ALFHEIM VALKYRIE ACADEMY INSTITUTE , ASGARD , HEAVEN

AUGUST 27TH

In the office the day's work was done, Stella was packing up her things when she noticed a noise in the office at the end of the hallway. She thought that someone from cleaning had dropped something by mistake, so she went to check, but to her surprise, it was nothing of the sort, instead, there was the archangel Michael, who was still working diligently at his desk, so much so that she didn't even notice the girl looking out the door. He seemed to be quite busy reviewing several important books, but the girl had something much more important to do, so without wanting to interrupt him she carefully closed the door so as not to be discovered.

Stella was driving her car on the highway, a calm and sunny day, the surrounding fantasy landscape was a delight for the eyes, nothing better to accompany it than good music, so the girl turned on the radio and turned up the volume. In the car there was no one else besides the angel, although the back of the car was full of shopping bags, she was planning to cook some new dish today that she had seen on the internet, she thought it would be great to help lift the spirits even more. Maybe she would pair it with watching a new comedy movie on the TV in the living room.

A sign on the road warned him that he had to take the next exit off the highway to go to his destination, which was not yet his home. The road became more extreme, the sharp curves are more frequent, then another intersection and another road, soon after a similar choice, the road began to change and even become less busy until Stella's car was the only one on the whole journey, the speed was not so high, but for a driving lover it was a pleasure to drive through such a breathtaking landscape and atmosphere. Going down the mountain you could see the huge valley that followed, in the whole place you could only see one thing, the Alfheim Valkyrie Academy Institute.

It was a place where the history of a millenary legacy resounded, it stood beautifully in the middle of a perfect and elegant serene landscape. A building that combined perfectly neoclassical architecture and Gothic Revival architecture, creating an imposing appearance and full of character, white walls were complemented by a slight touch of pastel, details, and ornaments in limestone intertwined with grace. Tall, narrow windows allow as much light as possible into the interior, so that natural light filled the interiors, giving a warm and welcoming feeling.

Upon entering the main lobby, Stella was greeted by an atmosphere of elegance and sophistication. The pristinely polished marble mosaic floors made it feel like walking across them was a crime. An imposing vaulted ceiling with intricate stained glass windows stretched over the central area, delicately filtering the sun's rays in a palette of soft colors. Wide, spacious hallways were adorned with dark wood paneling, meticulously carved with floral motifs and scrolls. Oil paintings, depicting valkyries in their warrior splendor, adorned the walls, bringing a sense of inspiration and power, reminding all who saw them why they were in this place. The classrooms, with their high ceilings and large windows, provided a study environment conducive to learning and concentration. The solid wood desks, with their curvilinear details and turned legs, looked as if they were created to be art.

[https://i.imgur.com/WVe1jEk.jpg]

The schoolyard was carefully landscaped, with lush gardens and stone paths winding between them. Wrought iron benches, framed by flowering vines, provided places for rest and reflection. A central marble fountain, with figures of valkyries in dynamic poses, emanated the gentle sound of falling water, adding to the atmosphere of serenity. Statues of brave female warriors stood along a rose garden, each dedicated to the best warriors and students who had been pupils of the institution, some of them even still within the same school, now as teachers of different classes.

Such was the case of Serena, Stella's older sister, who was in the sports court. Next to her was a group of women, all trained from within with spirit and passion, practicing with wooden swords to make thrusts, the group was perfectly coordinated because nothing was overlooked by their teacher, who did not hesitate to denounce the failures and suggest corrections. All her students respected her as a great figure for her combat experience and way of teaching.

Her slender figure stood out among the other students, emanating wisdom and power. She always showed the splendor of her white wings, as if she was afraid of losing them somehow by being out of his sight. Her blue eyes shining like stars only reflected determination as well as compassion. Her hair was as golden as gold, unlike her sister's white, but just as impeccably silky, pulled back in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way of her training. Her expression was serious and austere, or so it seemed, but when her students needed help she tried to help them in the best way possible, complemented by her voice full of authority and confidence. Her dress was perfectly white and beautiful, highlighting, even more, the incredible beauty of her body.

