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Karla had a Forget Spell cast upon her so that she wouldn't remember her life before the age of six. So far she had only remembered one memory. Maybe this quest will tell me more. She kept walking all the while wondering where she really was. She glanced around at all the tall bare trees. The snow beneath her feet crunched. Karla heard a clattering noise near her. She ducked behind a bush and watched two men on horseback ride past her. Karla glanced in the other direction to see a small girl run away from them. "Hey, she's gone!" a man with a beard said. They turned around and started to ride after her.
The little girl yelled, "Help!" The language the girl spoke in was the same tongue her mother had spoken in her memory. Karla ran, the cluster of trees made her unnoticeable by the two men. She ran faster trying to get enough speed so she could climb the tree quickly. She leapt, grabbed a branch, and jumped down toward the girl. Karla grasped the girl's wrist and yanked the both of them into some bushes.
"Who are you?" Karla asked in the Old Norse tongue. She'd learned it from her memory. The girl's eyes widened in surprise.
"How do you know our language?"
"My mother taught me."
The small child looked puzzled, "I do not understand."
"Why are they after you?"
"They are Night Seekers. They are our enemies."
"What do they do?"
"They steal people and ransom their lives in exchange for food and weapons."
Karla's eyes darkened with anger. "They —"
Five other men rode up wearing iron armor. "Where is the child?"
"A girl took her," the bearded man answered.
He whipped out his sword. "Where?!"
"Who are the men in armor?" Karla asked.
"They are Vikings. They guard our city."
"The Night Seekers, where do they come from?"
"England."
"Stay here." Karla leapt out of the bushes. "I have the child. She is safe." Then she said it again in English. "Do you understand their language?" Karla pointed to the iron clad men.
"Yes. Some of it, anyway."
Karla went back to the bush, bent down and helped the little girl out. "My name is Rana," the girl said.
"Karla."
"She knows our language. She says her mother taught it to her. She saved me from these men." Two Vikings tied up the Night Seekers.
"You will stay with us."
Karla shook her head in reply to the Berserker's comment. They rode into an ancient city filled with fields of food and temples to their gods. They were lead to a castle. On a stone chair sat a blond bearded man. "King Lars, these two Night Seekers were caught stealing your daughter. This stranger saved Rana."
"Kill them."
"No, father! Karla saved me!"
"I meant the Night Seekers."
A woman in wool burst into the room. She grabbed Karla by the shoulders and asked urgently, "Are you an Eldrid?"
"Yes." The king sat up, surprised.
"She knows our language?"
"Eldrid is Norse for 'fiery spirit'," Karla answered. "I don't know who my mother was—"
The woman's eyes gleamed, "You are the lost daughter of Ronalda Eldrid."
"How—"
"I knew your mother. She left on a ship and never returned. Forgive me I am being rude. I am Helga, priestess of the Norn of the past, Urd. Urd put the Forget Spell on you to ensure that the secret of this island be kept safe. Come with me to the Temple of the Norns, to get your memory back." She followed the priestess to an elaborate temple. Carvings were intricately carved on the walls.
"Urd, great goddess of the past, come to your place of worship!"
The statue began to glow with life. "Who do you bring to me, Helga?"
"Karla, the daughter of Ronalda Eldrid. The descendant of the Purple Ranger." Karla pivoted to face the priestess. Her eyes were wide.
"I do not sense power within her," the goddess replied. Karla turned back to the statue.
"The power was lost. I was sent here to earn the Valgerd shard cousin crystal of the Zeo Crystal."
"You cannot know what you can become until you know what you have been." the goddess's hands began to glow and her power infused Karla's mind.
She saw everything as if it were a dream. She remembered learning the Viking art of warfare, lessons in school, relatives, ceremonies and friends. The uncharted sea of her soul began to to add itself to the map of her life. She remembered the story of the island. After the Norse Empire had been destroyed by the Irish, many Norse fled to the island, practicing the old ways, undisturbed, for centuries. In the 1700's some English crashed on the island and since the two people were not under peaceful terms, the Norse would not help English return home.
Something disturbed her. A boy about her age then, about six, came to her house with his family. She pretended to listen to the boy, but she was straining to hear the parents' conversation. Then she heard a word of the adults' conversation, "betrothed...."
