Valkyrie's Lament

Chapter 33

Gate #6 – Day 2 (part 3)

Proof: Katt

With her sword raised, Silver ran out with dripping wet hair. Her sword gleamed dangerously.

“Gah!” Ronald shouted in surprise when he saw Silver jump out with just a towel wrapped around her body. He stumbled backwards and fell onto his butt scared. The tip of her sword was near his face, making him sweat.

“What’s wrong?” Her words were peeved that she was suddenly rushed out towards the door in the middle of her shower and finding that they were nothing wrong. Ronald was completely red and glanced away from Silver.

“What’s wrong?” This time she stressed her words even more, trying to get an answer out of Ronald.

“P-Put on some clothes!” He threw up his hands in front of his face.

Silver clucked her tongue in annoyance. “If there was nothing wrong, why did you call for me? I was in the shower, thinking that someone got in.”

“L-look at the T.V.” He pointed towards the small plasma T.V that was plastered onto the wall.

When Silver turned towards where Ronald was pointing she saw what had startled him. The T.V had profile pictures of people who had died in the first day.

“Ralf, Queen, Samantha, Soco, Tim, and Sarah had died.” Silver read the words out loud. “Due to being unable to pass on their ‘it’ status they been forcefully terminated. Midnight had struck twelve and a new game has just begun. This time four new players have become ‘it’ and the game has begun anew. For the people who have survived the day, a small reward will be given.”

The T.V flickered and turned off. A second later, a small naked baby angel appeared out of thin air and was in front of both Ronald and Silver.

“Wow. Wow. Wow.” The baby angel spoke with eyes wide open and in shock. “I didn’t expect to stumble upon such a scene.” He fluttered around Silver and then to Ronald.

“What scene?” Ronald croaked.

“I knew that people get a bit lonely during these time in the game, but to come into contact when I bring the reward is a bit too much for the little old me.”

“You got it all wrong!” Ronald denied getting completely red from what the baby angel said. “It just-”

Silver didn’t care and put away her sword. She brought out a new pair of clothes.

“It just what? A new S&M sword play?” The baby chuckled, fluttering around Ronald’s head.

“No.”

“Really?” The baby frowned. “That sucks.”

Silver went back into the bathroom and quickly change into her clothes, wearing jeans and a tang top. She then came out with the towel wrapped around her head. The baby angel was fluttering around asking Ronald a whole bunch of questions, forgetting all about his mission.

“Our reward?” Silver asked with her hands on her hip.

“Oh yea.” The baby angel fluttered towards Silver. “I completely forgot. The scene was so shocking to my young mind that I went completely blank.”

“Please enough with your prattle. You’re an angel. Nothing should shock your mind.”

“You’re absolutely right.” The baby angel gave a beautiful smile that fitted its cute face. “So here are your rewards for staying alive.” He pulled out a small fist size deep scarlet crystals to each of them. “A reward is necessary for the players who works so hard.”

Silver took the crystal. She could see that this crystal was a lot more special than the ones that she had personally gotten for herself. The deep scarlet red color was more potent than any other crystals that she had seen. She knew that this was a top grade red crystal even though it didn’t compare to the orange crystal.

“Well then with my delivery over. Tootles~” With a puff of smoke, the angel disappeared into thin air.

“That was unexpected.” Ronald was looking at the deep colored crystal in his hands, twirling the crystal around with his fingers, awed. He then brought it up to his mouth and ate it without a second through with a smile plastered on his face. “Woah! This is actually some good stuff!” He stated with excitement.

Silver put away the crystal into her watch and went over towards the bed. She pulled off the cover and walked over towards the sofa, where she curled up into a ball. “Wake me up in three hours.”

“Okay, but are you sure you don’t want to sleep on the bed?” Ronald turned off the lights for Silver to sleep.

She pulled the blanket over her head and did not answer, leaving Ronald to stay up by himself.

Throughout the night Silver and Ronald switched in between three to four hour shifts, allowing them to get short burst of sleep until it finally became close to noon, when they had to check out.

Silver and Ronald made their way downstairs and checked out. Stepping out, the bright sunlight beamed down towards Silver’s face, making her cover up her eyes.

