I simply stopped fighting because there was nothing I could do anyway. My legs are probably inside the giant earthen’s mouth right now, I won’t know because I was not looking anymore. A part of me was hoping that Dad would simply arrive and save me, like always. But now, even the smaller earthens have already reached the top and some of them have started licking me. I was being raped. No, it was worse than rape. Maybe, even if I do make it out of this alive, I would still eventually feel the same. I would keep on fighting, but eventually I would just give up because there is just ultimately nothing I could do. I would end up like Cora and just manage on deluding myself by making speeches about how I simply changed my mind and decided that I didn’t want to follow my dreams anymore. Yup, what will happen to me in the academy will still probably be worse than rape.
Then, when everything just seemed so hopeless, I opened my eyes again and right beside my face, was a four-foot silver sword.
“What are you waiting for?” a female voice said. “Grab me and begin slashing those monsters’ perverted faces!”
I didn’t even bother why it spoke. I just grabbed it, cut off the disgusting thing wrapped around my feet, stabbed the giant earthen’s eyes and chopped off its giant head, then I stood up, pushed away the hideous creatures defiling my skin, slashed them as violently as I could that their blood sputtered all over my clothes. When I finished off all of them who made it to the top, I ignored the pain in my legs and even went down the slope to finish all of them off. I ran down the hill, slit their throats, cut off their limbs and the rest of them came running back to the woods whimpering in fear like beaten up dogs. I have never been more satisfied my entire life.
“My gods. . .” the sword said. “Violence runs in the family.”
“Shut up,” I said as coolly as I could.
I rested on a rock for a while before I climbed back to the top.
#
The moment I stepped into the concrete stage to which the gigantic sword statue was thrust into, everything around me dissolved. I flinched and then stumbled. When I opened my eyes again, I was sprawled on the Colosseum arena, with the rest of my fellow Freshies.
“Is she really the last one?!” A lady bellowed. I’ve never seen her this close before but Madame Celeste was beautiful beyond explanation, or maybe, at least when she was ten years younger. Her dark hair had streaks of gold and silver, and she was probably in her late 40’s based on the wrinkles on her forehead. Yet she still looked young even though she wore no make-up. The most striking thing about her, though, is that she held a huge silver spear with a violent-looking golden spearhead.
Everyone gathered around me and began asking if I was alright. I was about to yell ‘You don’t say’ to their faces but Cora also pushed her way through the crowd and helped me up.
“Are you okay? I’ll carry you to the infirmary,” she was crying, but I just hugged her. I also noticed that the talking sword was gone. I must have left it.
“That was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me, and my legs hurt, but overall, I’m fine” I asserted. “And I sure didn’t expect the horde. Great job to whoever planned this game.”
“Nobody expected the horde, my dear,” the lady with the spear muttered. Her voice thundered all throughout the Colosseum and I began to wonder if she was really holding an invisible megaphone or something. “Everyone please stay in your respective camps. If things get worse, I am requesting the camp leaders to please lead your camps to the Zephyron bunkers. Understood?” Louise and several others nodded. The lady with the spear turned to me again. “You did a great job fending the earthens off, Miss Alexandra Hardin. I want you to report to my office as soon as possible. Preferably when you’ve fully recovered,” she said.
“I’m fine, I could come with you---“
But the lady with the spear already turned her back on me. “Miss Cora Hardin, come with me.”
My sister bade goodbye and left with Madame Celeste in a flash of lightning.
“She didn’t even win, yet she still gets all the attention,” I heard Leshia Charm say just before three old ladies came to hypnotize me to sleep.
The following morning, I woke up in my room in Skiferlair, fully healed and with faces and fairies poking from all corners of my field of vision.
“Oh look, she’s awake!” a voice said. When I sat up, I realized it was Seline and my other campmates.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to help you three days ago,” Seline apologized. “I didn’t know that we can’t go back the moment we reach sword.”
I shook my head. “What? I was asleep for three days?”
“Yeah,” said Louise, who was holding a basket of fruits. “Madame Celeste told me to make sure you’re healthy so I brought you these.”
