Alex questioned me immediately once I got back to the mansion. I answered all of her questions the best I could. She seemed skeptical about the whole "school sucks" thing, but once she thought about it she understood. I told her my new plan and she immediately ran with the idea. "Who knew you were so smart Magnus," she said

"Alright," she said, "Do you want to ask them or should I?"

I shifted uncomfortably. I had secretly wanted Alex to ask them, since I had already embarrassed myself enough with the 'Duck Incident' (Don't ask). "I mean if you wanna do it, I wouldn't ca-"

"Great! So you'll do it!" Alex exclaimed. And with that, she pranced away.

Sighing, I walked to my room. My room wasn't anything special, a bed, a dresser, and a desk. The only personal possessions I kept in my room were Jack (when I wasn't wearing him) and a couple pictures of my mom and uncle. It always pained me when I looked at my uncle's picture. He looked so young back then, so full of joy and light, not that depressed and grieving minion of Loki he was when he died. I hoped he knew that I still loved him, even though he was an absolute jerk to me sometimes.

I crouched next to my open closet and dug my fingers underneath a small crack between the wooden planks. I pulled with all my einherjar might. It popped open and I set it aside. Now I know what you are thinking, Oh Magnus, why do you have a fake floor in your closet and where does it lead? First off, the floor wasn't fake at all. Being an einherjar had its perks. And for the second question, stop being impatient, you're about to find out.

When I got to the Chase Space, I needed a quick entrance into Valhalla (there, now you know where it leads). Fortunately the entrance in a McDonalds in Seattle was shut down. So, we made a new entrance in the Chase Space. Underneath the floor of the closet was a small corridor. At the end of the tunnel was a door that opened up on the 57th floor of Valhalla. I emerged into Valhalla, took in the beauty of the huge space. I stepped out of the doorframe and immediately got hit in the foot with a sledgehammer. Now, in case you don't know, when einherjar die in Valhalla they just get revived. That causes most einherjar to have an unhealthy obsession of playing sports to the death. That person with the sledgehammer was probably just playing "Croquet to the Death!™ ".

The problem with my entrance that I inherited from that McDonald's was that there was only about 3 feet between the doorway and a 57 story fall, with only a 2 foot railing separating them. I tripped over the sledgehammer and plunged headfirst over the railing. Have you ever fallen head first from a 57 story drop? No? Well let me tell you, it isn't fun. I guess you would be terrified that you would die, but to me (who is already dead) it was more of an embarrassment factor. I mean, imagine a 16 year old blond boy, screaming like a child as he is falling headfirst.

I landed in the central courtyard on my back. Pain racked my body, my bones feeling like lava. Black spots danced across my vision, and I could barely see the blood on my hands. People stood around me, muttering to themselves questions and concerns.

"Magnus?" said a voice to my right that was all too familiar. If I could groan I would have. "Magnus, you alright?" said Halfborn Gunderson again. "Hey Mack, Maggie is hurt!"

I heard the sound of footsteps, and then... nothing.

———————————

I hate dying. It sucks.

I woke up in my bed, in Valhalla. A small breeze came from my atrium in the middle of my room. Valhalla rooms are hard to explain. They are accustomed to your interest and things you like. I spent a lot of my time outside when I was homeless with Hearth and Blitzen, and the atrium reminded me of the good ol' days.

I got up, and raced to the window. The sun was setting, creating beautiful sunsets. Bright, fiery orange clashed with a mellow pink and the dark blue sky. I groaned. When I left the Chase Space, it was around noon, so I must have been out for at least 8 hours. I hoped Alex wasn't too mad or worried... let's face it, she probably wasn't that worried. I flung my door open and raced out into the hallway. My hotel room was on the 19th floor. I shared the floor with the exact people I need to talk to. Still in my tattered clothes, I knocked on the nearest door, which was Mallory Keen's, the Irish daughter of Frigg with a personality redder than her hair. I don't necessarily remember all of the conversations (you'll find out later), but here is our paraphrased conversation:

"Hey, Mallory, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?"

"Ha-ha, Magnus, did you have a nice fall?"

"I was hoping we could just forget about that."

"Ha-ha, oh Magnus, I will never let you live that one down."

I sigh. "Alright then. I was wondering if you would like to teach at the Chase Space."

"The Chase Space? Magnus, you know that I am not the teaching type of person."

"Well you can teach the kids whatever you think is important to learn."

"Anything?" Mallory gets an evil look in her eyes. "Alright, you have yourself a deal."

One down, three to go.

My conversation with Halfborn Gunderson, berserker extraordinaire, was more or less the same:

"Sup Maggie. You should have seen yourself fall, comedy gold right there."

I try to regain some of my dignity."Hey, Halfborn, I was wondering if you wanted to teach the kids at the Chase Space."

"Is Mack in?"

"Uh, yep."

"Alright sure then, as long as I can teach what I want."

I breathed a sigh of relief as Halfborn closed his door. Mallory and Halfborn were the most likely to say no, so it should be easy sailing from here on out. Thomas Jefferson Jr. (aka T.J), son of Tyr, was the next person I was going to ask:

"Yo, T.J!"

"Oh, how's it going Magnus. Glad you're feeling better."

"Thanks, uh, I was wondering if you would like to teach some kids at the Chase Space. They are missing out on education so I thought we could teach them some skills. I was planning to make it kinda like Valhalla, just without, you know, the dying part."

"That is a great idea Magnus. Can I teach them how to shoot a gun?"

"Uh, well the sound of gunshots would alert the neighbors, and I would prefer the police stay out of this. How bout..." I braced myself for his wrath, "...archery?"

He stood there in silence. "Alright then sure! That is fine."

And with that, the only person left to ask was Samirah Al-Abbas, a child of Loki like Alex. She was a Valkyrie, which means that she can fly and has an epic light spear:

"Magnus! What's up."

"Hey Sam! I was wondering if you wanna help me teach some of the kids at the Chase Space. They can't go to normal school, and Annabeth says that normal school sucks and we should teach them life skills. Then I realized that Valhalla teaches you life skills, like how to not get killed by monsters, but I need teachers. You in?"

"Uh, most kids don't get attacked by monsters though."

"You get my point. Valhalla teaches you how to fight, but also how to trust in other people, especially in battle."

Sam thinks about it for a moment. "Alright fine. When is it?"

"Uh, I was thinking that tomorrow morning we could all gather at the Chase Space and decide what subjects to teach. Spread the word to everyone else on floor 19"

"Alright, see you then."

Relieved that I was finally done asking people questions, I headed back to floor 57. I walked out of the elevator and immediately got hit in the head with a metal ball in the head. I fell over in agony, my head suddenly feeling like it had been shot (don't ask me how I know how that feels). Someone walked over to me, with a sledgehammer on his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry Magnus! We were just playing 'Croquet to the Death™'. The metal balls make it easier to kill others. " said the boy, who I recognized as Erik Leafover, the 24th Erik in Valhalla. I could barely focus on what he said. My brain felt like it had been reduced to mush. Erik called his friend over and he used a rune to heal my wound. I stood up shakily, thanked both of them, and crawled back through the tiny passageway to the Chase Space. My head was still swimming, so I headed to bed, hoping that whatever magic that dude used would work quicker.

What do you think the wackiest activity in Valhalla... like even wackier than voting and commenting on this chapter (hopefully not to the death) :)