Chapter 1 Humans and Idols
Valkyrie
Your parents have put shame to us loreans. You will be exiled. As an immortal you will be alone forever. You will not be able to comeback to the lore. Go, Ryu. And live your life in the human realm.
"Aish, of all the things that my parents passed down to me it's this."
Living in the human realm simply . This is my fourth year, I still live in the house on the grounds of the monastery ran by the nice Catholic priests and nuns. They treat me real well. They registered me at Seungri Academy and I've stayed in the shadows this entire time. In the lore I would have been sleeping in the highest tower of Elron. I'm a descendent of royalty and because my parents decided to help an iceeree fae princess from our sworn enemy clan escape into the human realm, the high courts marked them for treason and eventual death.
I close my eyes and remember the lore. It's deep valleys and high planes. The beautiful grasses and floral trees. The one thing that Seoul, South Korea has that resemble the lore are its sakura trees, the scent of the cherry blossoms and the petals that float in the wind remind me of my lazy days under the two suns. I open my eyes as I lay on the yellow slide in the neighborhood park. The Lore had two moons that rose in the east and its moonshine cascaded across the water glistening each wave.
"Aish, of all the things my parents passed down to me, it's this."
~Next morning @ Seungri Academy~
I am a shadow. No one knows me, no one remembers me. It's alright that way. As soon as I graduate I will just be a face in a yearbook with hundreds of students from my class. I have managed to learn as much as I can about books and writing and history and language. It really isn't too difficult to adjust. But the fact that I am an immortal, I am a sentient creature, coexisting with humans and kept secret, and having to live this kind of life till my time to enter Valhalla just outright stinks. I can't even fall in love with another lorean because I am the only one from the lore in the human realm. Wait, am I the only one? The princess, the iceree princess that my parents help escape into this realm is somewhere. Ah, but that will be too difficult to find. And from Geography class during my second year in school, this human realm is huge.
Another thing about this realm that resembles the Lore are these humans called idols. Some of them resemble faeries. Unearthly creatures. This artist called Hero is one of those unearthly creatures. When I see him or hear him I fall into a trance. In this school there are four student-like idols. And they all kick a ball around after school in a huge green patch of grass. Late at night when the school is closed I sometimes lay in the middle of the green field. I imagine it engulfing me, its tall soft blades tickle under my hands and bare feet. And the two moons from the lore shine brightly above me as I lay in the sea of green.
"Oh my gosh! They're here." Aigoo, the high shrieks of crazy fan girls also remind me of the Banshees from the lore, and I imagine striking them with my lightning. Their morning shrieks is an alarm that the four have arrived. Kai, Baekhyun, Luhan, Sehun. The Fantastic Four, the star athletes and top 4 class ranking in Seungri Academy. Unearthly looks, unearthly talent. I swear these four could have been straight from the Lore. I place a forcefield around me to block the screams and chants. I sit back in my chair and close my eyes.
I open my eyes after feeling a bit of shock from my forcefield. I stare at my teacher who is glaring at me. is moving, but I don't hear anything. She has a book in her hand and she keeps pounding it on her podium. Ah, my forcefield. Slam! "Kyrie!!"
"Yes, seonsaengnim?"
"Kyrie, for crying out loud. When are you going to stop daydreaming? Don't answer that. Did you do your homework at least?" I nod no. "Of course not. Well, at least you are consistent."
Kai and his crew enter at this time and bow to their teacher. She smiles brightly at the sight of the F4. I try to even my breathing. Every time I see Kai my heart beat quickens. I try to be realistic, I am immortal and not from this realm. The iceree princess that my parents helped fell in love with a human and wanted to live their lives happily in the human realm. My parents sacrificed their lives for that princess. But loving a human is never allowed, ever. And despite the fact that the iceree fae and valkyrie are enemies, my parents sympathized with her and snuck her out of the lore. A member of the high court found out and sentenced my parents to death and me to exile.
