The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 14

14

The cosy chatter immediately died down as I stepped into the classroom. My first lesson after the bunker situation was Nature Of Human Souls and it didn’t look like I’d been missed.

“Ylva, how nice of you to finally join us,” Professor Hagen quipped. “You’re behind but I don’t have time to catch you up. Figure it out or get out.”

Wow. What a warm welcome.

I lingered on the threshold, very uncertain all of a sudden. If I hadn’t felt like the outcast before, I definitely did now. These people had been my classmates for months now and I barely knew their names. I’d never made an effort at getting to know them better and they hadn’t either.

From across the room, I locked eyes with someone I did know. Astrid.

Her face was still black and blue from the bruises she sustained after the collapse and I could tell from the bags under her eyes that she wasn’t sleeping well. She glared at me with such an intense look, I felt compelled to look away even if I’d done nothing wrong.

Still… It was uncomfortable and after a couple of seconds, I cast my eyes down and moved to my usual seat in the back.

“Welcome back!” Aellyn chirped. She pulled her bag down from the table, freeing up enough space for me. “How’ve you been?”

I plastered a fake smile on my face. “I’m fine, just tired. What about you?”

“Good, good, good. Just… Lonely. It’s nice to have you back,” she chirped. She patted the chair enthusiastically, making her green Wood Elf tendrils bounce up and down. “Sit! We have so much to talk about it.”

“We do?” I stared at her. “Like… what?”

“Well, your ‘illness’. I know you weren’t sick, but I get that you needed an excuse for whatever it is that you were up to. Was it exciting? Dangerous? Did you get to meet some cool people?” she whispered loudly.

I blinked slowly, overwhelmed with her sudden barrage of questions. “Ummm… There was no adventure. I was just really ill...”

Aellyn’s eyes widened before a grin stretched across her face. “Oh, right. Of course, you were ‘ill’. Wink.”

“No… No wink. It’s the truth,” I protested. It didn’t sit well with me to lie, but the fewer people knew about the bunker incident, the better. That was what we all decided and what Professor Brynhild and the Headmistress agreed to earlier.

“I know, I know. You were totally sick. Wink.”

“No wink!” I exclaimed, earning the attention of the other students and Professor Hagen.

He marched through the desks and paused in front of me. His nostrils flared, his brows furrowed. “Is my class not interesting enough for you, Miss Helgadottír? Have you not missed enough?”

I gulped. “No, it’s very interesting.”

“Really?” He flashed me a menacing, toothy grin. “Then what topic am I talking about?”

“Ummm… The nature of human souls?”

“So you don’t know.”

I batted my eyes down, my cheeks heating up in shame. “No.”

“Aha, I thought so,” he concluded triumphantly. “Do you think you’re too smart to pay attention?”

“No, of course not. It won’t happen again.”

“That’s a given.” He tapped my desk, his hairy knuckles disturbing. “Extra homework. A three-page essay on every lesson you conveniently missed.”

“But—”

“Not another word out of you or I’ll make it five.” Without waiting for a response, he turned his back to me and stomped back to the front of the classroom. With one long stroke, he shrieked a piece of chalk along the blackboard and threw it at the window. “Anyone else that wants to disrupt my lecture?”

The room stayed eerily silent, which was to be expected.

Professor Hagen nodded, his angered composure settling. “I thought so.”

He returned to his topic at hand, which turned out to be about transporting souls and was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. If I were to write an essay on it, I’d better pay attention.

I hadn’t put my pen to paper, or Aellyn leaned back over to me. “Yikes, he’s harsh.”

“I know,” I muttered back, trying to talk without moving my lips. “I better pay attention.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be caught up in no time. I can help.”

“Hmm-hmmm.”

As much as I appreciated her help, if she kept talking like that, I’d get in even more trouble and I really couldn’t afford that. After meeting humans and seeing their actual death, the grief and the hope for the afterlife, I finally understood just how important this was. It wasn’t a life of fame or a way to get into the spotlight, it was a lifelong duty. A promise to humanity, a way to honour a warrior’s life. It was a privilege to serve and I never wanted to be a Valkyrie more than right now.

My sense of duty didn’t seem to match Aellyn’s, but then again… That was to be expected of a Wood Elf. What would she know of the sanctity of Valhalla and Odin’s power?

“I’ve really missed talking to someone. Class has been so boring without you,” she rattled on, not bothering to hide her interruptions. “We should get together after class, maybe do something fun. I’ve got a pack of cards in my room.”

“Maybe…” I mumbled, distracted by copying what Hagen was writing on the board. “I’m just really trying to focus.”

“Of course, of course.” She brought her hand to her mouth and locked her lips. “Crick, crack. I’ll be silent. We’ll have the entire night to talk. Were you really ill?”

“Aellyn…”

“Fine, fine. I believe you. I just wish I could’ve visited you in the infirmary, but when I came, the doctor said healthy people weren’t allowed to come in. Something about disturbing the flow? Anyway—“

“Aellyn. I’m trying to pay attention.” I cut her off, a little harsher than intended.

The Wood Elf’s cheeks blushed as pink as her hair. “Of course, sorry.”

I hadn’t meant to snap at her, but she just kept prattling on while I wanted to concentrate and pay attention. That was the only way I’d learn the skills I lacked. Still, that wasn’t nice of me.

Maybe I hadn’t adjusted yet. A couple of days ago, I was running for my life and fighting a lethal snowstorm. Today, I was battling the social constructs of friendship. The two didn’t even compare and somehow, it was a relief that my biggest problem was an angry Elf. On the other hand… It seemed so irrelevant when I compared it to the big picture.

Still… If I learned something from the bunker experience, it was the importance of relationships. I wouldn’t have survived Ryuga’s attack without the help of my friends and I wouldn’t have been able to save them without Var’s aid. Pickles and Hyde had offered me strength with their company and my desire to see Ryoko again had kept my heart burning. Even Zen’s help had been instrumental in my survival. Without any of their help, I’d have long become wind.

“Look, we’ll talk at dinner, okay?” I tried, hoping that would make up for my short answers earlier. She was the only person in class that liked me, I didn’t want to alienate her.

“Yeah?” Her ears perked up hopefully and the tips wobbled.

“Yes. We’ll play cards too.”

Her smile returned. “Great!”

“Now, if you don’t mind…” I gestured to the blackboard, where Professor Hagen had written multiple more lines on how to tell whether a soul was still harvestable or if it had become a Reaper’s job. These were things I needed to know if I was ever going to become a Valkyrie and after what I’d seen from the human world, I was more convinced than ever that the world needed us.