"So, how did it go?" Elisa asked.

"It was fine. I'm really tired. On the bright side, I can fly pretty well now. I also learned some basic fighting moves."

"Okay, but how did it go with Thor?" I shot her a weird look.

"What?"

"Did you kiss?" She made a kissy face at me.

"Dude, no!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down. I'm kidding." She paused. "Unless I'm right." I punched her in the arm. "Okay, I get it. I'm wrong." I walked away and crawled into my bed. "You that tired?"

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's only seven. You don't usually go to sleep until nine."

"I'm exhausted. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

******

When I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar golden walls of Valhalla. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Yer back! Now I can teach you how to get here so you don't have to wait until you fall asleep," Alma said.

"But I need sleep. I've been training all day. I'm tired." Now that I think about it, I'm hungry, too. I was already in a bad mood. Did this Valkyrie thing mean that I didn't get to sleep anymore?

"Don't worry. This won't take long. Follow me." I sighed and followed her reluctantly through the halls. I was tired and cranky and this wasn't really helping. "So we're gonna go down to Earth."

You just pulled me away from Earth, I thought. And now you're taking me back?

"I'm going to show you the secret doorways between dimensions that the Valkyries have been using for years." We left the hallway we were in and went over to an elevator. We got in and she stepped towards the buttons.

"What floor are we going to?" I asked.

"Negative three."

"That's not even a button. And who says negative—" I froze when the elevator started going down.

"How did you do that?"

"I'll show you. Look." She showed me a certain pattern to push the buttons in, but she didn't actually touch them. She warned me to never enter the "code" with anyone around unless they were another Valkyrie or Odin himself. Maybe the prince depending on the situation.

The elevator door opened, revealing a beautiful cavern with crystals everywhere. The light bounced off of them, creating colorful illusions throughout the room.

"Wow," was all I could get out. She snapped at me, and my head snapped to her.

"I need you to pay attention now. Look over there." I looked to where she pointed and saw a gorgeous fountain in the middle of the room. "That is your ticket in and out."

She walked over to it and motioned for me to follow.

"See this?" Alma pointed at an engraving on the stone and I nodded. "Trace it exactly like this." She ran her finger along the etchings. A blue slit appeared in the air in front of us. It looked like a tear, as if the fabric of time itself had been ripped. "That's your way to and from Earth. Just make sure no one else can get through. Got it?"

"Yup. Got it."

"Now, regular mortals shouldn't be able to see it, and it should be well hidden. But just in case, be careful." I nodded, and she pulled open the rift, stepping through. I was so shocked that I forgot to follow until I saw her hand come back through. She motioned for me to come through and took my hand. In an instant, I was back on Earth.

"Where are we?" I looked around at the night sky. I recognized the area but I couldn't tell where exactly it was.

"Not too far from yer campus. There's a a bunch of different rifts on Earth, but only one on Asgard. Okay, we need to go back now. Come on." I followed her back through to the cavern. "So, now you know how to go from world to world. Just make sure you always think of that specific rift when you go through."

"What would happen if I didn't?"

"You'd either get lucky and come through another rift, or you'd get stuck in a void of nothingness forever. Hell, your body could get split between multiple rifts and create a gruesome mess for one of us to clean up."

"Oh. Okay. Yeah, I plan on remembering that." We went back up the elevator and into the courtyard that we had trained in before.

"I'm sorry we're rushing but I have to go with the others later."

"Go where?"

"We have to go collect the worthy ones and bring them here." I must have made a strange face because she put her hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, you have a long way to go before you're ready for that. For now, you're still in the training class."

"There are classes?"

"Yep. Next is the warrior class. And then the reaping class. All of them are warriors, though. Some of them just aren't ready to reap yet."

"And you're in the reaping class?"

"Yep. Me and Ilia both."

"I haven't seen Ilia in a while. Is she okay?"

"Oh, yeah. She's fine. She's just been on a lot of reapings lately."

"Oh."

"Now, before I go, I'm going to show you how to change without actually changing. Magic, basically." I practically jumped in the air. I was going to learn magic. Me. This was like a dream come true.

"At first, you'll need to concentrate. Once you master it, it'll come easily. Now, close yer eyes. Imagine yer outfit. Now, think of a wave passing over you and changing you. It might take a moment, but you can do it. I know you can."

I stood there for a moment, doing my best. I tried, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes in defeat.

"I don't think I can do it. Not yet."

"That's okay. Try again." I sighed and closed my eyes. "Maybe try imagining something else. Try to imagine something other than water."

I couldn't think of anything else. I was getting impatient. I couldn't do this. I couldn't do anything.

I opened my eyes. "I can't."

"You can. I believe in you."

"Well, don't. I can't do it."

"Just try again."

"I said I can't. It's late and I'm tired."

"Just one more time."

"I said, I can't!" I practically yelled. I felt a sensation of heat pass through me and disappear. I looked down, and I had changed clothes.

"See? You can do it."

"Woah."

"But green flames?"

"What?"

"When you changed, you were covered in green flames for a second. It's not unheard of, but it's rare for anyone to have flames. Although, I have never heard of green ones. Except maybe..." she trailed off, and I almost asked her to finish when a horn went off. "Oh, I have to go. You remember the way home?" I nodded, and she ran off. She popped her head back in the doorway. "And changing back is the same. Bye!" She disappeared again.

I walked towards the elevator, finally ready to get some sleep. When it opened, Thor stepped out. "Hello, Lady Lilith. How do you fare on this fine night?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Thanks. You?"

"I am also fine." He smiled, but I could tell something was wrong. There was a sadness in his eyes. Something was on his mind, but I didn't expect him to tell me. After all, I hardly knew him. "I must be going. I shall see you in a week." He pulled my hand towards his face and gently kissed it. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks.

"Yeah. Okay. Bye." I stepped on the elevator and shut the door. I carefully put in the code. I couldn't wait to go to bed.