"Kai-ssi. Welcome. Remember to collect everyone's homework before class begins." Kai bows to her and takes his seat next to me. He smells of cherry blossom. I slouch on my chair and pretend to not notice and listen to their conversation.
"Today's match will be a good one." Baekhyun. He's the shortest of the group, his skin is smooth and his smile is genuine. He is the most affectionate of the group. He gives out hugs more than bows. And he is the most social of the four. His eyes give off a pretty gleam. He is a bright light to Kai's darkness.
"It will be fine, we've got our secret weapon, Luhan." Kai. Dark-skin, dark eyes, dark hair, dark aura. His voice is deep, husky, and oozes out uality with one smirk. He drives me wild and is the only human who's looks and voice vibrates through me giving me shivers. He walks in a slow and lazy stride, almost like he's floating. I could swear he too, like Hero, is from the lore.
"Ani, I'm not that good." Luhan. The kindest, prettiest, quietest of the fantastic four. He is the oldest too, but looks like the youngest. He is soft-spoken, and shy. He is one of my favorites. Too bad he doesn't know I exist.
"Don't be so modest, hyung." Sehun. The nicest. The tallest. The fairest of them all. His porcelain skin can match the iceeree princess's. Smooth and perfect.
"Oppa! I can't wait to come cheer for your game today." Hyuna came running into the classroom and tries to sit on Kai's lap, only to be pushed aside by Kai and fall on the floor. Poor girl. "Oppa, why are you so rough with me?" Ugh, because he doesn't like you girl. Take the hint. I stare at her sad state and try to gain sympathy for her, but it's hard to. "Stop staring freak." She says to me. I turn to Kai who's staring back at me and I quickly look away. Great. I slouch even further in my chair and I put up my force field as soon as I hear the whispers in the room.
It's always the same thing. Hyuna and her crew make fun of me causing the others in the class to talk about how weird I am. Kai and his crew never joins in but I know that they think the same thing because they often stare at me wondering why I am what I am. I see from the corner of my eye Kai standing up. His pencil falls and rolls to where my forcefield is set. I remove it so I can reach down for his pencil. He reaches at the same time and our hands touch. The touch sends shockwaves into me. The last time I made human contact was last year at the subway station. The train stopped suddenly and a little old lady tripped and fell onto me causing me to fall over. She was about to land on me but I stopped her. Luckily no one saw the invisible force that held her upright. Kai's hand retreats quickly as if I have some plague. Figures, he's just like the others. I pick up his pencil and toss it to his desk. I use my telekinesis to make sure it lands smoothly on the desk. I can feel his eyes on me. Thunder sounds from the outside. I try to calm myself down.
"Take your homework out, I will start collecting it." His voice. Does it have to be so y? After a couple minutes he stands next to my desk. "Do you have your homework?" I nod no.
"She never does her homework, don't even bother asking her class President." One of Hyuna's girls cry out. And the class laughs.
"You should really try doing your homework. You want to graduate, don't you?" Kai asks me. I can't even look at him. I lay my arm across the desk and place my head on it pretending to sleep. I hear him sigh and walk away.
"OK class. Let's talk about mythological creatures in Nordic mythology. We were reading yesterday about mythical stories and make-believe fairies and other worldly creatures of lore. Was there anything interesting that caught your eye?"
"Faeries." I open my eyes.
"What about them that was interesting Luhan?"
"Well apparently the fairies in Peter Pan aren't the fairies in mythology. They call these creatures, fae. And some can be enchanting and others can be ruthless."
"Valkyrie." Kai. I get up from my 'nap.' "Fallen maiden warriors that were known to be courageous in battle. And because of their sacrifice and courage the Norse gods preserved their courage into immortality. They are said to be beautiful and as enchanting as faeries or fae. With their beauty they are also given super strength. The origin of their powers is from lightning. Let's just say that I won't ever look at lightning the same way again." The class laughs with him.
