The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 10

10

After practically a whole week of no class and hanging around campus, it was a nice change of pace to have a lecture that wasn't cancelled.

I shuffled back and forth, trying to figure out how to get comfortable on my chair. Nature Of Human Souls was an interesting subject and Hagen’s conversation with Brynhild was still playing in my mind. Regardless, the seats were old-fashioned and scratchy. The whole room was outdated and cramped with a whole array of miscellaneous clutter. A stuffed owl on a branch, a stack of faded newspapers, a miniature pyramid. It all added to the claustrophobic feel of the room, which wasn't helped by the different AA types merged together. Reapers, Shinigami, and Valkyries all together to learn the basics about humans. Not weird at all.

At least none seemed keen to mingle. The Dragons were seated on the left, while the Reapers and Valkyries shared the right. Even so, we weren't sitting together. All my classmates were centred around a girl behaving like the queen bee or matriarch. Astrid.

Ugh. I really hoped she wasn't becoming popular. That would make life increasingly difficult for me. If I couldn't gain social favour, I'd better get my s**t together and actually pay attention to the lecture.

"What's a human soul?" Hagen scratched on the board, the white dust of chalk fluttering up in the sunlight. "You."

One of the girls studying to become a Reaper awkwardly cleared her throat. "Ummm... Their life force?"

"Wrong. They're dead, they have no life force anymore." The professor strutted back and forth, his cold eyes glaring at all of us like he wished we weren't here. "You, Aellyn."

The pink-haired Wood Elf smiled happily, apparently immune or oblivious to his icy stare. "Their conscious?"

"Close." He pointed at Ryoko, who was seated with some other Dragons in the front. "Tell me, what is a human soul?"

My roommate rose, her voice soft and polite like always. "A link to the universe, personalised with a human's experience and memories, just like ours."

"Memories and experience. Looks like one person has their head on their shoulders." Hagen scribbled some more words on the board, as illegible as the text of Old. "Humans are unnatural, but their will is strong. When their physical body withers away, it's that will that keeps them from disintegrating back into the universe. It's that will that calls us to them."

As fast as I could, I wrote everything down. None of the stuff he taught was remotely fleshed out in the syllabus and I guessed he did that on purpose.

"Depending on the human, it varies how long their conscious can linger in the bodiless soul. If an Afterlife Assistant doesn't show up in time, they go mad and unleash their inherent destructive power. Who knows how to deal with that?"

A couple of hands flew up and Hagen chose one of the girls in front.

"Reapers deal with the unclaimed, or at least, that's what my father told me."

"Correct," Hagen grumbled, almost as if he was disappointed that he got a right answer. "Only the Reaper's scythe can cut a trapped soul loose and guide it back into the universe. In this case, the human's memories are lost and they can't join an afterlife or be reborn."

Someone else's hand shot up, the grating voice unmistakable. "So, would you say that Reapers are like the trash collectors of the AAs?"

The professor frowned, deep lines furrowing into his forehead. He pointed at the young lady, his dark eyes flickering. "Stand up. What's your name?"

"Astrid, Valkyrie in training."

Surprise, surprise.

Hagen nodded slowly. "I see. Let me explain something to you, Astrid. Do you know the difference between humans and elementals?"

"Mmmm... We're better than them?"

"Incorrect." He narrowed his eyes and pointed at me. "You. Tell me about the difference."

I cleared my throat and recited what Mamma always told me. "Elementals are creatures of nature. Humans are an alien force that, if left unattended, will tear nature apart."

The professor nodded. "Exactly. When an elemental crosses over, we simply return to nature. When a human dies, their most powerful memories are drawn to the surface and mark the soul to an extent that it can't just be reabsorbed again. To keep it from mutating and harming the world, we guide it into afterlives where they are contained.

Astrid clicked her tongue. "Sooo... Isn't that what I just said?"

"No. When a human soul isn't collected in a timely fashion, their memories fester and spoil. If there were no Afterlife Assistants, the tainted thoughts would tear rifts into the universe itself and destroy life as we know it. If you don't do your job, Reapers are there to fix your mistakes."

So that solved the mystery of what he was. Not a Guardian, but a Reaper. Interesting.

"What a b***h," someone whispered under their breath.

I turned to figure out who shared my opinion on Astrid, wondering who had the balls to utter it out loud.

I locked eyes with the girl on my left. Aellyn. The Wood Elf?

She did seem like she didn't have a filter and wasn't afraid to speak out. Maybe she wasn't that different from me after all?

"Who does she think she is?" Aellyn leaned closer to me, whispering conspiringly. "The queen of Valkyries? Huh? Get it?"

I chuckled awkwardly, not sure how I felt about socialising with the Wood Elf. She seemed nice enough, but I still didn't get why she wasn't studying to be a Reaper. She'd never learn the right skills to serve Odin and Valhalla. She just wasn't the right type of elemental for this.

"Hey, can you read what Raul wrote down?"

Raul?

