Chapter 3: New Orders
Disclaimer: I don't own PPG or Norse Mythology. Just my ideas.
>_> No wonder people get mad writing disclaimers all the time… it gets kinda annoying after a while.
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'She couldn't have just disappeared? Could she?'
"I can't BELIEVE she had the nerve to leave me standing around in the hallway like that!" Currently in a dark grey room, Brick was pacing the length of a bright red bed, literally fuming.
'Well you weren't exactly being nice to her you know.' Accendo called from the top of the bedpost. 'Besides didn't you notice how distracted she was?'
Brick paused to stare at the the brightly colored bird. "No shit captain obvious. Kinda hard not to notice when someone freezes up like that." he deadpanned.
'You know what I mean.' Accendo squawked back. 'It looked like she was talking to someone.'
"What?"
'I don't know if you've ever noticed but that's the same expression you get when your talking to me from a distance.'
"Riiight. And I'd notice this because I can magically see my own face." Brick shot back sarcastically. "How the fuck do you expect me to know something like that unless I'm standing in front of a mirror?"
'No need to get snippy.' Accendo sneered.
"Oh no! The widdle fire birdies mad at me!" Brick mocked with a childish tone. "I'm sooo scared!"
'Thats it! You've been insulting me all day!' Accendo let out an avian shriek before he set himself aflame and dived off the bedpost towards Brick. "Bring it on feather brains!"
…
"What are you two pinheads doing?"
Brick paused, holding Accendo's wings as the birds talons froze just before meeting his cheek. Both looked up from the floor to see Blossom standing in the doorway as feathers and hair floated down around them. Accendo was the first to recover as he squawked piteously. In the blink of an eye, Brick was on the floor alone, Accendo cradled in Blossom's arms.
"Brick! What is wrong with you!" she scolded. As much as she disliked the large phoenix at times, she could always feel sorry for it. After all the poor bird had to put up with Brick twenty-four seven.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! You just left us to wander around earlier! If Nix hadn't found us we'd have been lost for hours!" Brick shouted at Blossom as he got off the floor, dusting himself off.
"Something urgent came up." The young girls face was a stony mask as she turned to him. "But that's not important right now. Nix has asked me to bring the two of you to his study, come." with that she was out the door, Accendo now pearched on her shoulder.
'Come on pinhead.'
With a low growl Brick followed the two out the door silently calculating revenge on his supposed familiar. 'You just wait Accendo. I'll get you for this.'
By the time the three reached Nix's study Brick was positively livid. He was mad at Accendo for making him look bad in front of Blossom of all people. But more than that he was mad at Blossom herself for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. It was so different from before. When they were younger they got along well enough, Hel Brick even considered her a friend. But after the incident about four years ago Blossom became nearly emotionless and that had him steaming, literally. He despised her apathetic attitude towards everything, how she just completely ignored him at times. The way she never showed anything on that beautiful face of hers. WAIT! Hold up- did he just think beautiful? 'Bad brain! Bad!' he smacked himself on the head. He quickly turned away then as Blossom gave him another detached look that clearly questioned his sanity.
Ignoring the looks he paused to look around the chaotic room Nix called his study, Brick couldn't help but think of how much it looked like a tornado had struck. There were shelves at every wall. Some housed books while others were cluttered with what he guessed were artifacts, though most of it seemed to be multicolored rocks and chunks of ice. It was obvious that Nix had run out of room for there were stacks of books blanketing the floor space. Though most weren't too high some were so tall they seemed ready to fall at any second as they teetered in the breeze. "Ah, there you are. Would you two mind helping me out?" a hand waved back and forth from beneath a large pile of books at the back of the room, Nubem perched at the top preening his feathers as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I was trying to get one of my older books and seemed to have cause an avalanche."
Brick stared blankly for a moment trying to decide wether he should be worried or not. He got his answer when Blossom calmly walked over to the mountain of books and slowly began pulling out the larger ones. She piled them on the floor beside her in a more orderly fashion as Brick crouched down to help. "Is this normal?" he whispered trying not to be heard by Nix.
"Normal? More like routine." Blossom stated, not at all regretful if Nix heard her. "Nix, I've told you a million times that you need a bigger room."