“Where are we going next?” asked Ronald.

“Food.”

“Ah, I was wondering when you were going to get some.” Ronald rubbed his tummy. “Take out?”

“No. I’m going to the nearest supermarket.”

“Oh….wait why? Isn’t that a waste of time? There nothing to cook with.”

“I do have pots and pans. Plus, I got enough to stay at a hotel for the next four days. It would also be cheaper on the long run if we save money. You don’t know when there will be another convenience store.”

“Ah….you’re right.” Ronald was thinking over what Silver had just said.

They started walking through the busy streets, Silver was also specially looking out for anyone who would sneak up behind them. Eventually, they made it to a convenience store that had a cat paw print as its logo. When she entered through the glass door, Silver got herself a cart.

“Get yourself a cart too.”

“Why? I’m not going to buy much.”

“Just do it.”

Ronald didn’t say anything else, and he pushed a cart behind her.

Silver started to pick through the shelves. At first she got non-perishables and filled Ronald’s cart to the brim with it. He looked at her shocked at the amount of food that she was purchasing.

Then she made her way towards the perishables. She bought herself a lot of fruits and vegetables, knowing that she didn’t know when she would get such a chance to buy more.

On the other hand Ronald picked out a handful wondering if he would have enough to even buy the food. He was in disbelief how easily Silver filled up both carts to the point that it could spill over.

When she went to the check out the female clerk stared at the mountain of food that she brought over.

“You don’t have to bag them.” Silver quickly stated.

“Excuse me?” The clerk was confused at what Silver meant.

“Just ring it up please.”

The clerk nodded and she started to slide the food over. It took a good while, before the total came up.

“It would be….35 Angel Coins.” Once again the clerk’s voice was changed to a familiar currency that both Ronald and Silver could understand.

Silver pulled out 35 Angel Coins and handed it towards the clerk. The money changed into the currency of the cat people. She then quickly started to throw everything into her storage watch as the clerk stare with wide eyed at the whole thing that was happening in front of her eyes.

With both Ronald and Silver done, they walk towards the front entrance. Ronald suddenly stopped as Silver bumped into his back. Silver rubbed her nose from the pain.

“Hide!” Ronald turned around and pushed her back and out of the view.

Silver stumbled backwards and saw a female player “it” standing in front of the grocery store with her back turned away from them. In alarm, Silver picked up her pace and made a sharp right. They quickly walked towards an aisle, trying not to catch anyone’s attention.

Peeking out to the side, Silver saw the female player with the brown hair walk into the convenience store. She herself was searching around as if she found some kind of hint that they were there.

“This is not good. We need to get out of here.” Ronald was breathing heavily, his heart was beating quickly.

Silver raised up her fingers towards her lips to quiet him down, and motioned him to go towards the opposite side. Ronald nodded and both of them quickly walked without bringing much attention.

Even still, it was strange that the lady seem to be walking a step behind them as if she knew where they were. Every time they turned the corner, they found the lady taking the same turn.

Ronald gritted his teeth. Confused at how the lady was following them so quickly. “How is she able to follow us so well?”

“I’m not sure, but at this rate we’ll be found.”

“Is she some kind of pro or something?”

“It could be coincidence.”

Both of them went towards the next aisle, they didn’t want to run towards the entrance yet. Both of them were making every effort of getting out without being found out, but the lady seem to be right on their tail.

“Are all ‘it’ players like this? Their tracking skills are superb!”

“Shhh.” Silver grabbed his mouth. The lady twirled her head towards their direction, but both of them were able to slip to the next aisle before she got a good glimpse of them. “Are you trying to get her attention?” She hissed.

Ronald shook his head hard. His eyes became wide and knew that he almost made a fatal mistake.

Silver finally let go of his mouth and Ronald took a deep breath. He sighed and straightened his back, looking directly at Silver with something to say. “We need to leave this place.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

They were both near the front. People were coming in and out as the door automatically opened and closed.

“Let’s bolt out of here.” He peeked over to the left to see that she was coming closer.

Silver nodded and both of them started to run straight towards the opening glass door.

