Author's note: I don't own Ragnarok or any of its characters. Deliyyja and Century are my own creations though. I only came up with the idea for this story after deciding that Sara doesn't get enough credit. Thank you for the review, Rhea-samma! I'm glad you liked it, and no, I don't think that Loki and Fenris don't belong together; they do. I just don't think that some of the other characters get enough limelight. And many thanks again to yra for your unfailing support in my writing process. i hope everybody likes chapter three.
Chapter 3: Deliyyja
Century hurried out of the room after Sara's warning. Those four words still chilled him through. Odd that they did, though, because to the casual observer, Century would be the likely candidate for dominance. But in this case, Sara's rune, words, and look just before he had left had turned the situation completely inside out. Sara was supposed to be the one that was helpless.
"D…d…deliyyja…" he whispered. But he hadn't reached her yet, so she didn't hear him. "S…s…sara put–" His voice cut off as the compulsion kicked in, and only his mouth would move. Try as he might, every time he tried to get words out about what Sara had done, no sound would come, and after a while, Century gave up trying and just concentrated on getting to Deliyyja as fast as he could.
"Do no disappoint me." The words replayed over and over in Century's mind.
"I'm not." he moaned. Those four words had seemed to come from Sara once again, along with the feel of her gaze, and the sight of her stroking the second sword, Shinryongdo, that rested along her hip. He reached the door of Deliyyja's suite, and went in. Deliyyja was sitting on a chair behind a massive desk reading some reports from some of her spies. She glanced up at him and smiled.
"How is Sara adjusting to her new quarters? Is she taking this as well as we thought she would?" Century gave her a small smile and sat down in a chair in front of his mistress.
"She is– herself. I suggested that she try out the hot springs in the rear section of her suite, and she is currently taking advantage of my suggestion. She has requested to see you immediately, though, as you had predicted. She was quite adamant about it, in fact. What would you like to do? Will you make her wait longer?" Century waited for his mistress's answer. She sat still for a while, thinking silently, and then suddenly leaned back and laughed.
"No. Let us go now and see her, Century. Maybe interrupting her bath will take some of the fire out of our Vættfang." Deliyyja got up from her seat, and motioned for Century to follow her. He followed at the same two step distance that he had previously followed Sara. I hope this is good enough for Vættfang, he thought as they walked. She's coming right away, just as you hoped.
They entered Sara's suite, and as expected, Sara didn't immediately come into view. Also seeing her swords absent, Deliyyja and Century continued on to the hot springs just past the bedroom. The steam swarmed around them, thick and white. Century summoned up a small wind to clear it away. But again, Sara was not visible as the steam cleared. Century was slightly baffled. Where could she be? All of the locks are spelled to keep her inside the suite. And she's never shown an aptitude for teleportation. But even teleportation wouldn't get her very far with Mistress Deliyyja's protections.
"Hello again, Deliyyja. It's so nice to see you." The voice came from behind them. Century spun around, stunned that she had come up so suddenly and quietly. Deliyyja turned more slowly, clearly not startled, or worried.
"Hello, Sara. I'm happy that you were able to join us; it's been far too long." Sara looked at a Valkyrie that even Freya herself did not trust. Deliyyja was petite and slender, with thigh-length dark blue and purple hair set in a multitude of braids wound tightly in threes. Her skin was neither golden nor white, but an odd mixture between the two that was extremely attractive combined with her hair and face. Her face was proportioned to her size, with fine cheekbones and sculptured eyes. She was wearing deep blue leather with tiny magical lightening bolts that ran down the seams. Magical lightning bolts also held her hair in place; in other words, Deliyyja's braids were held in their three-packs with miniature lightning bolts coursing magically in and out of her hair. Leather boots completed her outfit.
"I'm well aware of why you want me here, and I'm telling you Deliyyja… do not interfere. You owe me six frost giants. I expect that those will be given to me– now. Thank you for your 'hospitality', but I must be going."
"Hahaha. Your ignorance is very amusing, Vættfang. Do you even wonder why the mighty Freya would send you to only observe Fenris Fenrir?" At Sara's startled look, Deliyyja laughed. "Ah, yes. I know about your so-called mission. Freya has many ways to observe people should she decide that they need to be observed. Didn't this ever occur to you?" Deliyyja paused a moment for emphasis before continuing.
