Valkyrie's Lament

Gate #6 - Day 2 (Part V)

“Well. Well. If it isn’t the princess.” Sam rolled his eyes when he saw Silver.

“Princess?” Brianna look at Sam as if he said a strange word. “Why don’t you ever call me princess?”

“Because it doesn’t fit you.”

“That’s not fair.” Brianna pouted.

“That’s a trade-able item.” Silver spoke. She came up beside them with her arms crossed in front of her.

“Really? So the princess is also useful.” Sam rolled the orb in his hands.

“I’m not quite understanding this princess that you speak of.” Silver voice a bit cold.

“It’s simple really. You look like a princess that needs saving, but then again you are a bit scary to be around. Killing monsters as if they were just play things.”

Silver wasn’t sure if she should take that as a compliment; instead she shrugged it off as if it was nothing. “Let’s team up.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“This is a game of tag you know. If I get tagged I’m coming after you.”

Silver smirked. “Try me.”

Sam stared at Silver’s brash response. This time he carefully examined Silver with interest and smiled evilly. “Challenge accepted.”

“So does that mean you’ll team up for awhile?”

“Whatever like I care.” Sam shrugged it off.

“Then let’s get out of here before we attract any more attention. Plus, I’m hungry.”

“Me too!” Brianna stated excitedly. “I haven’t eaten the whole day.”

The Cat people who were alive watched the three talk among themselves as if today was another regular day. Their mouths were agape with disbelief as they watched the three leave from the area and into the quiet streets.

Silver paid close attention to her surroundings. She knew that these two monsters had caused quite a bit of noise and havoc. The chance of people gathering around to see what the ruckus was about was very high.

“Let’s slip through the side.” Silver motioned her head towards the side of a rundown apartment complex not to far away from them.

“Why?” Brianna asked a bit too loudly.

“Got a feeling we’re being watched.”

Brianna made an ‘O’ with her mouth and glanced around.

“Keep your head in front of you idiot.” Hissed Sam. “You don’t want them to know that we know.”

“My bad.” Brianna whispered.

“It’s not my bad. We need to move.” Sam hurried Brianna to go faster.

They started to power walk, moving through the alleyways and past the sides of the buildings. Their feet sped up faster, cutting corners and even running in between stalled traffic.

Sam ran into a movie theater, cutting through the front reception.

“Sam!” Brianna hissed. She was staring in alarm on how quickly he just bypassed the security.

Silver followed right behind him.

“Hey!” One of the person who took the tickets called out to them. “Stop!”

“Damn it!” Brianna cursed. She ran after both Silver and Sam. Not liking how they just attracted even more attention.

Sam ran and took a sharp left towards following an exit sign. Silver followed closely behind with Brianna barely lagging behind.

“For crying out loud!” Brianna huffed and puffed, trying to catch up.

All three burst out from the back entrance of the movie building, and climbed over a metal fence. Silver didn’t lose a single breathe from the run and kept close to Sam. She was keeping a good pace behind Sam and scanned her eyes around them. Now it seemed that they had lost whoever was chasing after them from behind.

Eventually, they went into a small outdoor strip mall, and Sam made his way towards one of the buildings. It was a small enclosed building that was in the last corner of the U shape strip mall. Silver noted that the amount of people present was not many, giving her a bit of relief.

They entered into the small restaurant. Sam strode in as if nothing was wrong, while Brianna was breathing restlessly from the long run. She flopped over by a table completely exhausted.

“Y-You….*huff*…..are…..*puff*….insane.” Brianna let out a huge breath of air from her lungs. She melted into the seat as if it was the most comfortable chair in the world.

Silver wasn’t even out of a single breathe and had a menu in her hands.

“You need more exercise.” Sam picked up toothpick on the side, where jar of them were placed. “At this rate, you’re going to die.”

“I’m already dying.” Brianna whined. “I mean come on. How is it possible that both of you guys are monsters?!”

“Monsters?” Sam cocked his head and leaned back. “Nope, you just need to lose some of your unwanted fat.”

“Hey! I resent that! I’m actually quite thin!”

“Really? Then you shouldn’t have such a hard time running.”

“Are you calling me fat?!” Brianna gasped, staring at Sam with an evil eye.