She heard yelling. Her mother did not want her to marry their son, Amund. She recalled that evening, her mother shouted, "I will not let Ragnild marry Amund! Mighty Skuld, Norn of the future, has told me that they were not meant to be wed!"
Ragnild? That's my real name? Karla thought for a moment. It means "warrior."
"We are leaving on the ship tonight to search for another island to settle on so Ragnild will not have to marry that evil man's son," her husband, Ander replied.
The ship! They left on the ship to make sure I would not have to marry that evil son! Ander added, "The Purple Ranger fights him and his army from taking the throne. Maybe the Purple Ranger will kill him before we leave.
"Maybe."
He didn't know! My father never knew!
She remembered the night they left. She and her mother waited for her father to get the last batch of food. Karla had gazed at a cliff as they pulled away from the island. She saw a silhouette of a man on the cliff. Powerful energy glowed in his hands making his face visible in the darkness. The energy from his hands tore to the sky creating a storm. Karla gasped. The evil man her mother had spoken of was red skinned and had tubes of silver all over his body. A visor was his eyes. Lord Zedd laughed vilely as the ship sailed toward the storm. He had killed her parents.
Karla breathed heavily as she got up off the floor. Helga hugged her firmly. "Urd let me see everything you saw, Ragnild."
"Thanks. Call me Karla. I've been called that for nine years." She explained the time reversal. Another statue began to glow.
"I am Skuld, Norn of the future. Go to the Temple of the Valkyries. There you will be transported to Asgard."
Urd said before both goddesses disappeared, "Now you will know what you can become."
Karla smiled, "Thank you."
They walked thirty minutes to the outskirts of the city. "This temple is very large because there are millions of Valkyries." Karla nodded in response, too captivated by the bulk and craftsmanship of the temple before her, to reply audibily.
A white horse with a cloth saddle and bridle stood in the first room. It neighed softly. Atop the saddle sat a strong physiqued woman wearing white battle armor. Her blond hair shone even in the dim room. She held out her hand to Karla. "I am the Valkyrie, Hilda. I will take you to Valhalla, the hall of Odin." She got on the horse and they instantly flew toward the sky.
They soared above the clouds. Once the mist cleared Karla saw a large palace. It was centuries old, but it shined as if it were just built. As they flew closer to the castle, Karla saw a beautiful woman. But from the waist down the woman's flesh was rotting. Karla gazed in horror. I'm definitely going to have nightmares about her! "Who is that?"
"Hela, the goddess of death and ruler of the dead."
"Why is she in Asgard?"
"There is a celebration for Odin, so everyone attends." They circled the roof and landed. Karla looked to her right and gasped. The woman had the same outfit as Hilda, but she didn't look like it was natural for her to wear it. Then Karla remembered,Some humans were made into Valkyries when they died, for doing great deeds in their lives. Karla gasped as the woman looked at her. Her mother!
"Mom!" Karla yelled. Ronalda smiled and ran to her daughter. They embraced, both of them in tears.
"Ragnild! Oh, my daughter!" Ronalda looked at her daughter. "I am so happy to see you! You are very beautiful!"
"Thanks."
"I'll take you to Sif, the wife of Thor, to earn her sword so you can defeat a giant that has the Valgerd Crystal." Karla nodded. Ronalda turned to Hilda. "Thank You." Hilda nodded.
Karla and her mother mounted the horse and flew toward another castle; they landed. Ronalda called, "Sif, I am Ronalda the Valkyrie! I have with me a mortal who wishes to earn your sword!" Gray mist revealed a beautiful woman.
"Who is this mortal?"
"My daughter, Ragnild."
"The Purple Ranger?"
"Yes."
"Then come, Ragnild." Karla hugged her mother goodbye and followed the goddess.
"You must complete a test of humility to earn my sword." The goddess waved her hand and a round, gold, portal appeared. "Go in the portal to your quest."
Karla went and found herself on a motor boat. She glanced around the boat and found nothing—no supplies, not even an oil tank. The boat was anchored in the water. Karla heard someone scream. A small child was flailing her arms wildly, trying to swim away from something coming toward her in the water. She saw torn rags on the child. Suddenly a shark tore through the surface of the water and headed toward the girl.