“Our Head-Valkyrie’s so awesome, right?” a girl who I didn’t know, said. “I’m Jedidiah Goshnoodle, by the way.”
I chuckled gently. “What a funny---“
“What a funny name, I know, hahaha,” she didn’t even let me finish. “You can call me Jedi. And oh, my heart was pounding when I watched you being pulled by the—you know. If I was you back there, I would have fallen unconscious just at the sight of that monster’s face!”
“I know, right! It was like a live horror movie!” Seline cut in. “Cora almost exploded into tears when you stopped fighting back. She thought you were gonna---“
“Die?” I said. “Yeah. If I died there, Sigurd’s Redemption could have been banned for a couple of years. I could have saved you from suffering that stupid game for five years.”
“What are you saying?” Seline sounded really hurt. “If you died there, I would suffer for eternity, instead.”
“I’m sorry . . .“ I had the sudden urge to pull her and hug her to my chest. Jedi and Louise also joined in.
That day was also the first time I ever put on the Folkvang Academy uniform: a knee-length bluish-white skirt, chocolate-colored leather combat boots and a navy blue sweatshirt dress with silver trim. The Folkvang Academy symbol, two wings in the shape of the letter ‘V’ was embroidered over the left chest. I then proceeded to the Fensalir with Seline and Jedi.
We were at the mouth of the Skiferlair bridge and right in front of us was Valhalla, the open field that Madame Celeste mentioned. We stopped for awhile and looked around for any signs of attackers.
“What’s wrong, Andie?” Seline held my hand as she tried to pull me into the field. We are standing right before the transition between concrete and grass.
“How did you make it past Valhalla during the past few days?” I asked. I continued to look around. Campers from the other bridges were now walking reluctantly across the field.
“Don’t worry!” Jedi said. She was jumpy for some reason. “Louise told us that there was a secret pact between the camps that the Freshies won’t be attacked until we get our runics.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Runics?”
Jedi shrugged. “I don’t know, either. But I think it’s the magic weapon that all valkyries have.”
“Come on, we’re going to be late,” Seline murmured.
“Okay,” I was still wary, but I jumped into the grass anyway.
We were still midway across the field when suddenly, I felt something heavy. I felt the grass against my back. Next I heard Seline and Jedi shriek.
“So, it’s true,” a voice said from above me. “You do look like Cora.”
“Hey! What is this!” Seline exclaimed. I opened my eyes. Someone was on top of me. “What about the pact!?”
“Screw the pact!” the girl on top of me, screamed. I tried to squirm and push her off, but my futile effort to free myself only made her stifle a giggle.
“Yeah, screw the pact!” cried another. She was not alone.
“Why are you doing this?” I merely whispered. It was all that I could manage. She was locking my head in her thighs.
“Because Cora is a traitor!” she screamed. I grimaced as I felt a spray of saliva on my face. “Everything she did was all for show!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “What do I got to do with anything?”
“She left me in the dungeon!” she screamed again. “She didn’t come back for me! We were supposed to graduate together!”
“I don’t know anything,” I never heard myself whimpering like this before. “Why are you blaming me?”
“What beautiful purple eyes,” she was just eyeing my face intently, as if actually deciding how she would carve something out of it. “You know, I can scoop those things out right now.”
It was like she was examining her own reflection on the surface of the knife. Then, in one quick motion, she slashed the knife at me. I winced as I felt the sharp point of the knife scrape against my cheek. A warm fluid trickled down the contours of my face and into my mouth. My blood tasted bitter and rust-like.
“Hey!” I heard something whiz just a few inches above me. The weight on top of me suddenly vanished. I tilted my head a little and I immediately noticed the huge arrow planted on the ground not far away from me. The girl who attacked me was crouching right beside it.
“Louise! Stay out of this!” she let out a high-pitched roar.
“Elisha, stop it,” Louise’s voice was low. I was having difficulty raising my head but I think I saw a glimpse of Louise holding a loaded bow. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Fine,” Elisha sighed. She began scurrying away from us together with her companion. “Be more careful next time, Hardin. You don’t want to ruin that beautiful face of yours.”
