The Girl With Metal Claws

Origins

ELLIOTT

"Hey! Stop!" Elliott called out again and again. He knew what Asami did. She was the kind of a girl who'd fight and kill for fun. But Elliott wasn't ready to see it for himself. "Wait!"

Asami kept on walking with her laid-back posture, pretending not to hear him.

"I don't want to see it. I don't want to learn how to kill people," he yelled again, failing to humour her.

"Do you want me to go back on my words, Asami?" Elliott stopped following her, breathing heavily. He waited for her response. He didn't want to see her kill someone when he wanted to put an end to it all. Elliott never planned on being her partner-in-crime.

Asami stopped walking when she realised he wasn't following her anymore.

"If you want to be with me, you have to endure it," Asami blurted out.

"Endure?"

"If you don't want this," Asami turned to face her and shot him with a glare, "then leave."

Then she turned back around and continued her walk. Elliott watched her leave, shocked. He thought he could be selfish with her but he was proven wrong. He knew he would never be enough for Asami.

But, he had no other way. He didn't know where he was headed but something was settling in his mind. If he wanted to defeat her, he'd have to bring her under his control. He'd have to rule her mind like she ruled his.

But as he started bolting towards Asami, who walked forward without a care in the world, he realised it was easier said than done.

~

Elliott was asked to hide in the shadows and watch Asami. Like every other time, she didn't have her black robe or cunning glowing eyes. She looked like herself and Elliott doubted if she had ever killed other people without any preparations.

But, she took out a knife from her clothes and held it out. As he had heard, Phoenix hunts her prey with a metal claw but a knife made Asami look suspicious.

"First, try to look scary," she said, instructing Elliott. Her posture was ordinary but her presence was enough to scare away people.

"You don't even have to try," Elliott scoffed but she ignored his comments completely.

"Second, wait," she went on. Some time went on and Elliott realised how persistent he was being. As time passed on, he turned more and more anxious about what might happen if someone showed up.

"You're not actually killing them, right?"

"I am," her reply came immediately.

"I don't think you should-", Elliott gets cut off abruptly as Asami held up her hand for him to stop. When Elliott paid attention, he could hear distant footsteps approaching them. He felt his hands tremble, hoping the person wouldn't come in the direction they were in.

But the stranger was in no luck. A man in his 30s showed up in the alley with wobbly steps. He looked like an office worker who had too much to drink. Elliott saw Asami tilt her head. A perfect target, he realised.

That's when Asami emerged from the shadows under the streetlight. She showed herself with an underwhelming yet sharp dagger in her hand. She stood with a blank expression, knowing it'd do its job.

And it did.

The man stopped when he noticed Asami. He squinted his eyes and crouched closer to get a closer look at Asami. Instantly, he flinched. His fear curve in pure horror and he shrieked aloud in a high-pitched voice.

Elliott turned to look at Asami who looked confused and observant at the same time.

But the man didn't run right away. Provoking him further, Asami took a step. If she swung her hands, he'd be slicing him off in one go.

The man abruptly stopped screaming and suddenly, he knelt on the ground. He took out his purse from his office bag and emptied all of its contents. Then, taking his time, he carefully lined up his few dollars and cents in a vertical pattern. After that, he held up both of his hands and started slapping them on the floor while kneeling and bowing.

He looked like he was trying to bribe Asami into letting him live.

Elliott understood it was a joke until Asami walked up to the man and positioned her dagger on the back of his throat while he knelt with his head pressed against the floor.

"Don't..", Elliott tried reaching out to her.

Asami, with a cold gaze, raised the dagger higher the sky for greater force. Just as she was about to stab the man, Elliott jumped out of his hideout. But before that was required, Asami had already tossed away the knife away from herself.

Elliott watched her in shock as she started scrunching up her nose a little.

That's when the pungent smell hit Elliott's senses. He looked at the kneeling man to see he had peed his pants with fear. Asami backed off from him.

"You can go," Elliott said, looking at him weirdly.

