Hotel Valhalla ~ Son of a Jotun King

The New Kid

"Did that kid just turn into a bear?" Halfborn Gunderson asked. The occupants of Floor 19 watched as the large brown bear stumbled around the hallway.

"I'll go get Alex," Mallory Keen said, slipping past the bear and running down the hall. Which Left Halfborn, Magnus Chase, and Thomas Jefforson Jr. to deal with the new kid until Alex arrived.

"AAAARGH!" Halfborn yelled, lunging himself at the bear and landing on its back. He wrapped his arms around the large shoulders and tried to wrestle it to the ground. The bear rose up on his back legs and threw itself against the wall, knocking Halfborn off. It then turned around and dropped on all fours, giving a very threatening roar.

Magnus didn't have Jack so he let TJ keep the bear away by holding his bayonet out. The bear seemed hesitant to charge straight at the gleaming Bone Steel blade. Luckily, they didn't have to see whether the bear had the guts to because Alex arrived in the shape of a brown bear as well. The child of Loki rounded the corner and roared to get the bear's attention.

*********

I had no idea what I was doing or where I was. My entire body was in pain but that was nothing compared to my headache. I just wanted these strangers to leave me alone. I felt something heavy land on my back so I stood up and whacked my back against a wall.

My vision was blurry but I somehow knew the layout of the hallway perfectly. I tried to make my way back to my room, but my senses told me there was danger between me and the door. I tensed my body to lunge forward when I heard the roar of a bear.

I turned around, and ended up banging my head against a wall. And even though my headache nearly brought me to the ground in pain, my vision started to clear. Standing in front of me was a brown bear that...was really cute. Also a blonde guy with pointed ears like an elf.

And I don't mean the pet kind of cute either. I meant the attractive kind of cute. One eye was amber, the other was a dark brown. Then the bear turned into a rather attractive boy with green hair and pink and green clothes.

"Oi! Idiot!" the boy snapped, clicking his fingers. "Concentrate and listen up."

I was taken aback by the tone. Why was this kid talking to me like that? What did I do?

"Look at your hand and don't freak out," the boy said. I was confused, but did what he said...and freaked out.

MY HAND WAS A FRICKING PAW!?!?!?!

That was when I noticed my voice had changed into a gruff roar. What was going on! My headache was getting worse the more I stressed out. I barely noticed the nod the cute guy gave the elf. I definitely didn't see the stone the elf pulled out of his pocket. But I felt it when the stone bounced off my head.

"Ohhh my head!" I groaned, clutching my head. "Why the hell did you just chuck a rock at me!"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Because you freaked out. If you had just stayed calm, then I would've been able to help you turn back."

"Wha...?" And then I realised I wasn't a bear anymore. "Oh."

"You need to calm down or you won't be able to control it," the boy said. "I'm the Alex by the way."

"Reed," I replied. "Uh...where am I?"

"Hotel Valhalla," he said. Then he looked over my shoulder at the people behind me, "I guess we should take him to battle practise, right?"

"Battle Practise?!" I said.

"We'll explain on the way," Alex told me.