If only she didn't have that big ugly black chain necklace.

Stella approached walking slowly, without any pressure, some of the students noticed her coming and started talking among themselves, "Isn't that Stella?" mentioned one, "The savior of Cadreth Prime?" asked another, "I had heard that she single-handedly managed to avoid the launch of Nova 6 in the region of Inferno Point" was heard from behind, "The last I heard of her is that she managed somehow to stop the anger of the True Dragon of the War " said one of her followers more eagerly. But her teacher was annoyed by that last comment, spitting on the ground before speaking.

"All right ladies, there's still 10 minutes left before the lesson is over."

"I want to see you do 2 laps at medium assault speed around the obstacle track before the time is up."

"Come on, move it! Go, go, go!"

The young students saw how they would have to pay the price for their teacher's anger at them for talking too much during class. Stella arrived at her sister's side until they were all running on the track.

"It's not good to see how they hold you in such high esteem despite the hard training you give them."

"They sure appreciate you too much to put up with the training."

"Shut up"

"It's normal to try as hard as possible."

"The world out there is not as simple and peaceful as this school."

"Some of them will be on the front lines at some point."

"I'm just preparing them so they don't screw up that day."

"Well, a step is a step, no matter how small."

Stolen story; please report.

"...."

"Hey, I noticed there are some new statues in the garden, they are quite nice don't you think? "Said Stella trying to create a topic of conversation with her sister.

But she turned to look at her with an irritated face.

"Do you think so?"

"They just put shit in the garden, that's all they did."

"What they did was ruin it"

"Just look at it."

Stella, afraid that she had made a mistake, looked around to see what her sister was talking about. Her eyes quickly found one of the new statues, on it was a small girl, with a huge sword, mounted on the head of a huge cruel dragon, full of details like its twisted armored scales or its armored head. The dragon itself was all around the island, strangling it with its power. There was no other way to see it, it was a statue in honor of the True Dragon of war. Stella was startled to see that she had chosen the wrong topic to talk about.

"Oh wow, well, I didn't know that one was there."

"No doubt that's a new one" Stella tried to correct her mistake.

"The guy doesn't even know this school exists."

"Why the hell is there a statue of him here?"

"Well, even if he never passed through a classroom, he was still named as a valkyrie."

"Plus his story might seem a bit inspirational to attract new students."

"Just think about it, the story of someone who wasn't destined for anything goes and ends up with 6 True Dragons, becoming the seventh and final destroyer of Atlantis in the process."

"Even if her title is honorary I understand why the Headmistress wants to put her as a great student of the school if she can get more people in."

"Even if she doesn't even know this place exists."

"The whole thing is stupid."

"It's just a marketing strategy but they go and make a statue of him and put him in the garden next to our mother's statue"

"Well, it's just a statue, no big deal."

"There is plenty of room in the rest of the garden for more of them." Stella's attempt to lower the level of achievement

"This is all a mistake, Grandma has one in the fountain square, Mom is near the rose maze, and our cousin Camila has one in the bench area."

"The next one should be mine! not him!"

"I studied like crazy all my years as a student for a reason, but he just exists and he gets rewarded for being alive?"

"This is stupid!"

"Shit! The guy is a threat to everyone and they reward him in this way!?"

"Fuck!" said Serena as she put one of her hands on her own shoulder.

The school bell rang just after, announcing the end of classes.

"Let's go home, classes are over."

"Today I was planning to cook Salmon en croute and Foie gras poêlé."

"I also want to make some Tarte Tatin for dessert and send some to Grandma."

"What do you think, doesn't that sound fun?"

"You used to order it all the time at the coffee shop."

"Don't you want to learn how to do it?" Stella said, pulling out her heavy weapons, trying to connect with her sister once again.

But she just looked at her with apathy and started walking into the building to change her clothes.