The man jumped up, panicking. Then, he instantly started bolting away. But after a few metres, the man took an u-turn and started running towards them. Instead, he crouched down and grabbed half of the money that he had laid out as a bribe on the ground. Then, he ran away without looking back.

Elliott let out a deep breath, relieved that Asami let him go. He looked over to her to find her already staring at him.

Slowly, the corners of their lips crooked and they burst out laughing. The man's reaction was too unexpected but what was more unexpected was Asami's laughter. It sounded more natural than it had ever been.

Asami's laugh was more like a small chuckle but she wasn't pretending. She was looking at Elliott now and then to make sure he was being in the moment like she was.

For a moment, it felt like they were friends who like to be with each other, c***k jokes, and trail along the lines of their journey together. Then, why did it feel so easy for Elliott to laugh with her?

Surprised with himself, Elliott bent over and picked up the rest of the money the drunk man had left behind from the ground. He intended to keep the money.

"Split," Asami said. Elliott looked at her, finding her statement quite strange.

"Why would you need money?" He scoffed.

"We're splitting it," Asami confirmed her opinion and Elliott didn't want to fight over it. She was the reason they got some money. Elliott kept half for himself and handed over the rest to Asami, who hid it in her clothes.

"I learnt nothing today," Elliott said, mockingly. He was trying to understand what she was thinking.

"Go home," she said, coldly. Elliott frowned while observing her. She was still holding on to the words Elliott had said to him.

"That's it? It's not even midnight yet," he complained.

"Why would you want to stay?" She murmured.

"I don't know," Elliott stopped and turned to face her, once again planting his eyes deep inside hers, "maybe because, we're together now."

He felt Asami's eyes flicker in the tension of the moment. Then she stepped forward.

"Whatever game you are playing, it's too transparent," Asami said. Her hands crossed against her chest. Elliott smirked, being more confident than he felt.

"If you see it's a game, why are you falling for it?" Elliott leaned in, with a lingering hope to be pushed away. But Asami kept getting more and more affected by Elliott closing the distance between them and it kept showing on her face.

"I'm just boosting your morals," Asami whispered with a small smile, "so that it doesn't hurt you when you fall further down."

"So, you're saying, it's not working on you?" Elliott said, asking if she was affected by this closeness that they were indulging in. Asami's face reflected that she was not letting her dominant reign go.

"No," she shook her head side to side. Elliott let out a sigh, stepping back.

"Let's see how long you can go without letting it bother you. If you can hold your own through all the things I'm going to throw at you," he raised an eyebrow with a challenging look at her, "can you dodge or will you get it?"

Elliott ran a hand through his hair and arched his back. Then, he walked away without giving her a chance to say something back. He already felt unsure of what he had said. He had pretended he was playing a game with her to not show her his weaknesses, but now he had to go along with the plan.

And if he wanted to do so, he had to know things better.

~

"I need to talk to you," Elliott said.

"Tell me," Meredith said, flipping through pages. Her actions were very similar to what Gabrielle used to do. Elliott wondered if all shamans had similar traits.

"I had a question, actually," he said. Getting the hint, Meredith closed the book and placed her spectacles to the side. She looked up at him.

"Go on."

"The day Gabrielle left us, she performed a spell. She was chanting loudly with a protection symbol carving on its own on the ground and golden light. She said.. she was performing chanting exorcism," Elliott said, recollecting the terrible memories of the day.

"...yes," Meredith said, looking guilty.

"But isn't exorcism used for spirits and.. ghosts, for that matter." Elliott frowned, his mind wandering all over the place. "Then, why was it used on Asami? Why did Gabrielle think exorcism was something that'd help defeat a girl with supernatural powers?"

Meredith stayed silent, staring at him. She looked a little taken aback but his question which only grew Elliott's interested.

"You know something, right?"

"I.. wanted to wait before letting you know. But it's pointless now," she said, disappointed.

"What does that mean?"

"If you want the answer to that, you need to know her origin," she said, standing up. "And once you know it, it's going to be way harder than you think it is."

Elliott took a moment to decipher the meaning behind her words. But he recovered quickly. There was no backing out anymore.

"Tell me about her origin," Elliott said.