Atypical (A Magnus Chase fan novel)

Yes, But Dragons?

-Amara-

     Magnus came knocking on my door pretty early, so it was a good thing I was up. It would have been pretty embarrassing, scrambling to get my scarf and answer the door. Though, I don't think I have to wear it in front of him, since he was my half-brother. Whatever. The thought was too weird. I mean, nothing against him, he's a nice person, but to have a god as a dad who had another wife, who died, and then a giant as a wife, and...

     I pushed the thoughts away. The whole night, I had stayed up, thinking about all these revelations. My world had been uprooted around me. I could never have slept.

     We had breakfast in the floor lounge, but no one else was there except our hall. I guess everyone else preferred the company of thousands first thing in the morning. The room was tiny compared to the Feast Hall, but it was nice all the same. A buffet table was laden with food, and there were a dozen tables scattered around the room. A cozy sofa sat in front of a crackling fireplace, even though I was sure it was summer down at my room. The window showed us the view of an icy wasteland. The most likely explanation: more crazy Norse magic.

     Magnus had told me to bring a sword and shield, which I found in my closet. I changed into what I thought was 'battle gear'; a black hijab, jeans, and a full sleeved dark green Hotel Valhalla t-shirt. I chose the one with the smallest logo. I didn't feel like supporting them much yet. I decided to keep my jacket though, which had been washed and ironed when I came back from our little excursion to Midgard. And just as well, I decided to not to leave my clothes out anymore. I'd also found a pair of tall, lace-up black hiking boots, exactly like the ones I had at home. How they got here, I had no clue, but I liked it all the same.

     Bravely, I decided to speak first, maybe get some more answers. "So...practice battles today?" I asked, nibbling on my chocolate muffin. It was weird. Chocolate still tasted the same, but the entire world was different.

     "Yep," TJ answered. "Today is Tuesday, so, normal, hand-to-hand, free-for-all combat."

     "On Thursdays, we have dragons," Mallory added.

     "Dragons?"

     Somewhere in the massive hotel, a horn rang. "Well, time to go," Magnus said. "Battle starts in fifteen minutes."

     "Yes, but dragons?" I said. My life just got crazier and crazier.

     Halfborn snorted. "I'm starting to see a lot of similarities between the two of you." I realised he was talking about me and Magnus.

     "What does that mean?" I asked. Magnus sighed and rolled his eyes as Mallory explained how he had asked about five times in two minutes about the dragons when she mentioned them.

     "So before you ask again too, we fight those on Thursdays," she finished. I still wanted to ask what 'dragons' entailed, even though it seemed pretty obvious, but everyone got up to go to battle. So, naturally, I followed.