I let the sun bathe my face. I just lied there. Not long after, shadows blocked my view of the sky.
“Andie, are you alright?” Seline’s voice was frantic. She then began to wipe my face. Jedi was also sobbing somewhere beside me.
“Let me,” Louise said. She then hoisted me onto her leg. She placed a palm on my face. Louise then whispered something. I closed my eyes for the flash of white light that followed. When I felt my wound, the pain was no longer there. I also looked at my fingers and there was no blood.
Louise helped me up, and then she escorted us towards the Fensalir.
#
Our classroom was just on the second floor so we didn’t really get lost during our first day. Jedi, Seline and I even sat side-by-side, me in the middle. I was still trying to feel the part of my cheek where Elisha wounded me earlier, when our first teacher arrived.
“I hate her,” Seline whispered to my ear. Wow. Just a few days of class and Seline’s already hated our Mind Mastery teacher. But she did give me the heads up. Madame Rexy Morton was just—loathsome.
A slender-bodied middle-aged lady whose dark hair was pulled back so hard into a bun it stretched out the wrinkles on her forehead, walked into the room, dark green robes billowing behind her.
“Good morning, class, and don’t bother greeting me the same, because I’ll make sure you won’t have a good morning,” she said with a wicked grin on her face. I immediately remembered my own Dad. “Now will you please submit the fifteen-page essay about how tricky it is to master the mind and how much you need my help?”
“Umm—“ I held up my hand. “I wasn’t around when—“
Her eyes widened. “Ah—Miss Hardin! Very good to see you! I expect your essay will be brilliant!”
“But I don’t have—“
“Whaaat?” she sounded disappointed. “No fifteen-page essay?”
“But I was recovering from the—you know—the” I stuttered.
“Such a shame to your family! Not being able to pass the first homework of the school year!” she snarled. I flinched for a bit and even Seline and Jedi pulled their seats away from her a little. “Fifty points will be deducted from Skiferlair, then!”
I stood to protest. “But we don’t even have a point system!”
“Well, we should certainly make one!” she screamed right at my face and a spray of saliva along with it.
The rest of my first day wasn’t really as bad as my first class. My teachers just reviewed what they taught during the first few days when I was not around, for my sake. Miss Xandra Sparks, our Norse Mythology teacher even gave me private lessons during lunch break although I wasn’t really that interested. She told me about Brynhild and Sigurd and their tragic love story. She also taught me a bit about the nine realms and the kind of creatures living in them. I even learned that the reason why there were Trespassers, supernatural creatures living in Earth, was because our own piece of the universe happened to be the intersection of the nine realms.
Mind Mastery, Norse Mythology, History of Runes; the first half of my first day was kind of cool, except for Madame Rexy’s class, of course, but the second half, I don’t really know. I slept through almost the whole time.
“Good afternoon,” our teacher greeted. I jolted back to life after sleeping on my desk. She was having difficulty carrying her discussion materials but still nobody helped her. I was seated beside a Zephyron girl but I wasn’t sure though. I just guessed from the light blue trim on her uniform.
“Good afternoon, Madame Dolores Hyperior,” my classmates greeted.
Madame Dolores was discussing something on the board about pleasantries and good manners when I began to realize that the girl seated beside me was the girl who saved me during Sigurd’s Redemption. She had the same braided black hair.
“Umm—weren’t you the one who—“ I faltered.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” she said insipidly, her gaze not leaving the blackboard. I knit my eyebrows. I haven’t even finished my sentence yet but maybe she remembered about how we met during the game.
“If you’re going to ask me out, the answer is no,” she said uninterestedly. I just stared at her.
“I didn’t even say anything yet,” I told her defensively. What amount of confidence she had. Yes she was pretty and everything, but I am a hundred percent sure that I am not into girls.
“The answer is no,” she repeated as she turned to face me. I just stared at her in awe, not because of her response, but because of her startlingly steel blue eyes, exactly the same color as Zephyron’s symbol. I wanted to ask her about them but she seemed to be annoyed by my company. Of course I was somewhat hurt by her attitude so I just ignored her until the end of class. I didn’t even know her name.
