Sina Saves

37. Valhalla < Home

We had two days of absolute perfection; I trained with Lacy, Meg, Mia, Annie, and Reyna.

We were sitting by the forest edge and listening to a very appropriate song.

I don't know why I feed on emotion
There's a stomach inside my brain
I don't wanna be heard
I want to be listened to
Does it bother anyone else
That someone else has your name, your name?

I scream, you scream, we all scream
Cause we're terrified of what's around the corner
Cause we don't want to lose our lives
So lets think of something better

Down in the forest
We'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher,
We'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote

Armin was insanely good at learning lyrics; we'd only listened to this one three times, and he knew the chorus. I laughed and laid down, my head in his lap. He put down Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. His finger traced my jaw like he was drawing a masterpiece; like he was drawing something that would be critiqued for centuries, but it was only me; he just didn't seem to notice.

"You are stunning," he whispered.

I blushed. "Adorable."

Riiiiiipshh.

And then I saw something that was definitely up there in the rank of weird, even on The Great Scale of Demigod; even on my scale.

There was a fucking tear. A tear. In air. In mid-fucking-air. It was a tear in the plane of fucking reality. What the fuck. Completely fucking normal.

But anyways, a fuck ton of huge branches swayed within the rip. And then I saw a flash of green fabric. It seemed slightly familiar...

And then Samirah al Abbas jumped out of it. She looked embarrassed and depressed at the same time.

[MEEEEEE!!!]

And then Magnus, Hearth, Blitz, Alex, Mallory, Halfborn, and T.J. followed. They wore the same masks.

Sam stepped forward and sighed. "Sina Maria, you have to come back to Valhalla."

I stood up in front of Armin and whistled. Cerberus leaped from a shadow and stood at my side. "Both of you, stay." I put my arm on my hip, fingertips grazing my dagger. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Samirah." 

My nerves burned like I blew fire and then fucking ate a candle with a side of matches and washed it all down with gasoline; I felt like Leo Valdez was my surgeon, and he was really fucking nervous. I ran through the California forest and absorbed every last flame.

"Sina..." Armin whispered. I turned to him, and the fire intensified. This was what I fought for, and I wasn't going to give up now.

"I will not lose. Not today," I growled, not only to Armin, but to my opponents. I turned to them and took a step forward. I signed for Hearth. "I do not belong in Valhalla; I will never be a warrior of Odin. This is where I belong. When I am no longer of this earth, I will join my father's side. You may try to force me, but be warned that I will fight back with every ounce of power within my soul."

Halfborn considered me. "Then we fight!"

I pulled out my daggers. "How pathetic, thinking you can beat me. I know how each of you fights. This'll be easy. Plus, as much as I hate it, Hearth would most likely die if exposed to shadow travel, much less the Underworld. Consider."

Hearth looked the least afraid; Blitz was definitely the most. Hearth and Blitz knew I was deadly seriously; they met me at Chase Place. Alex seemed to be prepared to keep us separated. Alex spent the most time with me.