章節 86: Chapter 83: My friends fall out of a tree
(Magnus POV)
"So that immortal animal can make falafel?" I asked skeptically, "That does not make sense at all." I told them while taking a bite from my Falafel.
"That's what you want to talk about?" Mallory asked.
I shrugged, "What else is there to talk about?"
"I heard you used alf seidr!" Halfborn cried out, "Why didn't you told us you could do that?"
I'd almost forgotten about the energy blast that had knocked everybody's weapons away.
Yeah, uh … what exactly is alf seidr?"
Elf magic,' Mallory said. "Sneaky Vanirstyle witchcraft unfit for a true warrior.' She punched me in the arm. 'I like you better already."
"I'm not an elf." I protested.
"Son of Frey thing." X grunted while taking a bite form his pig head.
T.J. and Percy entered the dining hall and sat down at the dinner table.
"So who's the lucky one?" Mallory asked Percy.
"What?"
Mallory pointed at Percy's lip, "You got lipstick on your lips."
Percy's eyes widened, and he rubbed his arm over his mouth and saw he had indeed red lipstick on his arm.
"O."
"So who is it?" Mallory asked.
Percy blushed and tried to look away. "No one."
Halfborn pulled Percy closer, "Don't be afraid to share. Tell us about your hero deeds."
Percy's gaze went to the thanes table and fixed on Gunilla.
"No way." Halfborn cried out, "Your first day."
"Shut up." Percy grumbled.
"Don't we get juicy details?" Mallory asked with a smirk.
Percy's green eye stared into Mallory's, and Percy smirked. "I rather not, but maybe you want to share some stories? Maybe you have a love interest in Valhalla I can help you with?"
I saw her turn red, and she scowled at Percy, "You're an idiot."but she slightly blushed and turned glared at Halfborn from the corners of her eyes.
I realized Percy must have guessed Mallory had feelings for Halfborn.
Percy relaxed slightly and took a bite from his hamburger.
I glanced at the head table.
At the head table, Gunilla occasionally murmured something to Helgi, and the manager would scowl in my direction. They were heavily arguing, and I saw Gunilla was grimacing. Like she had a hard time keeping herself from killing Helgi on the spot.
At the end of dinner, a couple of newbies were welcomed to Valhalla. Their videos were suitably heroic.
No Norns showed up. No Valkyries got banished in disgrace. No butts were shot with squeaky arrows. As the crowds filed out of the feast hall,
T.J. clapped me on the shoulder. "Get some rest. Another glorious death tomorrow!"
"Yippee," I said.
Back in my room, I couldn't sleep. I spent hours pacing around like a zoo animal. I didn't want to wait for the thanes' judgment in the morning.
I was pretty sure the thanes were smart enough to figure out Percy and I would become a trouble in Valhalla.
But what choice did I have? Sneak around the hotel randomly opening doors, hoping to find one that led back to Boston? Even if I succeeded, there was no guarantee I'd be allowed to go back to my luxurious life as a homeless kid.
I didn't want to get wrapped up in some Viking Doomsday, but something told me it was too late. My mom had died two years ago, around the same time a bunch of other bad stuff was breaking loose in the Nine Worlds.
With my luck, there was a connection. If I wanted justice for my mother – if I wanted to find out what had happened to her – I couldn't go back to hiding under a bridge.
At about five in the morning, I finally gave up on sleeping. I went to the restroom to wash my face. Clean towels hung on the rod.
The hole in the wall had been repaired. I wondered if it had been done by magic or if some poor schmuck had had to fix it as a punishment from the thanes. Maybe tomorrow I'd be the one plastering the wall.
I walked to the atrium and stared at the stars through the trees. I wondered what sky I was looking at – what world, what constellations. The branches rustled. Something dark and man-shaped toppled out of the tree. He landed at my feet with a nasty crunch.
"OW!" he wailed.
"Stupid gravity!"
My old buddy Blitz lay on his back, moaning and cradling his left arm.
His hair had been washed and combed back. His beard was trimmed. His Cro-Magnon unibrow had been plucked and waxed. His boots were alligator leather. His black wool suit was tailored to fit his stocky five-feet-five frame and looked lovely with his dark skin tone. Under the jacket, he was rocking a charcoal paisley waistcoat with a gold watch chain, a smart turquoise shirt and a skinny bolo tie. He looked like a very short, well-groomed African-American cowboy hitman.
My homeless friend from earth looked really well-dressed, maybe he had robbed a bank before he came to Valhalla.
A second person dropped lightly to the grass – Hearth, dressed in his usual black leather clothes and candy-striped scarf. He signed, Hi.
If you've never seen Hearth, you might think he likes to cosplay like some kind of anime figure.
He was tall, pale and had short blond spiky hair that was almost white.
He wore a black leather jacket, black motorcycle pants and pointy-toed boots.
His only color was a striped red-and-white scarf wrapped around his neck and spilling off his shoulders like a melted candy cane.
Did I told you he was deaf?
I stared at them. "What are you – how did you –?" I started to grin.
I'd been never happier to see anyone.
Hearth and Blitz were my only friends when I was homeless, we always used to hang out together. Good old times.
I then looked at Blitz's clothes, "What's your wardrobe?"
Blitz grunted, "You don't think I always look like trash?"
I shook my head, trying to shake away the confusion.
"Guys, don't take this the wrong way, because I'm really glad to see you. But why are you falling out of my trees?"