After school, both sisters headed home together. Inside the car, neither of them said a single word during the whole trip, what was once a fun and beautiful journey, turned into an uncomfortable silence. On the way the night came and so did the rain, but the only noise was the sound of water droplets falling against the car.

Upon arriving home, Stella parked her car in the garage, her sister just got out and walked into the house, again without saying anything. Serena didn't even help carry her sister's bag of groceries, instead, she simply walked straight to her room and lay down among her blankets, letting her frustration and sadness show.

Between the covers Serena felt overwhelmed by failures, in her mind she did not live up to her family's expectations, she would simply never succeed, because luck was never on her side, no matter how hard she tried, there would always be someone who would do better without even trying, she had to work endlessly while others had to do nothing. She felt hate towards herself and towards those who seemed to prosper while she only found obstacles in her way.

Stella on the other hand battled in the kitchen, she tried to do what she did best, her true passion was cooking, maybe if things had been different she would have been a famous chef, but for her, the past was just that, something that had already happened in the past. She didn't hate her job, most of the time, but even if she did she just had to quit and get out of there, it wasn't like she was forbidden to cook whatever she wanted, and she could always choose to change jobs or start working as a cook. She didn't care if she had to start at the bottom again if she had to. So she couldn't really understand what was going on with her sister, but that didn't stop her from trying her best.

The house phone rang, so Stella went to answer it as soon as possible. It was her mother, she just a regular call to know how her daughters were doing, Stella told her that everything was fine, how the day-to-day at school was still as peaceful as before, as well as the state of her work. The mother, happy to hear that her daughters were well, invited them to return home as her birthday was coming up. But Stella, knowing her sister's condition, decided to lie, indicating that they were both very busy for different work reasons. However, to try to calm her down, she indicated that she might stop by tomorrow to give her a piece of the cake she was preparing, for which her mother was happy. After talking a bit and catching up on some rumors about people they knew, they both ended the call. Stella breathed a sigh of relief that she had managed to hide her sister's condition for a little while longer, She knew that the last thing Serena wanted was to be with the rest of her family, at least for now.

When Stella finished cooking, the first thing she did was to serve her sister's portion delicately, put it on a tray, and after stopping for a moment in front of the door to her sister's room, she finally decided to go in to try to help her.

The room was a mess, the light was off, the heavy curtains were always closed, things were thrown on the floor, they were thrown with fury and never picked up, the computer desk was smashed with so many blows, the keyboard did not work after a tantrum, the walls were marked with blows of frustration. The bed was out of alignment, only the figure of the inhabitant could be seen between the covers, she did not want anyone to see her, including her sister.

Stella approached carefully and began to speak in a calm manner, without any prejudice to what had happened before, set up a table near the bed, and placed the tray of food on it. She told her sister that the food was served and she wanted her opinion on the taste. Serena just replied that she didn't want to eat, she wasn't hungry at all, although it was a lie, Stella herself knew that she only ate very little, it had been two days since she had even tasted anything she felt comfortable with. The girl in bed only got even angrier, calling her sister a meddler, saying she was only doing it to appear to be the good and saintly one in the story, but her sister only kept insisting that she eat to make her feel more at ease. She got up and swallowed her food as fast as she could, then threw the dishes outside so her sister could leave as soon as possible because she wanted to be alone and not be bothered by anyone.

Stella noticed the marks on her sister's neck, once again she had tried to remove the necklace she had, which filled her with sadness. But trying to trim it somehow reminded her that her master had ordered her that she was forbidden to approach the True Dragon of War, so she did not have to worry about seeing him again, but her sister took it even worse, insulting and throwing things she forced her sister to leave as soon as possible.

When bedtime came, Serena was sound asleep, it seemed that somehow she had managed to fall asleep. But instead who could not sleep was Stella, she was in her room as awake as she could, listening for any noise she could hear, whether it was the noise of the refrigerator or her sister crying again, she had no way of knowing. She was watching to prevent her sister from making a bad decision that would have even greater repercussions later.