Author's Note: I own nothing of Ragnarok (cries). Sorry that this chapter has taken so long to put up guys. Finals are coming up and it seems that all of my teachers want projects due around the same time. I promise I promise I promise that I will update more regularly than this once finals are over!
Chapter 8: Purple Leather and Magick
"Right behind you," Deliyyja said.
Sara whirled around, the towel fluttering out around her as she did. Behind her were indeed those stupid, mischievous flying lizards. And in the claws of two of them were her clothes. She saw this and made a grab for her clothes, but they flew out of reach.
"Dammit, give back my clothes!" She leapt up again and again, futilely trying to snag her things so that she could put them back on. Deliyyja sat back in the hot springs and smiled as she watched Sara's efforts. I wonder how long it'll take Vroa and Py to give them back. Those two can be so stubborn about their pranks.
"Uh… hey, Sara?"
"What?" Sara snapped. She was getting seriously pissed with the flying lizards, and because of the lizards, at Deliyyja.
"I don't know how long it'll take to get Vroa and Py to give back your clothes. You see, they can be quite stubborn." Sara glared at Deliyyja and muttered something under her breath.
"So why don't you order them to give back my clothes? You're their master, aren't you?" Sara sneered. A thin trail of black grew from her finger that was pointed at the ground and headed towards the two lizards with her things. Just before it hit them, they dodged, chittering angrily at her. As she stood there glaring at them, they flew higher and continued to chatter.
"No! Don't hurt them! And I can't make them give them back. They're not my servants; they're more like friends that stay here with me." Deliyyja did get up then to try and stop Sara, but she was already off chasing the lizards which had flown through the doors and down the hall. Deliyyja could hear Sara cursing after them. She snatched up a towel and wrapped it hastily around herself. Running to the door, she looked out after Sara and saw her sprinting after the two lizards and throwing more threads of black at them. Each thread of black was dodged, much to Sara's annoyance, which caused another string of cursing.
"Hold still, you bloody lizards! Give me back my damn clothes!" Her voice echoed down the hallway as she ran. Vroa and Py stopped their angry chittering long enough to give one that sounded like a lizard version of a laugh and sped up. Deliyyja covered her mouth. The little snots. They're having fun with this!
"Century." Deliyyja summoned him from where he still huddled in the corner after he'd had his hand healed. He straightened up and hurried over to where his mistress stood.
"I need my clothes quickly please. I need to follow them to make sure that our beloved Vættfang doesn't kill Vroa or Py for this mischief."
"Yes, Mistress. Do you want the leather or the regular?"
"The leather, please. I have a feeling that Vættfang is feeling in the mood for a battle, and the leather is infinitely more suited to a confrontation. Just in case. One must always be ready with our Sara. She's been unpredictable since she joined the Valkyries at twelve years old. That's what makes her so good, being unpredictable. She quickly mastered the basics and with everyone either being killed by her or being sworn to secrecy by Freya, I haven't been able to figure out too much about what she is capable of. All that I know is that she mainly uses runes, but is still very skilled at general incantations and spells." Deliyyja paused and let Century take in this information. "Now… the leather if you would please, Century."
Century bowed to her and turned away.
"Yes, Mistress. I shall be back momentarily." He left, and Deliyyja sat down in the snow chair in the room, just watching the alternating snow and hail fall around her. It gave her a sort of peace, knowing that this castle was almost invincible, but not quite, because Vættfang was chasing around some loyal friends. I just hope that she doesn't run into their parents…
Deliyyja grimaced at the thought. Vroa and Py's parents were very protective of them. Compared to humans in years, the two were roughly the age of a toddler, with the size to match when compared to their parents. When fully grown, Vroa and Py would be the ultimate predators, eating only meat. They made excellent guards if one wasn't on their bad side. If one was… well... you wouldn't have to worry for very much longer.