"And I've told you a million times that I like this one!" Nix declared. "I've had this room since I first came here all those years ago. I've got memories in here."
"What are you, an old geezer?" Blossom questioned. "Just because you get a new room docent mean you have to give up this one. I'm only saying this because you need more space for all these books. I'm tired of having to dig you out all the time."
Nix popped out of the pile then. Clambering out, he began stacking the books into uneven piles. "This room has sentimental value. I'm not leaving." Blossom didn't argue anymore as Nubem flew over to perch on her shoulder opposite Accendo. Both then took off to land on the now clear table, before Nix could pile more books onto it.
Nubem screeched loudly, ruffling his feathers as he clicked his beak. "Ah right you are. I almost forgot." nearly dropping the pile of books, Nix hurried over to the tables edge and scooped up a small wooden box. "This was delivered by a white crow a short time ago."
Both teens froze as the meaning of Nix's words sunk in. "The Valkyrie's familiars." Brick whispered breaking the silence. A nod from Nix confirmed it. "But we weren't supposed to be contacted until the end of summer."
"Yes. Well it seems something came up and the requirements have been changed." Settling on the edge of a small wooden chair Nix motioned for Blossom and Brick to find seats of their own. Blossom was quick to seat herself on the windowsill leaving Brick the task of cleaning off one of the book cluttered chairs. "Sneaky ass." he muttered just loud enough for her to hear. 'Ignored...again.' Brick huffed aggravated, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Sorry Milady I know that's your usual seat but I need that window closed." Nix said apologetically as he gave Nubem a look before shooing the snowy owl off the tabletop. Brick sat waiting in curiosity as Blossom closed not only the window she sat at but every one in the room before drawing the curtains. During this time Nubem flew about the room collecting candles, from who knows where, depositing them on the table and books nearby. Accendo seemed to get whatever message the others had for he immediately began trailing after Nubem lighting each candle.
"What the heck are all of you doing?" Brick grumbled, clearly impatient.
When the entire study was closed off, Blossom gracefully picked her way over to the door locking it before making her way back. If he couldn't hear her footsteps Brick would have sworn she was flying instead. After all both of them could if they wanted to.
"Sorry about that." Nix apologized again as he opened the box. "The letter we got this time is a bit on the…confidential side." Within the small wooden box was several rolls of parchment beside what looked to be a clear circular rock. "And Milady, it seems the item you requested has finally arrived."
Turning to the red head beside him, Brick was shocked to say the least. He hadn't seen any emotion beside anger on the girls face in years and now here she was, looking like a child who's birthday had come early. Brick couldn't believe what he was seeing, but as fast as he could blink, the fleeting emotion was gone. 'Did I even see that? Must be imagining things.' Nix quickly passed the tiny rock to Blossom, as soon as the stone hit her hand the color changed. She quickly tucked the now pink stone into her clothing before turning her attention back to her tutor. "What's the letters say?"
"Well… simply put you two are now in a competition of sorts." Adopting a lecturing tone and blank face he forged on. "As you both know the nine worlds are in a crisis. Several of them are rebelling against Lord Odin's rule, the biggest threat being Midgard. And to make things worse it seems that someone is behind all this, though there has been no way to identify who this person is. These are for you." he passed two of the rolls to Blossom and Brick. "They explain in detail the extent of matters. Unfortunately Lord Odin now, not only needs new advisors but warriors as well. Thor and the others are no longer enough, he needs more diversity in his army's. As such he has ordered the Valkyrie to select more warriors for him to protect Asgard. But since the Valkyrie can't bring in warriors from any worlds beside Midgard and occasionally Jötunheimr, he has decided for his new advisors, meaning you two, to recruit the rest of them."
"What?" Brick asked stupidly. "You mean we have to find that old buzzards new advisors AND warriors!"
"Not quite. The advisors you recruit must also be able to fight." Nix replied. "And do not speak of the Lord that way!"
"They have to be influential too." Blossom stated ignoring the growl from Brick.
"Correct. The both of you will have to leave as soon as possible to complete this task." Nix stood up then, walking over to a shelf to pull out a long rectangular case. "I have been saving this for nearly a century. Now's probably as good a time as any to put them to use."