When the bell rang, my classmates started pouring out of the classroom. Seline tried to pull me but I insisted I wanted to stay. I wanted to wait for the girl who saved me to leave first so I could follow her but she was also waiting for me.
“The bell already rang,” I told her, my body now twisted to the right, towards her direction. She did the same and then she crossed her legs. I caught a glimpse of her white thighs but I stared back into those beautiful orbs on her face.
“So why are you not leaving the classroom yourself?” she asked, leaning forward as if to mock me.
I leaned as well. “Why don’t you go out first?” I said, mimicking her tone.
She leaned closer. “Because if I do, you’ll just follow me.”
I moved my head in, our faces now just inches apart. “You think so?”
“I know so,” she whispered. I felt her breath on my face. Then, the classroom door opened and both our heads immediately darted towards the direction. An old lady’s slightly hunched back was facing us as she tried to pull in her cleaning materials—a cart filled with buckets, rags and mops. She turned to us, rags in hand. She paused awkwardly as she noticed us.
“I’m so sorry if I interrupted something,” she finally said. I exchanged looks with the girl who saved me. Then I decided to stand up.
“It’s fine. I was just about to leave anyway,” then I gathered my things and I walked straight out the door. I didn’t even glance back at the girl. I could not believe what just happened. I know so. She said it so confidently it was as if she was just playing with me or if not, actually telling the truth. I remembered what I felt when she breathed on my face. It was cold. Like what you feel the instant you open a refrigerator.
I managed to get out of Fensalir on my own even though our classroom was in the twenty-first floor and Fensalir was a fifty-storey maze of a tower that rose in the middle of nowhere. Then, I remembered that I still had to meet Madame Celeste, but didn’t really know where to go.
I walked back inside the Fensalir. And as if right on cue, the girl who saved me was just about to exit. I didn’t know what I was thinking but I pulled her by the arms.
“What’s your problem?!” she exclaimed as she swatted my hand aside.
“Nothing,” I managed. “Can I at least know your name?”
“Henrietta,” she muttered. “Henri for short,” she added and walked away.
I nodded with satisfaction and went to look for Madame Celeste’s office. I rode the elevator towards the top floor, thinking that the Head-Valkyrie would probably prefer the head or call it the top, of the building, as well.
The moment the elevator doors opened, I stumbled back. A huge dragon head sprouted on the door across the hall. I collected myself and then proceeded.
I was carefully tiptoeing across the hall, just in case the dragon head might, for some reason, come to life. The hall was lined with pillars and the ceiling was magnificent. Carved into the ceiling were scenes of ancient battles, rituals, castles and people dancing. The camp flags also hanged downwards in uniform distances along the hall. I arrived in front of a set of double doors where the head of the dragon sprouted in between.
I began to knock.
“Umm—Madame Celeste?” I called. The dragon’s eyes opened. I yelped as it opened its mouth. It coughed out dust, cobwebs, small bones and choked for a moment before spitting out a rusty old shield. “Please don’t eat me!” I whimpered.
“Cora! Long time no see!” the dragon beamed. “Here to complain about something again? Hey didn’t you graduate already?” I looked at the dragon. His head was just as huge as a horse’s but spikes sprouted along its neck. His eyes were a startling yellow and his fangs were as big as my fingers. When its head extended from the door a little bit, I stumbled backwards. “What?”
“I’m not Cora,” I said. I shrieked for a moment when the dragon smiled.
“Then, I’m not Fafnir, too!” it spat.
“I’m Cora’s sister,” I told him.
“And I’m Fafnir’s twin brother,” the dragon, whose name was probably Fafnir, chuckled. I also laughed.
“Is this Madame Celeste’s office?” I enquired. Fafnir shook his head. “Then where am I?”
“I’m just kidding,” Fafnir said. “But she’s talking to somebody right now.”
“But, this is more important,” I argued. “Just let me pass, Fafnir. This is about the horde of earthens.”