"Kid," Blitz said, "for the past twenty-four hours we've been climbing all over the World Tree looking for you."
Now we found you Hearth signed relieved.
"Yes we found you! You are alive, well...um...dead. But still alive! The boss might not kill us now!"
"The boss?" I asked.
Blitz developed a tic in his eye. "Yeah. We have a confession to make."
"'You're not homeless," I said. "Last night, one of the thanes saw you guys on video and –"
Video? Hearth signed.
"Yeah, Valkyrie vision. Anyway, one of my hall mates called you a dwarf and an elf."
I glanced at Blitz, "You are the dwarf right?"
"Typical," Blitz grumbled. "Assume I'm the dwarf because I'm short."
"So you're not?"
He sighed, "Yes I am the dwarf."
"'And you …"
I looked at Hearth, but I couldn't even make myself say it. I'd hung out with this guy for two years. He'd taught me curses in sign language. We'd eaten burritos out of trash cans together. What kind of elf does that?
E-L-F. Hearth signed the individual letters. Sometimes spelled A-L-F.
"But … you guys don't look that different from humans."
"Actually," Blitz said, "humans don't look that different from dwarves and elves."
"I can't believe I'm having this conversation, but you're not that short. Like, for a dwarf. You could pass for a regular short human."
"Which I've been doing," Blitz said, "for two years now. Dwarves come in different sizes, just like humans."
"Wow."
"That's not important. We are here to get you out. My real name is Blitzen and his." He pointed at Hearth who signed, H-e-a-r-t-h-s-t-o-n-e
"Kid, we don't have much time. We've been watching you for the last two years, trying to keep you safe."
"For the boss."
Blitzen nodded, "Indeed."
"And who is your boss? Sam the Valkyrie?" I asked.
Another curse sign from Hearthstone. The one who took you? No. She made things hard for us.
Actually the literal signs were more like: HER. TOOK. YOU. MADE. DIFFICULT. US.
But I'd become fairly good at interpreting.
"You weren't supposed to die, kid," said Blitzen. "Our job was to protect you. But now … well, you're an einherji. Maybe we can still make this work. We've got to get you out of here. We have to find that sword."
"Okay, let's go." Then a thought came to my mind. "We need to pick up a friend of mine. He's Greek."
Greek? Hearth signed.
I nodded, "Yes. His name is Percy Jackson. He is supposed to help me."
Supposed? Hearth signed.
I shrugged, "Just got this feeling. We both got prophecies that seemed to be intertwined."
"Look kid, I know this is confusing but a Gre-" Blitzen began but someone knocked on the door
We stared at the door in silence, the person knocked again.
Expecting someone? Hearth signed.
I shook my head.
The banging got louder and I felt like I was stuck in a horror movie and Jason could enter the room any moment.
Not Jason Grace, Jason Voorhees. Not that I know a Jason Grace.
I opened the door and my eyes met Percy's.
He was looking tired, his eyes were sunken in his eye sockets and his hair was messy.
He immediately stepped forward and grabbed me by the shoulder.
"Magnus, we need to escape now. I had a drea-" Percy said without taking a break, then he noticed Blitzen and Hearth.
"Who are they?" He asked suspiciously.
"Who are you kid?" Blitz asked in return.
Percy straighten up and said, "I'm Percy Jackson."
The Greek? Hearth signed.
Percy raised an eyebrow, "What is he doing?"
Then his eyes widened, "Wait are those the dwarf and elf?"
"Yup. That's Blitzen and that's Hearthstone."
Percy pointed at Blitzen, "Is he the dwarf?"
Blitzen groaned, "Just assume I am the dwarf because I'm shot."
"So you're not?"
"Yes I am a dwarf."
He turned to Hearthstone, "And you are the elf? Wow. You guys don't look so different from humans."
Hearth shrugged, Humans don't looked so different from Elves.
Percy frowned and turned to me, "What is he doing?" he whispered.
"It's sign language. He's deaf."
Percy nodded and went silent for a moment. He closed his eyes.
Then he opened his eyes again and for a second his eyes flicked gold, then they turned green again. Okay, I am Percy.
Hearthstone frowned, You know Sign language?
Percy shrugged, "Yup."
"How?" I asked, "You never saw it before."
Percy shrugged and signed, Magic.
"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Percy asked, Blitzen.
"We are here to take him away. He needs to find the sword."
"Okay, I'm going with you." Percy said.
"You can't kid. It's dangerous."
Percy chuckled, "Well, we better get going."
He has to come? Hearthstone asked, or maybe he was trying to say. He needs to come,
The beauty of sign language.
Blitzen sighed, "Fine, let's hop back into the world tree before-"
From somewhere above, an explosive yap! reverberated through the room. It sounded like a rabid six-thousand-pound Boston terrier choking on a mammoth bone.
Hearthstone's eyes widened.
The sound was so loud he'd probably felt the vibrations through his shoes.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Percy asked.
Blitzen paled, "Gods almighty, no!" he grabbed me, "Are there any other ways out of the Hotel room? We aren't using the Tree!"
"Wh-what's up there?" I asked, my knees shaking. I thought about the Norns' prophecy, naming me a harbinger of evil.
"Is it – the Wolf?"
"Wolf?" Percy asked worried, his watch turned into an ice shield and a sword made of ice appeared in his hand.
"Much worse," Blitzen said darkly, "It's the squirrel."
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