The sky gets dark suddenly. The class begins to talk about how the sky changed so quickly the moment Kai spoke about the valkyrie powers. Then a black raven appears by the window and begins hitting the glass. Some of the girls in the class begin to scream. I realize that I am the one causing the weather to change. I felt a little exposed when Kai was talking about my kind. I am not angry at him, I am mostly angry at my situation. My exile. Lightning strikes. My classmates scream. Others laugh. The teacher tells everyone to calm down. They are to have self-study until gym class. The homework is to write a reflection on any mythological creature. It can be of Nordic mythology or Greek or Roman or Korean, any mythological creature we are interested in.
I begin writing:
When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies in battle, Woden and Freya heed her call. The two gods give up lightning to strike her, rescuing her to their hall, and preserving her courage forever in the form to her maiden's immortal Valkyrie daughter. My mother was a fallen warrior. She fell in love with my father who was of fae, but of the enchanting and good kind, not of the iceeree kind. I lived in the lore with other loreans: Berserkers, Banshees, Fae/Faeries, Lycae, Vampyres, etc. I am a sentient creature living in the human realm, hidden, a shade. I take sustenance from the electrical energy of the Earth, sharing it in one collective power, and give it back with my emotions in the form of lightning. I possess preternatural strength and speed. There was a battle with all the clans and the valkyrie won out. We sought for peace with all clans, but the iceeree fae wanted more. They were the only clan of the lore who did not agree with peace. So they stayed in their ice castles over the mountains while the rest of the loreans lived with their own royals in peace. My history is not much anymore, my powers are nothing much either. It's not like I can use them to change my fate. I am still in exile, and I am still forever alone. I'd much rather be sent to the hall of Valhalla, our heaven, than live my immortal life in this realm without companionship, without love.
I look down at what I write. An autobiography. A sad reality. I begin to erase my words but my paper is snatched from me. Hyuna. I stand up and thunder rattles the windows.
"What is this? You are actually doing your assignment because Kai asked you too? How endearing!" I look at Kai and he's' staring at me. Don't just sit there you , be the class president and get my paper back. Kids start clapping anticipating what I wrote. Hyuna begins reading. I try to make my way towards her but I get stopped by her minions. "When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies in battle, Woden and Freya heed her call. Wow, you chose the same mythological creature as Kai? Do you find our Kai handsome, Kyrie?" I snatch the paper and three ravens now appear at the window banging with their beaks. The wind picks up and lightning fills the sky. I leave the classroom before I get human blood in my hands. I hear Hyuna cry out to me, "Why are you so sensitive, freak!?"
I run up to the roof and feel the wind surrounding me. I am valkyrie royalty. And this is what my life has become? Why Freya? Why? I remove my human facade. My hair is no longer black and straight but slightly wavy and much longer. It has a light silver-blue sheen to it and my skin begins to glow. My nails lengthen, like well-manicured claws, needed for battle. I stand taller too. My sky-blue skirt hits just above the knee. My diamond encrusted armor covers my chest and forearms. I hold up my spear and run my hands through my family crest. My mother gave me the spear. My shield is made of platinum and is also marked with my family crest. My wings begin to grow. Lightning surround me. The ravens appear reminding me to calm my emotions. Rain falls but they don't hit me, my force field is up. I look up at the sky wishing that I was still in the lore away from the cruelty of humans. Funny, considering I am a warrior and a descendent of warriors. I remove my force field as the rain stops and the wind dies down. If Kai saw the real me would he…? What am I saying? Wishful thinking is not the way to go. I remove myself from my lorean state and put up my human facade. The clouds begin turning lighter gray and eventually, slowly, back to blue. I hear the roof door open.
"Kyrie?" Am I dreaming, or is that the class president? "I brought your book bag. And gym is about to start." I put on my glasses and cover my face with my long straight hair which has now turned back to black. He can never see me in my valkyrie state.
"Thank you." That's all I say.
"I can speak to others, if you'd like, I can tell them to stop-" I turn around and look him in the eyes for the first time ever. He looks away and notices the ravens on the ledge of the roof.
"Don't bother with me class president. I am not worth it." I bow a 90 degree bow to him. And walk down to gym class.
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