“No. You thought like that.”

“Oh come on, stop being an asshole and say for once a positive encouragement for me.”

“Positive encouragement?” Sam thought it over for a moment. “Your posture when running is not to bad. You just need improvements by getting rid of the excess fat on your arms.”

Brianna chucked a bottle of ketchup at Sam, who dodged it without much effort. “Silver, don’t ever fall in love with a asshole like him. He’s not worth your time and effort.”

“So are you saying you fell in love with me?”

“Ha? You're my brother for Pete’s sake!” Brianna’s words went up an octave in disbelief. She stressed the words very strongly.

“I’m just keeping watch over you so you don’t cause any unnecessary trouble!”

“I don’t need you to watch over me.”

“You guys are siblings?” Silver asked. She now noticed on closer inspection that these two looked alike.

“Yea.” Brianna spoke with a sigh. “I can't believe we’re related by blood.”

“I don’t know her.” Sam bluntly spoke without a care.

“See, what I mean?” Brianna clenched her fist. “He’s a menace!”

“Then why do you guys stay together?” Silver was a bit confused at their relationship.

“He saved me. I’m repaying the favor.” Brianna replied as she motioned her hands in front of her.

“She saved me. I’m not repaying a single favor back.” Sam was chewing on his toothpick.

“You guys are like two peas in a pod.” Silver chuckled.

“Please don’t compare me to him. It just gives me a horrible headache.” Brianna scrunched her eyebrows and rubbed the side of her head.

“You’re looking in the wrong place.” Sam scoffed at Silver’s remark. “If we’re two peas in the pod then it’s the end of the world.”

“You doofus it’s already the end of the world scenario. Did you completely forget?”

“No. It was just a metaphor.”

Silver saw the waiter come towards them.

“Are you guys ready?”

“Yes, I am.” Silver replied. “I would like a cheeseburger with a salad.”

“Cheeseburger for me too.” Brianna quickly stated.

“Steak.”

“Every single time…that’s all you eat.”

“Quit nagging me women!”

“You need some vegetables in your diet.”

“Hell no. Do you think I’m some kind of rabbit?”

“You do know that our body need more than just one source of vitamin.”

“Mind your business.”

“Oh my god. Your such a pain.”

Silver felt like the two were an old couple by how they acted. Shaking her head she brought her attention back to the waiter and smiled. “Please ignore them.”

“Ah…yes…what about drinks?”

“Water for me please.”

“Water.” Brianna quickly stated and went back to bickering with Sam.

“Coke.” Sam replied. He held up his hands near his ears, trying his best to ignore Brianna.

“Okay…” The waiter jotted down her notes and walked away quickly from them.

“See you just scared her off,” said Sam.

“I did not.”

“Your loud obnoxious mouth did.”

“Did not.”

“Did.”

“No.”

“Okay.” Silver slapped her hands in front of her to catch both of their attentions. She was starting to have a migraine from these two and their obnoxious fight. “Let’s change the topic shall we?”

“Like?” Brianna asked. She was giving a deathly glare at Sam.

“Did anyone of you guys see the others yesterday?”

“Who?” Sam asked.

“Rose, Tyler, Ronfonso, Salphie, Amy, Jamie, or even Jasper?” Silver was wondering how the two were faring.

“Nope.” Sam replied with disinterest.

“What are you talking about? We saw Amy and Jamie together last night after that rat monster’s appearance. They were in the thicket of it!”

“Oh, they were. I forgot.”

Brianna sighed and shook her head at Sam’s attention span.

“So what happened to them?”

“Well they were in the middle of running away from one of the ‘it’ players. They eventually got away through a building, but we’re not sure where they went honestly. Thought there was something really strange that happened.” Brianna pulled in her lips. Silver could tell that she look worried.

“Is there something wrong?”

“We saw the one of the three players that were chased turn into the giant rat that destroy the building last night.”

“What?!” Silver stated in alarm. She had a feeling that the rat monster had some connection to the game, but to the point of it being once human shocked her.

“What do you mean one of them changed?”

“That’s the thing. We’re not sure what made them change. Amy and Jamie were fine, but the third one didn’t seem to be okay.” Brianna was not to sure how to explain the situation. “It’s like he kneeled over and was in horrible pain. Couple seconds later, we saw a giant rat that was destroying the city.”