"Freya wants you watched. And so you shall be. Right here in my castle, you shall stay as my guest for a while. Enjoy yourself. The servants are here for your every wish, except to maim or kill. I'll leave you now to your devices." Deliyyja turned to leave, but hesitated an instant before turning back to Sara.
"Oh, and Vættfang… please try not to destroy my house. I like it, and I'd like to keep it intact for quite a while longer as it is." She gave an impish grin and left the room, her lightening bolts sparking in her hair and on her clothes. Sara stared after her with loathing. I can't stand her. If only… she stopped the thought there, realizing that once again, her hand had stolen to Haeryongdo and was stroking the handle.
"Don't even try it, Sara. You aren't strong enough to beat me yet. Even with your two swords from the constellations. Even Haeryongdo isn't enough to beat me yet."
"What?" Sara tried to play dumb. Shit! That thought was too strong!
"Exactly. Keep thinking that, and maybe you'll survive Freya." Deliyyja's voice echoed down the hallway, finally fading from hearing as she went around the corner.
"Arrrgghh!" Sara groaned and turned to the hot springs. She had yet to go in, and was still dressed, much to the confusion of Century, who was still standing in the room. She noticed that he was still there, and turned back on him, furious.
"Get. Out. Of. Here." She flung the first rune that came to her mind at the servant. Century saw the movement and began to hurry from the room as dignified as possible.
"Lotus Freeze!" Century stopped for an instant as the rune took hold in a blast of frozen air before beginning to run again as the magical protections kicked in.
"Damn! Damn Deliyyja's protections! Damn Deliyyja to Hell!" Sara screamed and Century was out the door and running down the corridor, all attempts at dignity forgotten at the memory of Sara's vengeful face as she cast her rune spell on him as he tried to leave. Behind him he could hear Sara's voice shrieking above winds that were sure to be blowing things over everywhere. My mistress has surely brought herself a spitfire with this one. That rune almost broke through the protections.
"Still… she was magnificent." he murmured to himself. He pictured in his mind Sara at that last minute with fury lighting her eyes almost red, and her anger causing her braid to rise up on its own. Her clothes had risen also in an unconscious reminder to the world that the woman who wore them was very… very… angry. Magnificent, he thought again.
"Oh, no, Century. Not again." Century jumped. He had been unaware that his mistress had been standing near him as he had been muttering to himself.
"Mistress?"
"Don't start with me, Century. I hope you're not already drooling over another Valkyrie that has come to visit. What's this got to be, number five in almost a year? If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were an adolescent." Deliyyja was smirking at him. He stared at her in amazement. How had she known?
"Ah, yes. You're wondering how I knew. As always, your thoughts are so transparent Century. You really must learn to guard them more carefully." Her smirk grew wider as her servant's face turned crimson.
"Forgive me Mistress Deliyyja. I had forgotten your lessons." He started at the slight slap that Deliyyja gave him.
"Century! I have told you, and told you… Call me Mistress if you must, but never Mistress Deliyyja. By all the gods, you calling me that makes me feel like my mother! Do I need to send you back in to Sara without the protections for a while and see what happens as punishment? No?" She watched as Century shook his head vehemently. "Good."
She smiled slyly at Century suddenly.
"Are you positive that you don't want to go back in there without the protections? You know that those spells protect from any physical contact whatsoever. Just taking off a few would let you–" she squealed as Century tickled her before she could finish her sentence. The other servants around them paid no notice to their antics. While rare, they were used to seeing Century at times behave like this towards Deliyyja. And while nothing ever came of the playful flirting between mistress and servant, the two enjoyed it nonetheless.
"Ingrate. After all that I'm offering you."
"Thank you, but no. I'm more likely to get my head chopped off by one of her swords than anything else… Mistress Deliyyja." Century laughed low in his throat as his mistress's mouth opened to scold him, but then closed.
"I suppose I deserved that."
"It's not my place to say, Mistress." Deliyyja pulled Century along with her as she began walking down one of the lesser used hallways of the castle. This part of the castle was her private domain, and of the servants, only Century had been into the rooms beyond the hallway.
"Oh, but I'm sure that you would have plenty to say if it were your place, Century. Never mind though. We're going to let our precious Vættfang stew a little while over our conversation. You know – see what she comes up with after reviewing it a few times in her head. Maybe she'll be in a better mood. By the way… had she used the hot springs yet when we went in?"