“Fine. I’m just a head stuck on a door, anyway,” The door creaked open as Fafnir continued laughing. “Best wishes to you!”
Inside was another hall filled with shelves of books and piles of rusty weapons. Hanging along the walls were more head-trophies of creatures that I didn’t recognize, but I surely jumped back the moment I spotted the giant earthen head staring at me from further into the hall. I got my act back together and began to walk further into the maze of shelves and piled weapons. I could hear whispering. I looked at the heads hanging along the wall just to make sure the noises didn’t come from them.
“No! I can’t let another ruckus happen in this academy! Remember last time?” cried a voice from deeper into the hall. I recognized it as Madame Celeste’s. I was just about to call her when I heard another voice.
“I think the horde is enough evidence,” said a man’s voice. I was quite perplexed because I never expected that men were allowed into the academy. I stayed behind one of the shelves. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but the mere fact that a man is in the academy already made me curious and want to listen in.
“But why?” said Madame Celeste. “Why did they attack? What did they want?”
“I have a guess,” said the man. “They would not attack unless they were provoked in the first place. And they want something.”
“So what is it?” asked Madame Celeste. “Gods, I hope this wouldn’t lead to a second Ragnarok. The Valkyries aren’t ready yet.”
“It’s the Hardin girl,” the man said. “She’s causing it. She was the reason the earthens attacked. Did you see the way they tried to get her?”
I gasped.
And I immediately knew that I have been discovered.
“Who’s there?!” boomed Madame Celeste. A shiver ran down my spine as her voice thundered all across the hall. I even heard some of the head-trophies whimper in fear.
“Umm—“ I hesitated. I walked out of the shelves and faced Madame Celeste. But she wasn’t the one that I first noticed, nor the giant golden planetarium rotating and revolving behind her. It was the true-to-life Adonis standing beside her table. No, wait, it was a male version of Louise.
“Oh crud—“ Louise said in a man’s voice. “I mean, Oh crud,” she repeated in falsetto.
“I told Fafnir not to let anyone in—“ Madame Celeste sighed as she face-smacked herself. “Anyways, welcome to the Celestia, Miss Hardin.”
I stared alternately at Madame Celeste then at Louise. Madame Celeste nodded.
“I guess your cover’s blown, then,” Madame Celeste sighed.
“What cover?” Louise said in her female voice.
“I know you’re a guy,” I said blandly. “Anyway, Ma’am why is there a man here?”
“I’ll explain—“ Louise rattled off.
“Shh—“ Madame Celeste interrupted. “Let me.”
Madame Celeste paused for a moment, then, she said begrudgingly: “The higher ups think that campus security is insufficient considering the situation for the last five years now. And so, they sent an undercover to make sure that security will not be compromised from within the academy.”
“Why? What’s the situation?” I asked.
“Maybe you’ve noticed the horde—“ Louise stopped as I mockingly tilted my head and raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, right.”
“The Trespassers, and even monsters from the other realms, have begun to stir,” said Madame Celeste gloomily. “The Scions think that a second Ragnarok is at hand.”
“Scions?”
“Top brass. Proxies of the gods,” said Louise. I nodded.
“And what does this got to do with me?” I said.
“We’re not sure yet,” Madame Celeste admitted. “But this is what I called you here for. The undercover ethereals—“
“Ethereals?” I interrupted. “You mean Louise’s not the only one?”
“There are five of us in the academy right now. One of us is disguised as a Freshie,” Louise said.
“Anyways,” Madame Celeste continued. “The ethereals believe that for some reason, you provoked the Trespassers.”
“And I was about to suggest that you must be given a closer watch, just in case,” Louise added.
I stared at him warily, suspicious that he just wanted to get a closer watch on me because of perverted ulterior motives. And great, just great, how could I have even angered the Trespassers? I haven’t even met them yet. Well, except maybe for Tower and his squad. Somehow I thought that this had something to do with that little guy. Maybe he reported me to his boss and now they’re seeking revenge. I looked back at Louise and Madame Celeste and realized that they were waiting for my answer. I totally spaced out and did not know what to say so I just nodded.