Ronald look over her shoulder and in alarm, he yelled. “She she saw us!”

They slipped out of the door and was suddenly came to a halt. Not to far away from them to the left was another male ‘it’ player with a black vest and a rabbit ears. His faces was smeared like a war paint. He smirked when he saw both Ronald and Silver.

“You kidding me.” Ronald couldn’t believe that they just stumbled onto the second ‘it’ player in a row. “Run!” With a shout he backed away and turned around to run.

Silver followed his example and bolted. Both of them running through the crowds. Ronald pushed through, trying his best not to get caught. For Silver, she slipped through as best as she could, she didn’t wanted to be tagged ‘it’ today or any days. Staying alive for another day was her primary goal.

“We should split up!” Ronald shouted. “It’ll give us a chance to stay alive!”

“Fine. I’ll meet you back at the same hotel for the night.”

“Okay! Stay alive, Silver!” Ronald turned right and head downstairs into the underground subway station. The female player chased after him down into the stairs.

. Silver turned a sharp right and went into the mall. She pushed through the crowds and swerved her way into one of the biggest interior mall. Ducking underneath the nearest counter, she hid quietly.

Seconds later, the man who was chasing her stopped and glanced around, looking for any traces of Silver. He slowly walked towards her, looking over the clothing section and passed her.

Silver crawled slowly on her knees on the opposite direction of the man. She noticed that this player wasn’t able to sense her like the lady had. Peeking up through the racks, she could tell that he was just walking around like a headless chicken not knowing where she was.

She debated knocking him out here or just continually running. From her angle she had a good chance to knock him out in one swing, but the problem would come after. If she remembered correctly from last night, these Cat People seemed to respect the players who were ‘it.’

How could she know? Every time she saw the Cat People walking by, she saw them give him a respectful bow and continued on. While one of the sales clerk stopped near her from her hiding place as she could hear them talking.

“Is everything alright, sir?” Silver heard the voice of the female sales clerk. She examined the man with curious eyes and worry.

“I am actually looking for someone.”

“Who might that be?”

“Did you by any chance see a female run into your department just a couple minutes ago?”

The Cat Lady thought it over for a moment. She tilted her head to the side, making her look very adorable. She then started to sniff the air and twitched her nose. “You know sir, it’s embarrassing to say this but…” She twiddled her thumbs. “You have a very alluring smell.”

The man sighed and gave her a glare. “Answer my question.” He grinded his teeth in frustration.

“Oh, I’m sorry sir. Yes, I did see a lady running around.”

“Which way did she go?”

The cat tilted her head and brought her finger up to her lips. She tapped it a couple times and thought over what he had said. Silver started to back away from both of them a lot more faster than before. She moved from one rack to another, trying not to show herself .

“I really didn’t see her leave. One minute she was there and the next she wasn’t.” The cat lady scratched her chin, then her eyes became bright. “Oh!”

Silver momentarily froze up.

“I remember now. She was here a moment ago.”

“Why didn’t you say it sooner!” The man pushed pass her and started to diligently look around. He walked in between each clothing rack, trying to find her.

Silver had to be particularly careful not to be seen by any other cats. She had a bad feeling that they would turn against her and rat her out. The man continued to talk to other cats asking if they saw her. Majority of them shook their heads to the point he was getting very frustrated.

“I know you’re here!” The man shouted, freezing Silver on the spot.

“Sir?” The clerk was startled at his sudden burst of voice.

“I can sense that you are here!”

“Sir, please! This is the mall.”

“Shut it cat!” The man vehemently spoke.

“But-” The clerk was pulled back by another lady cat.

“Don’t go against him.” She hissed. “He’s the Prospector. He’ll send you to the Abyss.”

The clerk shut up and stepped back in fear. Instead, she trembled and bowed. “I’m sorry sir. I won’t do it again.”

“You’re all so useless. Why can’t you find one person!”

“I-I-”

“All of you spread out and find her now!”

“Yes sir.” The clerk said with a tremble, every one started to move around in a hurry. Even the pedestrian’s that were watching were moving to his tune. They didn’t deny her words and instead were running around looking for Silver diligently.