"No, Deliyyja. She was still fully dressed in her travel clothes."
"Pity. But no matter. No doubt she's using them by now to sooth her aching muscles after she was forced off of her frost giant that I killed. Alright, Century. Let's go finish our other business matters. We'll need those done before Sara gets done figuring out how to get out of her room and get to us. And not to worry… she will. That's the kind of person she is."
"How can you be so sure? The last Valkyrie took over a month to figure out the protections on those rooms. And by that time the Valkyrie was almost insane."
"Yes, but she was already half-insane to begin with. We just helped her along. Sara is completely sane, if not a little mad." Century gave a snort of disbelief. Weren't insane and mad the same thing in this context? Deliyyja shook her head at him. He'll learn when it's too late. Much too late, unfortunately. Ahh, Century poor boy. She giggled at the sudden thought of Century trying to woo Sara Irine. The gods would definitely have a sick sense of humor if they destined those two to be paired in life. Century shot her a suspicious look at her burst of giggles.
"What is so amusing about a Valkyrie going insane, or being slightly mad, Mistress?"
"No, no… I wasn't thinking about that, Century. I was thinking about how the gods would definitely have a sick sense of humor if they paired you with the Vættfang for life instead of a good girl that you deserve. A very sick sense of humor indeed." This repetition of thought into speech brought about a whole other fit of giggles, one of which Century had not seen in a long while. But not at the expense of me, he thought.
"Ah, I see now. You are jealous, Mistress. I am sorry." Deliyyja's head came up at that, and her giggles ceased. Century took pride in that fact. "I will try harder in the future to spend more time with you, and no time with Mistress Sara. She doesn't deserve me and you a wholly deserving of more than me, but as you are jealous, I will gladly give myself to you." He teasingly kissed the back of her hand, not actually daring to do more than that, but his mistress's reaction was more than he could have ever hoped for.
"Excuse me? What did you say, Century?" Century grinned, and Deliyyja gave him a shove.
"Nothing at all, Mistress– just seeing if you were paying attention. You're going to need all of your senses to deal with Mistress Sara, I believe. You should have seen the temper that she was just beginning to show after you left. It was frightening." He shuddered at the memory that was mere minutes old. His mistress ignored the reaction and continued on her way.
Deliyyja pushed open one of the many doors in the hallway, and led the way inside. The room that the door led to was uncharacteristic of what one would expect for the great Valkyrie Deliyyja to inhabit. Instead of dark colored walls were walls bursting with color to offset the harsh and bleak Jotunheim landscape. There were a multitude of colorful creatures in the room also. Birds with jewel-like feathers talked quietly to tiny mystical creatures from the far south of Midgard while tiny lizards flew around Deliyyja's head, slowly massaging it.
"Ahhh… finally. A place with peace and quiet." Deliyyja's sigh was one of pure bliss. Sara is definitely going to be a handful. I just hope that she isn't too stubborn for her own good. Her mother was, from what I hear. But I guess we'll see.
"Mistress? Is everything alright? Do you need me to get some tea or something else?" But Deliyyja just shook her head and continued to relax.
"Mmmm. Nothing right now, Century. Just sitting here in this room is medicine for me. This room gives me strength, lets me rejuvenate."
"Yes, Mistress. Is there anything you need me to do at the moment?"
"No, Century." Deliyyja gave a shake of her head, momentarily dislodging the flying lizards, who protested in tiny squeaks. "You can go to bed if you'd like. Or perhaps Sara wou–" but she got no farther as she heard the door close after Century's hurried exit from the room. Deliyyja laughed.
"Poor boy. He has no sense of humor." She waved the flying lizards away. "Okay guys, enough. Thanks for everything. Go have some fun for a while. And stay away from the Valkyrie Suite. We have another one visiting, and she's moody." The lizards flitted away chittering among themselves excitedly.
"Yes, yes, I know. They're always moody when they get here. But I think this one just comes that way. It's best to stay away until she calms down. Come to think of it… how long do you think it will take for her to calm down?" she mused to herself. One of the birds in the room gave a squawk.
"A day or two? No. I think more like a week. Hopefully Fenris Fenrir will not have found Sentinel Breeze by then. I do plan on letting Sara go, but not until we've had a good long chat about some things."