"Argh! Where is Century with my clothes?" Deliyyja started pacing the floor in frustration. The seconds where ticking by, and with each passing one, Sara ran even more of a risk of running into Vroa and Py's parents, and Deliyyja ran even more of a risk of Sara killing or maiming one of her precious lizards.
"Century!" Deliyyja yelled down the hall, sticking her head out. Her braids swished behind her head. Just as she was about to pull her head back in, she saw Century round the corner of the hallway at a run, clothes in hand.
"Sorry, Mistress. I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to get back with the clothes. Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Deliyyja snatched the clothes out of his hands and gave him a quick hug.
"Yeah, yeah… thanks so much for the clothes. But we gotta hurry." Century nodded swiftly and opened the door for her. She hurried through and changed quickly into the leather ensemble, all the while, shouting questions at Century; as quickly as possible when one was putting leather over damp skin. Century heard quite a few thuds and curses come from his mistress as he talked to her and waited. Her questions were about the castle in general, from maintenance to other visiting dignitaries of Freya's and questions about the grounds and security. Then, once she was dressed, the most important questions.
"Century! Has Sara hit Vroa or Py yet? Where are they? Have they disturbed any of the other guests? What's Freya up to?" Century answered her as best as he could, but Deliyyja was talking so fast that he only caught about half of what she said.
"Um… well… Vroa and Py are still being themselves, flying around squeaking at the top of their lungs with Mistress Sara's clothes clutched in their claws. Right now I think they're in the east wing – thankfully away from the other guests. And I have no idea what Freya's up to. I haven't gotten any reports back from our sources in that area today. It's like they're not even there anymore." He paused as Deliyyja gave him a sharp look. "Well, it is. I don't know what's going on. I can't tell if she's moving or if she's listening right now… or if she isn't. I just don't know."
"Century… you're supposed to know this." He ducked his head and made a noise of apology.
"I'm sorry… it's just that I've been so concerned about you and Vættfang possibly getting into an argument that I just forgot to check into it." Deliyyja gave a noncommittal shrug.
"Whatever. Anyways, after we take care of this business with Sara Vættfang we'll see what's going on with Freya. Hopefully all of this activity hasn't attracted her attention." She opened the door to the hall and peeked out. Sara wasn't in sight. "Let's go find our lizards and our runaway Vættfang, shall we?" she suggested with a grin. She drew a hand over her outfit and lightning crackled. Century grinned back at her.
"Yes, let's." He loved seeing Deliyyja in this mood; all dressed up in her deep purple combat leather with her braids streaked with lightning bolts. The leather bustier was engraved with lightning bolts and twists and turns and pockets for all of her magical things. The pants were etched with the same lightning bolts and contained multiple places for her to place her knives. Deliyyja loved knives; loved the fact that knives would conduct electricity extremely well, and held a charge for months before needing to be renewed.
She grabbed her three favorite knives and jammed them into place. The other things she needed were already in place in their proper pockets. Century had seen to that while he had been running to bring them back to her.
They ran into the hallway and headed towards the east wing where Century had reported that Sara was located. The other numerous lizards that stayed at the castle with them fell in around the pair until Deliyyja barked a sharp reprimand in their direction.
"All of you, go back to the Storm Springs! We don't need any of you getting hurt. How would your parents react if you got yourselves killed or hurt because you wanted to have a little fun with the mad Valkyrie Vættfang?" The tiny lizards gave little distressed squeaks and flew off, dejected. Deliyyja and Century looked at each other and shrugged.
"You are right, Mistress. What would their parents think if they got themselves killed of hurt?"
"Probably would give me an award for getting rid of one of their hundreds of offspring… after trying to torch me of course. No matter, let's go find them." They ran off down the hallway, Deliyyja in the lead, their strides eating up the ground. Within minutes they heard the sound of Sara yelling.