Nix placed the box on the table in front of Nubem. Said bird tilted his head to the side before reaching out a taloned foot and inserting his claws into what looked to be a lock. With a disgruntled squawk he jumped back, the box making a loud click before popping open. "I want the two of you to use these. It will help you find the others." he lifted out six rounded gems, each attached to a thin golden chain of it's own. He handed the ruby, emerald, and sapphire to Brick. To Blossom he handed a light pink gem, jade, and aquamarine. Blossom stared at the pink gem in her palm for the longest time. It was obvious to Brick she didn't know what it was either. "Don't worry its not a fake. You'll find out what it is later. Just make sure you don't loose them. Now I've got one other thing for each of you, I believe you'll be familiar with these particular artifacts Milady."
A sharp crack was heard as Nix pushed down on the box shattering the bottom to reveal a compartment. From this he pulled two pairs of near identical hilts none of which had blades. All four were an odd color as the hilts shagreen had obviously deteriorated over time. Each hilt had elaborate guards, the two smaller ones sporting an odd four petaled, double flower design, while the larger ones had a ten armed star shape that flowed back over the hilt like a swirling vortex. Blossom snatched up the two smaller hilts, bringing one to eye level. Her fingers danced over the worn hide tracing intricate patterns into it. "This is the ancient blade of Niflheim." Brick barley heard her voice as she whispered breathily. "The first blades ever forged by my people. How did you get this? I thought it was lost in the cave-in of Crystal Chasm nearly a millennia ago."
"Let's just say this old bag of bones still has a few tricks up his sleeve." he laughed.
"Your not that old." Brick stated "Are yo-oh!" Blossom dug her elbow into Brick's side. He glared at her vehemently, quietly growling as he remembered Nix's weird issue with his age. She had just saved him from another of the tutors long rants but there was no way he was gonna thank her for it.
Nix stared at the teens with a feigned look of confusion before clearing his throat. "I'd like the two of you to take these with you. Milady I believe you can fill the Young Master in on how to use them. I must now prepare for the journey you will be taking. The Valkyrie expect my reply immediately and though it thoroughly aggravates me you must depart in two days time."
"Wait. What about the other letters?" Brick asked gesturing to the remaining rolls of paper in the nearly forgotten box. "Who are those for if only these are for us?" he waved the roll of paper in his hand in a circle.
"They're obviously for the recruits we need to find." Blossom stated as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Which only irked the boy further. 'Little miss high and mighty. I'm gonna get you back one of these days.'
Nix clapped his hands then drawing the attention of the rooms occupants. "Well we've all got things to do so let's get to it." he ushered the teens and Accendo out of the room then. "I suggest you pack everything you'll be needing, but pack lightly ok. This is gonna be a long trip after all. And Milady I expect you to help the Young Master with you know what." he handed Brick a bundle of cloth as he said this. "It took me a lot of time and effort to get my hands on those so you better take care of them."
With that the teens and phoenix were left standing in the white and blue hallways. "Why does this feel like déjà vu?" Brick muttered quietly. 'Because this is the same thing that just happened this morning.' Accendo murmured. 'AH! Wait up!' the bird took off after Blossom's disappearing form leaving Brick behind. 'Theres NO WAY I'm getting lost again!' he thought as he quickly ran after the two.
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Yay! Another chapter! This one docent have nearly as much detail as the first two... I curse myself for my laziness. I really should work harder on these but I'm just such a pathetically lazy excuse.
I know I had Brick a little too reserved in this chapter but it's just cause he's in Blossom's home. As soon as he's away from the people that expect him to act all "Princely" I'll try to make him more outgoing. I just thought it would be sort of cute for him to at least try to be nice to Blossom but I don't intend for him to be that way with anyone else especially those who don't know him.
And sorry to any of you that are waiting for me to update my work. I'm pathetically useless with technology. I can't seem to upload anything from my phone without it being mashed together without spaces. So I have to wait until I can get my hands on a computer with Internet since my old dinosaur finally kicked the bucket. (May he rest in peace! T_T)
Please review and tell me how I did. I read all my reviews after all. I love hearing peoples opinions so I can try to improve. Thank you! ^_^