.]
His system reminded him.
Got it.
He refocused back on the map as his finger bound with her flesh, flooding her system with fragments of his virus.
First things first…reach the heart.
Consciously, he manipulated the virus, slowly traveling through her blood stream, making its way to her heart.
That way, he can spread it throughout her body and eliminate the target in one fell swoop.
Seth guided the virus through her bloodstream like he was moving through traffic.
Every heartbeat of hers and her immune system kept trying to throw him off and since his goal wasn't to infect, he had to adjust, keep it pushing.
"…Got it."
He had reached her heart.
From there, he let the heart do the work of spreading the virus throughout her whole body—nice and dandy.
Just enough to reach everywhere.
Clare's body tensed a bit.
Yep—she definitely felt it.
Like something crawling inside her.
Weird and uncomfortable.
…but she didn't move.
She trusted him enough for letting him get this far, might as well see it through.
Then—
"There you are."
Inside her body, the yoma cells stood out instantly.
With thick outer membranes, the cell's structure was nearly five times denser than a human's and with their corrupted nature, nearby cells were slowly changing as well.
They looked just like he remembered.
"Yeah, you guys are the issue."
He immediately got to work.
Simultaneously, the viruses quickly latched onto every single one of those cells before they injected something into them, like plugging in a flash drive.
Then—
"…Alright, I see how you work."
He started creating new folders.
Their aggressive nature? No means no.
The predatory instincts? Not useful.
That constant urge to take over? Meh, could use some new definition.
Left everything else intact, plus some sweet folders with "love" and "live peacefully."
"…Yeah, seems good now."
Each one had the same changes made to them.
Once he finished the last one, he double-checked everything.
Then nodded.
He pulled the virus back out of her system smoothly and leaned back with a sigh.
"Man…that was tedious."
Like doing surgery with tweezers on a moving target, if I had this ability back in med school, I wouldn't even need to go to class.
Clare stayed still for a second.
Then slowly opened her eyes.
"…Huh."
She slowly sat up, placing a hand over her chest.
Something felt…weird—not in a negative way.
It felt like something heavy that had always been there… just disappeared.
"…What is this…" she muttered.
Then, her eyes widened.
"…!"
Yoki surged through her body, covering each crevice it could find to take up residence.
"…This much…?"
She clenched her hand, feeling the power move exactly how she wanted with no backlash.
Seth rested his chin on his hand as he stared at the marveled look on her face.
"Yeah, that's normal… I guess."
Clare snapped her head toward him.
"…You mean… you've felt like this too?"
He nodded.
"Your yoma side isn't trying to hijack your body anymore."
He pointed at her.
"I've reprogrammed it to coexist peacefully with your human side. If I must say, it's in the same state as being born from a yoma and a human.."
Then he smirked.
"You can use their abilities however you want now. Same as me."
Clare froze.
Freely…?
Before she could even process that—
"—!"
She winced.
A sudden burning sensation spread across her chest.
"…Ah—!"
She grabbed her top and pulled it aside without reservation.
Seth's eyes traveled downwards.
"…Oh—"
There he saw it.
The needlessly large, hideous incision—that huge stitched scar across her torso—
Had steam rising from it.
"…No way…"
The skin started shifting.
Slowly healing.
Properly.
Clare stared down at it, breathing uneven.
"…It's…"
Her hands hovered over it.
"…It's going away…"
For the first time since she got it,
That scar showed signs of disappearing.
Her shoulders started shaking.
"…I…"
Tears welled up before she could stop them.
Then they streamed down her face.
Seth froze.
Yeah.
He wasn't ready for that.
What do you do when a beautiful woman breaks down in tears in front of you… as a virgin.
Clare covered her mouth to stifle the muffled sounds, but it didn't help.
More tears slipped out.
"…Thank you…"
Her voice cracked.
"Thank you, Seth…"
She looked up at him, eyes full of unrivaled gratitude.
"…You really…"
She couldn't finish it, and she didn't need to. She broke down in tears.
Seth scratched his cheek, looking a bit awkward.
"…Yeah, I mean…" He looked off to the side. "told you I'd fix it."
But he had underestimated how much this means to her.
This wasn't small by any means.
Not in the least.
***
After she calmed down and regulated her emotions, Clare quickly got dressed.
They sat close.
Closer than before.
Not just physically—though yeah, their shoulders were basically touching now—but the vibe between them had shifted.
The awkwardness? Replaced with something casual.
Seth leaned back on his hands.
"…So," he said, his tone light, "what now?"
Clare didn't answer right away. She looked ahead, eyes a little distant.
"…My original goal was hunting Teresa's killer.."
Seth huffed lightly. "Yeah, figured."
Clare turned her head toward him and smiled slightly.
"But not just that."
"Oh?" he raised a brow.
"There are other Claymores."
"Yeah?"
"They are also suffering. And most of them…" she paused, "…don't have anyone, like me."
"Hey! I'm here now, aren't I? You're gonna throw me away like that…?"
He got no response.
Seth looked at her for a second.
"You wanna help them."
"Yes…If what you did to me can be done for others…" she continued, "then they wouldn't have to live like I was."
She knew first hand how they lived under the constant fear of losing control.
The weight of an inevitable awakening eating away at their conscience with every use of their yoki, just because she is now freed from that fate, it doesn't sit right with her to be the only exception.
(Survivor's guilt basically)
Seth stared at her for a moment before smirking.
"Heh."
Clare blinked. "What?"
"I'm in."
Her eyes squinted at him.
"You are?"
"Why not?" he shrugged. "Already did it once. Might as well keep going. Plus it was the reason I thought of it in the first place."
He pointed at her.
"You're basically the success story."
Clare held his gaze.
Then nodded.
"Then after tomorrow's mission…"
"We start fixing Claymores," Seth finished.
"…Yes."
Simple done deal.
But now that they were on the topic of claymores and their suffering, Clare's expression shifted slightly.
Her eyes blurred, as a particular claymore came to her mind.
"Elena…" she muttered weakly.
Seth froze for half a second.
Ah….Yeah, her.
Seth looked off to the side, scratching his cheek.
Way too simple for what it actually was—but he wasn't exactly great with this kind of thing.
If he had had the idea sooner, another beautiful girl would be part of their band wagon.
The thought hit him.
Then another—
If I had some kind of resurrection ability…That'd be insane.
[…]
Too late though.
Not his fault either. He barely had this power for a week.
Still…
"…Hey."
Clare didn't look at him.
"…You did what you could," he said. "Same here."
"Timing's just garbage sometimes."
Clare's shoulders trembled a bit.
"…I know."
He hesitated.
Then—
"…Uh…"
Awkward. Really awkward.
But he still made an effort.
Slowly, he reached over and placed his hand on her head.
Clare stiffened.
"…What are you doing?"
"Just—hold on," he muttered.
He left his hand there, gently.
"…It's not on you," he added.
Silence.
Clare just sat there.
Both of them did.
***
By the time dawn rolled around, neither of them had slept.
Clare was already standing in her full armor, composed like usual—but something about her felt lighter.
Raki sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"…You guys are already up?"
Seth shrugged. "Yeah."
Raki stood, confused.
"…So where are we going?"
Seth glanced at Clare.
She gave a small nod.
He smirked.
"To the holy city, Rabona."
Chapter 18 end.
————————————
Longest chapter for this novel so far. I tried to cram everything in this chapter so that I don't forget everything later.
If you feel something is wrong with Clare's personality, just know that's how she is, she also cried for her friends death the same night about it.
Give me your stones for my wonderful efforts.