Silver thought it over, thinking about what Brianna stated. “Did you see anything else that was different among the three that were running away?”

Brianna thought it over and shook her head.

“One of them had mouse ears, while Amy and Jamie didn’t.” Sam spoke up, while his hand was against his cheek leaning on it.

“What has that got to do with anything?” Brianna asked confused.

“Everything. You weren’t paying attention, were you?”

Brianna was confused about what Sam had to say.

It finally hit her. Silver knew exactly what Sam was talking about. “It’s the consequence that Kushiel speaks of.”

“Consequences?”

“You really need to pay attention to important details that pertain to this game. Not some stupid irresponsible stuff that doesn’t even help us.” Sam rolled the toothpick in his mouth.

“My gossips are not responsible.” Brianna fumed.

“Whatever.” Sam waved it away as if it was not important. “My guess is that stealing from another player before they get their patch back will result to the consequence that the crazy angel spoke of. The priority of the game is get your patch back and steal from another player to transfer the ‘it’ title to as many people as possible.”

“Why? That sounds horrible.” Brianna spoke with unease. “Is it worth spreading it to so many people?”

“Kushiel has a sadistic side to her. She likes to see people fail and die by the end of the night. These games aren’t a simple walk in the park.” Silver was peeved at Kushiel.

Kushiel always brought death and chaos wherever she went. All her games ended up with the loss of lives. If there were none dead, she got the feeling that Kushiel might even do something unpredictable that could be worse of an outcome than the game. Silver didn't know why she thought of this, but her gut feeling reassured her that this was the truth.

Even though she didn’t remember many things, she knew that Kushiel would always stay with the same pattern of killing as many people as possible through the games that she had planned for humanity. She was the game master that moderated the many games that she had planned. The words Angel of Death truly fit her as a title.

“I get what you mean.” Brianna was not happy when she heard Silver’s words. “I got the same feeling that that crazy lady wants us all dead so she can finish her job. But I’m not going to die; I’m going to show her that we’ll win the game!”

“That’s more like it.” Sam stated with a mischievous grin. “Staying alive is just not the only thing we should do, but make sure that she gets a taste of her own medicine.”

“What do you have in mind?” Brianna was picking up on Sam’s mischievous vibes.

“I don’t have anything yet, but one of these days when we have the chance I’m going to pull her down on our level to play these games.”

“I’m all in on this.” Brianna sniggered. “Just the thought of seeing that pretty face distort into horror and pain would do me justice.”

Silver thought it over for a moment. The thought of bringing Kushiel into the game was something that she had never ever thought was possible. It wasn’t until Ronfonso came into the game to be part of it that she thought that such a thing was possible, but then again Kushiel was not the Emperor from her memories.

It took a second for her mind to whirl into many scenarios. Was it possible that Kushiel did came down from being a Game Master and took part in the game? Could she really be the Emperor during the semifinals that bet their world with the others? It was highly probable that she would be the antagonist that hated humanity. Emperor had hunted down every single human's to the brink of extinction and Kushiel, in the future and present, had shown major contempt towards humans.

There were always other angels that could take the place of the old game master. She didn’t know why exactly they would lose their position just to play this horrible game, but now she saw that it was possible.

The Emperor in her mind had ridiculous power, especially holy magic that the angels had personally been known for. She did remember seeing bloodied wings now that she thought about it and it made her shiver. Kushiel coming into the game was the worst situation ever for her power was way above the human realms.

Every time she thought about it, everything just seem to piece together. Emperor was Kushiel, that hateful angel that made it her agenda to kill every single human possible.

“I’m in if you’re going to kill Kushiel.” Silver spoke breaking the conversation between Sam and Brianna. They were curious on why her voice sound a bit strained and had a hint of anger. “It’s possible to bring a Game Master into this game.”

“What? Really?” Brianna was startled by Silver’s words. “How?”

Sam leaned forward, waiting to hear what Silver had to say.

“I don’t know the requirements, but I think I know someone who might know how to bring a GM into a game.”

“Who is it?” Brianna gripped the edge of the table, making her knuckles almost red.

“Ronfonso. He might know something.”

