Jewel Thief ◇ L. Laufeyson

8 ◇ ready or not

trigger warning: intense violence.

LOKI ABANDONED ME.

He saw me struggling with those guards and he just watched.

I was seething with anger. I was mostly focused on the electrical currents violently running through my body.

I was taken down corridors and elevators, then thrown - literally tossed - into a new space, crashing into a hard metal wall. Luckily, the electrical currents stopped, so I used my remaining energy to launch myself back at the door. I shut, sort of...materialized closed, so I hit the metal wall full force. My back hit the ground once I fell and I laid there, gritting my teeth.

A silhouette stood towering above me, someone wide and blue. I was on edge, at first, then I realized this person was smiling at me.

"Whoa! Aye, hey, hey...are you all good, mate? You're ah, lookin a little dizzy there," the person said, their voice sort of choppy, but kind.

A rocky hand grabbed my arm and helped me up, giving me a good look at this caring stranger.

"What's your, name, mate? I'm Korg. Korg's my name. Yep."

Korg was a towering alien, with dark blue rock making up his body. The smile he wore was genuine, though.

"Y/N," I answered quickly. "How do we get out of here?"

Korg shrugged and raised his eyebrows at me. "You have to...win? But nobody wins. Doug tried to win." He cast a sideways glance to a limp corpse against the wall. I grimaced, but rolled my eyes. "Alright, fine. i have to beat the champion, right? I can do that. I've fought worse."

Korg sent me a tiny smile. "I like your hopeful attitude, Miss. By the way the guards were tossin' ya, you'll maybe fight soon. Probably. Well, who knows."

I glanced at the emerald ring on my finger and sneered. "The sooner the better."

◇

Turns out, Korg was right. I was prepped for the fight about mid-day, and the process was ... interesting, to say the least. The guards even took me to see some sort of hair stylist, and old man who twisted and braided my hair into a tight updo. I was actually thankful - my hair wouldn't be in my face throughout the fight.

I was taken to an armory, too, and told to pick out weapons and armor. I declined, much to Korg's surprise.

"So you...want to fight without anything on? Seems a little odd to me, Miss," Korg had said, looking at me warily.

I shrugged at him nonchalantly. "I'm not wearing their stupid armor, or using their stupid weapons. I can do this myself."

Korg pursed his rocky lips. "Well, uh, your owner specifically sent this for you to wear."

At first I was blown away by the "owner" comment, but I was soon distracted by the highly unorthodox piece of armor Korg was speaking about.

I wouldn't even go as far to call it armor - the outfit was more so a metal dress with gems on it. It was sleeveless and made of thin golden metal. The bottom was floor-length, divided into thick strips of gold and bronze, with jewels lining down the strips. A pair of simple, black, leather-type leggings were also included.