"Give me my clothes back! How long are you gonna resist, you stupid lizards?" Then there was the sound of air as she shot another spell at them. Deliyyja and Century heard a shrill squeal from Py and a shout of triumph from Sara. "Don't like burned tail, do you? Give me my clothes or I'll burn the rest of you!" Deliyyja and Century rounded the last corner to see Py and Vroa hovering in midair, Py's tail tucked under her body in protection. Py was glaring at Sara and shrieking at the top of her lungs.
"Sara!" Deliyyja shouted, "Leave my lizards alone!" Sara turned to look at Deliyyja and Century, a black ball of fire in her hand. The black was veined with red and sparks shot out of it.
"Oh? And what are you gonna do to stop me?" Sara took a menacing step towards the pair, forgetting about her clothes for the moment. Deliyyja made a tiny motion with her head at Century to grab the clothes from Py and Vroa. She smirked at Sara in her bath towel.
"Still on that are we? Come on, Vættfang, can't you come up with some better threat for me? Better yet, don't. It wouldn't work with you dressed only in a towel. You could always try for 'Best in Towel' at the local pageant, but you're a couple of months too early and they require that you have clothes on underneath the clothes." Deliyyja put a hand up to her mouth and said mockingly, "Oh, don't tell me you didn't know? Oh… I'm sorry." Deliyyja's eyes darted to Century for an instant as he crept behind Sara where she stood, shaking with rage. Seeing her moment when Deliyyja was distracted, Sara let loose the black fire in her hand and it sped towards the other Valkyrie.
"Black Rage!" The fire expanded as it flew and Deliyyja jumped out of the way, the ends of her braids colliding with the flame. The lightning from her blades and the black fire produced a shower of sparks that neither of the two women noticed. Both were totally intent on the imminent battle now.
They circled each other warily, Deliyyja in her purple leather and Sara in her towel. Century paused in his task to look at them, making sure that they weren't dead yet. Seeing that they weren't and also that the lizards were enthralled with the spectacle in front of them, he snatched Sara's clothes out of their claws. They didn't even notice the change they were so enraptured with the prospect of the sight of a Valkyrie battle; a real Valkyrie battle.
"You were told to stay out of this, Deliyyja! This would never have happened if you hadn't killed my frost giant and driven off the others. This never would have happened if you hadn't kept me locked up in a room and taken away my clothes! This never would have happened if you had never shown your face!" Sara turned her head for a second and saw Century. She didn't plan on hurting the man… if he did as he was told.
"My clothes, Century. Now." His hands shaking, Century handed the clothes back to her. Sara drew her hand over the clothes and then over her body and the clothes appeared on her body as the towel disappeared. "Much better." She turned back to Deliyyja. "Now – back to business."
Once again, a black ball of fire grew in Sara's hand. Deliyyja's eyes narrowed at the sight. This is not gonna end well. One of us is gonna get hurt, and it's not gonna be me. The girl seriously does not know who she's dealing with. In Deliyyja's hand grew a ball of lightning, with a glow strong enough to push back the darkness that was radiating from Sara's fire.
"Business, is it, Vættfang? All right then. Bring it. Let's see how good you really think you are." The lightning ball in her hand grew tentacles to wind around her body, forming a shield. Sara took this in and remembered her mother. Her anger grew and grew and suddenly she remembered something her mother had said, "Take the spell and make it your own."
"For you, Mama," she whispered.
"No, darling. For us," she heard her mother reply on the wind. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Deliyyja. There it was… almost… almost. There! Her eyes snapped open and the black fire disappeared in her hand to be replaced with black lightning.
"Now let's see how well you do against your own magic," she muttered. The black lightning hurtled out of her hand and more took its place. The remaining black lightning formed a shield around her as well; a mirror of the shield that Deliyyja had formed in white lightning.
"STOP!" The voice came out of nowhere… and yet everywhere. The black lightning disappeared and so did the shields and both Deliyyja and Sara lost their concentration. They looked around for the source of the voice and saw…
Freya.
