Valhalla High (A Magnus Chase Fanfic)

Thanks for the Memories

Thought and Memory looked a lot like ravens. Both of the vice principals had long black hair, piercing dark eyes, and sharp features. You know that look a raven gives you if you don't hand over your half-eaten falafel sandwich to them? That's the look I found myself receiving and it was enough to make me almost wish I hadn't irked off Loki — almost.

One of the vice principals stepped forward. "My name is Thought," he said. "Memory and I will be questioning you all in our joint office."

Their office was even larger than Odin's one and the walls were plastered with artifacts from Valhalla High's history. A newspaper scrap detailing the football team's first win, a photo of the Valkyries in 1879, a letter from the governor in 2017— these were all just a few of the things to take in. "Sit down," Memory said.

I could tell the difference between them now by studying their facial features closely. Memory had a mole near his left eyebrow and Thought's nose was slightly longer. Still, if I hadn't known better, I would've guessed they were identical twins.

The chairs were comfortable enough (at least they had padding unlike the hard chairs found in classrooms), but I was too nervous to enjoy them that much. "You were brought down here because you disrupted Loki's class," Thought said. "All five of you made the environment, as he said, 'hostile to the worthy endeavor of education.'"

Alex started snorting and Thought looked up to meet her gaze. "You find this funny, boy?"

Alex blinked. "You didn't misgender me this time. Thank you."

Thought smiled tersely. "We attended some workshops over the summer, but that is not the point. Loki is your teacher and also—"

Samirah raised her hand and Thought gestured for her to speak. "If I could speak," she said. "I'd like to give my version of the events. This doofus over there" (she pointed at me while saying this) "was doodling on his notes. Hearthstone did the same. Loki saw him doing that and consficated both of their papers. He showed them to the class and started mocking them."

"My father," Samirah said, her eyes narrowed in dislike, "was the disruptive one. Neither of the doofuses were distracting the rest of the class and they were both taking notes."

Hearthstone signed something. "Loki ridiculed me for my deafness," Blitzen relayed. "He did not respect my Individual Education plan or the rights of my friends."

I was wanted to think that Hearthstone considered me his friend. "Hearthstone is right," I said. "Loki is a horrible teacher. How is he even still here?"

Both Memory's and Thought's faces soured. "He is a tenured teacher," Memory said, "and math teachers are already hard enough to find."

"Well, that's stupid," I said. "If I were the principal—"

Thought raised one palm and I shut my mouth. "You all have after-school detention tonight."

Blitzen's hands were slow as he translated Thought's words and Hearthstone's shoulders dropped when he finished. Samirah blanched. Alex shrugged like it was no big deal. I, though, disagreed: this was a very big deal.

***

    I called my mother during lunch break to tell her about my after-school suspension. She was silent on the line for a bit. "What happened?" she asked.

      I told her of how Loki made fun of my new friend Hearthstone. I could practically hear her pursing her lips. "You did a good thing," she said, "standing up to a teacher like that. I'm proud of you."

    I dropped my phone in surprise. When I picked it up, I accidentally hung up, so I pressed my mother's contact again. "Sorry about that," I said. "I was being a klutz."

    My mother laughed. Her laughter was clear and fresh like a bubbling spring in April. "It's okay. I'm glad to hear you're making friends. I'll pick you up at six today, okay?"

    "Okay," I said.

    We both hung up and I stared at off in the distance for a moment, thinking about what my mother had said.

***

    The best and worst thing about after-school suspension? Alex Fierro. Alex sat right in front of me and was reading Grettir's Saga. It was the first book of the year assigned to us in AP World History and it was all about this Viking named Grettir who kept killing people. I sobered what questions we might have to answer about in for the AP test. What is the name of the dude Grettir killed on Page 34? How many times was Grettir exiled? Did Grettir have children? Support your answer with evidence from the text. The options were all ludicrous.

    Samirah was working on some calculus problems. Thought and Memory allowed us all to transfer to AP Calculus. It sounded even harder than AP Mathematics, but Loki was not teaching it. Samirah was already doing catch-up work while I doodled a flying sword that sang Taylor Swift lyrics in between reading my own copy of Grettir's Saga. We all have our own ways of killing time.

       Hearthstone was still reading from his thick book on ancient Norse runes. Blitzen was sketching on projects for his Design and Fashion class. Apparently, he made a lot of his own clothes himself and I was impressed when he told me over lunch that he wanted to patent a bulletproof necktie.

      The teacher in charge of after-school detention was a tall man named Heimdall. He carried his smartphone on him at all time. Whenever any of us talked, he liked to use this app that made sounds like a Viking blowing a warning signal through a ram's horn. It was more disruptive than the occasional whispers traded between people.

    When 5:55 PM finally rolled by, Heimdall looked up and grinned at us. "You're free to go, you little berserkers."

    I stood up and left as quickly as possible. I felt a tap on my shoulder as I walked didn the hallway. I turned to see Hearthstone signing "thanks" to me. I felt a lump grow on my throat and I gave him a hug; some people were worth getting in trouble for.