Silver wasn’t pleased at what was happening. She didn’t know that the person who became ‘it’ could have so much power to the point where he could control others to his bidding. This was very bad. At this rate, she would get caught, and she needed to get out of here fast. If not, she would be entangled in a very bad mess.

As she made her way towards the exit, she was suddenly blocked in by one of the clerks. She quickly changed directions and was once again was boxed in on both sides.

With only one option left, she slipped behind into a changing room and made her way into one of the rooms. She locked the door behind her and started to pull in her dark magic into her hands. The magic shifted and formed into a black misty ball.

She leaned backwards and faced the door. Her hands were ready if anyone came barging in. Her breath became heavy as she waited patiently.

Not to far away, she could hear the sound of footsteps getting louder and louder, coming closer to her. All of a sudden, the footsteps stopped in front of her door. A soft knock could be heard on the other end.

Silver held in her breath and waited. The door handle started to slowly move, causing Silver to grip the magical energy in her hands even harder. With a slight push, the door opened and a cat lady stare at her with startled eyes.

Bolting forward, Silver threw the ball of magical darkness at the cat lady. In seconds a black blossom of smoke-like substance radiated outwards covering up the whole 30 feet of area, making everything around her pitch black. Her hands were like rockets as they punched heavily into the lady’s stomach, causing her to kneel over in pain before she could yell out. Silver knocked her out and with a thump the cat lady fell onto the ground unconscious.

She knew that she needed to get out of the area as quick as possible, already the darkness was attracting people’s attention. Luckily for her, she was able to see in the darkness, allowing her to move without much trouble.

“She’s here!” Someone yelled.

Silver willed up another dark magical ball into her hands and threw another one in front of her. Another puff of darkness covered a wide area, allowing her to sneak through under cover.

“I can’t see!”

“What? How is this possible?”

“Who turned off the lights?”

“Gah! Someone stepped on my tail!”

“Sorry, that was me.”

Silver continually threw out a couple more spheres of dark magic that acted as smokescreen. She felt the sap of her magic starting to disappearing at a fast rate. Using only pure magical energy took a lot more from her than putting small amounts of magic into swords and bullets.

She felt a sudden tingle from her back. In the last moment she turned around, just in time before the patch on her arm could be ripped off its velcro. Her hands whipped around and grabbed the enemies arm. With a pull of her body weight, she threw him over her shoulder in one go.

Thud!

“Ompfh! Cough! Cough!”

Silver saw before her the “it” player that had chased her down. With a frown she willed up large amount of magical energy and froze his arms and legs into the ground, making it impossible for him to escape.

“Well then, have fun sticking to the floor until midnight.” Silver smirked.

“Cough! I’m going to find you!” He screamed. With all his strength, he tried to pry away, but miserably failed from detaching himself. “You’re going to die!” With a angry wail, he thrashed around with vigor.

“I wouldn’t count on that.” Silver kicked him hard in the head, knocking him out.

With a clap of her hands, she started to casually walked out of the thick clouds that seemed to linger in the air for a long period of time. She didn’t care how long the smoke lasted, all that mattered was for her to get out of the mall as quickly as possible.

Loud footsteps of other people were rushing down towards the area, and she didn’t want to stick around when the security got here. She knew that staying any longer would get her in trouble, even though the security didn’t quite know what was going on.

“What’s with this darkness?” A security officer came running. He did not step in and was staying back.

When Silver saw him, she leaned over pretending to cough. With wobbled steps, she came out of the darkness.

“Hey! Are you alright?” The security officer came running over towards her.

“Yes. It suddenly went pitch black, making it impossible to see. I think it was a terroristic attack!” Silver grabbed onto the security officer’s hands. She pulled herself up and coughed some more.

“Come on. I’ll get you to safety.” The security officer said with worry. He helped her over towards the other cat people who were wrapped up in a blanket.

The paramedics were on standby with extra blankets. They handed her a blanket as well and allowed her to sit down.

“Stay here. We’ll have someone check up on you.”

“Thanks.” Silver meekly stated. She closely examined the cat people around her, watching if anyone noticed her, but so far no one did.