“That Frankenstein?” Sam was thinking over what Silver had to say. He was shocked to know that Ronfonso might know the answer to the question that they were looking for.

Silver wasn’t sure if she did the right thing in telling these two, but at the same time Ronfonso was a GM who had killed hundreds of people. Him being a good guy was very far from it, but at the same time getting him to spill more about the game was something that she wanted. This could be the chance that they were looking for.

The waiter brought over their food.

“Oh~ This looks delicious.” Brianna was ecstatic about the food in front of her. She picked up her cheeseburger and gobbled it down in happiness.

Silver picked up her fork and ate the salad in front of her.

“The Frankenstein….who would’ve thought he would know.” Sam was thinking over what he just found out. “Though I have not seen him anywhere yet.”

“He could be hiding like us.” Brianna talked with her mouth partially full.

“Eat with your mouth closed please.” Sam stated with disgust. “I don’t want to see it.”

Brianna closed her mouth and gave him a glare.

“We either find him now or find him when the game is over.”

Brianna gulped. “Finding him when the game is over sounds like a bad idea. What if he dies?”

Silver highly doubted that Ronfonso would die in this game. He was a game master, one who planned out many games and for him to die easily in the preliminary games would surprise her.

“We’ll go look for him then. I would like to know how to kill that crazy angel with my own two hands.” Sam stated with excitement. “Just the thought of fighting her makes my blood boil!”

Brianna rolled her eyes. “All you ever do is think with your fist. Haven’t you ever used your head instead?”

“I think you just don’t pay attention…” Sam sighed. “You miss out on the chances when I actually do.”

Brianna frowned at Sam’s comment.

“Well anyways, we should go find Ronfonso. Waiting another day without an answer is going to drive me nuts. After we have an answer we should make one of the GMs fall so they take part in the game.” Sam stated with enthusiasm. “This would make the game ten times more fun.”

“I’m not so sure.” Brianna was not to excited about a GM taking part in the game. “They look ridiculously strong.” She said with worry.

“So? I’ll just get stronger.” Sam arrogantly stated.

“Your pride is going to get you killed one day.”

“Hardly.”

Brianna sighed. “Ignorance is bliss isn’t it Sam?”

“No it’s not.” Sam scoffed at her answer.

Silver was finished eating the food that she was given. She wondered why she hadn’t had such a thought to bring down a GM in a game. It just wasn’t something that people would normally do, especially because they knew that to bring down an GM into the game and killed them would need immeasurable amount of power and skills.

Right now humanity was just barely crawling on the ground. Fighting against an existence like Kushiel was an automatic death wish that would not let a single person survive. The rules of the game were in place so that the GM would not just randomly come in the game without a reason or restriction.

They were the moderators of the game that pushed humanity to grow and evolve. Without them there would be no game. How many games there were, she did not know, but she knew that there was an end to the games. She just did not know how it would end.

“If we killed a GM. What do you think would happen?” Brianna asked curiously as she picked up the fries.

“Nothing. Just a huge satisfaction that I killed a GM.” Sam stated with a smile. “After I kill a GM I’m going to erase the rest of the head honchos who put me in this shit hole.”

“I really thought you were enjoying this game.” Brianna bluntly replied, looking over towards Sam in a different light.

“Hell yea I enjoy it. I want to be the Game Master myself.”

“What?!” Brianna yelled out loud. The fries fell from her hands as she look at Sam as if he was crazy. “You want to be a murder?”

“I never said I’m going to be one.”

“But you just wanted to kill the GM and take their place. That means you’ll have control over the games.”

“So?”

“What do you mean so? Are you trying to play god?”

“What if I am.” Sam gave her an evil grin.

“Oh hell no. I’ll make it my life goal that you don’t become one.”

“Please do try, because you will horribly fail.”

“No. I’ll make sure I don’t.”

Silver was a bit taken back at the enormous goal that Sam had in mind. She only had one and that was to kill Emperor. Anything after that she did not care.”

“Well then, shall we go hunting for Frankenstein?” Sam got up and placed money onto the table.

“I’m going with you.” Brianna got up right after, staring at Sam with worry.

“Yea. I think that would be a good idea.” Silver took out a single Angel Coin and followed after Sam and Brianna out the door.