Kyralie frowned down at the snow-covered buildings and huddled closer under her wings, her knuckles white as they gripped her crystal scythe. Below her was a world she rarely visited, not because of the strange technology that replaced magic but because there was just no cause for a Valkyrie to walk in these times.

In a world where you could kill someone with a gun or even destroy a whole city with a bomb you could not find a true heroic soul. People were killed for the pettiest of reasons and only aided others when it would benefit them.

No, in these modern times there were no real heroes. A place with no heroes was a waste of time for a Valkyrie and yet… Kyralie found herself brought here by whatever powers it was that summoned her to become Death’s servant as well as a request from her father.

Ignoring the cry of lost souls in the concrete jungle below her, Kyralie spread her wings and leaped into the overcast sky followed by a flurry of ravens that called to her with the names of the dead.

“Don’t tell me their names; I want nothing to do with anyone here-” she muttered to the black shadows following her, only to be cut off as something fast passed before her in a red and brown blur, tossing her in its wake and scattering the ravens. Spinning on the air and flapping her wings to control her flight, she dropped a few meters and shook her head, the auburn waves glinting in what little light there was.

“That was him!” She burst out; gritting her teeth at the indignity she had just received. Cursing under her breath at what had brought her here, she took a brief glance at the sky to mark her position and where the vehicle had been headed.

“How father could have known he would pass by here…” shaking her head she dropped down to a deserted alley way. She would need to follow that sleigh no doubt. Her father had only told her to fly at that certain spot at that certain time to witness something interesting. Now the chaos blood flowing within her was stirring with curiosity at what kind of havoc could be caused – no doubt a response her father was counting on.

Sighing at what she knew would probably be a pointless endeavor, Kyralie changed into a spare change of clothes consisting of a white button down shirt, hip hugging black jeans and a woven jacket that fell to her knees in creamy folds. On her head was a soft woolen cap, also cream colored to hide her dual shaded eyes.

All she needed now was to find out where exactly that sleigh had been heading and to do that… walking from the alley way, Kyralie looked around until she spotted a possible informant.

“Excuse me…” Kyralie began, sitting down beside her prey.

The young boy looked at her with bright, innocent blue eyes and smiled around the smeared chocolate on his face, “Hi, lady! You have funny eyes!”

Giving a wince of a smile, Kyralie asked, “You like Christmas don’t you?”

An enthusiastic, “Yeah, Christmas is awesome! I’ve been trying really, really hard to be a good boy this year so I’ll get lots of presents from Santa Claus!” was the response.

“Ah… then would you happen to know where Santa Claus lives?” Kyralie asked.

The child rolled his eyes at the ignorant adult before him, “Everyone knows where Santa lives. He lives in the North Pole. If you needed to send him a letter there’s a mail box in the middle of the Square that’s only for Santa Letters.”

“Oh no, I don’t need to send him a letter. Thank you for your help and I hope you do get lots of presents from Santa,” giving him a quick smile Kyralie got to her feet and walked off.

North Pole… from what she could recall that was too far for her to fly which meant she’d have to use whatever transport was available to get her to the general vicinity…

Kyralie checked her pockets to ensure that the fake documents her father had sent were still on her before she made her way to the train station. From there she’d go to an airport and see what kind of plane she would need to sneak aboard.

This whole adventure is going to make my karma go haywire… she thought miserably to herself.

__________________

RIP Duke
BA Characters:
Joker Kyralie Calista
Artwork - No requests =(