Oh, she meant professor Hagen.

"No, they’re just scribbles," I lied. I showed her an empty page of my notebook so she wouldn't ask to copy stuff then.

"Ehh, I'll figure it out." She played with her braids and gestured to Astrid. "So, what's her deal? Is she always this judgy?"

The first hints of guilt welled up in me. I always gave Astrid a hard time for her discrimination, but I wasn't really doing much better when it came to Aellyn. Why she wanted to become a Valkyrie was her business. Maybe she'd be the first Wood Elf to graduate as one. Could be history in the making, for all I knew.

At least she was friendlier than the stuck-up girls flocking around Astrid like she was the new squad leader. Pah. As if. She could try to make this baby clique, but they'd never be as cool as Flavia's or any of the existing ones. She just didn't have it in her.

"You better believe it about Astrid. She's a brat," I gossiped, pleased to have found someone that saw right through her facade. She could pretend to be Miss Perfect, she was just one of many.

Aellyn chuckled softly. "She looks like she loves herself."

"Oh, she does." I rolled my eyes, scoffing at how Astrid held herself. From my seat, I had a premium spot to observe her. Hair flipping, muscle flexing, ... She really thought she was all that. "Astrid is the heir of her family and she never lets anyone forget it."

The pink-haired girl snorted. "Is that why she's a stuck up b***h?"

"Yeah. She was a pest all the way through high school too. Not that it's really her fault. Her pappa is incredibly pretentious."

Ugh. I couldn't stand her.

"That explains her behaviour. So what's with the group thing? Do Wind Children not like to be alone?" the Wood Elf asked, gesturing to the starstruck girls hanging around Astrid.

What did she even do to get the other first-years of our class so fascinated over her?

"We do like being part of cliques," I said, shrugging. Still, it didn't make sense why Astrid was the centre of her own.

Whatever. I had more important things to deal with. Like Flavia's group. Or the Dragon in my room.

"I see. Wood Elves are a lot more solitary, I think."

"Really? That's interesting. How—

Hagen suddenly slapped the board. "Silence!"

I quickly shut my mouth, but I shot Aellyn a knowing smile. Despite my initial reservations about her, she was a pretty cool chick and we were getting along fine for two different races.

As soon as the professor turned away to draw on the board, I leaned back in. "What are Wood Elves like?" I asked, not able to contain my curiosity.

"In general? Most of them are pretty polite."

"And you like solitude? Why is tha—"

A sudden shadow fell over my desk and dread filled my stomach. Oh, s**t.

"Are my teachings not interesting enough, Madams?" he barked. Spittle flew through the sun and cascaded in drops on my book.

"On the contrary, professor. We were just discussing how invaluable your lecture is," Aellyn quickly retorted, shooting him such a polite and refrained smile, Hagen couldn't do anything but grumble as he walked away.

"Nice thinking," I whispered as soon as he was out of earshot.

"Thanks. My dad is a snappy old man too, I've been practising for this my whole life."

"You're pretty cool."

"Thanks." Aellyn twirled her pen around, making sure his attention was no longer on us. "Do you really want to know more about Wood Elves?"

I shrugged. "Why not? I know next to nothing about your... kind? Species? Type?"

"People. Elven People."

Interesting. I couldn't remember whether Wood Elves were patriarchal, matriarchal, or if they had a dual system in place. My only knowledge was from myths and legends, which were probably only dipped in truth.

I hadn't had much contact with other elemental types beside my own. Apart from the occasional passerby, my Dragon roommate and Wood Elf classmate were the most interaction I'd had with different races.

They sure were all different from me. Intriguing. Their rituals and traditions were completely foreign to me and it fascinated me. Despite my apprehension and reluctance, I wanted to get to know more about them.

Carefully, I inquired more. "Elven people. So, what's it like growing up... wherever you're from?"

“We live around The Home Tree. It’s a forest in itself. The thick branches, the evergreen leaves, roots that hold the world together. I love running through the trees and connecting to the ancient memories of my people. The bouncy moss moist under my feet, soft for when you take a tumble. The sweet smell of saplings, the nectar dripping from the budding flowers... It's all magical, beautiful, enchanting. If you put your ears against the bark of the Home Tree and are silent enough, you can hear them growing and groaning. Almost like they're talking to each other or to me."

"You sound like you miss it."

Aellyn nodded. "I do. In here, it's all rocks, walls, and stone. Grey, lifeless, dull. I can feel that I'm far away from home."

"That's interesting. We don't really have anything earthly we're attached to," I mused. There was air everywhere in the world and wherever the wind blew, was my home.

"Where do you live?" the pink-haired Elf asked.

"On a high cliff near the ocean, shielded from human eyes by a sharp ridge."

Despite the fond memory of home, I wasn't in any rush to return. Not without anything to show for it. I wanted titles, honours, or achievements that would make my family proud. Awards that would colour me as a potential heir for the West District once the matriarch passed on.

Something Astrid seemed rather interested in too... But there could only be one.