Karla couldn't move the boat, it would run over the girl. I can't throw anything at the shark! The boat's empty! Another voice, that was not her own whispered, * How much are you willing to give, to save the life of a poor peasant. A nothing human! Unless you think you are too good to save her........*
"No!" Karla screamed. She was the only thing she could throw at the shark in order for the child to make it to the ship. Karla leapt from the boat , straight for the shark's gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth.
A hand grabbed her just before she reached the shark. The hand let go and Karla was floating in front of Sif. "You were the girl?" Karla asked.
"Yes. And here is your prize." Sif handed her a glowing sword made of silver. "I will teleport you to the giant."
"Thanks." Suddenly Karla found herself mounted on a white steed, flying toward a very tall man. A man the height of three full grown men. The giant.
Karla gripped the reins and tightened her legs around the stomach of the horse, as she swerved to the right. "I, Ragnild challenge you giant!"
The giant looked at her as if she were a mere dragonfly. He laughed so loudly that the ground shook. "You, a mere child? HAH! I'll give you a chance to change your mind."
"Don't pity me, giant! I will prove to be your downfall!
"HAH! Take your best shot!"
"As you wish!" Karla threw the sword and it began to glow. It struck the giant's arm. The giant yelled in anger and rushed toward Karla. The steed swooped down as Karla caught the sword. The blade turned into a lasso. The horse swooped down near the giant's feet. He paused just for a second, but it was enough time. Karla wrapped the lasso around the giant's feet and he fell to the ground. They shot up, not wanting to get squashed by the giant.
Karla landed on a cliff near by the fallen giant. She dismounted and walked toward a pillar. Floating above the pillar was a crystal. The crystal was glowing purple as she picked it up. The crystal engulfed her with purple light. The energy seeped into her. She felt herself grow, change back into a seventeen year old. She wore a Purple Ranger outfit with a hexagon as her face mask design. The hexagon was a six sided figure that could never be broken. Six lines, like six strands bonded together. Six rangers. Unity. Her shape symbol stood for the unity of the Ranger Team.
Karla was teleported to a place filled with computers and on the back wall had the costumes of the old rangers. "Hello, Karla," Zordon said, "This is the Power Chamber. Rito and Goldar blew up the Command Center. Don't worry. The Rangers are fine. They earned the Zeo Crystal. Billy, however, chose not to take a Zeo Shard and let Aisha's ancestor, Tanya have his shard. Billy and Trini will be working together with the machinery."
"So where is Aisha?"
"In Africa, taking care of animals. She took Tanya's place."
"Did I miss anything else?"
"Zedd and Rita have fled because the Machine Empire is here. The Rangers fought Cogs and a monster with their Zeo Zords that Trini and Billy made while all of you were on the Quests. The monster was destroyed."
"How many Zords did they make?"
"Five. We know very little about the Valgerd Crystal. It could be dangerous to have a Zord designed for Zeo energy and put Valgerd instead."
"I understand, Zordon."
"You still lead the team, Karla. That has not changed."
"The others are at Ernie's Outdoor Cafe if you want to join them."
"Thanks, Alpha." Karla teleported away. She went home and took a shower. Once she got dressed in a purple sun dress, she went to Ernie's.
"Karla!" Adam called. He bolted out of the chair and ran to her. He hugged her fiercely. "You had better be okay."
"I'm fine. I love you."
"I love you, too. Don't worry me like that ever again."
"I'll try not to." She laughed and they walked to the table.
"Hey, we were just talking about you," Kat said.
Tanya extended her hand, "I'm Tanya. It's nice to meet you."
"Pleasure's mine." Karla shook her hand.
"Ohh, guess what?" Rocky said.
"What?" Karla asked.
"Our colors changed."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Let's go show her," Tanya said.
"Okay," Billy said.
In the Power Chamber, The Power Rangers Zeo stood in front of Zordon. The Rangers morphed and Zordon explained, "Katherine has the Power of the Oval. Tanya has the Power of Balance. Rocky has the Power of the Triangle. Adam has the Power of the Square and Tommy has the Power of the Star."
Trini said, "Your turn, Karla."
"Valgerd Ranger 6, Purple!" Karla's suit appeared. It looked the same as the Zeo suits, but on her helmet there were three gold stripes going up horizontally on two sides of her helmet.
Tanya whispered, "Wow."
Trini said, "Unity. The Hexagon stands for Unity."