“It’s settled then,” Madame Celeste declared. “Louis, stay close to Miss Hardin.”
“But not too close,” I added. Louise, I mean Louis with the silent “s”, simply grinned.
I walked out of the Celestia, Madame Celeste’s office, with Louis. Louis removed his disguise for a moment and bade Fafnir, the dragon, goodbye. The dragon wanted to say something but he just coughed out a skull, instead.
Louis and I continued walking down the hall towards the elevator. Awkward silence. From the very start I somehow knew that Louis seemed too mannish to be a girl. And more importantly, my boobs were bigger than hers. I mean his.
I scanned him from head to toe as he walked. When he noticed what I was doing, he even flexed his arms and posed as if he was an underwear model and I was the photographer. In my mind, I was laughing, but I just glared at him. I realized that this was my first time being with a guy again in the last few months. But, for someone who was supposed to keep us safe, he did not look that huge and strong. Louis has a long and slender build. His arms may be lean but they looked abnormally smooth for a man. He also has long and fine fingers, but at least that helped a bit for his disguise. He was just a few inches taller than me. His messy spiky hair was a combination of brown and gold, like sand, and his eyes: an intense blue. Somehow, his eyes reminded me of Gene’s.
“So, you’re really not, you know. . . ?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, and still a bit suspicious. “What are Ethereals, anyway?”
“We are angels, Andie,” Louis gently said. “Angels without wings. And yeah---” his voice trailed. He seemed to have noticed my expression. “I am not a girl.”
“But!” I exclaimed. We stopped in the middle of the hall. Although I was wearing clothes, I covered my chest with both arms. “But. . .but. . . you’re in the academy for almost five years now! Why didn’t anyone notice?”
“I . . .“ He stuttered.
“And you!” I raised a finger at him. “You’ve probably already seen everyone naked!”
“Well, except you and some of the Freshies, actually,” he smiled. I felt the blood rush into my cheeks and continued on covering my womanly parts. We proceeded on walking until we reached the elevator.
“We’ll part ways here,” he said. He held me by the waist and propelled me into the elevator. “I still have to do something.”
Somehow, I felt dismayed and I even told him that I thought he was supposed to put a close watch on me.
“But not that close,” he said, smiling, as the elevator door closed between us.
#
That night I had the sudden urge to explore Skiferlair. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I have been in an emotional rollercoaster lately and I just feel impulsive. So I found myself loitering on Skiferlair grounds.
First, I passed the outdoor dining areas. Then, my feet simply moved on their own. I kept glancing back at the Skiferlair dorm as I walked further away. Somehow, I felt the grass pulling back at my feet, as if telling me that I should not go any further. But of course, I was stubborn.
When I made my way up the hill, which was already deep into the Skiferlair backyard, I suddenly felt chills running down my spine. My mind kept wandering back to thoughts about the Skiferlair ghost Louis once mentioned and the earthens during Sigurd’s Redemption; fear was beginning to stir inside of me. Heck--- I am in an entirely new world right now. Who knows what dangers lurk on the other side of this hill? But I continued climbing up.
And right there, at the top of the hill, was a gazebo. No, it was a vine and moss-covered pavilion. I excitedly stepped inside, as if I have just discovered a new land. This will be my territory now. Maybe I could show it to Seline and the others.
But something really weird and out-of-place caught my eye. Stuck by itself onto one of the viny pillars, was a yellow post-it. It said:
HELLO Alexandra Hardin. It was nice meeting you.
“What the---“ I said in bewilderment.
And as if on cue, three faeries, came to me. They were carrying something. I opened my palm and they gave me the pad of post-its and the pen. They sighed in relief. It must have been heavy for them.
“What are you waiting for?” said the one who I recognized as Edward. “Write your reply before it gets dark.”
“But from whom is this note from?” Of course I asked.
“Hmmm,” Edward hesitated. “He told me, to tell you that he’s a secret admirer. Just like me. Although, I am not so secret. Haha.”
“Oh,” I said. I didn’t know what to think. “Okay.”
Things are starting to get more interesting.